“Ye’ scared me, ye’ bastard.”
I grinned at her, trying to appear like nothing was wrong and my heart wasn’t ripped in two, but she didn’t seem to buy it.
“Where is she?”
I raised my eyebrows. “In the bathroom—”
“Did ye’ have sex with ‘er?”
My hands flexed, and my sadness over Alannah was quickly turning to anger thanks to Bronagh.
I narrowed my eyes. “I don’t think that is any of your business, Bee.”
Her eye twitched. “It is me fuckin’ business when it’s me friend you’re fuckin’ over.”
She pushed by me to enter the room, but just as quick, I wrapped my hand around her arm and brought her to a stop.
“I didn’t fucking rape her!”
Bronagh’s eyes widened in alarm, but only for a moment.
“Let go of me arm or I’m tellin’ Dominic.”
I let her go. “Is that how you deal with problems? You have my brother fix them?”
“Fuck you, Damien.” She took a step back away from me. “Ye’ know fuckin’ well that I deal with me problems meself. I don’t need Dominic to defend me from anybody!
I humourlessly laughed. “Jason Bane and Gavin Collins would disagree.”
She looked me up and down. “Ye’ can go and fuck yourself.”
I didn’t reply.
“Is she okay?”
I looked at the bathroom door, then back at Bronagh, and said, “She cried because after we had sex, she realised we would never be in a relationship.”
Bronagh lifted her arms and shoved me as hard as she could. I locked eyes with Bronagh and willed her to hit, kick me, to physically hurt me in some way to take away from the raw pain in my chest, but she didn’t. She looked at me with disgust, and it made me feel sick.
“I was very wrong about you. I thought ye’ were a good person; I didn’t let what Dominic told me about your past change me opinion of ye’ because what ye’ did wasn’t planned or even thought on. Ye’ did it to protect yourself, your brother, and Nala, but this? Ye’ knew how much Alannah liked ye’, ye’ knew she was a virgin, and ye’ knew she didn’t want to be a one-hit wonder, yet ye’ still pursued ‘er and persuaded your way into her knickers all because she rejected ye’ and ye’ liked the challenge of pullin’ ‘er.”
Was that what I was doing?
“You’re no fuckin’ better than any other scumbag out there who uses girls, and I hope ye’ realise what a cold and cruel person ye’ are for doin’ this, Damien Slater!” She stepped away from me. “After hearin’ a description of your ma and da from Dominic, it looks like the apple didn’t fall too far from the tree after all because ye’ only think about one person just like they did. Yourself. I bet they are so fuckin’ proud.”
I couldn’t breathe, and it felt like the room was closing in around me. Bronagh’s words ran through my mind, and my heart slammed into my chest, pleading for them not to be true. I fled the room without a backwards glance, and before I knew it, I had made my way through the club and out into the night air. I bent forward placed my hands on my knees. Bronagh’s words hit me harder than a train, and they hurt so much because I knew they were true. I was treating women like they were disposable. I made it clear I only wanted sex from a woman, but my attitude towards that was vile.
I could see that now, and it made me want to vomit.
I turned back towards the club with the intention of talking to Alannah and clearing everything up with her. I would beg her for her forgiveness, I would make it clear to her that I liked her more than I had ever like anyone and that she made my stomach fill with butterflies whenever I looked at her. I was rehearsing in my head what I was going to say when I felt hands on my shoulders.
I looked over my shoulder, and when I saw a smiling Marco Miles, my spine stiffened.
“Damien, my boy. It’s good to see you.”
Before I could answer, something hard slammed into my head, sending me spiralling into darkness. When I woke up an unknown amount of time later, my head was pounding, and my entire face felt like it was on fire. I groaned and tried to sit up, but my body felt heavy. Panic flared as I looked around the room I was in, trying to figure out where the hell I was. I heard a groan from my left, and when I turned my head and saw Bronagh, my heart stopped.
“Bronagh!”
She stirred
“Bee?” I urged, pulling my aching body towards her. “Wake up, please.”
She groaned out loud as she woke up. She sat upright, winced in pain, and lifted her hand to her head. When she looked at her palm and saw there was blood on it, she frowned.
“What happened?”
I pulled myself into a sitting position and put my arm around her waist. She jumped as she looked my way, and she relaxed when she realised it was me, but only for a moment.
“Damien,” she whimpered. “Are you okay?”
I nodded as she began to cry.
“I’m sorry for everythin’ I said to ye’.” She sobbed. “You’re still a dick, but what I said was wrong.”
I chuckled. “Shut up, Bee. You were right about everything you said, and I only reacted the way I did because I knew it was true, and I hated it. I never want to be like my parents, and the shit I’ve being doing just proves that I am.”
Bronagh frowned at me.
“I don’t set out to break hearts. I actually don’t set out to have anything to do with hearts at all, but some girls get attached to me. I swear I never meant to hurt Alannah. I know this will make me sound like a prick. I am a prick, but I just wanted to be with her in the only way I know how to be. She’s different.”
She tilted her head. “Is that your cryptic way of sayin’ ye’ like Alannah?”
I nodded.
Bronagh sighed, then looked around. “I can’t believe I was knocked out.”
Neither could I. I lifted my hands to my face and felt how swollen it was. Whoever knocked me out had beat me while I was unconscious and unable to defend myself.
“Tell me about it,” I growled. “They did this to me after I was knocked out, the fucking pussies.”
Bronagh winced. “The back of me head is throbbin’. It’s bleedin’ as well.”
I checked the back of her head. “It’s not a deep cut, and it’s starting to clot. I can see all the dried blood.”
“Thank God for that.”
“Who hit you? Marco?” I asked. “I saw his face before I was hit.”
She looked at me, her eyes widening. “It wasn’t Marco, Damien ... it was Trent.”
My heart stopped. “Trent Miles?”
Bronagh nodded. “He isn’t dead. Marco said he just pretended he was so that he could hold the threat of killin’ ye’ over your brothers’ heads. He lied to you all, Damien.”
I felt like I was about to be sick.
“For the past three and a half years, I’ve seen his face every night when I’ve gone to sleep. I was convinced he was haunting me for what I did to him, but now I realise it’s all just been in my head.”
Bronagh touched my arm. “Ye’ can let go of all that now.”
My mouth was dry. “Is he really alive?”
Laughter from the doorway caused us to look in that direction. I turned my head, and for a moment, I thought I was looking at a ghost until I realise it wasn’t a ghost, it was a living, breathing person.
“I’m really alive,” Trent announced as he approached me, grinning wickedly. “Did you miss me, buddy?”
A range of emotions flooded me at that moment.
“It looks like I’ve got to work on my aim.”
Trent patted the space between my shoulder and chest. “I’m glad you have shit aim. Things wouldn’t have worked out for me the way they have otherwise.”
I pushed myself to my feet but froze when Trent pulled a gun and aimed it at me.