The Insiders (The Insiders Trilogy #1) - Tijan Page 0,81
city, and Kash was maneuvering the car around others on the interstate. We were rounding, heading into the suburbs on the southern edge. Slowing down, he took an exit, and the size of the houses maybe shouldn’t have surprised me, considering the estate, but they still did. I think I had stopped considering the estate as a home. It was just that—an estate. People lived there, but it was more than a mere home. And these buildings, they were large houses. A few were big enough to be considered mansions, but most were just large, though large enough to impress me.
The sports car slowed and pulled in to a home that had a tower of glass extending up past three floors. The home itself had a rectangular shape on one side; the tower attached this to another section of the house. I was guessing that the main rectangular shape was where the living room and kitchen were, with the bedrooms and the rest of the home in the other section. Matt’s car was parked in front of a four-stall garage, alongside a sleek-looking Mercedes Benz. It was brand-new, the chrome still sparkling. The license plate had a pink frame.
Kash pulled up behind Matt’s car, blocking him in, and was out. I thought he’d head inside, but he came around to my side. I was opening the door before he could get there, but he took the handle and held it open as I got out. Shutting it for me, he locked the car and pocketed his keys as we headed for the front door.
“What’s the plan?”
Kash gave me a look, his hand coming to the back of my hip. He was pulling ahead, once we got to the front door, and that’s when the guards showed up. Behind us and in front of us. Just as we were approaching, a guard came to the door from inside the house, his hand to his earpiece. He looked at Kash and me, saw the others who were pulling into the driveway, and nodded briefly. He opened the door for Kash, saying, as we went past, “Third floor. Back right.”
Kash took the stairs two at a time.
I was following at a slower pace, stunned by everything happening. His guards had sold Matt out, but Kash was the boss. And as I saw Kash get to the third floor, he looked back to me. I was coming to the second floor. I waved him off. I was going, mainly because I wanted to see Matt’s betrayal for myself, but I didn’t want another visualization of my brother thrusting into some woman.
I was just getting to the third floor when I heard it.
A woman screamed.
Matt started yelling, “Get the fuck out! What are you doing? Kash!” More yelling. Something thumped on the wall, then the floor.
I heard feet pounding on the ground.
A guard was outside the door, watching me come, with a lidded expression.
Oh, joy. That wasn’t good.
“Help! Max!”
The guard looked in, stared a second, and turned back to watch my approach.
“You little fuck.” That was Kash. A savage curse ripping from him.
Another thud.
The woman began screaming again. “Oh my God. Don’t. What are you doing? Don’t hurt him!”
The sound of fists meeting skin came next.
I winced but forced myself forward. I was moving at a much slower pace, though. Then, deep breath, I was in the doorway.
The woman was holding a bedsheet to her front.
I recognized her. She was the Bonham wife, from a couple that was friends with Quinn. She was naked, her entire side was exposed. She didn’t see me, her eyes wide in horror.
Matt went to the floor, but he was trying to fight. He rolled to his feet and windmilled his feet up, thrashing everywhere. I wasn’t sure of his intention with that move.
It was almost humiliating to watch.
Matt tried to punch back. Kash easily deflected and hit him even harder. My brother was bleeding from the face, and he finally quit, collapsing to the ground with his arms and legs spread out.
Standing over him, not even breathing hard, Kash saw he had stopped and stepped back. He grabbed one of the pillows, dropping it on Matt’s stomach with extra oomph.
Groaning, Matt could only get one eye open. “You dick.”
“You’re the dick,” Kash shot back. “You left her at that loft.”
Matt paled.
“Oh.”
“Yeah.” Disgust and disdain laced that word. “You’re lucky you can still walk. You don’t use her, then leave her. Ever.”