Damien helped me to my feet, then helped me into my bed. I didn’t bother removing my clothing. I just sat and watched Damien discard the rope I used to try to take my life. I couldn’t wrap my head around what just happened. Deciding to take my life was a split-second decision. I never thought someone could decide on something so devastating so quickly, but I was wrong. I was surprised when Damien crawled into my bed next to me.
“You ... you’re going to stay with me?”
“Yeah, bro,” Damien answered. “I love you. I’m not letting you go through this on your own.”
I cried again, and I worried I would never stop. I felt broken, no longer like myself, and I knew Damien could sense it.
“I’m so sorry.”
“For what?” I asked as I lay down and closed my eyes.
“For everything,” Damien answered as I slowly fell into darkness. “I’m sorry that you and the others are hurting because of me ... It’s all because of me.”
“It’s because of Marco,” I replied. “None of this is your fault.”
Marco ... he was responsible for everything. Had I successfully taken my own life tonight, it would have been because of what he gave others permission to do to me. Everything, in one way or the other, came down to it being his fault. I hated him. I hated him with every ounce of energy I had, and it still didn’t feel like enough. He turned me into a toy for people to play with, a toy that sick bastards used and abused all because he wanted their money.
I was hurting, and I thought that I would always hurt in some shape or form because of what had happened to me, but I’d be damned if I’d let Marco take my mind and heart from me when he already had control of my life. I didn’t care what he threw my way. I’d take it on the chin and keep moving forward. I reminded myself that working for him wouldn’t last forever, and I swore that when that time was up, I’d get my revenge on him. When I had the chance ... I’d kill the bastard.
CHAPTER FOUR
Twenty-eight years old ...
“I feel lower than low,” I said to Kane as I stared down at Branna’s friend sitting on the kerb of the parking lot and groaning as she held her face. “She was jumped because of me.”
Inside the Playhouse nightclub celebrating Bronagh’s twenty-first birthday, we had been having a decent night ... apart from Bronagh accidentally getting involved in a cage fight, of course. That aside, things were moving along just fine ... until a woman I’d previously hooked up got mad it wasn’t going to be repeated, and she took it out on Aideen, who just happened to be the woman sat next to me.
Kane rolled his eyes. “You can control what other people choose to do now, huh?”
“Don’t be a smartass,” I scowled. “You know what I mean; that chick jumped her because of me.”
“She’s fine,” Kane said, glancing down at Aideen. “Her friend will be here soon, and she’ll be home and tucked in bed before she knows it.”
I sighed. “This Keela chick sounds pissed. She damn near shouted my ear off when I called her.”
I had been amused with her attitude when I was on the phone with her, but the longer I thought about it, the more I wondered if she would follow through with her threat to kick my ass when she got here.
“I wanna go home.” I sighed. “I don’t even wanna hook up tonight. I just wanna sleep.”
“Looks like we’ll be able to leave sooner than you think.”
I looked at my brother. “What do you mean?”
“Here comes her friend.”
“How do you—”
“Aideen!”
I turned my attention to the heart-stopping siren that ran towards us at full speed. I raise my brows as my eyes scanned over her banging body. Her hair was the colour of a sunset, her skin as fair as snow, and her legs ... Christ above, they were long and looked soft to the touch. My cock hardened with one glance of her, and instantly, I changed my mind about wanting to go home to sleep. I still wanted to go home, but I wanted this woman to come with me, and sleep would be the last thing on my mind. She had the tiniest dress on that I had ever seen. The material looked threadbare, and I itched to rip off her.
Once she was close enough to do so, she dropped down to her knees and pulled Aideen into a fierce hug. I winced on her behalf when I noticed the redness of her bare knees as they pressed against the cold, concrete ground. She either didn’t seem to notice or she ignored the pain I was sure she had to be feeling.