Page 102 of Dirty Secrets
“I’m not leaving the fucking house,” Reid said sharply, and Maddox chuckled.
“You don’t get a say in the matter. You don’t think Mom will drag you out? Raven needs space and some time to heal. You’re all pricks, and she’s mad right now. Sticking around will only dig your hole deeper, trust me.” He dropped his eyes to mine, shaking his head. “Shereallywon’t want to see you any time soon.”
I swallowed, the pain in my chest only getting worse. “How the fuck do I fix it?”
“I don’t know, man. I’m sure there’s a card you can buy her that says something likeI’m sorry for knocking you up and then bragging about the positions we did while you were grieving the loss of the baby.I bet it happens to lots of people, so chin up.”
“You’re a sarcastic asshole.”
“I might be, but I’d never fucking hurt Beckett in the way you just hurt Raven,” he said in a low voice, heading back towards the hospital entrance while speaking over his shoulder. “I mean it. Go. If Beck tells me to come back down and shoot you guys, I will. What my baby wants, my baby gets.”
“Yeah. Happy sister, happy mister, and all that,” I deadpanned, earning a warning look as he vanished into the building.
Pain radiated in my face as Reid slammed his fist into my cheek, his voice tight. “So, you’re not actually with Raven, you’ve just been taking advantage of her?”
I got to my feet, my chest bumping against his as I got in his face. “No. We made a deal to just be friends who happened to sleep together once, then we wanted to keep going and see where it went. She wanted to learn things, and I didn’t want to stop sleeping with her. After a few days, we decided to label it as a relationship because we didn’t want it to stop.”
“How does Zavier fit into this? He just got tospectate?” he seethed, and Zavier rolled his eyes as he shifted his weight offhis leg. Blood soaked the thigh of his pants from the bullet he’d taken, but Beckett had said he’d been seen already, so I knew he was okay.
“Unlike Logan, I’m not going to discuss my sex life with Raven with you.”
“You said you didn’t sleep with her!”
“I haven’t,” he answered, pulling his phone from his pocket to check his texts. “Cruz is coming to get me. I’ll grab my things from the house then stay at the Thieves' compound for a while.”
“You’re serious?” I asked slowly, but Reid made a sound of disgust.
“Good. Whatever trouble you got yourself in, keep it the fuck away from Raven.”
I wanted to blame Zavier so badly for the attack, and I was definitely still mad at him about it, but I could tell he’d been blindsided by it. The thought of him going off alone when people were after him made me feel sick.
I’d lost Raven, and right now, I couldn’t lose Zavier too.
“Hey,” I murmured, Zavier’s eyes meeting mine. “Stay in touch so I know you’re okay.”
Relief filled his face as he blew out a breath, nodding. “I will. If Raven calms down and talks to you, can you update me on how she’s doing?”
“I can do that.”
“I’m not telling you shit,” Reid stated as he crossed his arms. “You pricks kept secrets from me, so why the fuck should I let you know anything?”
“You need to stop and ask yourself why you were kept in the dark. We didn’t do it to hurt you. Raven actually planned on talking to you about it today because she’s been feeling guilty over it,” I mumbled, giving him an annoyed glance. “She can’t talk to you about anything without you flipping the fuck out,dude. She just wanted to enjoy the peace before we told you and it turned into a war in the damn kitchen.”
“We agreed?—”
“We made a rule as teenagers. You can stick to your rules if you want, but I’m not prepared to watch her walk away from me to marry someone else,” I grunted, a sigh leaving me. “Well, that’s probably ruined now.”
Zavier approached and knelt in front of me with a wince as his thigh must have caused him pain, grabbing my hand and giving it a squeeze. “Areyouokay? It was your baby, man. You’re allowed to grieve too.”
I shook my head, squeezing my eyes shut to stop the building tears from his unexpected question.
He didn’t speak, he simply wrapped his arms around me in a hug, almost making me lose the battle with my emotions. This definitely would’ve been hurting his leg, but he didn’t complain.
I leaned into him, taking a second to get my shit together, then I pulled back to look at Reid.
“I can admit I fucked up by not being careful, but despite what you believe, I did nothing wrong by being with her. I was kind of hoping that we could tell you about it and maybe you and Raven could’ve figured your feelings out for each other too, but it’s obvious you don’t give a shit about her feelings for you. You can’t push her away then try to beg her for more when you’re having a bad day and want to find comfort in her.”
“She—” I didn’t let him finish.