“What the hell are you doing here?” I echo, still reeling from his unexpected visit.
“I couldn’t get ahold of Kode, so I came over to check on him to make sure Dane wasn’t downplaying the damage. Now what the hell are you doing here?”
My blood runs cold as I think about all the calls I’ve ignored.
“What do you mean? What damage? What happe—”
The door opens again, and I drop the pillow to sprint through the house just as Kode rounds the corner. My stomach hits the floor when I see a rough, purplish bruise on his cheek surrounding an angry red gash. He moves like he’s sore, and he grins grimly when he sees me.
I’m immediately in front of him, cupping his face so I can examine any further damage, but that’s all I see.
“What happened to you?” I ask, my voice hoarse and threaded with dread.
He bends and kisses me softly on the lips before stroking my cheek with his open hand. “Pete Mercer is in jail for good. The police will probably be questioning you soon, so be ready to deal with them.”
My stomach lurches, and I barely manage not to vomit. “Pete? This was done by Pete? Kode, I’m so damn sorry. Why did he go after you?”
His grin turns sheepish for some reason. “Probably because I beat his ass after he ran you off the road.”
Before I know it, my lips are on his, and I’m kissing him. Hard. The way I should have been kissing him this whole week. Stupid bet. He can win.
His tongue delves into my mouth as his hand curls around my waist, tugging me closer before wincing. I instantly shift back on my heels, and pull at his shirt until I can see the damage on his torso. Shit.
Bruises are slowly forming in large patterns, and tears form heavily in my eyes. This is all my fault.
“Don’t look at it like that, babe. You look guilty. This is a reason for celebration. Pete is done for. You don’t jump a Sterling and get away with it. He’ll be in jail for a while between the assault charges I filed and the broken restraining order with you.”
Gingerly, I run my fingers over his stomach, still tracing the lines of the purplish colored parts of his abdomen. Then a throat-clearing emerges, forcing Kode to tense and my whole body to go stiff.
Balls. I forgot about Maverick.
“Something you maybe forgot to mention,” Maverick says from the back of the room, gesturing to us, and not looking at all pleased about it.
Kode’s jaw tenses as he wraps his arm around my shoulders. “Didn’t know you were here,” he says, glancing down at me, then back up at his cousin.
Maverick’s jaw is set in a hard line, and I’m sure he’s restraining something, though I don’t know what.
“Clearly,” he says acidly, then he shakes his head. “You’ve tried a lot of shitty things in the past, Kode. I didn’t think you could top the last thing. But here you are, proving you’re as stupid as ever. Rain is in love with Dane. Get the fuck over it.” He turns his eyes toward me, and frowns. “I can’t believe he’d do this to you. To Rain. Sorry, Tria.”
I roll my eyes, sick of listening to him cut Kode down. “Maverick,” Kode says in warning. “Don’t. You don’t have a clue about what’s going on here.”
“Don’t I, Kode? It’s pretty fucking obvious. How long has this been going on? A few days? A week? Convenient timing with the wedding right around the corner. How stupid do you think—”
“One month and two weeks,” I say, glaring at Maverick like I’m ready to throttle him.
His eyes widen in surprise, and he glances between us. I continue before he can. “We’re keeping it quiet until after the wedding so that no one has a jackass remark like you just had.”
His mouth hardens into a thin line, and he leans back on the wall. Kode wraps his fingers around my hip, pulling me to him.
“Go out on the deck or on the beach for a while, Tria. I think I should talk to Maverick.”
“No. I’m not letting him try to accuse you of using me to get to Rain. It’s like no one thinks I’m worth dating without there being an ulterior motive. It all has to be connected to Rain. It’s as though she’s the center of the universe, and I’m the shuttle that gets you there. I’m sick of it.”
His brows furrow as he looks at me, as though he’s trying to think of something to say, but Maverick beats him to it.
“Sorry, Tria. I didn’t even think about how insulting that must have sounded to you.”
That’s a shocking thing to come out of the mouth of Maverick Sterling. I return my gaze to him to see that he really does look truly remorseful.