Page 88 of Veiled in Brick

“Do you need another glass thrown at your skull? Would that make the words clearer for you?” I glanced to my left and saw a smattering of small rocks that were overgrown with weeds below the patio. “A rock would do the job, right? If I find one sharp enough, I could give you a much needed lobotomy—just don’t fucking duck this time.”

Carter scoffed, speaking to Liam with bright eyes, “She’s got a mouth on her.”

“Uh huh,” Liam replied rapidly. “Answer the goddamn question, Carter, can you—”

“I haven’t talked to the guy in weeks, there’s no calling off to do,” he mentioned.

I scowled at his response. “Then why the fuck isn’t he going away?”

Liam added, “And who the hell is he?”

Carter’s eyebrows raised, wrinkles forming deep in his forehead. “Sounds like I need some context.”

“No,” Liam piped up. “Ya don’t.”

“Well, it feels like this is some important information for ya, here, Liam…valuable, even—”

Liam bit back, “If you even start to ask for money—”

“Jesus fucking Christ,” I spat. “You want money, Carter?! I’ll give you some money if ya tell me who this guy is.”

Liam’s head snapped to mine. “Zoey—”

“No, Lee, I will. I don’t give a shit if you’re trying to reap the rewards of this goddamn hellhole that I’m in, Carter. Ya fuckin’ want context? A man was following me—from your orders, yes?”

Carter nodded, and began to reply in a quiet, “Yes,” but the word was cut off from my impending response.

“Good,” I sneered. “Glad you’re following along. I’m not gonna explain the entire goddamn soap opera that this has been, but long story short, I don’t really care for the fact that this guy tried to rape me and he’s just fuckin’ itching to finish the job. Ringin’ any bells for you?”

“He did what?” Carter returned, his eyes wide.

“Attacked me,” I clarified. “Left me notes; broke into my fucking apartment. I don’t know what you asked him to do, but—”

Carter stood up straight. “No, no—that wasn’t my guy—”

Liam interjected, “I need you to be honest for once in your goddamn life.”

“Do you really think I paid for that?” Carter asked, horrified.

“Well, ya already had all of us followed—”

“Liam, I’m not a fuckin’ monster,” Carter retorted.

“No, just a narcissist with both physically and mentally abusive tendencies,” I stated as I crossed my arms. “That’s all.”

“Okay,” Carter held up a hand to me, “easy, now—”

“Yeah, we’re past easy,” Liam snapped.

“I met with someone, I paid him, he gave me your addresses and some shit about what you do every day,” Carter insisted. “That’s fuckin’ it.”

Liam asked, “Why should I believe that?”

The question hung in the air, and I clung to it until I took in the sincerity on Carter’s face. He was aghast. His bronzed face held a pallor to it, and he glanced to the sky as he thought to himself regarding his response. He looked back to us with not guilt, but sympathy, his gaze pinched in such a way that it exaggerated the crow’s feet by his hazel eyes. My anger toward Carter because of who he is—what he had done to Liam and how I’d seen him behave—remained. Even with what little time I had experienced with the man, I loathed him. In my opinion, his actions in the past were unforgivable and no amount of blood relation to Liam could mend that thought. However, he finally spoke to both of us with an air of desperation:

“What good would I have to deny it? To…to do all that just to hide it from ya?”

And I really, truly believed him. There would have been no point to that—for if Carter was the driving force behind the man who was threatening me…if he were doing all of this to get back at Liam, he would have wanted to boast about it. To tell Liam that he needs to get with it, otherwise the man will remain in my life. To hold the actions that the man could perform above Liam’s head, or, rather, around his neck like a noose. But he wasn’t…and he was right. There was no use in denying it.

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