Page 15 of Last One Standing (Saint Brothers #5)

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

KONA

It had been two days. I’d been locked in this shitty room and unable to see Pika.

Brick had apparently told everyone at Stilettos and Sangria that I was sick and wouldn’t be in this weekend’s show.

They’d figure something out, and it would be spectacular.

I’d laughed when he told me but refused to tell him why.

He always said that no one gave a shit about the other acts, and that I was what they came for, but the moment it didn’t fit his narrative, suddenly they were amazing.

I tried texting Pika on his cell phone, but he didn’t answer, likely because he wasn’t alone and didn’t want Tank or any of the others to see him talking to anyone.

I couldn’t go on like this. Brick was out of control, and while I’d never really thought he’d hurt Pika, I wasn’t sure of that anymore.

A door slamming down the hall made me jump.

“Who is this?” Brick’s thunderous voice echoed through the clubhouse.

“A…a friend.” Pika’s voice was shaking.

I rushed to my door and started banging on it. “Leave him the fuck alone, Brick!”

“I don’t know a friend named Trevor.” Brick ignored me and was shouting at Pika. “He said he’d see you after the show, you have more people you want to bring around to fuck up my life?”

“He’s a guy I met at the library, that’s all.”

I punched my door again. “Brick, I swear to God, if you don’t get away from him, the next time I suck you, I’ll bite your dick off!”

I heard his footsteps and moved away from the door. A second later it was flung open and Brick towered in the doorway, his expression pure rage.

“You’re getting mouthy,” he snarled.

“Leave Pika alone, Brick. You’re mad at me, not him.”

He took a few steps into the room and held up the cell phone I’d given him. “He has a friend named Trevor who no one has ever heard of suddenly wanting to go to your show. I find it pretty suspicious that he has all these people who want to see you perform all of a sudden.”

“He’s not allowed to have friends, to promote the show?” I inched away to keep distance between us.

“You all must think I’m stupid.”

“No one thinks that, Brick. And if someone does, they aren’t too bright themselves.”

He sneered and advanced on me. “You gave him this phone. Tank found it hidden in his backpack. Who hides a phone?”

“How is it being in his backpack hiding it? Sounds like a pretty logical place to have a phone.”

As swift as a breeze he slapped me so hard, I almost spun completely around.

“Don’t be a smartass!”

“You ask for explanations, yet you never accept them. What the fuck do you want from us? We tell you the truth, and you say we lie. If we lie, you’ll tell us we deceived you. What the fuck do you want from us?” I was shaking, blood dripped from the corner of my mouth, and I felt unhinged.

He pocketed the cell phone and crowded my space. He gripped my chin tightly. “Obedience. I want obedience.”

“And yet when you have it, it’s never enough. You’re setting us up for failure, and you know it.”

With his other hand he gently caressed my cheek. “How can someone be so fucking beautiful on the outside and so rotten on the inside?”

I glared at him. “I would ask the same of you, except you stopped being beautiful on the outside a long time ago.”

I knew that was a mistake the second it left my mouth, but I didn’t care anymore. He was leaving Pika alone and focusing on me, and that was what I wanted.

He growled and threw me onto the bed. “Maybe I show the world how ugly your soul is, huh?” He gripped my hair so tightly, all it would’ve taken was a tug and he’d have a fistful of hair.

“You gonna hit me, Brick? Beat me? The same song and dance?” I was taunting him—he knew it, and anyone with ears could hear that.

He pressed his knee against my stomach and crouched low so his face was an inch from mine. “I think, maybe, I’ll make you wish you were dead.”

And for the next three hours, he did just that.

I couldn’t move. Lips came in every now and then to check on my wounds, keep me hydrated. Even fed me some broth. My eyes were swollen shut, but I could make out his voice when he spoke. I wondered if he or the other guys thought Brick was a monster. Were they afraid of him?

I pushed away his hands while he prodded my ribs.

I was sure one was broken. He’d wrapped it already, laid an ice pack on it.

I knew I’d poked Brick too much, but he was so angry and I hadn’t wanted Pika to feel that.

I’d take it a hundred times so he never had to.

He hadn’t made the choice to accept Brick’s help all those years ago; I had.

“He’s safe,” Lips whispered to me.

I turned toward his voice. “Please, Lips.” My voice was scratchy, but I knew he’d heard me.

“Tank has him; he’s keeping Brick away.” He didn’t say more and a beat later, I heard my door shut and the lock click.

I hoped what Lips had said was true. Since Brick had left my room yesterday, I hadn’t been able to move. I couldn’t help Pika even if I wanted to.

I wanted to ask Pika who Trevor was. I’d known he’d gone to Saintly Sweets, and I was sure Trevor wasn’t the person’s real name, and Brick obviously had come to the same conclusion.

Pika had to stop. There would come a point when even Tank and Lips wouldn’t be able to hold Brick off if he wanted to hurt my brother.

What had he been thinking, going there? I wished I could speak to him.

Lips had given me some pain pills, and as much as I wanted to stay alert, the pain was too much.

There wasn’t an inch of my skin and bones that Brick hadn’t touched with his rage.

So, I’d take the pills, I’d heal as much as possible, and then I’d figure a way to get Pika out of here.

Maybe if I stayed, he wouldn’t chase after Pika.

I could give him all my money…maybe Angel would help Pika get away. Yeah, I was sure of it.

With that thought in mind, I let the medicine numb my body and mind, and I drifted into a fitful sleep.