Page 21 of Brandishing Betrayals

Ten minutes later, I pulled into the parking of an upscale townhouse complex. The kind where the garage was on the main level, and everything was built above it. It looked new and modern from the outside. “Park in front of the garage,” Nic directed me.

As I put the car in park, Nic got out and walked up to the garage door. On the side of the frame, I eyed a keypad. He punched in the code and a moment later the door started to open.

I popped the trunk and shut off the car, before I gathered my phone, keys, and purse. Once I had my stuff, I climbed out. Nico was already grabbing the bags from the trunk. “Come on,” he called, shutting the trunk before I could help.

I locked the car and followed him inside the empty garage. His motorcycle was back at my place, and knowing Nico, his truck was probably at the clubhouse until winter.

He led me up a set of carpeted stairs to the main level. It was an open concept living, dining and kitchen area. In the back corner, tucked behind the kitchen was a door that was opened to the bathroom. The stairs turned and continued up to a third floor, where I assumed the bedrooms were.

Everything was new and modern, masculine in shades of gray and black. Not much in the way of art or décor, but there was massive plush sectional that dominated the living room, centered around a massive TV that took up half the wall.

For the first time that morning, I smiled. “Very nice,” I told Nico, glancing at him as I headed for the couch.

He beamed brightly at me and I had to fight back the surge of butterflies in my belly at seeing that sexy ass grin aimed my way. Instead, I settled onto the fluffy couch and got comfortable. I had a solid eight hours of free time and I was going to use every minute it.

I grabbed the remote off the coffee table and flipped on the TV. I had shows to catch up on.

Marcos

WhenIarrivedatDagger’s townhouse, I pulled my bike alongside Maya’s beat up Civic—the same Honda Civic I’d helped her buy brand new eleven years ago. Her first brand new car. She’d been so excited and damn proud of herself and I’d been so happy for her and proud of her too.

She had worked so hard through college, and then after when she got her firstcareerjob, using her degree. It had been shortly after her parents had thrown her out of their house. My heart hurt every time I thought of the past and what we had back then.There wasn’t a day that went by in the last decade that I hadn’t thought about her, hadn’t missed her.

She was the one that got away…and now she was back. I only wondered if I could set aside my own feelings of hurt and resentment to move on.

I let myself into Dagger’s garage using the keypad on the garage door and headed into his house. Upstairs, I walked into the living room to find Dagger sitting on the couch, his back to the stairs, as he watched TV quietly…alone?

Dagger turned to me immediately and pressed a finger to his lips, motioning for me to be quiet. I frowned and walked quietly into the living room. Maya had her head on a pillow in Dagger’s lap and a throw blanket draped over her—she was sound asleep.

I walked around the couch and eyed her warily. Her golden blond hair was pulled back in a messy bun, her curls in disarray. The blanket was pulled up to her chin, so I couldn’t see the bruising on her neck.

“How is she?” I asked, voice soft, as I walked closer.

Dagger shrugged a shoulder and gave me a so-so wave of his hand.

I sighed and moved even closer. I wished I could touch her, hold her. I wished things weren’t so fucked up between us. I kicked off my boots and took a seat on the couch at Maya’s feet. She was curled up, so there was plenty of room unless she stretched out.

I made myself comfortable on Dagger’s stupidly plush sofa.

It wasn’t long before I was nodding off to sleep myself.

Marcos

I woke to the shifting of the couch and feet sliding over my lap, dangerously close to my dick. I grabbed the feet before they could hurt me and cracked open an eye. Maya had rolled over onto her back and stretched out, but looked like she was still sound asleep.

I glanced at Dagger; my brother was sliding his fingers through the curls on Maya’s head. He must have pulled her hair out of the bun and was toying with it.

I smirked, knowing how damn pissed Maya got about people fucking with her hair. “Stop,” she grumbled, sleepily slapping his hand away.

So maybe she wasn’t asleep after all.

Dagger stopped, a wide grin on his face as he stared down at her. I could see his feelings written all over his face. Dagger wasn’t like Stone or I. He didn’t bottle his emotions up as badly as we did. He was more open with his feelings, and he forgave too easily.

Seeing him, utterly in love with Maya still, I had to look away. It didn’t sit right. We couldn’t just go back to how things were, too much had changed between us all. I only wanted to make sure she was okay, and that Stone hadn’t permanently harmed the mother of my child.

Now that she had rolled onto her back and the blanket had fallen away, I could clearly see the bruising around her neck. Deep red bruises, purpling in color, mixed with tinges of blue, wrapped around her neck. Some spots you could make out where Stone’s fingertips had been.

My heart stopped as I cleaned closer and studied her neck. I didn’t notice her watching me, until she said, “Why are you here?”

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