Sheltered(49)

“But you don’t have a brother,” I say, even though the words sound silly coming out of my mouth. It’s not like Fritz was ever honest with me, so why should I believe that he was an only child? But now when I think back on it, he never actually said it. Whenever his family came up he changed the subject. I thought maybe he didn’t want me to meet them yet, so he didn’t want to bring them up, thinking maybe I wasn’t good enough yet.

He laughs again, enjoying the pain he sees on my face. “He’s my half-brother. And you’re just as useless to him as you were to me. You’re expendable, Blair. No one wants you.”

His words land a direct hit, and I can feel them as if they were a physical blow knocking the air out of me.

But then my mind flashes to lying in bed with Ryker and the way he looked at me in the morning light. I think about every touch and how he made me feel. I think about what I feel for him and how what I had with Fritz never compared at all. I didn’t know what my heart was capable of feeling until I met Ryker. If he’s involved in this, it can’t be to hurt me. Even if it started out that way. If Ryker is involved like Fritz says he is, it was to protect me. I know that with every fiber of my being. That man loves me. He might not have said the words yet, but I know he does. He truly loves me like no one else has ever done before and I won’t doubt him ever again. Whatever this is, I stand with him. Trust him.

I made terrible decisions in my life, and one of them was trusting Fritz. I won’t make that same mistake again and let his hateful words break me. Ryker loves me, and I love him. That isn’t just a feeling, that’s what’s written on my soul. I won’t allow him to destroy something beautiful I shared with Ryker because his world is crumbling.

The light catches Fritz’s gun as he moves back and forth, reminding me that right now he’s a loose cannon. I glance over at Lilith, who is still frozen in place. I need to keep him talking. If he’s talking he’s not killing anyone, and I need to buy some time. I know that Ryker will come for me. He’s saved me before and he’ll do it again. I just have to give him time to get here. If there is one thing I know, Fritz likes to talk about himself.

“Ryker’s last name is Hunt,” I say, trying to think of something to say. “I met his parents.”

“He’s not a Hamilton,” Fritz replies, but he’s talking to himself. “He was a bastard. My dad met my mom and he felt sorry for her. That’s why he married her. She was poor and alone.” The disgust is clear in his voice. How could someone talk about their mama like that? Mine wasn’t the best and I wouldn’t ever speak about her in that way.

He glances over at me, and I think of Kathleen and how she told me she came from a place just like I did, that we were more alike than I realized.

“Ryker was five when they had me, but we were never brothers. He was always on the outside. That’s why he never changed his name. It’s because my mom never did fit in. He didn’t want to belong, just like she didn’t. They didn’t fit in. Like you never will.”

He spits the insult at me and resumes pacing. He’s on a roll now and I don’t have to ask him any questions to keep him talking. But as he does, I look around for some sort of weapon I can use to protect myself if he comes at me.

“They cut me off and gave me no choice. They said I needed to learn some independence and take responsibility for my actions. That they were entrusting the business to Ryker because he had proven himself. But I’m their son!” His shout echoes through the warehouse. “I’m the rightful heir to the Hamilton fortune and they’ve cut me out of it. Ryker was their golden child from the beginning, even though I deserved it. My own father praised that bastard more than he ever did me.”

He lets out a growl and he clenches his free hand into a fist. I’m not sure my plan is working because he’s only getting angrier.

“Now the cops are after me, the guys we stole the art from are on to us. The buyers are demanding their money and threatening to kill me. What am I supposed to do?”

He turns to look at me and there is a panic in his eyes. His own reality is crashing in on him as he gives voice to his problems.

“We’ll fix this,” Lilith offers, her voice low and soothing. “We can make it all go away. Just give me the gun.”

I watch as she holds out her hands, slowly moving closer to Fritz. She’s only a couple of feet from him, but he doesn’t move as she gets closer.

“We can work this out, Fritz.” She’s inches away from him now. “Give me the gun and we’ll get out of here. Just you and me.”

As she says the last words, something snaps in Fritz. Anger falls over his face and before I can blink he fires the gun.

Lilith screams and grabs her side as she crumples to the ground. For a second Fritz looks panicked, like he didn’t mean to shoot it, but he swallows and the mask falls right back into place.

My hand goes to my mouth. I’m shocked and unable to move. Lilith is on the ground as Fritz stands over her, shouting. “You and me? It was never you and me. It was always you. I was your little errand boy and all you ever did was tell me how I fucked this up. Don’t patronize me, Lilith!”

I watch as his anger builds and builds, until he turns his eyes on me. A chill runs down my spine as he steps over to where I’m sitting on the crate.