“You keep asking me that.” I shifted and sat up. I drew my knees to my chest and rested my head on them. I turned to watch him. Then I sighed on the inside. He was beautiful. His eyes were bright. The green contrasted against his black hair that he had cut short to a crew cut. The rest of him was a golden tan, except for the bruises and the rash that ran up and down over his right side.
His shoulder muscle shifted under his skin as he lifted his head. “What’s wrong?”
I closed my eyes and felt him touch my lips. He skimmed them in a tender motion and then ran his hand down my arm and leg. He scooted closer to me.
My hand went over his hair. It was so soft. “Tell me what happened at the police station. It’s been killing me. I should’ve been there.”
His hand dropped from my leg. “I know.” He expelled a deep breath. His chest rose up and down from the motion. “But I’m glad you weren’t. Those guys were there. They didn’t even look sorry about what they’d done. I saw the clip. They edited that piece of crap.”
“They did?”
His mouth tightened and I felt him grow rigid beside me. My heart fluttered again as I felt his fury. He bit out, “They made it look like I went on a killing spree. That wasn’t how it was. They never showed the guy choking Logan or how they dragged me. They didn’t show the three guys stomping on Nate.”
His chest rose up and down in a rapid motion. It was increasing with every word he spoke.
I put my hand on it and willed it to slow down.
He held my hand with his again. “The cops thought I had gone after them. We said different, as you can figure. Then they called in the rest of their football team.” He expelled another deep breath. “I guess a few of their guys were feeling guilty because they told the truth. They told ‘em what they’d done to us and that it was in self-defense for me, but the rest of their douchebags swore those others were lying.”
“My dad said something about that. That their stories conflicted.”
“Yeah.” His chest caught and held. He sounded in pain. “The longer we were all there, more of them started to change their story. I think the detectives figured out what was going on and laid into them. We couldn’t leave. Nate, Logan, and I were held in a back room the whole time. We could only leave if we needed to piss.”
“Your dad was there the whole time?”
He cursed again and grinned from the corner of his mouth at me. “His lawyers were there, but he wasn’t.”
I frowned. “David said my mom and James were at a hotel next to the station.”
“I believe that, but they weren’t there.” He lifted a hand to scratch a bruise on his chest. “I’m sure he was waiting.” He groaned again as he lifted himself up and scooted back against the headboard beside me. His arm draped over my shoulder, and he pulled me to his side. “My mom’s coming back.”
My eyes closed and my forehead fell into my hands.
He chuckled beside me. “It’ll be fine. Charges were dropped against me. I think my dad’s already told his lawyers to start a civil lawsuit against some of them.” He grinned crookedly at me. “Doesn’t hurt that my dad hates some of theirs. Business rivals, you know.”
I shook my head and held onto his hand. “Just as long as you’re okay.” Then I remembered my day and a soft curse slipped from my lips.
“What?”
I looked up and frowned. Why was I always nervous to tell him about my day? And then I started.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Helen arrived that evening and a family meeting was held. The kids weren’t involved. Analise, James, Helen, and David were the only ones included. It was around eleven that night when the doorbell rang again. Logan and Nate filtered inside. The screeching from the family meeting had penetrated all rooms in the mansion. They needed peace and quiet. Mason grinned as the three of them took over the theater room.
As they watched basketball, I stayed in my room and did my homework. It was already late, but I knew they needed that time to settle down. Too much chaos had happened. When it was midnight, my eyes were starting to droop. We had napped during the day, but I couldn’t hold out much longer. It was one in the morning when I crawled in bed. I felt Mason slip in later and I opened my eyes a crack. It was around three.
Everyone was quiet the next morning. Nate had gone to pick his parents up at the airport. Logan took off in the yellow Escalade, but not after he riffled a hand through my hair and kissed my cheek. “See ya, kiddo.”
I glared at his back, but Mason chuckled behind me. When I turned to glare at him, he kissed me on the lips and tapped my butt. “Let’s go. I’ll give you a ride.”
We stopped for my morning coffee so I was happy.
The next few days were quiet. It was strange.