Pain And Pleasure 18+✓

Fifty-one

"Oh, finally!" Sally clatters off the stairs as I scoot Jake out of the car.

"God, where have you been?" Josh cries from behind her.

They have been waiting outside; I think the door is locked and none of them remembered to get the spare key unless they were too anxious to wait inside the house.

"Ouch!" Jake grimaces when I hold him a bit tighter around his waist.

I shriek. "Sorry."

He got holy blows on his rib cage. The thought shreds my heart into unpleasant pieces. What if they killed him today? Does he even care?

"What the heck, Linc! What happened?" Josh asks, his face as surprised as Sally's to see Jake in such a state.

"It's a long story. A hand, please?" I ask them.

This is certainly not the way I anticipated closing my amazing weekend at the lake house. It was supposed to be beautiful till the end, but look where we are now.

"I said I can walk, Ara. You don't need to hold me this tight," Jake pleads.

"Sure! Do it! You always do what you want, don't you?" I step away from him.

It infuriates me that even in this situation he still has the guts to act like a big king Lion. I feel like beating the crap out of him but I know I can't, and I definitely won't. I'm so mad at him that I wonder how to control my outrage after everything he'd put us through today.

"Hey," Sally whispers, her eyes settled on him as he slowly clambers up. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Jake answers, making my eyes roll.

He's such a rude brat!

"Okay, let me get the door." Josh jogs up and perhaps he can help his fellow egoistic dude.

We let them be.

"What happened to him?" Sally asks me in a low voice.

"I'll tell you later." I don't feel like talking right now, much less narrating my brother's outlaw part-time job that nearly got us killed.

Illegal gambling? I sigh heavily, trying to put an interlude on this whole mess.

Behind me, the car door slides open and I recall Mario is still here. He gives me a tight smile, finally out of his driver's seat.

"Shouldn't I take him to the hospital?" I ask him.

"No, you can't. You'll have to explain what happened and it won't be a simple matter with the police involved, you and I both know," Mario suggests, and it's true. "I called the doctor, and he should be here in no time. He'll check on him and everything will be fine."

I bob my head, my heart filled with a tad bit of relief. I think they just roughed him up; nothing serious. Otherwise, he wouldn't be growling that he can walk by himself as he just did.

Stubborn fool!

"Thank you, Mario," I tell him truthfully, and I don't care who he is, and what he does for Adrian.

He saved our lives somehow.

"You're welcome. I should go now," he says curtly, his voice still dry and rushed now.

He's probably going back to his boss.

"Um... Is Adrian..." My voice trails, for I don't know what exactly to ask given how we've left things in that warehouse.

"He'll be fine," Mario utters. I nod and smile softly. "You can call him later if you're too worried," he adds, concern lacing his cautious voice.

I blush despite the odds, but the scent of mirth fades into thin air when I recall how angry Adrian must be right now. Maybe he doesn't want to even see my face. I need to give him space for that matter and see if there's anything left for us.