Unforgivably Broken (The Broken Series Book Two) (3 page)

“Paige,” Kas said, obviously trying to smooth over the mounting tension in the room.

“What? It’s true. He needs to be focusing on getting better, not babying her because of her
issues,
” Paige said.

I was exhausted and though I knew she was only pushing me to get a reaction, I couldn’t help myself. I looked up at Paige through my lashes
and gave her a sly smile. “You know, your brother is lucky he has you to worry about him, but I did enjoy keeping him up. I enjoyed keeping him up
all
night.” I licked my lips slowly after I finished, not taking my eyes from Paige’s.

“Ugh. Figures you’d spread your legs the first chance you got,” Paige fired back. “I was holding out hope that Zane would realize what a whore you really are before he let it get that far.”

My hands clenched as I started to push up from my chair but Kas reached out, grabbing my elbow to hold me in place.

“Paige,” she started again, this time
sounding appalled.

“Whatever. I’ve lost my appetite now anyway.” Paige stood from the table, making it halfway to the door before
Kas turned on her.

“Hey. I cooked breakfast, aren’t you at least going to clean up your mess?”
Kas gestured to the dishes where Paige had been sitting. Paige only shrugged.

“It’s my house, not yours. Last time I checked, you didn’t even live here.” With that, she turned and left the room.

Hours later, I was still fuming from my fight with Paige. I’d made Zane a plate and woken him to eat and take more pain medicine. After cleaning up our dishes from the bedroom, I returned to find him out cold yet again. I was glad he was home, and glad he was resting. Paige was right about one thing, Zane needed to focus on himself and getting better. And I needed to focus on him as well.

I wasn’t surprised to hear the knock on the bathroom door while I was getting ready for work. Paige had already interrupted me twice, quite rudely reminding me that I was not the only person in the house that used this bathroom. No doubt she could go use the one in
Tish’s room, she was just trying to push my buttons. After my win this morning, I wasn’t about to let her.

“I’m almost done, Paige,” I huffed, leaning forward on my toes as I put on my mascara.

“Pix?”

I smiled at Zane’s voice. “It’s open.”

He peeked his head through a small crack in the door, grinning in a way that made it impossible for me to do anything but stare at him. I wanted walk over and kiss those lips the way I always wanted to when he smiled that way at me, but it took everything I had to stay upright. His smile disappeared as he scanned my body, taking in my skirt and tank top. He opened the door further, standing straight as his eyes met mine in confusion.

“Where are you going?” He looked adorable, though a little ridiculous, nearly pouting as he leaned against the doorframe.

“Um, work. I called Shannon this morning and she’s expecting me.” I went back to finishing my make-up as I spoke. He laughed and I glanced over at him. Now it was my turn to be confused.

“Wait, you’re serious?” His eyes were wide, shocked.

“Yeah, I’m serious. I waited for you to come home and now that we know you’re—”

“Absolutely not
.” He crossed his arms over his chest, blocking the doorway in a manner I’m sure was meant to tell me he wasn’t even going to discuss this.

Now, I laughed. “Excuse me?”

“You heard me. You’re not going to the bar,” he said, his voice hard. I turned to face him, hating the look on his face.

“I’m sorry but since when do you get to dictate what I can and can’t do?” I tried to keep my voice even.

“Since I nearly died protecting you!” He almost yelled the words at me and I straightened, standing tall and narrowing my eyes at him. I could count on one hand the number of times Zane and I had fought in the last two years and only one of those had been recently. This wasn’t like him and I tried to tell myself it was just the pain medication talking.

“Zane, I
—” I started, but he cut me off.

“No. Adam knows where you work. I’m sorry but I can’t believe you would even think for a second that I would let you do this.”

I bristled at his choice of words and condescending tone. “Let me? I didn’t realize I needed to ask
for your permission,
Dad
.” I crossed my arms over my chest, mirroring his stance as I finished.

“I can’t believe you let her talk to you like that,” Paige’s voice piped in from somewhere behind Zane.
Of course.

“He doesn’t
let
me do anything! He has no authority over me! I’m not a child,” I spat toward where I knew Paige to be. “And you need to mind your own fucking business.”

“My brother, my business.”
She leaned against the open bathroom door, giving me a perfect view. I took a step forward before Zane put himself between us.

“Fuck off, Paige
,” I practically snarled as I took another step.

“What the hell is going on?” Tish’s voice was followed by his heavy footsteps as he came down the hall.

“Lili decided that it wasn’t enough to almost get Zane killed once, she wants to do it again.”

“Paige!” Zane turned on her and pointed out the door. “Go.
Now.” Tish appeared and grabbed Paige by the shoulders, turning her toward the hallway and walking her out of sight as Zane turned back to me.

“You’re not going.
Period.”

“Calm down,” Tish said, coming around beside Zane to stand where Paige had been. They effectively had me blocked in the bathroom with no escape. “Going where?”

“I’m going to work. I’ve run through all my savings and I need the money.” I tried to reason with Tish, thinking he would see my side.

“That’s really not safe, Lee.” He frowned, clearly indecisive.

“I’m not asking for permission. I have to do this. I have to work. What do you want me to do? Sit around this house all the time and wait for something to happen?” I leaned against the bathroom counter, feeling defeated.

“Maybe if someone went with you…”
Kas offered, walking up beside Tish. I dropped my arms, frustrated.

“Why is this even a discussion? I just want to go to work!”

Zane looked at Tish who shook his head. “I have a client this evening.” They all looked back at me. “Lee, Zane should go with you.”

“Why? So he can play hero and jump in front of another bullet?” The moment the words left my mouth, I regretted them. I dropped my head, not wanting to see the look on any of their faces at my outburst. After a deep breath, I sighed and threw my arms up in exasperation.
“Fine. Fine! I’m leaving in half an hour.” I pushed through them, looking for an escape and hating myself further when I heard Zane’s sharp inhale. Great, I was rubbing salt in the wound with my words and then slamming into him. Fucking perfect.

I stopped in the hallway, looking toward the living room and then Zane’s room — our room. I had nowhere to go to calm down. I moved toward the kitchen and slammed the door to the garage before hopping up to sit on Tish’s workbench. It was hot and stuffy but at least it was quiet and I could hopefully get my temper in check.

Lili didn’t speak during the cab ride to the bar. I offered to let her drive my car but she just stomped out to the waiting cab. I honestly didn’t think I’d ever seen her this angry with me. And a part of me felt guilty for thinking it was a little bit hot.

Maybe more than a little bit.

“Pix? Come on, are you gonna ignore me all night?” I asked as I followed her down the sidewalk and through the small courtyard that led to the bar.

“That’s
exactly
what I’m going to do,” she huffed, throwing the words over her shoulder with a toss of her long hair. Fuck. I was doomed. She really was fucking sexy when she was angry.

She cooed something at the security guard and tossed another glare over her shoulder at me before disappearing through the door. The security guard chuckled and shook his head as he waved me through. I glanced around, my eyes immediately landing on
Lili’s backside as she bent to climb under the hollow space at the back of the bar.

I groaned and moved to find a seat with a view of the door and the bar. This was going to be a long night. It had been far too long since I’d been laid and
Lili stomping around in those spiky heels and short skirt, acting like the stubborn little vixen I knew her to be, was not helping. Surely there should be some kind of law against this kind of torture. It couldn’t be healthy to go this long without sex when you sleep next to someone that gorgeous every night.

I slid into a chair at one of the high tables in the corner. From this angle, I had a perfect view of the entire room, which is what I needed.
Lili’s words from earlier struck me at that point. What was my plan if Adam showed up? I didn’t think he would but when it came to Lili’s safety, it wasn’t a chance I was willing to take.

I watched
Lili talking to Shannon and then another girl I didn’t recognize. She was cute, a brunette with curls pulled into a wild ponytail that hung nearly to her waist. Lili seemed annoyed at something the girl was saying and all but rolled her eyes before walking away. The girl stood for a moment, seeming torn, before grabbing a round tray off the bar and heading out to take orders.

Fortunately, it was a weekday so the place didn’t get overly crowded. Unfortunately, this didn’t stop the almost constant hoard of men from hanging at the bar, trying to catch
Lili’s attention. She played coy, giving them flirty smiles and laughing as she made drinks, her moodiness from earlier carefully hidden away for her throngs of admirers.

Maybe coming here was a bad idea.

I thought back to the first time I watched Lili work. I’d moved back in with Tish about a month prior and I was working hard to move past the anger and bitterness I’d felt at the betrayal from Adam and Lizzie.

I was hanging with Tish when
Lili left and I wondered where a tiny little thing like that was off to so late in the evening dressed the way she was. She was barely covered. It wasn’t the first time I’d noticed but it was the first time I cared enough to ask Tish. When he told me she was working at Silver Moon, I nearly came unglued. She seemed so helpless and that was in one of the most dangerous sides of town. Tish knew how bad that area was, we’d grown up around there, but he told me she could take care of herself. I wasn’t convinced.