Deceit in Bloom (The Love Unauthorized Series Book 1)

by Jennifer Michael

  Has she been using? Is that why she’s been acting so erratically?

  “Is it fair to assume then that he fucked you out of his system last night and is done with you and on to the next?”

  “Braelyn, is there something you want to talk about? You seem really worked up over this Burke thing, and I don’t understand why. You look like you haven’t slept, and you’re literally shaking. We stay out of each other’s business for the most part, but you’ve been overstepping boundaries, so I’m going to overstep too. Have you been using?”

  “Get out!” Her voice is piercing, the high octave vibrating through my ears. The shaking isn’t confined only to her hands anymore. Now, her whole body convulses with rage. I’ve never seen her like this, not once in my life. Something is wrong. I know it.

  “What? What’re you talking about?”

  Her face is an abnormal shade of red, and she looks ready to lunge at me. She must be doing drugs. It’s the only explanation as to why she’s being so defensive about my bringing it up. I need to calm this situation before it gets out of control. But she snaps first.

  “I want you out of this apartment! I’m beyond done with you. We were dropped in the same hell house as kids, but that doesn’t mean we have some special bond. GET THE FUCK OUT!”

  A surge of emotions runs straight through my heart.

  Fear. Sadness. Humiliation. Anger.

  Fear for her well-being. Sadness over her words. Humiliation by the abrupt way she casts me aside. Anger at her callousness. Seriously? Over a decade together and she’s ready to kick me out on my ass? The idea is inconceivable. My gut churns with my battling emotions. Could I really mean so little to her? She’s my family, but what am I to her? Apparently, I’m a moron.

  I’m torn. She’s way out of line and spewing hurtful words aimed with a purpose. My ego wants to retaliate, lash back at her, but I’m so shocked that I can’t even come up with a response. A part of the reason I came home from Burke’s today was so Braelyn wouldn’t worry, and here she is, kicking me out. Can I leave if she’s in trouble? She’s angry and being hurtful, but am I worse if I leave her when she needs me?

  “I’m serious, Paisley. I don’t want you here anymore. Go.” Her voice lowers. She sounds defeated but resolved. Her quiet admission reads like shocking honesty. I don’t know what to do. Never did I think I’d come home to this. She has some sort of weird grudge against Burke, but this is ridiculous. It doesn’t make sense.

  “Braelyn, I can’t leave if you’re in trouble.”

  “I’m not using drugs. If you want, I’ll take an at-home drug test and show you the results. I’m done with this. I’m over it. I want you to go. We’re not sisters. We never were. We’re two people who were forced upon one another. It’s time we let that go. There is no hidden agenda. It is what it is.”

  Do I want to be somewhere I’m not wanted? No.

  Braelyn has always been impulsive. At times, she even seemingly has split personalities. Tomorrow she might act like this whole argument never happened. But something tells me this blowup is like one we’ve never had before. I make the decision to leave.

  The trouble is I have nowhere to go. Braelyn is the only person who I’ve ever consistently had in my life. Running to Burke’s is not an option. I’ve spent one night with him. One night for a man like him means nothing. I can’t go crawling back there with my drama when he has more than enough of his own. I don’t want Burke to feel he needs to keep me around to protect me or think I’m using him for a place to stay. I had a clear picture drawn for me from Kai and Teagan’s words about people’s intentions. So, I guess I’ll get a hotel for the night again until I figure it out.

  I won’t be wasting my money on a fancy hotel this time, though. I don’t need to stay in a dump, but something much more within my means is the more responsible thing to do. I gather up a week’s worth of clothes, some toiletries, a few other necessities, and throw them into a bag. If Braelyn is serious, then I’ll get the rest of my stuff, which isn’t much, later.

  Brae sits on the couch as I’m getting ready to leave, and she won’t even look at me. Our relationship has been odd, but this is certainly heartbreaking. We grew up together and overcame damning odds. I considered her a sister and she’s tossing me aside really easily.

  “Braelyn, are you sure about this?”

  She doesn’t bother to lift her eyes before saying, “I’m sure.”

  Holding back tears, I nod my head in finality before walking out the door of what I think is no longer my apartment. I’m hurt, but I’m honestly not all that surprised. I always wondered where I stood in Braelyn’s life, and now I know. The tears fall down my face and I don’t brush them away. I’ve lost my sister and my place to live in a matter of twenty minutes. Tomorrow I’ll have to go look for a new apartment because staying long in a hotel will drain my funds fast.

  There is a hotel about a mile or so up the road. The fresh air will help me sort through everything that happened in the last twenty-four hours. The walk feels good as the sun warms my skin, but I try not to focus on the two-day old clothes I’m wearing, or my hair, which still has that thoroughly fucked look. Not to mention I’m sure my eyes are red and puffy from the short cry I allowed myself over the end of my relationship with Braelyn. The people in the passing cars are surely judging what they must totally think is my epically disastrous walk of shame.

  What I can’t ignore is the soreness of my body as my feet hit the pavement. The stinging pain from the cuts in my feet from the glass barely registers in comparison to the tension in my muscles. Burke was rough with me this morning, as I’d craved, and my body feels it in places I didn’t even know I could be sore. While it makes my walk a little more uncomfortable than it should be, I’m enjoying the small reminders of every place he touched me.

  I check into the hotel, and I can’t get to my room fast enough. I want a hot shower and then a nap. My night was restless and my day was already too eventful. Sleeping away some of the rest of this day sounds like a great idea to me. Better cut my losses.

  I jump into the shower to find the water pressure is awful, but at least it’s hot and works wonders on my sore muscles. Washing my hair and lathering my body helps to take the stress off my mind as well. The tedious acts are a distraction. My mind leaves the upset of the demise of my relationship with Braelyn and focuses on Burke. On the way he comforted me after my nightmare. On that affectionate kiss to my forehead after sex. To the playfulness I felt with him when he tackled me to the floor. Burke was supposed to be an adventure. It’s true he’s anything but tame, however, this thing with him isn’t that simple. Our sex wasn’t tender or loving, but I felt more with him, and I’m pretty sure he felt it too.

  Merely being associated with him has put me in danger. He runs an illegal business, and someone is actively trying to hurt him and the ones around him. Is seeing where this goes with him really worth all that risk? I don’t know, but something within tells me I won’t be able to stay away, even if I try.

  The cold tile of the bathroom is shocking to my feet after the warmth of the water. I brush out my hair, throw on some comfy clothes, and slide between the sheets. One would think my brain would be unable to rest at a time like this, but I’m beyond exhausted. With my head on the pillow and the covers wrapped tightly around me, I waste no time quickly drifting off to sleep.

  Burke

  “I have a debt that needs to be paid. That’s all this is to me. I don’t know anything about what’s happening, and honestly, I wouldn’t tell you if I did.” My anger boils while he pauses. His face is resolute and his words final. “I’m sacrificing myself to save my family, and I’m not going to piss these people off. I made some really bad decisions. I owe some seriously bad people—people worse than you—so I volunteered for this in exchange for the promise it would keep my family safe. All I was told was that I was to be ready. When the text came, I was supposed to come to this address and a brick with an envelope attached would be waiting for
me by the perimeter of the fence. Then obviously I was to throw it through the window.”

  There has been no torture or bloodshed yet today. Kai and I came into the office and this guy seemed eager to get this over with. I feel for him a bit. He has a family he’s trying to protect just like I am, but I can’t let him go when he’s in debt to the people who are behind this. They could use him as a pawn over and over again. Hopefully, whoever made him promises keeps their word, and his family will be safe, because I have to do what needs to be done to protect mine.

  “Who contacted you? Who was the person that gave you the job and told you to expect the text?”

  From searching the man and checking his ID. I learned his name is Thomas Kramer. He has nothing on him except his wallet. Inside the wallet were his drivers license, a few credit cards, and a photo of a family I assume is his. The image shows him with his arm around a pretty blonde, presumably his wife. Two pre-teen kids sit in front of them, a boy and a girl. The all wear nice white tee shirts and khakis proudly, like the standard American family photo uniform. I wish I hadn’t found the picture. It gives me the faces of the people who are going to lose this man today, who will be without him because of his own choices.

  “Parker Amos.” Today is going way too easily. I don’t like it. Thomas is answering our questions too readily and that’s a red fucking flag.

  Parker Amos. I’ve never heard that name before. Meaning it’s probably only another piece to the puzzle. He gave us a name when his family was on the line, which is also suspicious. I shoot a glance Kai’s way and I can tell from his face we’re having very similar thoughts.

  “Why would you give us that information if you’re worried for your family’s safety?”

  “I was instructed to give it to you. I’m told he’ll be expecting you.”

  “And do you know where he’ll be expecting us then?” Kai’s patience is waning. The veins in his neck look like they are getting the workout of a lifetime. Perhaps Kai and I were a little too comfortable at the top. If someone had told me a few months ago we’d be dealing with something like this, I’d have laughed in their face.

  Arrogant.

  I guess people strike when you least expect it and I really wasn’t expecting this. It doesn’t matter because there is a reason Kai and I’ve made it this far. Whoever is the mastermind behind this scheme will pay in blood. I have no doubt about that.

  “Myerlee County Prison. He’s an inmate there.”

  Well, I didn’t expect that. How much power could this person have from within a jail cell? If he’s powerful enough, he could have lots of people on the outside doing his dirty work, but I’ve never heard of him around these parts. With our business and growing up in the neighborhood that we did, Kai and I are both well connected. I know most of the non-law-abiding citizens around here. “Who’s this guy and what does he want with us?”

  Kai is pacing the room. His energy is magnetic, a lit fuse. He’s no longer even looking in our direction, instead he’s studying his footsteps as he walks the wall back and forth to my left.

  “The information I’ve given you is all I’m permitted to give. You’ll have to figure out the rest on your own.”

  “We could make you talk.” Persuading this guy is a lost cause. Everyone in this room already knows that.

  “You can’t. I already know I’m going to die. I’ve done the job I was sent to do to save my family. Anything else I tell you will only put them at risk. You have no leverage. You can either kill me, or you can torture me for hours without getting anything, and then kill me. It’s your choice.”

  Kai stops pacing and barrels toward Thomas. His hands go around the man’s throat, momentum throwing them both backward and breaking the chair’s legs. Thomas is still restrained but has more freedom now that the chair is in pieces. He does nothing to ward off Kai or fight back. He just closes his eyes as Kai squeezes. I’d bet money it isn’t Thomas that Kai is picturing. This is hard for him. I understand why he’s so affected by what’s happening in this office, why he is so feral in his attack. This isn’t the first time someone has threatened a woman in Kai’s life, but last time Kai was helpless to save her. He’s using our current situation to try to bury his own guilt over that.

  I’m sure it’s also messing with his head that Thomas is a man here to protect his family. It’s the exact opposite of what Kai’s father represents. It isn’t a situation that would be easy to swallow for Kai, but he needs to get it together. We have to be on top of our game to keep Teagan safe. There is no room for error from either of us.

  There are noises coming from the man’s throat, signaling he isn’t dead yet. Kai straddles his body on the floor with pieces of broken chair scattered all around them. Watching him lose it like this is messing with my own head a little. I guess we couldn’t expect to keep complete sanity in this situation, though. Thomas’s legs struggle against the restraints as he finally attempts to break free, but Kai persists, and it isn’t much longer before all sound and movement from Thomas ceases completely.

  Kai lets go of his grip but doesn’t get up. His head is hung, and he wipes sweat from his forehead. The room is silent while I give him some time to pull himself together.

  A few minutes later, I stand to move with the purpose of checking the pulse of the man beneath Kai. The lack of heartbeat against his skin tells me he’s gone. I hold out my hand to help Kai up. “Go take a breather. We can’t deal with the body until tonight anyway.” It feels like the whole day passed with the time we spent in this room, but in reality, it’s only been a couple hours. We can’t move or dispose of the body in the daylight. With someone watching our every move and taking photos, I’m not even sure how smart it’ll be to move the body at all. Kai leaves the room without another word and disappears to somewhere within the house. I go up to Teagan’s room to see how she’s handling everything.

  A quick knock and then she opens the door to let me in. Her eyes tell me she’s been crying. I hate that I can’t automatically make it go away to prevent this from ever being a part of her life, her story. She leaves the space of her doorway, and I follow as she crawls into her bed. The amount of pillows and blankets this girl has is insane. It looks like her bed practically swallows her as she makes herself comfortable. I lean my back against the wall the bed is positioned against and stretch out my legs across the width of the bottom of her bed. Teagan and I need to talk. She needs to know what’s going on, not because I want her to actually know, but because her being in the dark is more dangerous than her knowing.

  “Where do we start?”

  I’m not entirely comfortable telling Teagan the full story. I’ve never been a role model, but having to talk to my little sister, who I raised, about a situation where I ended up killing a man will not be my finest hour. I don’t care what anybody thinks about me, but everything I’ve done in my life since Teagan was ten years old has been to make sure she’s happy, healthy, and well-adjusted. I know she knows that too, but this is different. Even if I’m doing it to protect her, there is a line I’ve jumped clear across, and I’m not sure of her reaction yet.

  “I was left in the dark because you were handling the situation with Paisley while Kai was handling the situation with the guy downstairs. All that drama happened, and I was left with a lot of questions.” Paisley clouded my judgment. I should have checked on Teagan once shit with Paisley was sorted. I’m beating myself up already, and we’re not even into the meat of this conversation.

  So I tell her everything she wants to know with slight hesitation but full honesty. Teagan mostly remains quiet as I fill her in. She asks a question here and there but mostly listens diligently. The conversation is anything but easy. I hate looking her in the eyes and telling her my crimes.

  Once I’ve divulged my secrets and Teagan seems satisfied she knows enough, we sit for a while. I let everything sink in for her. She doesn’t seem disappointed or horrified about anything I said. She seems sad and scared. While I hate that she feels that
way, I’m also relieved she doesn’t hate me. I’d have learned to live with that if I had to in order to keep her safe, but it would have killed me.

  “And what about Paisley?”

  “I took care of that. She’s going to keep our secrets.”

  Teagan’s face contorts in a way that tells me she thinks I’m being obtuse.

  “That’s not what I’m talking about, and you know it.” No, I don’t know it. We were talking about last night and the events leading up to it. How was I supposed to know her girl logic had changed the subject?

  My mind has been on Paisley on and off all day. In between sips of coffee I saw her asleep in my bed. My short walk to the office found my thoughts drifting to Paisley distraught in a nightmare. Between bouts of interrogating Thomas, I saw her naked beneath me at the peak of her climb. In quiet moments in my explanation to Teagan, I swore I could feel the vibration of her laughter as I tackled her to the floor this morning. My mind has been very busy today.

  “What exactly are you asking?”

  “You like her. And I don’t mean how you like your normal skanky girls for a night. You won’t admit it, probably not even to yourself yet, but I see it.”

  Do I want to talk to Teagan about this? It’s easy to admit there is something different about Paisley, but that doesn’t really mean anything. I’m more worried about what we’ve dragged her into. Paisley’s safety is in question simply because she is near us.

  I want to see her again. Whatever that means. But it’s complicated in the way that lives are at stake. Do I stay away from her or go in guns blazing and risk shooting us both in the foot? She spent one evening out with my sister, and now her life is in danger. In the back of my head, I hear what’s really the truth. Even without this black cloud of doom hanging over our heads, I could never be the type of man Paisley deserves.