Take a Chance

Grant

I was doing this for him. He was my brother. At the top of all things that mattered was the fact that Rush was my brother. But, motherfucker, the look on Harlow’s face when she heard Nan’s name was going to screw shit up. I could see it, and I had to choose. I’d chosen Rush. He was family.

I was trusting Harlow to believe in me. To know why I was doing this. Who I was doing it for. I needed her to understand, because losing her wasn’t an option.

“She’ll understand. Harlow will listen when you explain, and she’ll be okay with it. Blaire is probably explaining it to her now,” Rush said as he sped toward Nan’s house.

If this shit was real and August had just beat the hell out of Nan, then I was all for hunting him down and letting Rush get his vengeance. Nan was a lot of things, but first and foremost she was Rush’s little sister. Rush didn’t allow Nan to come between him and Blaire, and he protected Blaire from her. But if Nan was in trouble and needed Rush, he came. He was all she had. No one else gave a shit. I had once, but she’d made sure I didn’t for long.

“If she’s lying, it might be me beating the shit out of her,” I warned him.

He let out a heavy sigh. “I know.”

Rush wasn’t blind to Nan’s nastiness. He also knew that saving Nan and leaving Harlow wasn’t easy for me. I wasn’t married to Harlow. I hadn’t made her promises with a diamond ring. Blaire had all that, and seeing Rush run off to save Nan made more sense to her. Nan was also Rush’s sister.

I couldn’t claim any of that.

Fuck, she better be telling the truth.

Rush pulled into Nan’s driveway, and the fear that Harlow might not get over this hit me again as my gaze found her little black car. Fuck, I shouldn’t have left her. But Rush had needed me. When he needed backup, I was it. That was what brothers were for. We had each other’s back.

We both climbed out of the truck and headed for the stairs at the same time. Rush didn’t knock; he slid his key into the door and opened it. I was surprised he had a key. That must be Kiro’s doing.

“Nannette,” Rush called out when he swung the door open.

I followed him inside.

“In here,” Nan called from the living room. Rush stalked toward the sound of her voice.

He paused when he walked into the room, and I stopped behind him and looked over his shoulder.

She hadn’t been lying.

Nan’s lip was busted and a black eye was already appearing on her pale skin. Her bare arms each had handprints on them that would be bruises soon enough. Nan sat there with her knees pulled up against her chest tightly. Black streaks of mascara ran down her face. She’d been crying.

This wasn’t the Nan I knew. It was the one I had known. She reminded me of the little girl I had once felt sorry for. The one whose problem I had wanted to fix just as much as Rush did. The bitter, angry bitch wasn’t in her eyes as she looked at us. Instead, she was scared.

“What the fuck,” Rush growled and took two big strides until he was in front of her and sitting down on the sofa beside her. “August did this?” Rush asked. His fury was barely contained, and as I stood there and looked at her, my anger began to boil, too.

I didn’t care what she had done. No woman deserved this. August was a dead man walking. If Rush didn’t kill him, I would.

“Yes. He got mad because”—she glanced over at me and then back at Rush—“I was upset about Grant and Harlow. I didn’t want to go, then he wanted to have sex and I didn’t want to. He tried to force me, but I fought back. Then he just snapped, and when I woke up on the floor he was gone.”

Rush’s body went taut. “He knocked you out?” Rush asked.

She nodded, and her gaze shifted to me again.

“He’s gotten angry before, but never like that. I didn’t know he was like that. I knew his wife left him and it took him two years before he got to see his daughter again. I believed him when he said he never hurt her. That she was a liar,” she said in a shaky voice.

“You need to see a doctor. If you were unconscious, you could have a concussion. Grant, take her to the hospital and have them check her out.”

Me? “What? Why can’t you?” I asked. I didn’t need to be taking her anywhere. I was gonna beat the shit out of August, but that didn’t mean I wanted to haul Nan around.

“I’m going to find August. I need you to take her to get checked out. Please,” Rush said, standing up. “I’ll call Blaire and explain.”

Which meant he would make sure Harlow knew what was going on and why. I just hoped she understood. Rush believed Harlow was strong enough for this emotionally, but I wasn’t sure I agreed. He didn’t know how insecure she really was.

“Can’t I find him?” I asked.

Rush shook his head. “No. I have Dean to make sure I don’t serve time. You don’t.”

He had a point.

“He doesn’t have to take me. I’m fine to stay here,” Nan said.

Rush looked at me, silently pleading. Shit.

“Okay, I’ll do it.” I looked at Nan. “Can you walk?” I asked.

She nodded and stood up. “Just a little dizzy.”

Rush put his arm around her and I let him help her to the truck. I wasn’t touching her. I would help, but I wasn’t touching her.

I followed them to his Range Rover. He put Nan in, then turned to me.

“I’ll take Nan’s car. Get her completely checked out.”

“Call Blaire and check on Harlow for me,” I replied.

He nodded. “Doing that now.”

I didn’t say thanks. He owed me that much. I walked around the Rover and opened the door. I climbed in and slammed the door to get out some frustration. It didn’t help.

“You didn’t have to take me,” she said.

“Yeah, I did,” I replied.

“Because you still care,” she said with a hopeful tone in her voice.

“No, because of Rush,” I replied, and turned to head for the hospital, which was a good thirty minutes away.

“Do you really mean that?” she asked.

“Yes, I really do.”

“But you said once that you loved me,” she said, sounding hurt.

I had been drinking. The sex had been great. “I was in lust. What we had was good at first. I’d enjoyed it. Then I realized you weren’t the one. You were nasty and mean and shallow. And so was our sex.”

She made a small gasp. I didn’t care if my words wounded her. I knew she was hurt, and I hated that she’d messed around with someone who would hit a woman. That was it. Nothing more.

“Is sex with her better? She’s too unpracticed to be any good.”

That was what Nan would never understand. Sex would never be more than sex for her because she didn’t have the heart to look deeper. To actually feel something for another person.

“Nothing can compare to Harlow. Nothing comes close to touching it” was all I said.

My private life with Harlow was just that: private. I wasn’t sharing it with Nan.