The Havoc We Wreak - Becca Steele Page 0,31

stomach was churning as I waited for him to reveal whatever it was he thought I knew.

“Like I said. I was trying to stay out of it. And Joseph would have killed me.”

“Like, actually killed you?”

His expression lightened a tiny bit. “Probably not.” The lightness disappeared. “He would’ve beaten me half to death, though, then knowing him, he would’ve done his best to have me disowned from the family. Or at the very least, made life incredibly difficult.” He stared at me, apprehension all over his face. “You’re not going to tell him, are you?”

“Joseph?” My blood boiled, thinking of what he’d done to me. “I’m not going to tell him anything. Did you know he hit me on New Year’s Eve?”

“He what?” James’ shocked gasp cut through the still night air. “I’m going to kill him!”

“I think Cade and Z took care of that.”

“So that must be why he disappeared,” he mused. “Haven’t seen him for over a week now. I’ve heard from him plenty of times, but haven’t actually seen him face to face. I imagine they fucked him up pretty badly?”

I shrugged. “I haven’t asked them, and I was kind of out of it at the time, to be honest. In shock, you know?”

He nodded. I left him with his thoughts for a while as I slowly sipped my drink, thinking through what he’d said. I knew you’d work it out, eventually. What did he mean by that?

I bit the bullet and took a gamble. “James?” I waited until his eyes met mine. “Just to be clear, so I know we’re on the same page. When you said you knew I’d work it out, what did you mean by that?”

He held my gaze steadily. “The docks. I was the one who rescued you.”

TWELVE

A shocked gasp slid from my girlfriend’s lips as she stared at Granville.

Fuck!

My stomach dropped.

Why did he have to be the one to rescue her? Of all the fucking people in the world, it had to be him? Now I had to be grateful to that fucker. Yeah, so I was fucking glad that he’d done it, but now I owed him, and the last thing I wanted was to owe a Granville anything—especially not one who had an interest in my girl. He’d saved her life—I could never repay shit like that.

Swallowing the nauseous feeling, I stepped onto the deck, followed by Z. “Tell us what happened,” I commanded.

“I should’ve known you’d be close by.” Granville sighed heavily, looking resigned.

“Yeah, and do you blame me? Shit keeps happening when she goes off on her own. Isn’t that right, Snowflake?”

She had the audacity to roll her eyes at me, and I really wasn’t in the fucking mood. My head was spinning with Granville’s revelation. After giving her a warning glare, to which she blew me a kiss in return, I crossed over to the railing. Pushing my feelings down, letting my face become a blank mask, I leaned against the railing, arms folded, waiting to hear what Granville had to say. Z took a seat in one of the outdoor chairs, his sharp gaze laser-focused on Granville.

“James.” Winter’s voice was soft, as she leaned forwards to touch his arm. “Ignore them. They’re just…overly protective. Please can you tell me how it all happened?”

Her hand on his arm? I dug my nails into my palms, still outwardly calm, but I was so close to storming over there and ripping her away from him. Zayde looked pointedly in my direction, his expression cautioning me, as I inwardly battled to regain control.

Why? Why did it have to be him?

Granville nodded, looking all smug. Yeah, maybe that was just me projecting, but I was still pissed off about him being the one to save my girl. “I guess since you know it was me, there’s no harm in me telling you how. Can you promise this won’t get back to my family, though? Or my cousin’s family?”

He glanced up at me, waiting, and I nodded. Yeah, no fucking chance was I having any interaction with those assholes. I was going to have a hard time not kicking the shit out of Hyde next time I saw him. “You have my word.”

“Mine too,” Z added, and Granville gave a sigh of relief.

“Thanks. Okay. I’ll tell you how it happened.”

He sat back in his seat, looking far too fucking comfortable next to my girl, who still had her hand on his arm, and I tried to hide my irritation as he