Lila's Thunder: The Almeida Brothers, Book One

by Burns, Trevion

  Lila swept at the tears on her cheeks as she thought of Chase. Hurting him had never been her intention, never in a million years, but it seemed to be the only thing she was capable of doing at this point. She finally admitted to herself that the control she’d never been able to grasp with Danielle was the same control she was constantly forcing upon Chase, but he was now and could no longer be molded into something he wasn’t. He wasn’t Danielle. He was his own person, and he never asked to be the one Lila used to fill a huge void within herself. She’d made him that person, and hurt him deeply in the process.

  For that she would never forgive herself.

  ---

  As Jack made his way towards the doors of his office building the next day, he stopped short when he caught sight of a middle-aged man with a full beard climbing out of a blue truck. The man was distracted, fumbling around with a professional grade camera as he made his way into the doors of Jack’s law firm. Jack watched him move in shock, his mouth agape, before he raced for the doors himself.

  Jack threw the doors to his firm open and stalked up behind the man, taking the back of his neck violently and dragging him toward the door of his office.

  “Whoa! Hey! Easy, man, easy,” the man cried, stumbling forward as Jack threw him into his office.

  Jack slammed the door shut and made his way over to the man, snatching the camera out of his hand and immediately scrolling through the pictures. As he zoomed past photo after photo his eyes searched for Chase, for Lila, for any photo of a person he loved.

  “Hey, be careful with that! That’s a ten thousand dollar camera.”

  Jack finally came across a photo of Lila sleeping naked in her bed. His heated eyes rose to the man before he turned his back and hurled the camera at the wall. It shattered and fell noisily to the floor, piece by piece.

  The man screamed out, his hands going into his hair, “What the fuck? Holy fuck, man, what the hell did you do that for?”

  Jack zeroed in on him and grabbed the cuffs of his shirt, ready to murder him right where he stood. “Who the fuck are you?”

  “You just destroyed my camera, asshole, who the fuck are you?”

  Jack’s fist flew into the man’s gut, and he forced him to stand tall when the blow doubled him over. “Who are you?!” he screamed.

  “Fuck, shit…. God dammit, I’m Max! I work for Fredrik.”

  Fury coursed through Jack’s veins as he heard his boss’ name. “How did you get my brother’s keys?”

  Finally realizing that Jack knew who he was, and having recognized him from the moment he’d been thrown into his office, the man’s face grew solemn. “Look, the keys fell out of the kid’s bag while he was chasing around that blonde. I thought it’d be a good opportunity to catch the guidance counselor in her natural habitat so I used them to get in her place. Imagine my surprise when I found you and her together.”

  “Yeah, well, I’ve got news for you, pal. This case isn’t going anywhere. Stop fucking following her.”

  “I don’t take orders from you.”

  “I’m heading the case.”

  “Fredrick is the one who pays me. He’s the one who calls it off.”

  “Whatever he’s giving you under the table, I’ll double it.”

  Max’s frantic breathing had slowed, and he couldn’t stop the smallest knowing smirk from showing. “Look, I been following her around the city for weeks. I know the only man whose schlong she’s violating is standing in this room right now. She’s no child predator, but I only answer to Fred. And you owe me ten thousand dollars.”

  Jack seethed, doing everything he could not to choke Max to death right where he stood.

  ---

  Jack stormed into his superior, Fredrick Rodman’s, office and dropped the photos of he and Lila onto his desk.

  “Take me off this case.”

  Fredrick looked up from the phone call he was in the middle of, shooting Jack a blank gaze. He didn’t seem angry that Jack had barged into his office without so much as a knock, but he didn’t seem thrilled either. He ended his phone call quickly, then clasped his hands in front of him on the desk.

  “I’m not taking you off the case because there’s no case to take you off of.”

  “So stop following Lila. You told me that we were looking into questions that parents and administration at Dalton had as far as Lila and the kids are concerned. You didn’t tell me that you were going to have her followed and photographed. This is unethical, and I don’t want any part of it.”

  “Since when have ethics ever been a concern of yours, Jack?” Fredrick laughed, genuinely.

  Jack’s jaw tightened.

  “I can’t help but wonder if this has anything to do with the fact that you play a starring role in most of these photos yourself.”

  Jack reared back, running his hand down his face. “Look, I know that Lila is a little too close to those kids—my brother in particular. And I understand that her affection for them is the main reason that the school has felt the need to pursue a case against her behind her back but… I’m in love with this woman. I can’t continue with this. She hasn’t done anything wrong.”

  “And how in the world have you come to the conclusion that you’re in any position to make that kind of call? I’d say, at this point, your opinion is more than a little biased, Jack. You were supposed to prosecute her, not fuck her.”

  “Well…” Jack gave a shrug. “It’s a little late for that now. In fact, if this case does go to court—which I doubt it will, since you’ve instigated a witch hunt on a woman who has done nothing wrong. Even if it did, the entire firm could be held in breach of court if they found out that the lead prosecutor has been fucking the defendant for the last three months. Not to mention that you’ve been having her illegally followed for even longer. For all our sakes just take me off the god damn case.” Jack took a deep breath. “Fuck,” he whispered, burying his head in his hands.

  “Look at yourself,” Fredrick chuckled. “She must have a magic pussy.”

  Jack held a steady hand out. “I want. Off. The case.”

  Fredrick leaned deeper into his desk. “Like I said, there is no case. We abandoned it, officially, just this morning. You might have known that if you’d shown up to work on time today.” Fredrick adjusted his tie, having officially lost all patience. “Feel free to pull your fucking panties back up now,” he concluded.

  “Good.” Jack swallowed deeply and stood tall. “I quit.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous.” Fredrick scoffed. “I’ll pretend you never said that. Now go sleep it off, Almeida, before I change my mind.”

  “Fuck you. I quit.”

  As he made his way out, Fredrick finally stood from his desk, leaning forward. He was not a groveling man and he didn’t plan on starting today, but he couldn’t deny that his best lawyer was heading right for the door.

  “Are you really going to walk away from the top law firm in New York City for a piece of ass? I know she’s smoking hot, Jack, but I saw the photos. Seems like a boring fuck. Nothing to write home about, and sure as hell nothing to quit your job over.”

  Jack turned on his heel and stalked over to the desk.

  As he closed in on Fredrick’s smiling face Jack reared back and clocked him right in the jaw.

  ---

  Lila pulled the ice pack a few inches away from Jack’s nose when he suddenly winced. She could see new bruises beginning to form with each passing minute and apparently she’d finally hit one of the more sensitive ones. She had landed just a few hours ago and, though she was still overwhelmed with anger and confusion over the events of the last few days, she hadn’t had the heart to turn Jack away when he’d shown up at her door with a bloody nose and swollen lip.

  He’d spent the last hour sitting with his head thrown back on her couch. She was curled up close next to him, icing his face gently. They hadn’t said a word the entire time.

  Finally, Lila spoke. “You want to tell me what happened?”

  Ja
ck closed his eyes for a long while. The silence persisted for a little longer until he finally opened them, again, staring up at her ceiling. “I punched my boss in the face.”

  Lila looked toward the window of her balcony, struggling with what to say. “Please tell me it wasn’t over me.”

  He didn’t respond.

  “So you punched your boss in the face for me, huh? Not the greatest way to keep your job.”

  “Perhaps I didn’t want to keep it.”

  “But punching your boss? That sounds like a great way to get yourself blacklisted from every other law firm in New York City. I don’t want to be the reason that you’re out of a job and homeless.”

  “You know Chase and I inherited that brownstone. I’ll never be without a home.” He smirked, and when her face remained blank, a sigh escaped his lips. “I couldn’t continue to work for a company who hurt you as much as they did.”

  As if a reminder from the days events suddenly dawned on her, Lila found herself getting angry once more. “So you’ve decided you’re wearing your ethical mask today, huh? Which one will it be tomorrow?”

  “Please don’t be angry at me, Lila.”

  “You lied to me.”

  “I had to.”

  “No, you didn’t. You didn’t have to lie to me, Jack, you made the choice to do it because you didn’t trust me.” She licked her lips and waited patiently for a response. When the silence persisted, she removed the ice from his face completely. “Did you think I would have blown the whistle on you? What? Did you think I would show up to your firm and tell your boss that the lead on his case was fucking the main suspect? Did you really think I would do that to you? I wouldn’t have. I wouldn’t have hurt you that way. Not ever.”

  Jack jammed his eyes shut and slowly shook his head. “I didn’t think those things.”

  “Then what the fuck did you think, Jack? Huh? If you didn’t think I would risk your job by telling your boss, then why would you keep something from me that could put my own job and my own future at risk? I would never put your job or your reputation on the line, I would never hurt you that way. But you had no problem doing the same to me.”

  Jack brought a hand up to his eyes, overcome.

  “The only other reason I can think of as to why you didn’t tell me about all of this is that somewhere, deep down, you really believed that I was in bed with your brother.”

  “Lila…” Jack finally opened his eyes, and when he turned his head to speak to her, he lost his words at the sight of her standing from the couch. His eyes followed her, watching her back constrict against her tight white t-shirt as she crossed her arms over her chest. She moved to the other end of the room. He stood as well, following her into the kitchen and watching as she took the back of her dining room chair in her hand.

  Lila spoke, staring at the wall. “I would never hurt Chase that way.”

  Jack continued toward her until he was right behind her, placing a hand on her back. “I know that.”

  “No,” she cried, turning to face him. “No, you don’t.” She allowed him to cup her cheek. A tear fell from her eye. He immediately caught it with his thumb, batting it away. Her voice trembled. “You don’t know that, or you would have told me everything from the beginning.”

  Jack sucked his teeth gently, struggling to choose his words. “I didn’t bother to tell you because I never believed you loved me… that you could love me the way I loved you. If I’d had any idea…” He struggled. “I still don’t have any idea if you love me, Lila. Do you?”

  “That doesn’t matter, Jack.”

  “Of course it does.”

  “No, it doesn’t, because there is nowhere else that this can go. What matters is that this,” she motioned between them, “will never work.”

  “How can you know that, baby?” he whispered, his fingers falling from her cheek to the delicate dip in her neck. The dip he’d grown to learn was guaranteed to make her scream and, if he gave it enough attention, cum with vigor. He fingered that dip delicately Tears pooling his eyes as he thought of never tasting it, again, never again realizing its power over her beautiful body.

  Unable to control the immediate response her body supplied him every time he so much as looked at her, let alone touched her the way he was now, Lila snatched her head away and began away from him. “I got the position at Harvard. I start in the fall, and I’m leaving for Cambridge in a week.”

  “I could come with you. You and Chase will both be there and you are the only things in the world that matter to me. Once you both leave Manhattan I’ll have nothing left so… I could come. I could come with you.”

  Lila was suddenly rocketed back to that morning in the school closet with Chase all those weeks ago. He’d said almost the exact words Jack was saying to her now. How had everything tumbled so far out of control since then? She turned to Jack, arms crossed. “No. It would never work. The three of us cannot be in each other’s lives all at once. It took me five years to realize that and it’s time that I do something to end it.”

  “I know that he’s jealous, Lila. He might be jealous for a long time, but he would get over it eventually--”

  “He kissed me.”

  Jack stumbled over his words, then reared back. “I’m sorry? I need you to repeat that.”

  “In Cambridge. Chase kissed me. He’s not going to just get over it, Jack--” When she saw him sprint immediately for the door Lila came after him, taking his arm. She gasped when he snatched it clear out and reared back at the dangerous look that had darkened his eyes. “Don’t you see, Jack? This is why I have to leave. Two seconds ago you were telling me how much you loved Chase and now you look like you’re ready to rip someone’s head clear off.”

  “Yeah, let’s start with his.” His nostrils flared.

  “No,” Lila snapped. “That’s not the answer.”

  “Then what is?”

  “The fact that you don’t know… the fact that you could even ask that question….” Lila didn’t know what to do. She had to find a way to remove herself from Jack and Chase’s lives completely or they were never going to repair their relationship as brothers. Fighting over her would never stop clouding their judgement or fueling their negative actions towards each other. She had led them both to the horrible place they were at and she was now determined to fix what she’d broken here. Even if it meant hurting Jack, she would do whatever she had to, to stop the massive separation that had occurred between he and Chase. She looked up into his pained face, whispering, “I’m not your girlfriend, Jack. You don’t get to defend me because I’m not yours to defend.”

  I’m not yours. The words sliced through him like a hot razorblade.

  “So you think it’s okay that he kissed you against your will?”

  “Of course not, and I put a stop to it instantly. Chase kissing me isn’t an invitation for you to go and rip him to shreds. If anything it’s a revelation that I need to remove myself from the equation.”

  “You mean remove yourself from my equation. From me. From New York. But not from him, right?”

  “Jack, I’m not yours,” she said, again.

  “Why don’t you tell me something I don’t already know, Lila.” He pointed all five fingers down at her, his lips stretching into an infuriated line. “I think we both know who you’ve always really belonged to.”

  “I don’t belong anywhere. And I officially don’t belong here. In your lives.”

  “How can you be so blind? It’s really amazing, Lila. You’re so fucking blind.”

  Lila’s heart rate picked up. She could see him slowly losing control, could hear it in his voice. “Clearly neither of you are going to do the dirty work of removing me from the picture to fix your tattered relationship so I’m officially removing myself.”

  “Yeah, you do that, and while you’re at it you can go straight to hell, too, you fucking whore. You think Chase kissed you of his own free will? You think that came out of god damn nowhere? It didn’t. You know what? Fuck you,
Lila. I wish I never fucking met you.”

  She’d been prepared for his anger, but that didn’t ease the sting that raced through her at his words.

  “That’s nice, Jack,” she whispered, fighting tears. She couldn’t cry. She knew even the slightest hint of a tear in her eye would send the wrong message to Jack. She knew he was lashing out at her because he felt there was no hope left. She couldn’t give him a reason to believe there was. “Really nice. Is that really how you want to leave things between the two of us? That’s how you want to do it?”

  “Yeah, it is.”

  Lila looked down at her feet. She couldn’t look into his eyes and say the words, “well… goodbye, then.”

  Jack stared infuriatingly down at her, his chest heaving. Finally, he turned, took the door handle in his hand, and stepped out.

  He slammed it shut behind him. The walls of her apartment thundered to life when he did.

  ---

  “Well you know I’ve always been team Jack…” Tracy said, as she wrapped Lila’s delicate china in bubble wrap. They were slowly packing up Lila’s apartment and were surrounded by moving boxes that they would be shipping off to Cambridge that night. Lila had just arrived home from Hawaii that morning and had less than two days to finish packing before she would be off to Massachusetts to begin her career as a professor at Harvard University.

  With a shake of her head Lila walked across the room and made her way back over with a handful of towels. “Trace… it’s not a competition.”

  “I’m just saying… as your best friend I have to be honest right? Now I might not completely agree with how he went about it but… he was just trying to protect you in the end.” Tracy winced as if bracing herself for the punch that was coming.