The Pain Of The Pleasure

FORTY-ONE - RYTH

"RYTH!" Tobias barked, shoving aside onlookers as he pulled me out of the store. But I couldn't feel his hand, nor their stares. I couldn't feel anything but that empty feeling in the center of my chest. "What the fuck happened?" Nick charged forward, quickly looking around. "Lazarus happened," Tobias answered, glancing my way. Rage exploded in Nick's eyes as he scanned me. "Did he hurt you?" He's fucking lucky he's still breathing. You have no idea how close we were to putting a bullet in his goddamn brain. Lazarus' words resounded, hollow and strange in my head. "He said mom's lying," I

muttered as Tobias dragged me toward the front doors of the mall. I turned to look right at Tobias. "He said she was lying." "Yeah, well..." he muttered. I flinched. "What's that supposed to mean?" He said nothing, just lengthened his stride, forcing me to step faster to keep up. Caleb was striding toward us as we hit the automatic doors and made our way outside. "What happened?" "Lazarus," Nick answered.

"Seems the mouthy bastard had plenty to say." Caleb focused on Tobias' hold on my arm, then the pained look in my eyes. "You're hurting her." "What?" Tobias growled. Caleb moved toward me. "Let go of her arm, T, you're hurting her." His grip eased instantly before he looked down at the reddening marks on my arm. "Sorry." We went straight to the car, climbing in amongst the mountain of bags. I stared at the bags beside me on the rear seat. I didn't want them anymore, any of it.

I leaned forward and put my face in my hands. "Ryth?" Caleb called my name from the driver's seat. "Ryth, talk to us," Nick urged in front of me. But Tobias said nothing. I could feel the chill coming from him and the memory of that gun aimed at him turned the panic inside me cold. He could've been killed...all because of me.

I opened my eyes and turned to him. He stared straight ahead, those dark eyes growing darker as Caleb started the Lamborghini and pulled out of the parking lot. "He said dad stole from them." My gaze drifted as Laz's words came back to me. "What the fuck did he steal, it sure as hell wasn't money!" The car grew uncomfortably quiet...too quiet.

"What did he steal?" I repeated, and turned to Caleb first, then Nick. "Drugs," Tobias answered beside me, his glare burning a hole in the back of Caleb's head. "Your father ran drugs for the Rossis." "Drugs?" I whispered, and slowly shook my head. "No, that's not right." Caleb met my gaze in the rear-view mirror. "It's the truth." "Drugs?" The word slammed around in my head. "My dad stole drugs?" "Drug money," Caleb answered as he changed gears and punched the accelerator. The sleek sports car didn't feel heavy and throbbing like the Mustang. Instead, it charged forward, tearing around corners under expert hands.

We flew back home, hitting the driveway with a jolt until the Lamborghini's engine died. Drug money...my father stole drug money. Jesus...this was bad...this was really, really fucking bad. My brothers climbed out and Caleb headed for the door, leaving Nick and Tobias to carry my bags inside. But there was a difference now. Nick stayed back, scanning the street as Tobias hustled me inside. Did they think Lazarus was going to come for me?

Jesus. It hit me like a punch to my chest. They did...they thought Laz or the Rossis were coming for me! This was all because mom had lied to me. I hurried inside and headed for the kitchen, yanking open the refrigerator door. My bags were dropped on the kitchen floor before Caleb turned to us. "I want to know exactly what Lazarus said, word for word." "What the fuck does it matter?" Caleb braced a hand on the counter and directed his laser focus at Tobias. "It matters."

Tobias scowled, but then repeated what Lazarus had said, word for word, exactly how Lazarus said it. "Jesus," Caleb swore as he turned away, pacing the kitchen floor. "What?" I whispered, narrowing in on his face. He stopped halfway across the floor. "Spit it out, brother," Nick snapped. "What the fuck is it?" "I knew he was a lying piece of shit," Caleb snarled, staring at the ground. "I just fucking knew it." "Knew what?" Nick snarled, turning to him. "Tell us!" "The day he came home covered in blood splatter and took Ryth on that goddamn joyride, I knew something had happened.