Fight for Love (11 page)

15

When we got inside the car
we were quiet for a while.

“So is everything really okay?” Ryan asked.

I shrugged. “I guess.”

“His
mom apologized, right?”

“Yeah she did. She kept justifying her actions based on the fact that she didn’t know the truth about Penelope, but I don’t think that’s a good excuse.”

“It’s not,” Ryan said. “Her behavior was unacceptable.”

“I guess it will take me awhile
to really move past it. The main reason why I decided to forgive her is because of Sean.”

“He doesn’t want anything to do with them,” Mike said.

“That’s exactly why,” I said. “I don’t want him to lose his family over this. I want this to work.”

Mike looked at me. “I know you are persuasive but I don’t think you are going to be able to convince him with this one.”

“I will. He’ll do ask I ask.”

Mike laughed. “Good luck with that.”

“I give him sex. Believe me, he’ll do what I say.”

“When it comes to you, Scar, he can’t think clearly. He’s totally illogical. He was livid with my mom. I don’t think he’s going to let that go—ever. To be honest, I don’t blame him. If my mom treated my
fiancé liked that I would have stopped talking to her a long time ago.”

“Well, I don’t want that for Sean.”

The cab stopped and we got out, entering inside the apartment complex. There was a line for the elevator so we just took the stairs off to the side. After we reached our floor, we walked down the hallway. A man was walking toward us wearing a hoodie and jeans. His face was revealed and was staring at me. When he got closer he looked away and kept going. The look made me feel uneasy. I was used to men staring at me in a sexual way, but the look wasn’t sexual. I wasn’t sure what it was. It didn’t feel right.

Mike got the door opened and we walked inside. I watched Mike lock the door behind us before I felt myself relax. I knew I was being paranoid. Sean was scared that someone was trying to take me and Janice out, but if they were it probably would have happened already.

Everyone got ready for bed. I went into Mike’s bedroom to sleep with Ryan and Janice, but I decided I wasn’t comfortable there. I came back into the living room where Mike was sitting on the couch. I brought my sleeping bag with me and placed it on the couch.

“There’s a spare bedroom,
” Mike said.

“I don’t want to sleep there.”

“Why don’t you sleep with Ryan?”

“I don’t want to sleep there either.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Why do you want to sleep with me?”

I crawled inside the sleeping back and pulled it over my shoulders. “I don’t want to say.”

“Uh, okay.”

“You’ll think I’m weird.”

“I already think that.”

“Well, you’ll think I’m weirder.”

“Just tell me, Scar.”

I stared at the ceiling while I spoke. “You remind me of Sean, and being near you helps me sleep. I feel like I’m sleeping with him in a way.”

“That’s really weird.”

“I told you.”

“You can come closer and keep pretending,” he said as he winked.

I rolled my eyes. “You know what I mean. I’m not attracted to you at all.”

“Ouch.”

“It’s impossible for me to be attracted to someone else because I’m absolutely in love with him.”

“My brother is a lucky bastard,” he said with a sigh. He lied down on the other couch and looked at the ceiling.

“Can I ask you something?”

“We’re family. You can ask me anything.”

I was moved by his openness with me. We used to be close before Sean and I got together, but now we were closer than we had ever been. It was nice. “Were you in love with the girl Sean slept with?”

“Madly.”

“You couldn’t forgive her?”

“It didn’t matter. She didn’t want to be with me anymore. She realized she liked sleeping around, preferring the single life.”

The knowledge broke
my heart. “And that’s why you’re the same way?”

“Yeah,” he said quietly. “It’s just easier this way.”

“You’ll find someone that will never hurt you, Mike. I promise.”

“Maybe, but I doubt it.”

“You won’t know unless you start looking for a serious relationship.”

“I’ll think about it.”

“Mike?”

“Hmm?”

“I love you.”

He said nothing for a long time. “I love you, Scarlet. You aren’t just the greatest thing that happened to my brother. You are one of the greatest things that happened to me.”

“Why?”

“You make me want to change, to be a better person.”

“Is that why you want to fix your relationship with Sean?”

“Yeah. I see what you have with Ryan and I realize I want that. Sean and I haven’t been brother
s or friends in years and it’s over something so stupid. And when I hurt you, scared you, I felt like such an ass. I realized that I wanted to be a part of your life as well as Sean’s. That’s when I knew I had to change.”

“Mike, what did you do to Sean?”

He said nothing for so long that I assumed he wasn’t going to answer. “You know I work on Wall Street, right?”

I didn’t understand where this was going. “Yeah.”

“Do you remember the name of the guy Penelope left Sean for?”

“Yeah. I think
it was Christian.”

“Do you know where he works?”

“No.”

“Wall Street.”

“So?”

“He’s a good friend of mine.”

“What are you saying, Mike?”

He sighed. “That I asked him to get with Penelope so sh
e’d leave Sean then dump her afterward.”

I sat up and looked at him, my eyes wide. “You are the reason why Sean and Penelope broke up?”

“Yeah.”

I leaned back in my chair, winded by the information.

Mike sat up and looked at me. “I don’t think he’ll ever forgive me.”

I said nothing.

“I just wanted him to feel as bad as I did. To know what it’s like to love someone with your whole heart just to have them say they prefer someone else. I wanted him to feel pain, excruciating pain.”

I ran my fingers through my hair, suddenly nervous by the pounding in my chest.

“For what’s it’s worth, I feel like a jackass now and I regret it—truly.”

“She was everything to him, Mike.”

“No. He loves you way more than he ever loved her. And in the end, she still chose to cheat on him. She still chose to lie about the father of the baby. I didn’t force her to do anything. Christian just flirted with her, seduced her, and took her. So in the end, Penelope never loved Sean anyway. If anything, I did him a favor.”

“It’s still horrible, Mike.”

“I know,” he said with a sigh. “But I really am sorry for doing it. I was a person that I’m ashamed of.”

“I have no idea how Sean will react to this.”

“He won’t talk to me ever again. I wouldn’t blame him.”

“I don’t want that to happen.”

“So you don’t hate me?”

“No,” I said quietly. “I know you’re a different person now.”

“When should I tell him?”

“It’ll have to wait until all of this is cleared up.”

“Maybe I shouldn’t tell him at all.”

“No. Secrets are never the best way to go.” I immediately thought about my secret with Cortland. When that got out it was bad. It could have been avoided if I just told Sean the truth to
begin with.

“The guy just forgave me. I would hate to lose that.”

“I’ll talk to him.”

He laughed. “You’re like his therapist.”

“Well, he’s been through a lot of shit from all of you.”

“That’s true.” He lay
down and adjusted himself. “I thought you would be happy.”

I lay down. “Why would I be?”

“Maybe you and Sean wouldn’t have ended up together if I hadn’t done that. He would end up with a woman who didn’t really love him.”

“But Sean was happy. That breakup totally destroyed him. It was hell watching him go through it. I would never want him to experience that.”

“You’re the most selfless person I know.”

“No, I’m not. I’m very selfish.”

“It doesn’t seem like it.”

“No. I’ve had my fair share of being stupid and annoying.”

“I didn’t say you weren’t stupid and annoying. I just said you weren’t selfish. Don’t get carried away.”

I chuckled. “Fuck you.”

“Fuck you.”

I closed my eyes and felt my mind relax.

“Scarlet?”

“Hmm?”

“I love you.”

I didn’t respond because I was too tired to speak. And I didn’t need to say it anyway. He knew I loved him like a brother. Now my family was even bigger. They filled a void in my heart, making my past pain and suffering dull with every passing day. One day the pain would be gone forever. None of that would have been possible without them.

When I fell asleep, Sean came to me. His lips were on mine, embracing me like he hadn’t kissed me in years. His clothes were torn away, his skin was one my own. He whispered his love for me in my ear, making my legs shake as I felt him inside me. Even though it wasn’t real, it felt like it was really happening. I felt whole and complete in my fantasy.

The sound of the crash made me jump. I fell off the couch and landed on the floor, stuck in my sleep bag. There was glass everywhere. I cut myself as I tried to get up. “Mike?” I yelled.

It was dark but I saw a shadow move beside me. Mike was caught in a brawl with a dark figure. They grunted as they tried to grab the upper hand, jabbing each other whenever an opening happened. I screamed with everything I had.

Mike shoved the guy against the wall, but the crash didn’t phase him. He charged Mike then pushed him to the ground. I saw the gleam of metal as something slid across the floor. It was a gun. The man tried to grab it but Mike kneed him. Without thinking, I sprinted toward it, trying to confiscate
the weapon before the killer could reach it.

The intruder turned his head toward me and saw me reach for it. He kicked me in the face and sent me back, my nose and lip bloody. Ryan came into the room then sprinted toward the fight. He reached for the gun but the man slammed Mike’s head into the floor then grabbed the gun.
Ryan jumped on him, putting on all of his weight on the guy.

Janice ran into the room a second later. Ryan looked at her and screamed, “GET OUT OF HERE AND CALL THE POLICE.”

A gun shot went off. I immediately touched myself, wondering if I had been hit. It was dark so I couldn’t see. I wasn’t even sure where the gun was.

Ryan looked at me. “SCARLET, RUN!”

The man turned in his grasp and another gunshot went off. A painting fell of the wall then crashed into a table, knocking that over. He was bigger than Ryan and jerked violently, rolling over. I felt my heart jump into my throat. Without thinking about my own safety, I jumped on his back, pulling his arms back. It was stupid and I knew it was, but it was either this or let my brother get shot.

Another shot went off, going through the window.

“Ryan! Are you hit?”

He was lying on the floor, not moving.

“Ryan!”

The man threw me off of him, pointing the gun at me. I kicked it out of the way just as he fired it, shooting a hole in the
floor. I hoped someone had called the police by now. I couldn’t get to a phone and I was too busy running for my life. I moved out of the way and barely missed the next gunshot. I could tell the guy was injured because he had a difficult time getting to his feet. Mike stirred on the floor then grabbed him by the leg. He aimed the gun at Mike’s head and I screamed, jumping right into him. Another shot went off and I prayed he didn’t hit Mike too. With all the strength I could muster, I hit him hard in the face, feeling the cartilage in his nose break. The gun fell to the floor and he used both hands to grab me by the throat and throw me off him. He grabbed the gun again just as a bat came down on him. Janice swung it at his back, striking him as hard as she could.

“Hit him again!” I screamed.

The man fell to the floor then rolled out of the way. He pointed the gun at Janice but the gun wouldn’t go off. It was out of bullets. The sound of the click of the barrel was music to my ears.

“I’M GONNA KILL YOU, MOTHEFUCKER!” she screamed as she chased him.

He placed the gun in his pocket then ran to the door, Janice chasing him. I grabbed her and held her back.

“Let him go!”

“No!”

“Stop!”

He opened the door and disappeared.