“I will. Something came up after work and I just lost track of time. I’ll be there in twenty. Why are you still up?”
I heard her sigh and then sniffle like she was crying and I swore at myself silently.
“Mom came out of her room a little while ago and got mad at Dad for something. He shut the door to the office and she went into the kitchen and started throwing things all around. She was screaming and yelling that no one in this family appreciates her and that she could just disappear and we would never notice. She broke all the dishes. I went in to tell her I would clean it up and she screamed at me that I was a worthless pain in the ass.”
Now I swore out loud and tugged hard enough on my hair that it hurt.
“Just go to your room and stay there. Ignore her, Karsen. She’s just in one of her moods.” I was sure it was fueled by vodka or something else, but that was still no excuse. My little sister didn’t deserve to be the target of that kind of unjustified anger.
I heard her whimper a little and then take a deep breath. “I’m sorry. You shouldn’t have to rush home to deal with this.”
I just shook my head. There was no one else who could do it. I tried my best to keep the house dry, to keep what was basically a loaded weapon out of my mother’s hands, but every time I turned around it was like I was being circumvented and another bottle of vodka appeared. “I’ll see you in a minute.”
I ended the call and turned to find Race watching me with curious eyes. All the dark and lusty black had retreated back into the color of fresh pine and there was no running from the probing quality of his gaze. I took the sweatpants he held out to me, even though Dovie was way shorter than me. I needed to cover up the damage to my skin as much as possible. I didn’t need to give Karsen any more reason to freak out for the night.
“I need to get home.”
He tilted his head a little and ran his hands over his messy hair. I wanted to sigh and rub up against him like a cat.
“I’ll follow you.”
I bit down on my lip and fought back an automatic rejection. Having him follow me home made this feel like something more than an almost hookup. He lifted one blond brow and walked over to the couch, where his abandoned shirt was lying.
“Someone tried to run you over a couple hours ago, Bry. You really think I’m letting you out of here on your own right now?”
I wanted to tell him that I appreciated it, that no one had kept an eye on me for way longer than I wanted to admit to.
“Thanks, Race.”
He didn’t say anything else, just waited for me to get myself situated, and then guided me out of the loft part of the garage into the part that actually had all the cars. I wasn’t a mechanical girl but even I could tell there was way more than basic car repair happening under the place Race was calling home. We walked outside and I had to admit I was surprised and pleased that the BMW was there in one piece and unscathed.
“It must be nice to have minions.”
He pulled the driver’s door open for me and flashed that dimple at me. That dimple was going to be my utter downfall, I just knew it, and so did my vagina.
“I can give or take a minion. It’s having the authority and the power to make shit happen that’s nice.”
I looked at Race over the frame of the door and blinked at him. “Is that why you’re doing what you’re doing? The power?”
I wanted to ask how he could be so comfortable in a role that had people pulling guns on him and putting him in danger. He didn’t seem like a cavalier person. There was too much working behind those forest-colored eyes and under all of that glorious hair on the top of his head.
The dimple got a little deeper and he pushed off the car, making the muscles in his shoulders ripple and my tummy dip.
“In a place like this, there aren’t very many good people running around. That means there are a lot of bad things happening under the surface and a lot of bad people doing those things. I’m not a bad guy, Brysen, but I’m not a good guy either. I’m just enough of both to keep a handle on those bad things to stop them from spilling over and infecting the few good ones left in this godforsaken place. That’s why I do what I do.”
I gulped and tried to tell myself that this didn’t make a difference, but it really did. He smirked at me and turned to walk to his flashy car.
“Besides, someone needs to get paid to do it, might as well be me. I don’t have a trust fund anymore.”
There it was. The two sides of him that made him unpredictable and hard to really get my head around. Altruistic and selfless while, in turn, being arrogant and flippant about his current circumstances.
I got in my car and waited for him to get the big, metal gate open so I could exit the compound. It was an odd place for him to be living. It was industrial, more a fortress than any kind of home, and it was right in the center of the Point, which automatically lent itself to a sort of filthy, postapocalyptic feel. For all his posturing about not being part of this place, Race oozed an essence of wealth and refinement that was just part of his genetic makeup. Living in a place that didn’t even really have furniture or anything to make it welcoming or comforting spoke to something greater going on with him. If my own living circumstances weren’t so all over the place, there was a really solid chance I would spend an inordinate amount of time trying to unearth the deeper subtext behind his choices.
The drive out of the city was fast, mostly because I was in a rush and worried about what was happening at my house, and partly because I was subconsciously trying to outrun the man and the red sports car behind me. I knew that scene in the bathroom wasn’t leaving my mind anytime soon, and I also knew if Karsen hadn’t called and interrupted, I would’ve taken a step with Race that would fundamentally alter the relationship we had.