Marked (Marked #3) (6 page)

“Ready to bust the fuck out of here, Bitts?” Lance’s bellowed before he entered my room. Only he could get away with being so loud and not be kicked out of this place. The door was kicked open, and in he came, barreling into my room holding a single branch—my peach blossom, and a single Starbucks cup. “I have arrived to make your day brighter. Now appreciate me.”

Was I ready to get out of this place? Fuck and yes please. I’d been awake a total of five days now, and saying that I was ready to climb the walls would be putting it mildly.

“You’re on my phone’s top five, and if that’s not commitment, I don’t know what is.” Already, I was sitting up a little higher. A small smile overtook my face as I searched behind him for my favorite person. Nothing.
Where the hell was he?

“Sorry, Bitts, but your man is back at the shop with a client. It was a last minute thing.” My smile dropped at his words. “But, in his place he sent me. We all know that you’re secretly in love with me...so here I am. Take me!”

“Funny,” I deadpanned.

“You wound me.” With my branch smashed against his chest, he walked over to me and kissed the top of my head.

“Quit being a clown and tell me who he’s with?” Lance raised a brow and shook his head ‘no.’ “Please.”

“Fine, just no more whining.” The temptation to do just that was almost unbearable, but I zipped my lips and looked up at him innocently. “Not buying the act. Losing your touch, it seems.”

“Oh for fuck’s sake…who?” I huffed out and laid back down into a more comfortable position.

“Luna.” The way Lance said her name, as if it was supposed to mean something caused me to quirk a brow. To be honest, I was drawing a complete blank.

“Who?” Better not be one of his ex-hoes. Janice was more than enough to deal with.

“Jealous?”

“Want to wear what’s inside the cup?”

His arms came up in surrender, almost spilling my coffee. “She’s Thiago De Leon’s, girl. Or ex. Have you heard of him before?” I nodded and waved him on. Anybody that lived in South Florida knew the De Leon family. Nice people, but don’t fuck with them…especially, youngest son, Thiago.

“Isn’t he…”

“Yeah, comes out soon too. That’s why I think she’s there, getting new ink to commemorate the occasion.” Shrugging, he pulled the ugly tray table across my torso, placed the cup down, and took a seat in the chair beside my bed. My peach blossoms lay across his lap. “Talan will fill us in later tonight. But for now…” he rubbed his hands together like an evil villain and laughed “…it’s you and me, kiddo.”

“Pfft. I’m not a kid!”

“Really?” Noticing my eyes on the flowers, he picked them back up and handed them to me with a smirk on his face. “Could’ve fooled me.”

“Ass.” I was so tempted to stick my tongue out at him, but refrained. I’d lose my ‘not a kid’ argument very quick.

“Shut up and drink this.” His teasing tone made me smile. Lance had become the older brother I’d always wanted. Sweet, protective, and always there for those he loved.

After raising the cup to my lips, I paused midair. He was watching me with a wicked gleam in his eyes that made me nervous. And then I remembered why so many of my friends complained about older brothers.

One word: annoying.

“What’d you put in it?” Yeah, at that very moment, I didn’t trust him. Especially with the way he barked out a loud laugh at my question. I placed that cup back down quick, almost knocking it over in my haste.

I wasn’t about to be the butt of his joke. Literally.

Shaking his head, he leaned forward and pushed the cup closer to me. “Drink.”

“You first! Take a sip, old grasshopper.” Fucker just raised a brow. “Or are you scared?”

“Don’t drink that
froufrou
chai shit. I just deliver the goods.”

A snort escaped me. “Spoiled goods?”

“Brat.”

“Senior citizen.”

“Imp.”

“Gramps.”

“Black.”

“Pink.”

“Fuck, I’ve missed you, kid.” At his honest words, I reached out and squeezed his hand. We were a familial unit, dysfunctional as all fuck, but we were each other’s people.

“Missed you too.” A small sniffle escaped me. “And I’m sorry for being a major bitch the other day. You might not have been here, but I thank you for stepping in and talking to Talan. It’s because of you, and Simon, that he came to me that night.”

“Bullshit.”

At his incredulous reply, I tilted my head to the side and raised a brow. “Elaborate, Gramps.”

“First off…” he flipped me off “… and second, it’s true. We met up at Hooters.” Idiot had enough sense to keep on talking before I could interrupt. “Was he pissed? Fuck, yes, but he also looked miserable—snapped at anything with a set of tits that even tried to come close.” I smiled at that, and he rolled his eyes. “Go ahead and gloat, shrimp. But the truth is that he vented, listened to what I had to say, and came straight over here. It was a small fight, Maya. Something that will happen again. It’s inevitable. He’s as hardheaded as you are.”

Pursing my lips, I took a moment to make sense of the chaotic mess inside my head. “I get that. It’s part of the whole relationship thing…the disagreements, but I hurt him. Deeply hurt him.”

“Okay, you know you did and admit to being wrong. Bonus points for you, by the way, but tell me this much…you know that man would die for you, right?”

“Yeah.” Nothing but the truth in those words. If Talan had too, there was no doubt in my mind he’d take a bullet for me.

“You know all he’s wanted is you safe and the mess that is Janice far away from you. She’s fucked in the head, Maya. Needs help. We all saw this, every one of us, but you.”

Another bitter pill to swallow. Lance was right. They all were when it came to how dangerous she truly was.

Grasping my cup, I brought the now warm liquid up to my lips and took a greedy sip. The reaction was automatic. Warmth flowed through me; the sweet and spicy notes in the tea with milk were calming—soothed my frazzled nerves.

No one liked to admit their faults, and as of late, that was all I had time to focus on.

“Earth to Maya,” Lance called out, his hand pushing on my shoulder just a tiny bit, a small jostle that brought me back to the present. “You okay, kiddo?”

“Would you really like to know why I flipped that day?” He seemed taken aback by my sudden stoic demeanor. “Do you?” Enough hiding. And as weird as it sounded in my own head, Lance was the one person in all this that wouldn’t judge. He’d listen.

“What’s going on in that head of yours, Maya? Talk to me.” Giving my shoulder a quick squeeze, he sat back and regarded me with a worried expression, as if troubled by the dark secret or the hidden agenda he thought I was about to reveal.

“I will, but first…” with my pointer finger I made a circle in the airspace around his face “…get rid of the constipated look.”

It worked. He laughed. Long and hard and with tears gathering at the corner of his eyes. “Again,” he spoke once he got himself semi under control, “you’re a brat.”

My mature reply, I stuck my tongue out at him. Immediately the tension broke within the confined space, and I breathed in deep, preparing myself for all I was about to divulge.

“I’m scared, Lance. It’s as simple as that.” He opened his mouth to speak, but I held a finger up. “Not done.”

“Okay.”

“When she—Janice,” I flinched while whispering her name. Taking in a deep breath, I squared my shoulders and stared up toward the ceiling, needing to find the strength to get through this without crying. “When she attacked, I didn’t have time to react. I was by myself. Alone. In a dark and empty parking lot where I was supposed to be safe, somewhere where there should’ve been a security officer monitoring around the clock.”

“I’m so sorry—”

“Don’t.” Looking him in the eye, I made sure he saw the truth behind every word that passed through my lips. “It’s not yours or anyone’s fault. Don’t go there.” My hands shook as I brought the cup up to my lips, a tiny amount dripping down my arm before I took my sip. As soon as I was done, Lance took the cup and placed it back on the table for me. “Thanks.”

“Carry on.” He smiled that boyish smile that Veronica loved and sat back. Quiet and now calmed. As if he were aware of something I wasn’t.

“Weirdo.” Lance raised a brow, but didn’t reply. “Anyways, in that moment, when I felt someone’s presence behind me, I panicked. Body coiled tight and refusing to move. Everything around me slowed, and when the bat connected that first time I almost passed out. My body wanted to give in to the pain after each blow, but my head wouldn’t give in. It hurt like hell, but nothing, not a fucking thing, scared me more than never seeing Talan again. Of never being held in his arms. So when the epic boom happened the other day, it was my fucking fear that caused me to overreact…to lash out. What if he’d been hurt and no one was saying anything? What if he’d been arrested? I’d lose him all over again.”

“Again, Maya? What do you mean, again?”

Fist grasping the sheets, I took in a few deep breaths before looking up at him again. “When that final blow that knocked me out connected with the side of my head, I thought I would die. In those few seconds before the blackness took me under, I mourned him. Our love. So when my parents came in, secretive and hiding shit, it was like that night all over again. Confused and scared would be putting it mildly. I thought the worst, feared it being confirmed.”

“But then I came in. You saw me here, Bitty.” At the sound of Talan’s voice, the tightening around my chest lessened. A blanket of calmness covered me. I could breathe again. “I’m sorry you were scared, baby…really, I am, but you saw with your own two eyes that I was fine.”

“But that’s just it,” I screamed out, arms stretched out while I pointed an accusatory finger at Talan. Fury ripped through me again, and my breathing became labored. How could he do that to me? “You didn’t fucking think about what you being missing would do to me. In that moment, I didn’t know that Brian,” I spat his name with venom, “was here. Trust me, I get the need to protect me with your own life if necessary, but being in the dark; the panic and pain that surged through my body was more than I could handle. Everything around me slowed and my heart physically hurt. I only understood one thing…if something happened to you, I couldn’t go on. I love you that fucking much.”

“Shhhh,” Talan cooed in my ear while his strong arms cocooned me. When the fuck had he crossed the room? “Nothing happened, and I am right here.” Nodding, I burrowed in deeper against his chest. Took in his scent and tried to regulate my breathing. “I’m going to take a wild guess here—tell me if I am wrong.”

“Okay.” Laying a tiny kiss over his heart, I tipped my face up and stared up at him.

“When I walked in, your relief merged into anger. You felt betrayed because in your eyes I was being a macho dick?”

“Kind of.” At that, he raised a brow and his lips puckered. Reaching up with one arm, I fisted the back of his head and brought those sweet lips down to mine. “I love you.” Talan opened his mouth to speak, but I nipped his bottom lip and shook my head at him. “Not done.”

His lips quirked up in a lazy smile, making me want to lick him, but unfortunately, now was not the time. Pulling back, I put some space between us, but kept his hand in mine, needing the connection. “When you walked in, I was so relieved, baby. Could breathe again.  I was so happy to see your face, but then Detective Marquez’s words rang in my ear. What you had done. The promise you broke. To be honest, I felt betrayed by you. In that one small instance, I didn’t trust you.”