“It’s okay.” I wiped the blood that had trickled down my jaw with the back of my hand. “It’s nothing.”
“Who did that to you?”
“I don’t want to talk about it.” Fury clouded my judgment, and if my brother pushed me too far, I would lash out at him. Most of the problems we had were his fault. “I’m going to take a shower.”
“Sable.” He followed me down the small hall that led to my bedroom. The boxes of clothes, shoes, and accessories that Milo had sent from the main house were stacked to the ceiling. “Did someone hit you?” Chance asked.
“I said I don’t want to talk about it.” My voice shook with anger—a rage I hadn’t experienced since we lived in my father’s house. The shame and humiliation of being smacked and belittled slammed into me. I thought I had suppressed all of those memories when we fled. I was wrong.
“What happened?”
“Chance, I’m not in a good place right now and I can’t make it better for you.” I grabbed a towel from the small linen closet. “Not tonight.”
I wanted to shower, crawl into bed, and forget all of it. My father, Bello, Chance, Milo…
“I’m not asking you to make it better for me. I just want to know what happened to you.” He touched my shoulder, stopping me from heading into the bathroom. “Who hurt you?”
I closed my eyes and didn’t dare to turn and face him. Because if I was being completely honest, it was him who hurt me. If I wasn’t always looking out for him, I wouldn’t be in this situation. Because of his choices, I had to sacrifice myself to save him.
If he hadn’t borrowed money to sell drugs in Milo's club, I would never have gotten my heart broken. If he hadn’t betrayed Milo to work with Medina and Bello, I would be with Milo instead of here, alone and afraid.
I was so close to saving Chance. But then he had to agree to transport a woman who was being sold to a man she didn’t know. All of my brother’s decisions these past few months had been epic failures.
But could I really blame it all on Chance? If I had allowed him to become a man and stopped bailing him out at every turn, maybe I could have chosen Milo.
Should have, would have, could have…
“Was it Milo?” The agitation in Chance’s voice grew. “Did he do that to you?”
When the tears streamed from my eyes, I violently blinked them back. After everything Milo had done for us, Chance had the audacity to accuse him of hurting me? As if Milo hadn’t done everything in his power to protect me and make me feel valued and safe?
“You don’t know anything,” I whispered. “And I don’t have the energy to explain it to you.”
“Let me fix this for you,” Chance said. “Let me show you I can.”
“You’ve done enough.” I swung open the bathroom door. “Leave it alone.”
I hurried into the bathroom and turned the faucet on. When the apartment door slammed shut and I was alone, I let out a strained sob. I’d give myself the length of this shower to feel sorry and then I would figure out how to move forward.
Like I always did, even if nothing ever seemed to go my way.
FIVE
Milo
I clutchedSable’s bracelet in my hand, promising myself tomorrow would be the day I let go and toss it in the trash. I’d made that vow every day for the last week. Why couldn’t I bring myself to do it?
Keeping it one more day wouldn’t hurt anything, so I shoved my emotional-support bracelet in my pocket and tried to focus on the spreadsheet on my screen. My futile efforts were of no use because the numbers in front of me didn’t make sense. Nothing made sense now that Sable was gone.
“I want to see Milo!” an aggressive voice shouted from the hall outside my office.
What the fuck?
The angry voice grew louder and more agitated with each frantic word.
“Milo!” the man yelled. “You’re going to pay for what you did to Sable.”
Chance?
