Page 52 of Wicked Ends (Hellions of Hade Harbor #4)

Arianna

Monday morning, and still no sign of Dale. He’d disappeared. I got ready for work and followed my routine, unsure what else to do. I had Claire’s emergency contact number memorized and had risked calling her from a pay phone on Sunday night.

“Why are you calling?” she’d asked, panic in her voice when I’d told her it was me.

“He found me. He’s looking for the money. I don’t know where he’s gone, but I’m scared he’s coming your way. He told me he knows your location, but he might have been bluffing, I don’t know.”

Silence met me, and then a sigh.

“Okay, thanks for letting me know.”

“What are you going to do?”

“We’ll go away for a few days, to somewhere busy, lie low and see if anyone is following us. Otherwise, I don’t know. I don’t know when all this will finally be over.”

I shook my head, more tears pressing down on me. I knew exactly how she felt. I took a deep breath and wiped at my eyes.

“If he can’t find you, he’ll come back here, I guess, and I’ll be ready.”

“What are you going to do?”

“End this, once and for all. He’s my brother. I should have stopped him years ago. I need to finish this.”

“Be careful.”

“I will. You, too. Lulu is all that matters,” I said.

“You want to speak to her for a second?”

Emotion clutched my heart as I nodded, wordlessly.

“Auntie Arianna?” Lulu’s little voice met my ear, and I closed my eyes.

“I’m here, sweetie. How’s it going?”

I’d talked to her for too long, but damn it had felt good. It had reminded me of my reason for all of this. It was her. Lulu was an innocent in all of this, and I’d kill to protect her.

Now, I was waiting. Waiting to hear if Dale had found them. Waiting to see if he’d come back. Waiting and waiting.

My first class of the day was uneventful, except for the fact that Marcus was a no-show. That gave me pause, but I tried to put it out of my head. He was a busy guy, and I had asked him to stay away from me until the term finished. I could hardly be annoyed at him for following my wishes.

Still, I missed his face in class. Then, I glimpsed him at lunch. He was here, at school.

Did he only skip my class?

His eyes didn’t stray to me once during lunch. Afterward, I left the lunch hall with Wade and Bill and saw him in front of me, walking down the wall.

“If you’ll excuse me, you guys. I’ll see you later,” I found myself saying and hurried down the hall to catch up with Marcus.

My bruises twinged painfully as I moved.

God, I still hadn’t gone and gotten anything checked out, because I didn’t have insurance right now, and there was no way I could afford it.

“Mr. Bailey, did you skip my class on purpose, or did you just get to school?” I called as I neared him.

His broad shoulders flinched at the sound of my voice, and he slowed, allowing me to catch up.

He was silent as I approached, leaning on the lockers in front of him and crossing his arms over his chest. It was an intimidating posture, honestly.

“Marcus?” I attempted.

He jerked his head up the hallway. “Are you sure you can leave your boyfriend on his own?”

“Sorry, what?” I asked, bewildered, and glanced up the hallway to where Wade and Bill were talking. “You mean Wade?”

“Oh, it’s Wade, is it?” Marcus said.

“Don’t tell me Beckett told you that he saw us having breakfast and you jumped to conclusions.”

“Breakfast? I thought it was just coffee,” Marcus mocked quietly. “Professor Casanova strikes again.”

I flushed. “Don’t be ridiculous. It was just coffee, and I drank a little and left.”

“I bet he was disappointed.” Marcus shifted against the lockers. He seemed so remote.

I had no idea what was going on with him, but the constant stream of students passing by around us wasn’t exactly prompting deep conversation.

“I called you over the weekend,” I said.

“Yeah, I know. I was busy,” he simply said.

“Oh. Okay.” I felt like an idiot. “Are you okay?”

He shrugged. “Don’t I look okay?”

I shook my head. “No. You don’t. What’s happened?”

“My brother is in the hospital. He got on the wrong side of some dangerous people.”

My hand flew to my mouth. “Is he okay? I’m so sorry!”

“Are you?”

My heart pounded at his question. There was something really wrong here.

“Yes, of course, I am.”

Marcus nodded, a bitter smile twisting his lips. “Of course you are. You always worry about me… if I’m hurt, if I’m okay. Did you know you’re the only person who does that?”

I reached out to touch him; I couldn’t help myself. He was upset and shutting me out, and I hated to see him suffering. The pain in my ribs and all the hidden cuts and bruises Dale had inflicted on me paled in comparison to how awful it felt to see Marcus upset.

“More people care about you than you know… your friends, you brother. People care, Marcus. Don’t write them off.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Is that right? I think you’re confusing caring with being interested in what they can get from me… what I can do for them.”

It was nearly time to get to the next class, and Marcus straightened up.

“But speaking of deep and dark confessions… is there anything you want to tell me, birthday girl?” He seemed to loom over me. He was watching me closely now.

I wet my lips, feeling on the spot and exposed. Marcus would freak out when he saw me without clothes, but the last thing I wanted was for him to see the damage my brother had done and rush off to avenge it. Dale had a gun and wasn’t afraid to use it.

“No, nothing. Why? Should I have something to tell you about?” I asked lightly.

A muscle ticked in Marcus’ strong jaw, and I had a feeling he was holding words inside with all his might. But then he shrugged and gave me a lazy smirk.

“I guess not. See you later, Professor.” He started to stroll away.

“Are you coming to class presentations tomorrow?” I pushed. “You need it to pass.”

“Is that right? Well, I wouldn’t want to drag down your class average, would I?” He walked backward and shot me a smile that seemed slightly too casual. He had to be more upset than he seemed about his brother.

I wished I could talk to him alone.

“Marcus,” I attempted to follow him, but the corridor had filled with more students, now rushing to their classes before they began.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be there, Professor.” Then he was gone, walking in the other direction.