Razor: A Bad Boy Stepbrother Romance(36)

Mason’s dark scowl silenced me. “We are not going to do anything. Whatever happens next, I want you to stay out of it. You’ve done your part, now let me handle the rest.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. We were supposed to be a team. “But we’re in this together,” I protested. I hated how whiny my voice sounded, but I couldn’t help it. “I’m just trying to help you.”

“Don’t try to act like you care about what happens to me,” Mason growled, his eyes suddenly blazing.

I recoiled like I’d been struck. I had no idea where this sudden acid was coming from, especially since minutes before we’d been seconds away from having sex on my couch.

“Mason I—”

“The only thing you really seem to care about is how many hits your stupid blog has or how your career will take off as a result of this.”

Tears burned my eyes. What the hell was his problem? “That’s not true, and you know it! I care about Rosemary and getting justice for her daughter’s murder,” I swallowed back a lump in my throat.

“Oh cut the act, Carly.”

I stared long and hard at Mason, the stubborn line of his chiseled jaw and the fire in his eyes. He looked like he was . . .

This isn’t him, I thought suddenly. This isn’t Mason.

I wiped at my cheek with the back of my hand, struggling to get a reign on my emotions. “You’re just angry right now,” I sniffed. “And scared. You don’t really mean those awful things you’re saying.”

“I meant every word,” Mason growled.

I ignored him, regaining some of my composure. “Look, let me call the Sheriff and explain everything. When they confirm it was Mayor Bradley in the video, he’ll listen.”

“What aren’t you getting?” Mason snarled. “They’re f*cking crooked as hell. Always have been, always will be.”

“Then let me call Brian,” I said as calmly as I could manage. “He has money and connections, he’ll be able to help—”

“We already discussed my father. I’ll only tell you this one more time. Dad has no interest in helping me. He’d give me up in a heartbeat.”

“So you keep saying, but you won’t tell me why you believe so strongly that he would. Why?”

“Because he doesn’t care about me.”

I remembered Mason’s anger back in the car. There was obviously something I was missing here. Mason believed that his father wanted him dead, but I’d never seen any evidence to suggest that. “If you would just tell me what’s going on, instead of flying off the f*cking handle, and tell me what makes you believe he hates you so much.”

“You know what? Just stop bringing him up. It really pisses me off.”

“Oh yeah?” I snarled. “Well you wanna know what pisses me off? You suddenly turning into a major douchebag for no apparent reason.” Anger seared my breasts. I literally wanted to claw Mason’s eyes out. “You know what? Fuck you!”

Spinning on my heel and holding back tears, I ran from the living room, into my bedroom and slammed the door shut as hard as I could.

Fuck Mason.



Mason





Carly’s muffled yell reached my ears a second later, “Fucking *!”

I sighed and closed my eyes. Pretending to be mad at Carly when she’d done nothing wrong was one of the hardest things I’d ever done.

A part of me wanted to go after her, beg for her forgiveness and tell her I didn’t mean anything I said. The urge was so powerful that I began walking down the hallway toward her room and then stopped.

Don’t do it, I thought, heading back to the living room. I need to put distance between us.

Carly assumed I was being an * because I was scared of my impending capture, when in reality I was pleased.

I’d exposed the Mayor for the scumbag he truly was and it was only a matter of time before he was put behind bars.

What I was really afraid of, was Carly’s safety. It was clear that I was the one everyone was after, and I’d keep it that way.

Still, I wasn’t worried. I was confident enough in my skills that I could evade capture. I knew how to stay in the shadows.

Leaving Carly would be the hard part. And I didn’t know how I was going to do it. The first time I left, it nearly killed me. This time it probably would.

Yet, I knew I had to. Carly wasn’t safe with me, never was. I had no business showing up on her doorstep and involving her in my f*cked up world.

If I hadn’t been so f*cking selfish, I thought. It wouldn’t have come to this. I could’ve just given Anonymous the video and let them have at it. They would’ve released it eventually.

But what was done, was done.

Now I just needed to separate myself from Carly — to keep her safe.

I walked over to the front door and placed my hand on the knob. If I left right now while Carly was in her room, it would make things much easier. She’d come out later and I’d be gone. No arguing. No yelling and screaming at each other. Just gone.

I turned the knob and was hit by a sudden weight on my chest. I couldn’t bring myself to do it. If I left without saying goodbye, Carly wouldn’t forgive me a second time.

I glanced outside the living room window. It was pitch black outside and I was feeling a bit tired from the day’s events. It didn’t seem like a good idea to leave in the dead of night just so I could escape having to deal with facing her.