Page 128 of Van Cort

West!

I close my eyes and try to block everything out.

“I need to go,” my words are a whisper in the room. “I need to go!” I shout it this time.

“No.” Everett stands opposite, his hands in his pockets like he can say and do anything he likes, and the world will obey. Theknight I once saw, the businessman I questioned about dating, the lover I knew had secrets. And now, the brother. The twin.

He shakes his head at me.

“Excuse me?”

“You’re not leaving.”

“Well, fuck you. Fuck you both.”My hand reaches for the pendant at my throat, and I yank my arm down, breaking the chain, and launch it at him.

He’s ruined everything. Poisoned everything.

I turn, marching for the exit, racing, as if that’s the only way I can escape this nightmare.

“Wait,” West grabs my wrist and spins me as I reach the door, backing me up against it so I’m blocking my own escape. His body pins me to the wood, blanketing me, smothering me. Then his hands are on me, his fingers angling my chin, and his lips coaxing mine.

It’s familiar – every move of his hand, the look in his eyes, and the feel of his lips on mine. Not angry, but soft, alluring. Demanding. “You belong here, Andie.” He kisses me again, stealing feelings from my traitorous lips that recognise him despite me never knowing his name. “You belong with us.” My eyes flash to his, and I search for the man who I’ve shared time with. Feelings, stories, my body…

“I don’t—”

“Shh.” He seals my lips with his finger, this time. “You’re angry, we know that, but you don’t get to run away from this. If you need space, there’s plenty of it right here.”

“You can’t expect me to stay in here with you two prowling around.”

“We don’t prowl. Unless you ask nicely.” His lips tick up into a smirk that I would find sexy as hell if I weren’t on the verge of falling to pieces.

“West. I’m serious. Don’t you understand what you two have done?”

“We do.” Everett’s voice travels to us, and West takes a step back, giving me a fraction of breathing room. “And in return, you need to face this. Take all the time you need, but you don’t leave us. Not until this is resolved.”

“Resolved?” I question. “Actually, no. I don’t want to know.”

My eyes dart around the entrance hall and see the discarded pizza boxes Everett had ordered before the proposal.

I grab them both. “Point me in the direction of a room that neither of you will bother me in.” My spine straightens, holding on to the anger, and refusing to dissolve into the emotional mess I know is just under the surface.

Everett nods, and West leads me away from the door and to another area of the apartment. The décor is the same – all imposing lines and dark tones – and he opens a door to an ample-sized bedroom, neat, orderly. Without another word, he shuts me in.

Exhaustion cloaks me as I sit on the edge of the bed, and the rush of tears, hot and painful, can’t be stopped. With my hand over my mouth so as not to make a sound, I let myself have a moment. Let the emotion well up, and fade as the tears fall and my body shakes.

***

The bed is horribly comfortable, and several hours later – I think – I debate staying in here and hiding away for good. I can ignore the two life-sized and very real men somewhere outside the door then.

Two.

I’d fallen asleep or at least caught moments of sleep. Now the cold pizza looks pretty appealing. With that, and the ensuitebathroom, I won’t have to come out for a week, maybe longer. How long can you survive on water and cold pizza alone?

But my denial won’t help me.

Mustering my strength, I head to the door and creep out.

The apartment is eerily quiet, the type of quiet that only exists in the time between nighttime and dawn. I peer down the hall and see nobody – neither Everett nor West, waiting to corner me, so I venture out.