My head hangs with defeat over the sink, and I grab the countertop, squeezing it with all my strength. The blood running from one hand drips down the curve of the bowl, but I don’t care. I’m tired. I’m so tired. I’m drained of caring so damn much.
From this moment on, I want my energy to be concentrated on finding my dad and Barbara. I know it will be hard; it always is. Even with all the stress, the horror, having Everly here is such a distraction. She makes my heart ache less with her presence. I know. It’s hard to believe when all we are is at each other’s throats, but she has taken the pain away with her company.
When she is near, I don’t think about how I’m never going to see my dad again. And I know I won’t. This isn’t a rescue mission anymore. It’s a recovery for their bodies. Everyone is too nice to say they are dead, but I know. I feel it. Another chunk of my being is gone.
I let out a shaky breath and wrap my hand with a towel, tucking the edges in and tying it off since I don’t see any tape. Next, I rinse all traces of blood out of the sink before cleaning up the mess I made in the room as best as I can. Then go back to the bar to pour me another drink.
Tints of red peek through the make-shift bandage from the small cuts decorating my palm. A loud exhale escapes my throat as I lean against the bar. It’s all too much. I rub my temples with my fingers, not caring for the pinch of pain in my hand. What if I have to plan a funeral? I don’t even know if my dad left a will or something like that. I have no idea how to plan a funeral. Did he want to be buried? If so, what kind of coffin? There are a million different options these days. Did he want to get cremated? What do people do with the ashes?
He better have something in his will or I’m going to do something he would never want, and I’ll always think about it and wonder if he is disappointed, looking down on me. And Barbara? Hell, I hope Everly knows something because I’m lost when it comes to this. My dad dealt with the funeral arrangements for my mom, plus, I was so young when it happened; I couldn’t do anything about it.
“Fuck,” I mutter underneath my breath and bring the scotch glass to my mouth.
Giggles outside the door echo down the hall. I glance at my Rolex and see a few hours have already gone by since Everly left to go to the bar. I figure it is some other woman outside going to their room when I remember the penthouse is the only room on this floor.
So, the laughter must be coming from Everly. I sit on the couch and cross my legs, trying to seem like I’m not worried about her or thinking of her. I want to look casual. I bring the burning amber to my lips and sip the hot, burning liquor until it is scorching my throat.
“No way,” she says through a fit of little chuckles.
“Come on,” a deeper voice answers.
I uncross my legs, place them on the floor, and stand. When I walk by the bar with angry strides, I sit my glass on the dark cherry wood before going to the front door. Opening it, I see a tipsy, hot little number and a drunk man that isn’t much taller than Everly.
His eyes are wide as he backs away. “I thought you said you didn’t have a boyfriend? I don’t do that. I don’t fuck up relationships. I’m no homewrecker.” He lifts his hands in the air, surrendering. “I swear, I didn’t know.”
“Him?” Everly slurs. “He is just my stepbrother.”
There’s that fucking word again. My jaw locks together in an angry snarl. It takes all I have to keep my mouth shut. My molars drag against each other, threating to crack under the pressure as she looks at me with narrow eyes. As if she has won this round.
Oh, she wishes.
“The stepbrother who fucks her,” I reply.
It’s a little funny to watch her reaction. She gasps, but defeat is far from her mind. I can tell.
She wraps her arm through his and puts a hand on his chest. Really? This guy? She can do better than him. “It was a mistake, though. Our parents didn’t get married until we were adults.”
A mistake. The little minx is throwing my words back in my face.
“Oh, so you guys didn’t grow up together?” the new guy asks.
Well, that seems to be a slippery slope. We did grow up together, but not in the way he thinks.
“No. He’s just someone I used to know,” Everly says, swinging the final blow from the sharp edges of her sword and stabbing my already jaded heart.
And that is enough. I uncross my ankles and push off the door frame, yanking her to my side by her wrist. “Get out of here and go fuck with someone else.” I pull her inside and slam the door in the man’s face.
“Just who do you think you are?” she stutters, stumbling and swaying left and right as she tries to take off her shoes.
“I’m the guy you barely know,” I sneer.
“Well, I’m the mistake you screwed last night, remember?” she yells.
“You drive me fucking insane, Everly!”
“You’ve already driven me insane, Rowan.” She curls her lip as she spits my name, as if it tastes as bad.
I stomp forward and plant my feet in front of her. “Good, because that is how you have made me feel the last five or six years. That feeling of uncertainty you feel, that ache in your heart, the questions in your mind,” I tap the side of my temple. “That’s been my life for
