The blood pounded in my ears.
“It’s none of your business.” I held my chin up and tightened my core to stop the shaking in my hands.
“You are my business.”
“I don’t think….”
His response was whip sharp. “Answer me.”
“Never,” I blurted out.
His eyes narrowed. “What?”
I slipped lower in the tub until I was submerged almost to my chin. “I never had sex with your brother.”
“You’re lying.”
“I’m not.”
“How’s that possible?”
“We’d only dated a few weeks when the accident happened.”
He grabbed me by the jaw and tilted my head back. “What about your mouth?”
I whimpered, not sure what he was asking.
He ground out, “Did you suck his cock?”
I shook my head as I kicked my legs. Water splashed over the edge, soaking his trousers.
He seemed not to notice. His stare searched my face. “Why not?”
I grabbed his wrist. “Please, I don’t want to talk about this.”
“I need to know, Madison.”
I broke. “He tried. He couldn’t get it up. He got angry and hit me, which is why I was breaking up with him. We argued that night and then he crashed. Okay? Are you happy now?”
He let go of my jaw and reared back. Standing to his full height, he turned away, thrusting a hand in his hair and clenching it.
There was a long, tense silence.
His back stiffened as he lowered his arm to his side. Finally, he spoke. “My brother hit you?”
I didn’t want to answer. Didn’t want to relive it. I just stared at his flexing back muscles. Stared at his hand, slowly curling into a fist. How strange, to know that when Jameson did that it was to strike against me and for reasons that defied understanding, I knew that Pierce was doing it for me.
The tops of my shoulders cooled as I struggled to form a response but failed.
Pierce turned and faced me. “Tell me.”
“Please don’t make me.”
“It’s important.”
“Why? Why could it possibly matter? He’s dead.”
His brow furrowed and he opened his mouth as if to say something then closed his lips. He moved closer to the tub and reached out to trace the side of my face with his fingertips.
