You're to Blame(22)

“Oh, for fuck’s sake.” Randy appears behind Lydia, towering over her. They contradict each other when side by side. He’s big to her small.

“I don’t have time to discuss this mess.” Randy grins over the top of Lydia’s head, pride booms from his eyes. “I need your help, and I was hoping to keep her out of it.”

“I’m right here, asshole, and you know anything you do, I find out about. Quit trying to be all secretive.” Lydia gestures for me to enter the apartment and slams the door behind us. She’s right though. Nothing we do goes unbeknownst to her. “What’s going on?”

“The warehouse. Tonight.” The words choke me on their way out. This is so fucking stupid. I open the fridge and grab a bottle of water, guzzling every last drop.

“Why?” Lydia sits on one of the barstools at the kitchen island. “Or do I dare ask?”

“Charlotte’s interviewing Derks for the Greystone Gazette. She came to Murphy’s today,” I explain.

“So?” Randy lifts his shoulder in a half shrug. “What does that have to do with the warehouse? I thought we all agreed we weren’t going to go there after...”

Yeah, well, things change.

“She’s also interviewing Ari.” I look between the two of them for support or a smack in the face for even entertaining this plan.

Lydia fists and releases her hand as if a tiny bomb explodes in front of her. “There’s the grenade I was afraid you’d jump on.”

“I need to keep her away from the situation as much as possible.”

“You always have a choice, Duke.” I don’t have time for this shit from Lydia. Sometimes I just wish she’d nod her head.

“And I’m making my choice,” I snap back, crumpling the empty water bottle in my grip.

Randy stays quiet, grabbing items from the fridge.

“And dare I ask if you’re doing this for her or Jacob or yourself, huh?” Lydia rips the bottle from my hand and throws it in the garbage.

The minute I’d walked into Jacob’s hospital room, I’d made a choice. No, that’s a lie. I’d made the choice the second Charlotte looked at me as if I was the dirt on the bottom of her shoe.

My entire life I’ve been branded a piece of shit. Not because I am, but because people fear me. Everything I am is in direct contrast to everything my family yearns for me to be. This makes people stop and think. I’ve never once fallen in line to appease my parents or their friends. Instead, I walk through my whole life writing my own rules. And for the first time, desperation not to be what someone assumes I am takes charge.

“Would you blame me if I said all three of us?” I tap my finger on the counter.

Lydia’s eyes soften under my truth. “What do you need from us?”

What I need is for her to stay as far away from the situation as possible. Knowing Lydia, she won’t have any of it. She’s feisty and determined to be involved when the rest of us are. Like our tiny guard dog, she’s always nipping at anyone who gets too close to her boys.

“Lyd, I really need you to sit this one out.” I rub my neck, preparing for the backlash. “You being there is going to have me far too distracted. If you’re in the warehouse, I’m going to be too worried about you being swept up. I can’t have that.”

“I’ll be with him the whole time,” Randy adds, finally stepping in to voice his support. He sets a plate of scrambled eggs in front of Lydia. She smiles sweetly at him and digs in. Randy doesn’t cook for anyone. Clearly, they aren’t only hooking up.

“What’s going on?” I whisper to Randy, nodding my chin to Lydia who’s shoveling forks full of food into her yapper.

“I don’t have a fucking clue, man, but I’m going with it.” He leans down onto the counter, watching her eat.

“Okay.” She glances up from her food. “I’ll stay at your apartment, but the second you sense trouble, I need you to promise me you’ll get out of there.”

“We promise,” Randy and I say together.

Lydia chuckles and rolls her eyes. “You’re both full of shit. When will I ever learn you two don’t listen to me?”

Lydia makes a valid point. Anything can happen once we walk into the warehouse, and Randy and I would be wise to be prepared for the unexpected. In a perfect world, this wouldn’t be a problem, but we don’t live in a perfect world. I’m walking into a situation for someone who, at the end of the day, isn’t anything to me.

But dammit, I feel like she could be.

*****

It’s a little after ten when we pull into the parking lot. Moonlight breaks through the trees, illuminating the open field. Cars fill every space, proving something’s happening tonight. An unexplainable buzz in the air climbs up my spine like a chill.

Randy assesses the situation, his shoulders squared, ready for anything. “So, what’s the plan?”

“I need to work the room a bit.” I run my hands down my face. I’d have to be Ari to get anything from this room. Every person who crosses into the warehouse has a loyalty, and it sure as hell isn’t for me. I’ll be damned, though, if I don’t try to find something to work this situation in my favor. “Ari isn’t messing around. Look at Jacob, for fuck’s sake. I can’t fix this if I’m lying in a hospital bed next to him, but I need to get near him. Make my intentions clear. After our run-in at the house, I doubt they’ll let me close enough to do so.”