Score - A Stepbrother Romance (14 page)

I
watched
Lina dash out of the gym like a bat out of hell, and my eyebrows crinkled together in confusion as I mentally debated whether or not I should go after her. She’d been staring at Tripp like she knew him from somewhere, but I had no idea where they would have met.

“What was that about? Have you two met before?” I asked, turning back to Tripp.

He shrugged. “Nope. Bitches be crazy.”

“Don’t call her a bitch. She’s not.”

“Pretty rude of her to just run out on us like that, though. Anyway, who cares?”

I cared. Clearly something was bothering her, but judging by the way she’d run out on us, she obviously wanted to be alone. I decided to give her some time and catch up with her later. Whatever it was, she’d tell me when she was ready.

“Right. Well, anyway…that was Lina,” I said. “My future stepsister.”

And my future wife, if I get my own way.

That thought had just popped into my head. I’d never even considered getting serious with a girl, let alone settling down and getting married, but Lina made me want it all, despite the drama our familial ties might cause for us. I wanted a house with a white picket fence, two-point-five kids, some pets…and her, of course. The whole cliché.

We already had Goldie, so we weren’t exactly going slow on the pet side of things.

“Uh-huh,” Tripp replied. “Anyway, you really sure you wanna quit fighting? One of the organizers wanted me to tell you that there’s a pretty big event coming up soon. Lots of bets on the fight, and that equals lots of cash for you if you win, which you will. And a nice cut for me, of course.”

“Nah, I’m good. I’m probably being watched like a hawk by Dad’s opposition at the moment, and the last thing his campaign needs is a scandal like that coming out.”

Tripp scoffed. “Right. Fuckin’ politics, man. This is exactly why I didn’t go into it, even though my parents wanted me to follow the family traditions. I can’t believe the amount of shit you put up with.”

“Well, Dad might be a dick sometimes, but he tries,” I replied, unwrapping the tape from my hands. “I don’t want to completely screw things for him, especially now that he’s got this whole new family to support.”

“Yeah, I guess. Anyway, back to this allegedly off-limits chick you’re seeing…it’s not Jessie Bond, is it?”

“Huh? No,” I asked, wondering why on Earth he’d think I’d sleep with Jessie.

“Dammit. You won’t tell me, and I’m still trying to figure out who it is. Fucking the opposition’s daughter would be pretty bad and off-limits,” he said with a chuckle. “And Jessie is pretty hot. Wait…don’t tell me it’s Lina?”

My expression somewhat betrayed me, and he laughed, although there was something strange in his eyes. “You and me…we’re so similar,” he said.

He had it right, but I didn’t want to confirm it. The less he knew about it, the better. That way he wouldn’t get in much trouble with the family when Lina and I inevitably broke the news of our relationship. No doubt my father would be interrogating everyone, trying to find out who already knew so he could put them on blast. There was already enough bad blood between him and Tripp’s side of the family, so I didn’t need to create more by dragging Tripp into my secrets and lies.

“Be careful with that, if it is her,” he continued. “She seemed a little nuts. Who knows what kind of crazy shit she might say or do if you ever broke it off with her? I’ve hooked up with some real nutters before. Tried to accuse me of all kinds of shit after I ditched them.”

“She’s not like that. Speaking of chicks, are you still seeing that Amy girl from your office?” I asked, trying to change the subject. He didn’t know the first thing about Lina, yet it sounded like he was trying to warn me away from her. He was probably just concerned about what our family’s reaction would be when they found out, but still…I could deal with that without his input.

He shook his head. “Nah. She moved back to New York.”

“Oh well. She was twenty-five, right?”

“Yeah. Why?”

“Oh, nothing, I just remember seeing her that one time. She looked so much younger. Honestly, I would’ve guessed she was seventeen if you hadn’t told me otherwise.”

“Yeah, well…you know me. I don’t like old-looking chicks.”

“There’s a fine line between a woman looking young for her age and looking like a teenager, though,” I said with a grin.

“Says the guy who’s probably banging his stepsister, who is actually a teenager.”

I shook my head, wishing he’d drop the subject.

“Just kidding, man. Eighteen is cool. You’re young anyway. By the way, I know you already answered this five times, but I’m gonna ask one more time. You absolutely sure you wanna drop the fighting gig?” he said.

“Yes,” I replied, impatiently waving my hand. “I’m done with it.”

He sighed. “All right. I’ll let the guys know.”

I was finally off the hook. Now there was no way anyone would find out about what I’d been doing in the underground scene, even if they were following me around everywhere with a spy-quality camera.

My father’s election was safe, and so was I.

I
finally returned home
, hoping Lina would be in a better mood and ready to tell me what had happened earlier. I trudged upstairs and knocked on her door, and she called out.

“Mom, I’m really not feeling well. Don’t worry about dinner. I think you were right last night; I’m coming down with something.”

“It’s me, not your Mom,” I replied. “Can you let me in?”

There was a long pause before she answered again. “I can’t. Not now.”

“Then I’ll wait.”

I sat outside her door for a full half-hour before I finally heard the lock click on the other side. I rose to my feet and looked at her, and my eyes widened as I took in her appearance. Her eyes were red and puffy with mascara streaked around them, and she was dressed in an old, faded robe. She looked completely and utterly exhausted.

“You really are sick,” I said. “Hold on, let me get you some tea.”

She shook her head. “I’m not sick,” she said, her voice almost breaking. “Sick in the head, maybe. But I know why now…I know why.”

Her whole body trembled as she spoke, and I wrapped my arms around her. “Lina, what is it?” I asked, softly stroking her back through the soft chenille fabric of her robe. “What are you talking about?”

She drew back and gazed up at me, her eyes fearful. “I don’t know how to say it,” she whispered. “Not to you. Or anyone. I don’t think I can.”

“You can tell me anything,” I replied. “Absolutely anything. Hell, you can even tell me it’s over between us if you want…not that I want it to be over…but you shouldn’t be afraid to say things to me, even if you think I’ll be upset. Whatever’s bothering you, I wanna hear it, no matter what.”

She hesitated for another long moment and then motioned for me to come in. I followed her into the bedroom, and she sat at the end of the bed, her knees curled up at her chest.

“Do you remember the first night we met?” she asked, not meeting my eyes.

“How could I forget?” I replied.

“And you remember how I ran away?”

“Uh-huh. You’ve run away from me more times than I can count,” I said, squeezing her hand. “But you know me. I don’t give up, at least when it comes to you.”

“So then you remember me also running away when you said certain…certain things to me.”

I scratched my head. “Yeah, although I could never figure out what it was that upset you so much.”

She replied, her voice barely above a whisper. “It was because you called me a good girl both times.”

I shook my head slowly. “I’m not following.”

She chewed on her lower lip before answering again. “Something happened to me when I was younger. I think my subconscious always knew, but I couldn’t remember. I must have blocked it out. I didn’t even know that was a thing that could really happen. I thought it was just something that happened in thriller movies or whatever.”

My pulse began to speed up. “What happened?”

“I went to a party when I was high school. I was with my boyfriend at the time…Travis. He kept leaving me alone, and one of the times he did that, this guy came over to me. I only knew him very vaguely. Older guy who used to hang around high school parties. He…he gave me a drink. I was stupid, and I wanted to fit in. So I took it. That was the only drink I had. Then…then I…”

I had a sinking, stabbing feeling in my guts as she continued, like someone had unleashed a school of piranhas deep in my belly.

“Then what?” I asked softly, putting my hand on her arm and rubbing it encouragingly.

She jerked away. “I started feeling really tired and sick. There’d been a flu going around, so I thought maybe I was getting that. Or maybe I was just tired because I’d had a long day. I couldn’t go home, because I’d lied to my Mom about going to a sleepover, so Travis and I had planned on crashing at the party house. I went upstairs to find a room, and everything was just…it was like I was swimming. I could barely see straight. My whole body was almost completely out of control.”

She took a few deep, shaky breaths and then continued. “Then…it’s hard for me to remember. I remember someone coming into the room with me. He locked the door and started touching me. I remember looking up and seeing his eyes. It was the same guy who’d given me the drink earlier. He kept touching me and saying I was a good girl, and…then…”

I didn’t need to hear any more. I knew exactly what had happened to her. She’d had her drink spiked by some fucking piece of shit, and he’d taken advantage of her. He’d
raped
her.

“Who was it?” I asked, although somewhere deep inside me, I already knew. Why else would she have reacted the way she did earlier at the gym?

She still didn’t meet my eyes. “You won’t believe me,” she said, her voice hoarse from all the crying she must have done earlier. “You won’t.”

“I will. I believe everything you say. Just tell me who it was.”

“Tripp,” she finally replied. “It was him. I didn’t make the connection until today. Back then, he was just the guy everyone called Strike. I never knew he was your cousin. I never even knew he’d attacked me until I saw him today, and it all came flooding back. I remember it now. I remember everything, and that’s why I’m so fucked up. That’s why I kept running from you when it was dark, or when you said certain things. It set something off in my brain, even though I didn’t understand what it was or why until now. I’m fucked up, Chase. I’ll never be normal.”

White hot anger flooded every inch of my body as she spoke. That fucking bastard. I’d always known Tripp had a thing for younger girls, but drugging and raping them? No. No way. I would have never expected that in a million years.

But I knew Lina wasn’t lying. She wouldn’t. She had no reason to lie, and besides, no one could be that good of an actress.

“I’ll fucking kill him,” I said, my hands clenching into fists as I leapt to my feet. “I’m going back there, and I’m going to fucking kill him.”

Lina reached out for me. “Chase, no. Don’t. You’ll only get in trouble, and I can’t prove any of this. It’s been too long. I didn’t even know it had happened when I woke up the day after, so I never reported it. I just thought I had a bad hangover.”

I paced back and forth, considering her words with one half of my mind; the other half seriously considering homicide.

“It’s not too late,” I said, finally stopping and looking right at her. “There’s no statute of limitations on rape. I’ll take you to the police. We’ll talk to them together and get them to file charges.”

She shook her head again, and fresh tears spilled from her eyes. “Don’t you get it? It
is
too late. Cases like this happen all the time, where it’s just the girl’s word against the guy’s. Who’s going to believe me now, two and a half years after it happened? I have no proof. No one saw. He’ll deny it, and I’ll lose.”

She began to sob, and I leaned down and wrapped my arms around her. “I’m so stupid…and it’s all my fault. I lied to my Mom. I took a drink from a stranger,” she said. “And I’ll always be messed up.”

I sank to my knees in front of her and grabbed her hand. “Lina, it’s not your fault. I swear to you, it isn’t. Just because you lied to your Mom and sneaked out doesn’t mean you deserved what happened. You were only sixteen. Sixteen year olds always sneak out to parties. Doesn’t mean you deserved
any
of what happened,” I said. “The only person to blame here is my cousin…and I promise you, he will pay. One way or another…he’ll fucking pay.”

“I can’t press charges,” she said, her voice a ragged whisper. “Like I said, it’s too late for that now. I can’t prove it, and I don’t even want it…I don’t want to be dragged through some long court case. I just want it to be over…I want to forget it ever happened.”

She lay down and curled up into a ball, and I lay next to her, stroking her back as she cried.

“Lina, you know it’ll always be up to you. If you don’t want to take it to the police and drag it through the courts, then I’ll respect your decision, and I won’t force you to do anything. I think you should, though. My Dad is friends with the State’s Attorney. He could help.”

She shook her head. “No. I can’t. I just can’t.”

“Okay,” I said softly. “I promise I won’t make you. But I do think you should see a therapist. My Mom saw a really good one while she was married to my Dad. She had a lot of issues, and she was able to work through them in the end. I’ll call her and get some contact details for you. Don’t worry, I won’t tell her why.”

She sniffled. “So you agree. I’m crazy. I’m fucked up.”

I kept soothingly stroking her. “No. You’re not crazy. Something awful happened to you, and your mind just needs time to heal. A therapist can help with that. That’s all I’m saying. I don’t think you’re fucked up.”

Her chest continued to heave with sobs, and I held her for hours until she finally drifted off to sleep. I felt so fucking guilty. That first night, when she’d run off the way she did…I should’ve known something was wrong. I should have seen it after our other encounters too, but I’d wanted her so badly that I’d ignored all the signs.