Page 55 of Dark Things
“Back the fuck off, Mary.”
I give his shoulder a shove. “Let her through. She needs to be taught to keep her fucking mouth shut. I’m not going to keep doing this with her.”
He shakes his head and spins toward me. “Walk away, Reb.”
We’ve gathered a larger crowd than I thought as I look around. Haunt is standing to my right with his arms folded over his chest. He raises his eyebrow before tapping his arm. Our signal that we need to get out.
I reach around Brooks and point my finger. “If you keep this shit up, I will send you back to Daddy in a fucking body bag. I don’t care if you think you’re some kind of queen bitch, there are a lot of scary ways to die, Mary. Trust I’ll make it happen.”
With one last look at Brooks, I shove his shoulder, making my way toward the car. There better be someone for me to punch when we get to the slaughterhouse.
22
Brooks
As soon as Reb leaves, I turn to Mary and try to tame the anger that’s coursing through me.
“Stay the fuck away from her,” I growl.
Her face is red, and the bloom of a bruise is starting to form, but I can’t find it in me to care. She’s brought this on herself.
“I knew you were fucking her! That bitch is going to get what she deserves,” she screams, stomping her foot on the ground like a toddler.
I try to calm my anger, but I’m done with this. Mary’s outlived her usefulness, and now it’s time for her to get very clear on the message I’m about to send.
Stepping right in her face, I lean in to speak directly in her ear. “You will leave Reb alone. If I find out you’re causing trouble, I’ll make sure the world knows what your father really does. And I’m not talking about equestrian sports, Mary. I’m talkingabout all the girls that go missing when Daddy is around. We wouldn’t want the Silver name to be splashed all over the newspapers citing an involvement with murdering underage girls, now would we?”
Her body locks up, and when I raise my head to look into her eyes she’s white as a sheet. I can almost smell the fear that’s overcome her.
“Tell me you understand, Mary,” I say.
She looks at me as if this is the first time she’s seeing me. “I understand.”
I stare into her eyes for a second longer before turning and walking toward the stadium. Colt and Staff are right behind me, but I can’t shake this anger. I don’t know what I’m going to do if I can’t get this out of my system.
“What did you tell her?” Colt asks.
“That we know exactly how the Silvers amassed their fortune, and if she keeps fucking with Reb then all bets are off.”
I roll my head trying to relieve the tension, but it’s like there’s an active volcano inside of me, and it’s about to erupt.
“Why are we trying to protect her? They just told us they aren’t going to be helping us. I think we need to rethink this whole plan,” he says, pushing through the locker room doors.
There are a couple of guys from the team here already, but we move over to our lockers in the back where it’s quieter.
“I guess I’m going to be the first to say this, then,” I say, pulling off my shirt and stuffing it into my cubby. “She reminds me of Belle.”
They both look at me like I’ve lost my mind, but the more I’m around her the more my soul reacts to her. I’ve only been this tuned into someone once before, and it’s been five years since she’s been in my arms.
“Are you talking about the freaking twin flame shit that you and Belle used to talk about?” Colt asks. He throws his shoes off and yanks down his sweats so venomously you’d think they were on fire.
“That's exactly what I’m saying. When we were twelve, and I met Belle for the first time, it was like my soul automatically knew who she was and how important she was going to be in my life. I will never forget that feeling. Either Reb is Belle, or she knows exactly where Belle is. I can feel it.”
“What the fuck are you talking about? How in the fuck can RebbeBelle? They’re two very different people. They may remind you of each other, but it’s not like they look like twins or anything,” Staff says.
“I didn’t say I had the answers, but I do know what my gut is telling me,” I respond, dropping down on the bench and doing up my cleats.
Colt’s jersey is clutched between his fingers, and his eyes are on the floor. “Brooks is right. Did you see what she did at the game and her practice? She kissed and held up three fingers on the last jump. That was always for us,” he whispers.
