Page 35 of Risky Taste
Kurt stands and moves toward me again. “See, my parents were innocent but they crucified them for some PR so I decided it’s my turn to play god. Show them that it isn’t as fun when they aren’t in control,” he says.
I swallow, unable to believe what’s coming out of his mouth. He believes that his parents didn’t actually do all that stuff. And while I understand he is hurting, there is no fucking way that our superiors fucked up that much.
“And it haseverythingto do with you, Noah. You’ve been a goddamn thorn in my side since it all went down. You were the focus. You were to get everything, the love, the house, the assets because I couldn’t be trusted,” he says.
That doesn’t make sense either. “We weren’t even teenagers,” I push out.
“And yet, your parents were still making plans. I would be left with nothing. So, sure, I let things go a little haywire. I gave Heath access to you. Needed to bring you down a peg or two but when you didn’t fucking fall apart after you came back? Like sure, a few loud noises-” A maniacal grin spreads across his lips as he swipes the lamp from the nightstand and chucks it against the far wall.
I cringe, smacking my hands over my ears, eyes wide. They said they didn’t come over to threaten me and while that might be right, they are here to terrify me into submission. Kurt approaches, his fingers tangling in my shirt as he drags me across the bed. I am on my knees, clawing at his arm to let me go, terror running through my veins.
Tears start down my cheeks as his grin grows, Kurt slipping a pistol from the back of his pants. It’s longer than it should be, horror settling in my gut as I catch the silencer attached to it. He’s prepared for whatever he’s about to do and he wants to make sure no one is going to hear it.
“What are you going to do with that?” I cry. He can’t kill me. I didn’t do anything and yet I couldn’t stop him if I tried. The only reason I didn’t run was because I didn’t think Kurt was capable of this kind of violence toward me. I can survive a beating but I’m not stronger than a bullet.
Heath pops out of his seat. “Hey, this isn’t what we agreed on. You said you just wanted to talk to him.” Heath’s bit of concern doesn’t make me feel better.
“And yet, I don’t really care what we agreed on. You couldn’t keep Noah under control when you were married. You also couldn’t get him to back off when you met him at the funeral. So, it’s my turn, and by god, I’m going to make sure it works. Don’t worry, little brother, they’ll reject your deployment after what I’m about to do,” Kurt muses, his grin widening across his face.
I cry out again as he places the gun near my head and pulls the trigger. Sound blasts by my ear as it fires a blank, the shock of sound throwing me into a spiral. My fingers dig into Kurt’s arm as he sets it up again and pulls the trigger a second time. He’s not close enough to damage my hearing completely but enough that there’s ringing in my left ear, a splitting headache throbbing against my skull.
My body shuts down as I try to block out the sound, Kurt cackling at my pitiful reaction. When he releases me, I crumble onto the mattress, shaking and whispering for help. I try to curl into a ball to escape my reality as something else crashes against the wall, liquid splashing onto my side.
Shards of glass join me on the bed as Kurt bends down to ruffle through his bag. “Hold him down, Heath. No, don’t fight me on this. After today, Noah isn’t going to be a problem.”
“He wasn’t really a problem before,” Heath groans, obviously not on board with whatever my brother is doing.
“Says the man who set up his deployment so he’d be out of the country,” Kurt shoots back.
“And we wouldn’t have to worry about him in two days. But this? I didn’t sign up for this.”
Kurt hesitates as he reveals a bottle of the devil’s poison from his bag and then another one. “See, you’re in as deep as I am. Maybe more. I have access already to most of the shit we’ve been doing, messing with deployments and shit. But you? You hack your way in,” he says. He holds up one of the glass bottles and nods. “This should do.”
“What, what-”
“Stop talking, Noah. It won’t save you. Just open up.”
I freeze. He is using my addiction against me. Sure, they’d cancel my deployment but they would also fire me from the clinic. I might even lose my license if they think I relapsed into my old ways. It’d be explainable, what with Ronny’s death, but that doesn’t mean they’d give me a second chance.
I dart off the bed, just to have a firm hand around my throat slamming backward onto the mattress. My ear is still ringing, head a chaotic mess. There’s no reason for all this, no reason other than to show that they’re in control. But I’m not giving in so easily, not even as Heath straddles my waist and pins my arms to the bed.
I kick and struggle beneath him but keep my lips clamped shut, even as Kurt grips my jaw, trying to force my mouth open. If this is the last thing I can do, I will. Kurt growls at me to just ‘give in’ and ‘open up’ but fuck that bullshit. I’ve been fighting foryearsand I’m not about to let all that go to waste.
Being held down is only adding to my fear and the chaos, amber liquid splashing across my face, spilling down my chin and soaking into my shirt and the mattress beneath me. My mouth is still closed, my eyes scrunched shut as the alcohol fills my nose and splashes down to my ears. If they don’t stop soon, I’ll have to take a breath, unable to breathe any other way than through my mouth.
Kurt’s assault doesn’t stop a moment too soon, the man setting the lingering bit on the nightstand. “You’ll want some when you’re awake, little brother. Or should I say cousin?” He cackles. “Heath told me all about what you went through trying to avoid him. I’m not sure why you didn’t just let Heath leave you.”
Tears gather in my eyes as Heath slowly climbs off of me, the ache of having been held down just adding to everything else. Dots pepper my vision, unconsciousness trying to steal me away as I struggle to roll over to my side.
Wordlessly, I meet my brother’s eyes, asking ‘why’.
Kurt just laughs. “To be honest, besides seeing how you get all the attention? I just don’t like you. You steal my friends, my squad, my livelihood. You could have stayed in your own little corner but you just had to have mine. So, hey, this is a warning. Stay away and I’ll even let you keep my friends. They’re dead to me anyway.”
Heath says nothing, almost looking guilty but his emotions are hardly my problem. They stalk out of the room, Kurt laughing about something as Heath grunts in agreement, leaving me in tortured silence. I manage to find enough strength to bury my face in one of the pillows to dry my face, the sting of alcohol burning into my cheeks, mixing with my tears.
It takes me entirely too long as I fight the darkness to find my phone, the screen cracked and even longer to dial a number. It brings up Declan, a broken cry falling from my lips as he answers.
“How is lunch, Noah?” Declan asks.
