The slam of his door wasn't enough.
Why do I keep saying his door? It was my door. My room. My freaking mansion.
Nothing felt like enough to contain the rage inside me...how infuriating Caid was.
I have seen morally grey men before, case in point daddy dearest, people who did bad things all the time, consequences be damn...I just have never met any like Caid.
I mean who goes to an engagement party and sleeps with his brother's bride... proceed to have no remorse whatsoever!
That's some dark romance books shit and this is real life.
Yet you enjoyed it and went back for more dick.
Shut up!!!
Don't we all hate that little voice in our head that keeps stating the obvious!
I walked away but my skin still tingled from his touch, my lips still felt swollen from his kiss, and my whole world was still upside down because of him.
I stormed down the hallway, my bare feet slapping the cold floor, replaying his stupid, handsome face in my head.
Ugh! The arrogance!
I was so lost in my own furious world I almost didn't see my brother, Ace, leaning against the wall outside my bedroom. His arms were crossed, his face bore a resemblance to our father's .
"There you are," he said, pushing off the wall to block my path. "Do you have any idea what you've done, you little idiot? The Essex merger is off. We have to pay back every single penny by the end of the week! We're ruined because you couldn't keep your legs closed!"
"Says the slut who s-screwed everything in skirt w-within five block radius. Go harrass some maids and leave me alone, Ace," I shot back, trying to sidestep him.
I didn't have the energy for this. I needed to get to my room, to my murder board, to the one thing that still made sense.
I tried to push past him, but he grabbed my arm, his fingers digging in like a vise. "You're going to listen to me! Dad is losing his mind! We need to talk!"
"Noah, you are a slut. No, Ace, I'm not, I am your baby sister. Noah, I'm a big strong six foot man who can man handle you if I choose to. Yes, Ace, we all agree your dick is bigger than mine...." I looked at him. "See? We've already had this conversation so many times in my head. I...I know how our conversation plays out. No need to waste both our time"
"Nicolette!"
"Let go of me!" I yelled, trying to yank my arm back. But he just tightened his grip, his anger making him strong.
"You will stand here and you will listen—"
He didn't get to finish. He yanked me hard, spinning me around and slamming me into the hallway wall. My head snapped back against the plaster with a sickening sound. Pain exploded through my skull, and a scream tore out of me.
The next thing I knew, Ace was gone.
One second he was looming over me, and the next he was a blur, flying across the hall like a ragdoll. He crashed into a small table, sending a vase shattering to the floor.
Standing between us, breathing like a bull, was Caid.
He must have followed me. He stood there, bigger and more dangerous than anything in this wretched house, his eyes pure fire. He looked from the red mark on my arm to my probably terrified face.
And I saw it. The same look he'd had in his room. The one that said he'd burn the world down.
But then my eyes found Ace, groaning on the floor amidst the broken china. My brother. My stupid, awful, abusive brother who was still my brother.
A red-hot rage, different from the one I had for Ace, took over. Without thinking, I lunged forward and sank my teeth into the nearest body part of Caid I could reach—his rock-hard thigh.
I bit down as hard as I could, tasting denim and the salt of his skin. I expected him to shout, to shove me off.
He didn't.
He just stood there. He took it. I could feel the muscles in his leg tense under my teeth, but he didn't make a sound. He just let me pour all my fury into him.
When I finally let go, panting, he didn't even look at me.
He walked over to where Ace was struggling to get up. He didn't yell. He just leaned down, grabbed my brother by the face with one huge hand, and squeezed.
Ace whimpered.
"You ever put your hands on her like that again," Caid said, his voice low and colder than I have ever heard voices be "and I will reintroduce my fist to your skull. Understand?"
He didn't wait for an answer. He just let go, letting Ace's head thump back onto the floor.
Then he turned. I thought he'd come to me. I thought he'd say something, anything. Maybe an apology. Maybe another promise to fix everything.
Our eyes met. For a second, the air was thick with everything unsaid—the anger, the sex, the weird protectiveness.
Then his face shut down. He just turned and stalked off down the hall without a single word.
The rejection stung more than it should have.
"Stay away from me and my family!" I screamed after his retreating back, my voice cracking.
He didn't even break stride. He just threw the words over his shoulder like a knife.
"Screw yourself, Noah!"
"YOU ALREADY DID!" I roared back.
The slam of my bedroom door was the only answer I got. I leaned against it, my heart trying to beat its way out of my chest. I could hear Ace moaning in the hallway.
I didn't care.
I turned, my eyes landing on it. The one thing that mattered. I walked over to the large closet, yanked open the door, and wheeled it out.
My whiteboard.
Covered in photos, notes, strings connecting names. My mother's smiling face was at the center.
Men were confusing. Families were a nightmare. But this? This was a problem I could solve. I picked up a red marker, uncapped it with my teeth, and stared at the web of clues.
The hell with Caid. The hell with Ace. The hell with all of them.
I had a killer to find.