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money.”

Shit
! He"d wanted to protect Turin from his father"s anger, but he did the very

opposite. His presence put Turin in harm"s way. Rome pushed back the acid that

rose up his throat at the realization. It also hurt to know Turin was only here

because he didn"t have enough cash to make it to Mary Beth"s on his own. He

reached for the suitcases Turin held. He wanted to reach for the teenager but knew

better than that. There was too much between them, a past he couldn"t ignore,

memories he could not erase, no matter how much he wanted.

It didn"t help things that his father had taken his fists to the boy"s face.

Tension coiled Turin"s lithe frame. He reminded Rome all too vividly of a caged,

angry dog. He was just waiting for the right moment to strike. Any attempt to

comfort Turin would be seen as that moment.

As he held the luggage, he looked over his brother. The black eye was the least

of it. Turin"s right cheek was bruised with an angry red blotch, and his lip was

busted. The wrinkled dress shirt Turin wore was only partially buttoned. Across his

exposed chest, Rome saw the beginnings of a number of hefty bruises.

Tony had done a real number on him.

The man had been probably been both drunk and enraged. Not a good

combination on the best of days. Any conversation that included Rome"s name put

Anthony in the worst of moods. “You should have just told him where I was staying.

You know damned well I could handle him.”

Turin gave him a jagged smile. “And ruin my fun?”

Rome stepped into the room and held the door open. Turin trudged in slowly.

Rome grimaced when he saw just how poorly his brother moved. If he remembered

his father right, the man tended to aim for the body. He only hit the face when he

was truly incensed. By that time you gave up trying to protect yourself.

Turin had taken one hell of a beating.

All because of him.

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He was going to get Turin taken care of, and then he was going after that

bastard. Tony had taken things too far this time, beating on his son because Turin

wouldn"t answer him.

“You got any grub around here?”

Rome grabbed onto the conversation like it was a lifeline. “No,” Rome

admitted. “But I can order some room service.” He picked up the menu and handed

it to his brother. “Just let me know what you want.”

Turin opened it. His eyes widened at the prices. “Don"t worry about the price.

Just tell me what you want to eat.” Rome was happy to feed his brother and

wouldn"t blink at the cost. The teen had a hard day and a good meal would go a long

way to making him feel better.

“Uh, can I get the meatloaf and mashed potatoes?” He blushed. “And, a slice of

cake.”

Rome grinned widely. “Still got that sweet tooth, huh? Yeah, coming right up.”

He called, made the order, and also asked for a bag of ice or a cold pack for Turin.

“The lady said the food should be up in less than fifteen minutes.”

“Great, I"m starved,” Turin admitted and rubbed his stomach.

“Didn"t you eat lunch?”

Turin shrugged. “Of course I ate, but I"m hungry now.”

Rome shook his head. Oh, to be young and a bottomless pit. “You can sit down.

No need to stay standing.”

“Yeah, okay.” He dropped down into the small sofa with a groan. Rome

grimaced at the sound. Turin was already feeling the aches from his beating. There

was no reason why he should have to endure that. If Rome had his way it wouldn"t

happen again.

They sat in companionable silence for a few minutes waiting for the food to

arrive. Well, Rome assumed his brother was waiting for his dinner. He was

planning his brother"s upcoming move. He was just trying to decide if it would be

best to send Turin to a private or public high school, when their order arrived. He

tipped the guy who delivered the food and helped his brother set his meal up. He

put the ice aside for when Turin finished. Then he sat back and let his sibling enjoy

his meal.

When Turin got to his slice of red velvet cake, he decided he couldn"t wait any

longer. As great as the interlude had been Rome couldn"t ignore the conversation

that needed to happen. “Am I right in assuming that you"re fed up with his shit?”

He looked at Turin, making sure to catch his gaze. “Turin, you need to file charges

of abuse before you leave with Mary Beth.”

“Mary Beth?” Turin questioned.

He shrugged. “Mom. I"ve always called her by her first name. Don"t know when

it started, but it stuck.”

“Yeah, sure,” he muttered. “So I"m going to live with Mom.”

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“Uh, yeah. Is there somewhere else you would rather stay?” Rome asked,

confused.

“What about you? Couldn"t I just stay with you?”

The last thing he expected was for Turin to want to stay with him. He figured

the boy would want to get as far away from him as possible. “I would love to take

you in, but it"s not safe.”

Turin lifted one dark eyebrow in disbelief. “It isn"t?”

Rome bristled at the look and tone and then forced himself to relax. The boy

went through hell the last few days. He had a reason to be belligerent. “No, Turin, it

isn"t. With you and Mary Beth gone, he"ll come after me. He lives to fight. He will

search me out.”

Turin shrugged. “So, he comes looking for you. That doesn"t mean he"ll find

you. New York is a big city, and something tells me that whatever posh place you"re

staying in isn"t going to let any angry drunk in.”

“True,” he said slowly. “I suppose you could stay with me when I return, but

I"m not going home immediately, Turin. I"ve still got…something to do here.”

Turin"s lips twisted into a bitter grin. “Or someone, right?” he drawled out.

“You and that Newton lady.”

“I really don"t think that"s any of your business.”

He smirked. “Uh-huh, which means I"m right. Everyone is talking about you

two. It"s not much of a secret.” Then he turned and lifted his gaze, until his blue

eyes bore into Rome"s. “You"re in town because of her. Ten years away, and pussy

brings you back home.”

“Watch it, Turin! I won"t have you talking about Sela like that!”

Turin ignored his mother and continued speaking. “Why? It"s the truth, isn"t

it? I mean the fact you came home for your reunion should have made things clear,

right? So don"t stand there and pretend to give a damn. You don"t care about what

happens to Mom or me. You never gave a shit! This is about your slut!”

Rome took a step toward his sibling, ready to make it clear to him just how

much he didn"t appreciate his words. A soft knock cut through the suite"s tense

atmosphere. Rome lifted his head in silent thanks. He"d been seconds away from

throttling his brother. Blood or no blood, no one talked about Sela that way. Nobody

called her a slut.

He cut his brother a warning glare before turning and striding toward the

door. With each step he took, he drank in a deep breath, determined to calm

himself. The last thing Rome wanted to become was a senseless bastard who took

his anger out on people smaller and weaker than himself.

He never wanted to become the man who had raised him.

The knock cut through the air, but it was harder, more demanding than

before. He looked at the door, then his family. The interruption offered him a break

from the heated conversation. He was thankful for it. “Let me see who"s at the door.

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I"ll be right back.” He opened the door and was surprised to see Sela there. He"d

forgotten all about their dinner plans.

Sela lifted her head and caught the look of anger and pain on Rome"s face

before he banished it. “Hey, are you all right?”

He gave her a tight smile. “I"m fine.”

“Uh-huh,” she murmured as she shuffled the small mountain of bags she held

in her hands. She picked up takeout like they agreed beforehand and it wasn"t a

small amount of food. She fully expected to work up a hunger burning up the sheets

with Rome.

“What are you doing here?”

She stilled. That was not the response she was expecting or hoping for. “You

forgot about our date.”

He looked at her sheepishly. “Look, Sela—”

Men! Really, I just spoke to him less than half an hour ago. How could he

forget
? She cut him off. “Can we talk about this in your suite? I"m not particularly

fond of the idea of the whole floor hearing our conversation.”

He didn"t step aside. No, he ran a hand through his hair in irritation.

Combined with the look of displeasure and confusion, Sela was quickly losing her

patience.

“I get it. You forgot. I"m not mad—irritated but not mad. So, are you going to

let me in or not?” The truth was she wasn"t mad he forgot about their dinner plans.

Irritated and hurt? Yes, she was both of those. She didn"t like to think she was

easily forgettable, and that was the impression Rome was giving her at the moment.

Add to that, he wasn"t letting her into his suite so they could have this conversation

in private. Sela was not pleased.

She took a deep breath, relaxed the stranglehold she had on her patience, and

shifted the bags in her hands. “Look I got dinner like we agreed. Here, help me out,”

she said, determined not to blow this out of proportion. She stepped forward and

held out takeaway.

Almost mechanically Rome grabbed several paper bags. He hefted the vast

load onto one arm. “Can we reschedule?”

“Rome?”

Sela paused at the sound of someone calling his name. It sounded young and

male. She thought she was hearing things, so she ignored it. Then the voice called

again, this time more insistent, and it was followed by distinct noises of movement.

Someone was definitely in Rome"s suite. She couldn"t help thinking that he had

forgotten about their dinner plans and invited someone, a male friend over, to hang

out. Forgetting was one thing. Inviting someone over to chill was another thing.

Slowly she lifted her gaze to catch his. “Who is that?”

“Sela, it"s not how it looks.”

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“Then how is it?”

The distinct pause before he responded made her heart rate double. “Sela…”

She was going to be cool, calm, and collected if it killed her. “Yes, Rome?”

Face turning a deep red color, Rome sighed and ran his free hand through his

thick hair. Again. He was uncomfortable as hell. “It"s my brother.”

“Oh.”

For a moment Sela was too flabbergasted to register what he said. Then the

implications of his words settled. Family she could handle. “Okay, let me drop this

off, say hi, and then I"ll let you boys have your guy time.” The deafening lack of

response left her distinctly uncomfortable. “Rome, are you going to have me stand

out here or…” she asked, even though she already knew the answer.

He looked down at her imploringly. If she were a lesser, not quite so pissed-off

woman, Sela would have been moved by the look in his gorgeous eyes. He glanced

quickly behind him. “Can we reschedule?”

Sela barely stifled the urge to throttle Rome. His brother was in his suite, and

she was standing in the damned hallway like some throwaway groupie. She wasn"t

expecting to have dinner with his family, but a quick hello and introduction wasn"t

too much to ask for, right? Rome wanted them to be exclusive and gave her the

impression their relationship was more than just sex. Yet he wouldn"t let her catch

a glimpse of his brother. They grew up together and often spent days at her house

with her family. Yet, in all the years she knew him, she never got to formally meet

his family. She knew all about them—Brushwood was a small town, after all—but

this was her chance for a short introduction, and he was talking about rescheduling

a dinner date. He wasn"t serious, not about her. “Reschedule? Uh-huh. Okay.”

“Please, Sela…”

“That"s fine. I"ll see you around,” she replied, keeping all emotion out of her

voice as she took a step back. This was not the kind of relationship she was willing

to put her heart on the line for.

“Around? Where the hell is this coming from?”

“I"ll see you later,” she said, and started walking down the corridor. She wasn"t

able to take more than a few steps before Rome grabbed her wrist and pulled her to

a stop.

“You want to tell me why you went from zero to pissed off in five seconds?”

She glared at him. “Why don"t you want me to meet your brother? Are you

embarrassed to be with me? Or don"t you want Turin to meet your latest fuck

buddy?”

He sighed. “That"s not what this is about.”

Sela shook her head and reached for the bag of takeout in his hand. She was