“Yeah?” The tension in Cord’s voice eased slightly and he sighed in relief. He was reading this wrong. For whatever reason Roxanne was standing in his living room, it would not be resolved just because he was friends with the Garrison brothers.
“Well, then see, we’re all friends here. No need to lay us out.” Holden chuckled and Jonah jerked his head. What the hell was he talking about? Holden gestured to Roxanne and laughed. “She said she would lay us out if Cord didn’t pay her.”
Pay her? If he wasn’t already confused by her presence, now he was dumbstruck. Why would Cord owe her money? He turned to Roxanne for an explanation, but she had her focus on his brothers. She slowly narrowed her gaze, squinting. “No, what I said was I would lay your asses out if Cord touched me again.”
What. The. Fuck?
There was a slow burn building in his stomach. A fiery anger swelling up through his chest and the tension rising every passing second. Jonah dropped his arms to his sides and balled his fists. Why the fuck was Cord touching her? He steppedforward, his glare aimed at Cord. His brother read him right and backed up into Holden with his hands flared out in front of him.
“I just grabbed her arm.Lightly.” He turned to Roxanne. “I didn’t hurt you, right?”
Her answer had better benoor Jonah was going to beat the shit out of his brother. He may not have been the best role model, but he taught his brothers the basic right from wrong and one of the most important lessons he’d drilled into them—you never lay your fucking hands on a woman.Ever!
“He didn’t, Jonah,” her answer was rushed which left no doubt on whether he was hiding his anger well. He wasn’t.
Roxanne stepped forward and stood a few feet away from Cord. “He didn’t hurt me. He was trying to get me to leave and grabbed my arm but not hurtful or even aggressive.”
Jonah eyed Cord. His little brother was a lot of things especially when it came to women. A player and a horndog but never mean or aggressive. He drew in a deep breath, resting his hands on his hips. “What the hell is going on here, Cord?”
“Well …” He dragged his hand over his mouth. “Uh, yeah so …”
From the way he was stalling and his constant fidgeting, Jonah knew he wasn’t going to be happy. “So, remember how my car got jacked?”
Jonah nodded slowly. “It got hit in the lot at work.”
“Well,” he scrunched his face, “so that might not have been the whole truth.”
Roxanne snorted. “He hit my car at the marina.”
Jonah felt his temper rise again. “Oh, this shit just keeps getting better and better.”
Lying was the one thing he had zero tolerance for when it came to his brothers and Cord was the king of it.
“It was an accident,” Cord said, flustered and rushed. “And it wasn’t entirely my fault. I mean, she stopped short.”
“I was stopping for the stop sign,” Roxanne said then laughed without humor. “How is that my fault?”
Cord shrugged. “We’re both to blame.”
Before he could say a word, Roxanne stepped closer to Cord, completely riled up.
“This is all on you.” She scoffed. “Youhitme!” The rise in her octave was a sure sign she was losing her patience with his brother. He couldn’t blame her, but he needed to defuse the situation.
“He’ll pay. How much?”
Her glare remained on Cord for a few seconds before turning to him and softening. “Twelve hundred dollars.”
Oh, fuck me.Cord was forever borrowing money from him. He blew most of his paychecks in the first couple days. There was no way he had the cash to cover the bill.
“I’ll pay half,” Cord said.
Roxanne lurched around Jonah’s large frame. She couldn’t have been more than five-six, almost a full foot shorter than him. As her body extended forward, the collar of her shirt dipped, giving him a peak down her shirt and a view of her cleavage. He clenched his jaw and averted his eyes.
“You’ll pay the entire amount.” She pointed like a mom scolding her child. “You did this and it’s your responsibility. Had you not beenon your phone, maybe you would’ve seen my bright red brake lights and not rammed into my bumper.”
“I was not and …”
Jonah wasn’t going to let him finish whatever lie he was going to concoct on the spot. He had no doubt his brother was in the wrong and he’d pay for it. One way or another. Jonah turned around, placing his hand on Cord’s chest. Hard enough to prove his point.
