She's Mine - Jenika Snow Page 0,54

over with concerning Reese, talk to him, let him know she was fine, that this didn’t bother her. It would be the biggest lie of her life, but she could put a poker face on.

Or try.

“No, Keira. Like he went crazy.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Reese went full-on psychotic when he found out you saw the pictures and left. Like, I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone look so… panicked.”

“Yeah, well, maybe he was hoping to keep me as his side piece.” How stupid she had been to allow herself to fall in love with him.

“He peeled out in his truck like five minutes ago.”

Keira shook her head, even though no one saw her. “He was upset that he was caught.”

“I don’t know, Keira. The way he was acting was damn near frightening. His expression… God, Keira. It was scary as hell. He was cursing and screaming, but I couldn’t really make out what he said.”

It didn’t matter in the end. He could be pissed. He could be whatever he wanted. She was the one who had to deal with herself and how she felt.

After she got off the phone, she tossed it aside. Dammit, why did she have to love him?

Her phone started buzzing again, but she let it go to voicemail. Minutes later, the sound of tires squealing right outside had her getting off the bed and pulling the curtains aside to look down into the driveway.

Oh God.

Reese slammed his truck into park, was out of the vehicle in a matter of seconds, and stormed toward the entrance of her house.

“Keira!” he shouted her name over and over again, and before he disappeared from her view, he stopped and looked up at her window.

The anguish on his face was clear, and the stupid, foolishly in love part of her just wanted to go to him, to feel him. But she held her place, refusing to be weak. They’d talk, she’d hear what he had to say, but she wouldn’t let sweet words, lies, or anything else cloud her judgment ever again.

Reese whipped his head toward the front door, and a moment later, she heard Alex’s muffled, deep voice as he talked to Reese. She saw Alex step closer, his hands shoved in the front pockets of his jeans. He didn’t know Reese, but she couldn’t imagine he was just asking Reese who the hell he was and what he wanted.

And then as Reese started talking with animation, his hands moving between him and where she was upstairs, Keira saw the anger start to morph Alex’s face. He now knew Reese was the cause of why she’d been upset.

Shit.

Before she could tear herself away from the window and go down there to stop what was about to inevitably happen, Alex reared his arm back and slammed his fist into the side of Reese’s face. Reese stumbled back, clearly blindsided by the punch, but was up on his feet seconds later. Even from where she stood two stories up, she saw the blood start to trickle out his nose.

Reese wiped it away with the back of his hand and turned his head to spit out a mouthful of blood. He held up his hands, a clear act of surrender, but the anger on Alex’s face was like lightning across the sky, getting stronger by the second.

He charged forward and punched Reese again and again, sending him to the ground. Alex was on top of him seconds later and kept hitting him like a madman. Everything was happening so fast, yet it felt like it transpired in slow motion. What shocked her most was that Reese refused to defend himself.

Keira rushed down the stairs and out the front door. As soon as she was outside, she could hear the rage-filled words Alex spoke. They were vile and harsh and like nothing she’d ever heard her brother say.

“I don’t know what the fuck you did, asshole,” Alex seethed out, “but my little sister has never looked so brokenhearted.” He punched Reese again.

“Alex. Stop, please. You’re going to kill him!” she screamed over and over again, but her brother was like a machine. And Reese refused to fight back and defend himself. He just took blow after blow from her brother.

She ran up to Alex and grabbed his arm, trying to pull him back. But he was built just as solidly as Reese, and it was like moving a mountain.

In the next second, she found herself sprawled on her ass several feet away. The