conclusion that she was probably having a delayed reaction to her parents death. I was so concerned about Rina that I overlooked the signals that my brother was throwing out , never putting together that the two things are connected .
Dante ha s n’ t been himself for quite a while. He i s touchy, short tempered, sad, distracted and unreasonable. Why the fuck are they both…
Just like that, it hits me. Sabrina and Dante were involved . Something happened here. For whatever reason , my brother broke his own rules, and now the shit is hitting the fan.
My gaze slides back to Sabrina just as she turns to leave and I see the exact moment she realizes that I’m there. Her face is a riot of thoughts and emotions as she tries to figure out how much I’ve seen.
Grabbing her hand, I pull her from the VIP room. I grimace when S abrina tries to play it off by telling me that she just saw Dante , and it caught her off guard. She tries to make an end run around me, but I put halt her progress. We need to talk.
Giving her arm a tug , I maneuver her in to the coat check and restroom hallway. Staring down a t her I ask , “Sabrina. How long were you with my brother?”
At first she make s a shocked face and tries to tell me that nothing happened, but she ’ s a terrible liar and I see right through it.
“I know what I saw Sabrina. It all makes sense now. His outburst the day I said you would be a terrific project manager. The overnight bag I saw as you were leaving his house that day when he was in such a terrible mood. The way you have both been acting. I see it clearly now.”
I watch as all the fight goes out of her. After a minute, she shakes her head. “Yes, something happened. I t didn’ t mean anything, and it came to an end. It’s over, nothing to worry about . Please just let this go.”
Shit. This is so much worse than I thought.
“Bullshit. I think it is something to worry about . And I know you Sabrina. It meant something. He hurt you . It was all over your face back there. I get it now. It’s in how sad you look every day when you think no one is paying attention. It’s the bags under your eyes that say you don’ t sleep. It’s the way you ’ ve been trying so hard to appear happy these last few weeks. It’s been alarming to watch you be stretched so thin every day. I’ve been worried, and that’ s just how I felt when I thought it was some guy that doesn’t share blood with me . Now that I know its Dante, I’m terrified. He ’ s destroying you . I should have realized ho w weird it was that Dante wasn’ t saying anything about how off you have been. ”
She gives me what I’m sure she thinks is a reassuring smile, but what comes out is something that causes my gut to clench in fear .
“Damien, what do you want me to say? I’m OK. I’m not falling apart. I don’t know why you think that. Do n’ t blow this up to be something it isn’t .”
Damn her and her attempts to cover for that son of a bitch! He should never have touched her. I’m not letting her lie to me. I need to know what happened so that I can deal with Dante.
“Is that how you ’ re going to play it Sabrina? Y ou’ re fine? Feeling good? No problems? You ha ve n’t any feelings for my brother at all? If that’ s true, let’s go say hello to him and the new flavor of the month. Shouldn’t be a problem, right?”
I have to give her credit for trying, even though I can see it costs her. “No Damien, it won’t be a problem. Let’s go say hello.”
I shake my head at her in fru stration , taking her arm a s I walk us back to the VIP area to talk to Dante and the fuck bot of the week.
The second that I see that the woman has climbed in to his lap and is leaning in to kiss him, I kn ow I’ve made a horrible mistake forcing Sabrina to come back in here. This was
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