Chaos (12 page)

Payton

As I sat on the arm of the recliner, feeling the tension in Sebastian’s body, I knew whatever had spooked Aaliyah was going to have everlasting repercussions on him. Just the mention of Trevor had her eyes widening and fear tightening the perfect skin of her lovely face. The woman was terrified, and Sebastian had noticed.

However, for the first time since I’d met Sebastian, I knew by watching Leif that the rage that Sebastian battled every day wasn’t anything compared to what was now churning inside Leif. I’d seen him irritated when everyone had wanted to treat him with kid gloves after he’d come home from the hospital, but I’d never seen him pissed.

Quite frankly, it scared me just a little.

I wondered whether we should give Aaliyah a minute for her to gather herself. I was just about to make the suggestion when she started to speak.

“When I was sixteen,” Aaliyah began, and Sebastian’s body tensed even more, “Trevor came to stay with us for a couple of weeks around the holidays. To be honest, he always made me nervous. I found it strange that he was supposedly family, yet he leered at me whenever I was in the room. It gave me a creepy feeling, so I found myself trying to stay away from him as much as possible. I had been doing a good job when my mother told me that I needed to spend more time with him. That was one of the few times I’d ever questioned an order from my mother. I remember that she hadn’t been happy, and her answer had been that he was family and he wanted to spend time getting to know me.

“At first, I pretended to agree, but I still managed to sneak around, avoiding him at all costs. But then I’d been home from school during Christmas break, and when I tried to convince my mother to let me go out with my friends, she told me no.” Aaliyah looked up, her eyes touching every face in the room briefly. “Maybe it sounds snooty, but I wasn’t used to being told no. I argued with her, and my father told me to go to my room. I did, without arguing with him, too. I’d been in there for a couple of hours when Trevor knocked on my door. I didn’t want to let him in, but I did. After closing the door, he came to sit on the edge of my bed. He asked me what had happened, and I told him, leaving out some of the details. That was the first time he tried to touch me.”

Leif jumped up from the couch, scaring the shit out of me. He roared as he paced to the opposite side of the room and stopped as he looked out the window. Apparently, he knew, just as I did, where this conversation was going. The nausea that had hit me earlier when I’d learned that my father had worked on a vehicle that could possibly be the one that had run Sebastian’s mother off the road and ultimately resulted in her death came flooding back.

Knowing Leif was in no position to console Aaliyah, I took his spot on the couch, placing my arm over her shoulder. She was shaking, her eyes downcast. “You don’t have to continue,” I told her.

“I do,” she said softly.

Aaliyah didn’t speak for a couple of minutes, but then she seemed to gather herself, and she surprised me when she took my hand in hers.

“That time, he just put his hand on my leg. I knew immediately that it wasn’t a friendly, consoling touch, either. It grossed me out and I pulled away. I could tell he was irritated, but he pretended it didn’t bother him. Luckily my father came to my door. I told him to come in, and he dismissed Trevor so that he could talk to me. I didn’t tell him what had happened with Trevor;
I
just listened while he tried to tell me that family was important and I needed to make Trevor feel welcome in the house. He told me that Trevor was giving my mother a hard time about not feeling as though he was part of the family. It all sounded like a bullshit sob story, but I couldn’t very well tell my father that.”

Aaliyah paused, her head lifting, and she glanced across the room, where Leif was still standing, his back rigid as he stared out the back window, overlooking the vast acreage that belonged to Sebastian.

“You said that was the first time,” Sebastian said, his tone lethal.

“Yeah,” Aaliyah answered, looking directly at her brother. “He stayed until New Year’s. My mother put on an elaborate party that year, and I was told I had to attend, so I did. I had tried to be cordial to Trevor, but I hadn’t wanted to be around him, and I think he noticed. That night” — Aaliyah’s voice shook — “at the party, Trevor cornered me. I’d gone down to the kitchen, hoping for a few minutes alone, and I hadn’t been down there long when he walked in. He tried to talk to me briefly, telling me he was going back home in a couple of days. In an effort to get him to leave me alone, I told him that it had been good having him there. I then excused myself and told him I needed to get back to the party. I’d made it halfway down the hall when he came up to me from behind.” Aaliyah’s eyes filled with tears. “The next thing I knew, he had me backed against the wall, his hand roughly going beneath my dress. He tried to get—” Aaliyah’s sob nearly broke my heart and I squeezed her hand. “He tried to get into my panties, but I fought him off.”

“Son of a motherfucking bitch,” Sebastian barked as he got to his feet, his head tilted back as he stared up at the ceiling. “Why the fuck didn’t I know about this?”

Aaliyah was crying at this point, and I knew she needed to take a break. This was obviously painful for her, but she kept talking.

“One of the security guys, Anthony, came down the hall, and I yelled. Trevor backed off instantly, telling Anthony there was nothing to worry about. When we were alone again, Trevor told me that if I told my mother what had happened, she wouldn’t believe me. At first, I remember thinking that was bullshit, my mother always believed me, but then I thought about how she had been treating me since Trevor had arrived. I didn’t tell her.”

“You said earlier that your dad promised that Trevor would never be allowed back in the house,” I prompted.

“I was nineteen when Trevor … when he tried to rape me.”

I looked up, immediately locating both Leif and Sebastian. They looked as though they would snap at any second, and I feared that they would. The veins in Sebastian’s arms were protruding, his biceps flexing as his hands balled into fists, the muscle in his jaw ticking as he clenched his teeth together. This was bad and only getting worse.

I gave Aaliyah’s hand a reassuring squeeze, and I got to my feet. Sebastian was going to lose it any second, and I figured Leif wasn’t that far away. Not that I blamed either of them. I was tempted to kill Trevor with my bare hands.

“Leif,” I called to the man probably lost in his own hate as he tried his best to avoid the situation.

He turned to face me slowly, his face reflecting every ounce of anger and hatred he possessed.

“Can you sit with Aaliyah for a minute? I’m going to get us something to drink.”

Leif nodded, his feet carrying him back into the room, but I could tell he was somewhere far, far away in his head.

I took Sebastian’s hand and tugged him, forcing him to come with me. I was surprised when he didn’t even attempt to struggle.

When we were in the kitchen, I released his hand and found the cabinet where he’d put the whiskey. I grabbed four glasses and set them on the counter before turning back to him.

Leaning against the counter opposite from where he stood, I merely watched him until his eyes focused and he looked at me.

“I know this is hard,” I said softly, trying to keep my voice low enough that it didn’t carry into the other room, “but we really need to keep it together for Aaliyah.”

“Keep it together?” he asked in a strangled voice. “Are you fucking serious?”

I moved closer, pressing my hands on his chest and forcing him back against the counter. “I’m very serious right now,” I assured him in a much harder tone than I’d ever used with him before.

His eyes raked my face, his mouth a hard, thin line. I knew he was pissed, and quite possibly, he was now angry with me, too, but I really didn’t care.

“Don’t you see what’s happening?”

“Yeah,” he answered, the word clipped. “I get that Lauren let a fucking rapist into that house. And the bastard hurt my sister.”

“Yes, but…” I waited until I had his full attention before I continued. “At least once during that story, did you not wonder why Lauren would’ve allowed that?”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“If Trevor has something on Lauren, she wouldn’t’ve been in a position to stop him.”

“Bullshit,” he growled. “I don’t give a fuck what he might be holding over her head, no mother should ever allow that to happen.”

“Agreed.” I definitely couldn’t argue with his logic, but I still didn’t think Sebastian had connected the dots. “Sebastian, what if Trevor was the driver of the car? What if Lauren paid him to do her dirty work?”

His eyes narrowed, his face an inscrutable mask. That lasted all of about three seconds.

“Son of a bitch.”

Yep, now he got it. Not that it made me feel any better. The idea that Trevor would’ve done something so heinous to Aaliyah, his own cousin, reiterated just how sick the guy was. And it all made too much sense.

I cupped Sebastian’s face and held it. “Sebastian, I don’t think your father is the one who had your mother killed. I think… I think it was Lauren and if I had to guess, she used Trevor to do her dirty work.”

Sebastian

A knot the size of a small state formed in my stomach, and I fought the urge to throw up.

Could it be possible? Could Conrad really be innocent in all of this?

I wasn’t sure why my thoughts were gravitating in that direction, but what Payton said made so much sense. More sense than I’d thought possible.

It explained so much, including why Trevor was currently working for my father. If Trevor was holding this over Lauren’s head, I could understand how she might be pulling the strings harder than normal. However, if that really was true and Trevor was the one who had T-boned my mother, pushing her car off the road and ultimately resulting in her death, then he was the murderer.

Then again, Trevor was scum of the earth, and he’d already been charged with aggravated sexual assault once. The scary part was, Aaliyah wasn’t the one who’d pressed charges, I knew that much. Although she should have. Which meant Lauren had intervened. Lauren definitely had more to lose than he did.

I glanced over my shoulder, looking at Aaliyah. She was still sitting on the couch. Leif had his arms wrapped firmly around her, and she was crying. It made me want to put my fist through the wall. Of all the things I’d thought Aaliyah would say after I told her that I believed Conrad had something to do with my mother’s death, this certainly hadn’t been on the list.

I had expected her to throw a fit or argue that I was out of my mind or even tell me to go to hell. But definitely not this. To think she’d walked around with a secret like this sitting on her shoulders all this time… It went to prove just how inward my thoughts had been for so long. Until Payton had come along, I hadn’t thought about much other than my anger and my hatred for the shit life had dumped on me.

Peering down at Payton, I realized she was studying me intently, probably waiting for me to fly off the handle. Admittedly, I was pretty damn close, but thanks to her, I was holding it together.

Unclenching my hands, I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her against me, cupping the back of her head and pressing my other hand against her back. She slid her arms around my waist, her fingertips digging into my back as she held me just as tightly.

“I love you, Angel,” I whispered against her hair.

She squeezed me tighter, and that was all I needed. This woman, not only did she unhinge me, she pulled me together when I felt as though I was unraveling.

For the first time, I noticed the bottle of whiskey sitting on the counter along with the four glasses.

“Were you planning to get us drunk?” I teased, feeling significantly calmer than a few minutes ago although I was still ready to pull Trevor apart, one limb at a time.

“Something like that,” she said, pulling back and looking up at me. “Let’s go back in there. Your sister needs you right now. Just as much as you need her.”

Payton was right. On both counts.

As easy as it would be just to walk out the front door and not come back until I could think straight, it wouldn’t be fair to Aaliyah. She had just shared something I’d never expected, and I owed it to her to hear her out. Even if I wanted to rip Trevor’s head from his body and play Hacky Sack with the damn thing. It wasn’t going to help my sister.

My sister needed me, and I couldn’t very well leave things like this.

I wouldn’t put it past Aaliyah to jump to conclusions and assume that she had somehow brought this on herself. I’d heard of some women doing that. And I was a firm believer that no woman — I don’t give a fuck what she was wearing, what she said, how she acted — brought it on herself.

I also didn’t want her to think I was going to go off half-cocked. And I was pretty damn sure I’d looked rather crazy when I’d lost my shit a little while ago.

As I looked at Payton now, the expression on her face gave very little away. I wasn’t sure whether that was sympathy or pity, not that I wanted either. This was a fucked-up situation all the way around. Aaliyah had just laid some heavy stuff on us, after I’d done the same to her, and Payton was there, still holding me together.

“I should go in there and talk to her, huh?” I asked, cupping her face in my hands.

“Yes, you should,” Payton said, her voice calm and gentle. “I’ll go with you.”

Payton pulled away from me and reached for the bottle of whiskey, handing it over to me before turning back and grabbing the glasses.

My laugh sounded a little hysterical; however, I thought the whiskey was a rather brilliant idea. Getting drunk wasn’t in the plan, but something to settle the nerves definitely wouldn’t hurt.

We joined Aaliyah and Leif in the living room. The first thing I noticed was the crazy look in Leif’s eyes. Yeah, I certainly wasn’t the only one ready to dispense my own brand of justice. I knew my best friend was going to lead the pack on this one.

Aaliyah had stopped crying, but her head was still resting on Leif’s shoulder. Her eyes widened when we walked into the room.

“That for me?” she asked, forcing a smile.

“It’s for all of us,” Payton said kindly. “I think it’s been one of those days.”

Payton placed the glasses on the table and then took the bottle from my hands, pouring a small amount into each glass before pushing them to the four corners of the table.

I reached for mine at the same time Payton reached for hers. Leif and Aaliyah were a little slower to get with the program, but they eventually retrieved their own glasses.

Payton held up her glass and cleared her throat. I noticed that Leif and Aaliyah grinned, and I followed suit. She was making a toast.

“To answers,” Payton said, a slight wobble to her voice. “Because we will get answers. One way or another.”

“Amen,” I added, looking at Leif. Payton was right about that. We would get answers. I could pretty much guaran-fucking-tee it.

After spending the better part of the afternoon talking to Aaliyah, I wasn’t sure if I felt better or worse. As much as I hadn’t wanted to hear the details of what Trevor had done to her, I had stuck it out, listening to her soft words, barely audible half the time over the roar of my blood in my ears. By the time she was finished rehashing that horrific day, I was ready to hunt the bastard down and show him just what I thought of him. He wouldn’t have walked away from that, I assure you that much.

When all was said and done, Payton had excused herself to go call her father. She was gone for a good half hour, and it was then that I realized she had opted to call him and tell him what was going on, rather than going to visit. When she’d returned to the room, I had told her I’d be more than willing to take her to see her parents. She had refused the offer, insisting that she didn’t want to leave Aaliyah.

Since the others, Toby, Chloe, Aaron, and Garrett, were supposed to join us, Payton had also handled making those calls. Tonight just wasn’t a good night.

Not that Aaliyah needed a babysitter, but she didn’t need an audience, either. She and Leif had actually gone for a walk nearly two hours ago. I knew they had a lot to talk about, but I still worried. Payton tried to assure me that they were fine. I knew they were, but still.

I think the problem was that I was still too keyed up from the earlier discussion.

“Why don’t you show me your office,” Payton said, catching me off guard when she appeared in the living room a second later.

“Huh?” I asked, confused.

“Your office. You haven’t shown it to me since you got it all set up.”

I watched her, trying to figure out just what her angle was, but her expression was cool.

“Yeah, okay,” I told her, pushing to my feet.

I wasn’t sure if there was much to see in my office, but clearly Payton was trying to distract me, and I welcomed it. A chance to get out of my own head wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.

Payton waited for me to stand and didn’t move until I did, falling into step behind me as we made it to the closed doors beneath the stairs. I’d had blinds installed on the French doors to give me privacy, in the event that I needed it. I hadn’t used the office but maybe once since everything was set up.

After walking in, I stepped to the side, trying to see the room from her point of view. The desk was still clean, nothing on the top. The credenza against the wall held my laptop but little else. There was a pencil holder, lacking the pencils, and a framed picture of Payton. I wasn’t sure she knew about that one. I’d taken it with my cell phone while she was sleeping. It was a close-up of her face, peaceful as she slept in my bed. I had other pictures of her on my phone, mostly candid shots she hadn’t realized I’d taken, but there were a couple of selfies we’d taken together. I intended to add a few of those to the office when I got a chance, but things had been a little crazy lately.

Payton closed the door when she stepped inside. It wasn’t until I heard the lock engage that I realized my sweet angel wasn’t just looking for a tour of my office, she was seriously creating a distraction.

I held my breath, and when she took my hand, smiling up at me, I saw the gleam in her hazel eyes.

She tugged my arm until I moved, leading me around the desk and then gently urging me to stop in front of my chair. I was tempted to drop into the chair and pull her into my lap, but she clearly had other plans.

She unhooked the button on my jeans and lowered the zipper, still watching my face. When she pushed my jeans to my knees, taking my boxers with them, I nearly lost what little control I still had.

“Sit,” she demanded softly, urging me into my chair.

When she dropped to her knees in front of me, I let out an involuntary groan.

There were more to follow when she wrapped her soft, cool fingers around my shaft, stroking me slowly until I was hard as steel in her palm.

“Payton.” I said her name more as a warning, but she didn’t seem to care.

Her eyes met mine, her smile still firmly in place. I quickly got lost in the smooth stroke of her hand up and down my dick. She was teasing me, and my body responded instantly, my cock pulsing in her hand.

Payton didn’t seem to be in a hurry, and I was just getting used to the idea of a hand job when she leaned forward and pressed her lips to the head of my dick. I sucked in air and closed my eyes. My hands were on the arms of the chair, my fingernails digging into the leather as I hung on for dear life.

“Oh, damn, baby,” I groaned, relishing the feel of her tongue as she laved my cock as slowly as she had been stroking it.

I squeezed my eyes shut when she wrapped her lips around me and lowered her head, taking me all the way into the sweet heaven of her mouth. I wasn’t going to last, but I didn’t think it really mattered.

“Payton, baby,” I whispered, “if you’re trying to distract me, you’re doin’ a damn good job.”

She didn’t respond, but the gentle vibration of her lips as she moaned against me nearly sent me into oblivion. Payton worked me over for a couple of minutes, and I managed to refrain from exploding, but it became more and more difficult. When she cupped my balls in her hand, I knew I couldn’t take much more.

Linking my fingers into her hair, I guided her head until she was bobbing faster and faster. It wasn’t long before my breath lodged in my throat and every muscle in my body tensed.

“Payton, if you don’t stop, I’m gonna come in your mouth.” Another warning, one I expected her to heed, but she didn’t, and a second later, I exploded, my dick pulsing in her mouth as I came so hard I knew it was a damn good thing I was sitting down.

As I came back down to earth, I realized something: my sweet angel had a naughty side.

And I loved her even more, although I hadn’t thought it was possible.