Seth's Cravings: An Endless Series: Book 2 (62 page)

     They all frowned at me, except for Landon who didn’t
even bother to raise his head.       

     “Auh, come on, Seth…” Noah complained.

     I raised my hand. “No, I’m out. You coming, Landon?”

     He heaved himself up out of his chair. “Yep.” He
answered shortly.

     “How are you getting back to the house?” Evan asked.

     “Walk, call a cab, hitchhike. There are so many
options.” I grumbled as I threw fifty bucks on the table for my part of the
bill.

     Landon snorted as he reached into his own wallet.
“Who’s going to pick us up off the side of the road? You have the look of some
kind of massive serial killer.”

     “Perfect, it took me all night to get that look.” I
retorted.   

     Nic stood up throwing more bills on the table. “I’ll
take you home.” He didn’t look at all put out at having to taxi us, but then he
had the girl he loved waiting for him.

     I headed for the exit, but I only got three steps
because my gaze landed on a face I’d been dying to get my fists on. I have no
idea what came over me in that instant…maybe some kind of psychotic break, but
my eyesight went a hazy crimson, my entire body tensed, and I was across the
room, my fists slamming repeatedly in Dale the Assholes face.

     I dimly heard screaming and hands tried pulling me off Dale,
but I shook them off. The only thought in my mind was that this cocksucker had
tried to rape Nadia, and he was going to regret it. She’d had to fight him off
all by herself. It should have been me saving her. I should have been the one
kicking his ass, but instead I’d walked away, leaving her there to almost get
raped.

     I hit him harder.

     Eventually, I was pulled off the asshole.

     “Seth! Seth! Stop! You are going to end up killing the
guy.”

     The voice buzzed ineffectually in my ear as I struggled
to get free of the hands holding me. I was slammed to the ground and the voice
shouted in my ear. “Seth! Stop! It’s Nic. You have to stop or you are going to
spend the rest of your life in jail and will never see Nadia again.”

     The sound of her name cut through the crimson haze, and
I found myself pinned to the floor by Evan, Blake, Nic, and Noah.

     “Okay, okay. I’m good.” My chest was heaving in
exertion as I reassured them that I was back in control.

     “Blake, Noah, go pull Landon out of the fight he’s in.
It looks touch and go on whether he’s winning or losing. He’s doing better than
I would have thought for how drunk he is, but he is taking on two.” Nic
directed. 

     The next second I felt them slowly loosen their grip on
me allowing me to stand. However, Nic and Evan stood at the ready, their faces
displaying acute disquiet.

     “Fuck Seth. This is not good, man. You beat the fucking
shit out of that dude.” Nic looked behind him with a grimace. “This isn’t
looking good for you.”

     I heard the sound of sirens in the distance.  

∞                   
∞                    ∞

     “Seth, what the hell
happened?”

     I jerked out of a half-slumber to see my father stride
into the room. I sighed and stood up from the bench I’d slumped onto after
being arrested and then locked in this tiny ass cell for assault and battery.  

     “I’m sorry, dad. I fucked up.” I gripped the bars and
stared at him in exhaustion. I’d spent the last few hours reflecting on what
I’d done and still wasn’t sure how I felt about it, but I was sorry for
dragging my parents into it.

     At the same time they were arresting me last night they
had also called an ambulance for Dale, and after getting my mug shot, being
finger printed, and paper work, I’d been informed that Dale had sustained some
major injuries. I’d broken his nose and jaw, fractured one cheekbone, given him
a concussion, and broken two of his ribs.

     Like Nic had said, I’d stepped into a shit storm.

     My father stared at me in confused concern. “Yeah, you
could say that. What possible reason could you have for beating this kid up
that bad? Witnesses said you came out of the crowd and just starting hitting
him for no reason.” 

     I rubbed the back of my neck tiredly. “A couple months
ago he attacked Nadia and attempted to rape her. This was the first time I’d
seen him since then and…I don’t know…I just saw red.”

     Dad copied my neck rubbing and sighed. “Shit. Tell me
she pressed charges?”

     I shook my head. “I told her she should have but she
didn’t think it would have stuck. She ended up breaking his nose and busting
his balls, and then she drew a knife on him and threatened him with possible
emasculation.”

     Dad stared at me in shock. “Well…that’s…huh. But maybe
if she tells her story to the judge we could get some kind of leniency. It
would show that this wasn’t a random act of violence, and that you’re no threat
to the public at large.”

     I was shaking my head again. “No, dad, I don’t want her
involved with this.”

     He frowned. “Seth, these are serious assault charges.
You did some major damage to this asshole.” Even though the situation was grim I
found myself grinning inwardly as he picked up Dale’s moniker. “You are going
to need all the help you can get.”

     “Nadia has guardianship of her sister and brother.
She’s the only one they have. If I brought her in on this and for some reason
she lost custody of them because the prosecuting attorney began digging and
finding shit on her, I would never forgive myself, and she would never forgive
me.”

     Dad’s frowned deepened. “Shit, are you sure about this?
Something like this could really make a difference. I’d help her out. I’d fight
to make certain she didn’t lose them.”

     He couldn’t really promise me that. Shit happened to
the best of people. “No, this is my responsibility. In some ways I don’t regret
beating the shit out of him. He deserved it. I doubt that Nadia was his first
victim. Hell, maybe we can dig up something on him ourselves and use her story
anonymously.”

     Exasperation covered my father’s face. “You’re reaching,
son. I’ll respect your decision right now, but if it starts to look really bad
for you we’re going to revisit this line of defense. Nadia may want to do this
herself once she hears about your arrest.”

     My chest constricted. “Nadia still isn’t talking to me,
so I doubt she’ll be hearing about it.”

     His face twisted in sympathy. “I’m sorry to hear that,
and it probably only added to your anger when you were smashing that kid’s face
in.”

     “Yeah.” I agreed. “Hey, where’s mom?” There was no way
she didn’t come with dad after finding out I was in jail.

     He smirked. “She thinks because she has some police connections
at home that it could get you some dispensations here, so she’s up there
raising hell.”

     I chuckled, god love my mom. “Sorry I’m having to put
you through all this.”

     My dad’s face turned reflective. “I understand why you
did it. If I was in the same situation, and it was your mother, I would have
been hard pressed to not do the same thing. But this is going to stick with
you, Seth. These are serious charges and if they don’t get reduced to a
misdemeanor it’s always going to be there, hanging like an anchor around your
neck.”

     I sighed. “Yeah, I know.” But I still wasn’t regretting
it.

Chapter Thirty-Seven

NADIA

     It was ten days since I’d last seen Seth. And it was five
days since he’d stopped texting, and calling, or sending me flowers and other
random items…like books for Issy, a video game for Luka, and a stupidly cool
knife sheath that strapped to my thigh.

     But then everything had ended. He’d given up on me. Five
days was all I’d warranted in his fixation to get me back. He’d hounded me for
days, relentlessly, and then nothing; no calls, no texts, no gifts.

     Was that all real love merited, five days? I’d been
blindingly mad and hurt because of him, but my love hadn’t died. His, it
appeared, wasn’t as strong or lasting. It had most likely been lust on his
part. Men were notorious for thinking with their dicks.

     And to think I’d been about to forgive him. Being away
from him had been killing me, and each text, and voice message had only made it
worse. I’d read and listened to every one of his pleading explanations and they
had slowly eroded my anger and softened my hurt.

     The issue he was having with his father was still a
little vague, but I could to some extent understand where he was coming from. I
could remember the issues I’d had with my own parents. And it wasn’t like I
couldn’t have verified the details. A quick conversation with his parents would
have restored my trust completely, and I would have needed that. Sadly, what
had happened had seriously undermined my trust in him even as my love stayed
strong.    

     All of that was a mute point now, because it looked
like he didn’t give a shit any longer.

     I was a
hooyea
(fool).

     Hell, maybe he went back to that so called
ex-girlfriend of his…the
pridurok
(dickhead).

     Thus, I was finally admitting to myself that he just
didn’t care, and I was trying my damndest to expel him from my thoughts. I went
to my job and filled those hours with mind numbing work. I went to Luka’s
wrestling matches and cheered enthusiastically. And I upped my poker games so
my time would be filled with strategy and numbers, taking my mind off him.

     Cole had also been around distracting me, joining us
for Luka’s wresting matches and some dinners. Both Luka and Issy had agreed to
meet him, and although they’d been wary, it appeared as if he was winning them
over. He was a good guy. He’d informed me that he was feeling his brother,
Todd, out about meeting us as well.  

     With all these things going on in my life you would
think I would have no problem keeping Seth from my thoughts, but it wasn’t as
easy as I thought. And I was worn down from everything while trying to maintain
a cheerful countenance. I could feel my façade cracking at the edges and knew
Luka was catching on to it. His eyes were filled with concern whenever they
landed on me.         

     Like right now.

     “Nadia, you’re looking awfully tired, maybe you should
stay home tonight and get some extra sleep.” Luka suggested.

     It was eight o’clock Tuesday night and I was scheduled
to play at nine. Issy would already be in bed and Luka would soon follow.

     “What’s Luka talking about?” Cole asked pulling on his
jacket. He’d come over to hang out and was in the process of leaving.

     I gave Luka a glare. I hadn’t as yet told Cole about my
extracurricular activities. I had a feeling he’d be just as against them as
that man whose name I was not saying.

     “Nadia has these poker games she goes to so she can save
money for Issy’s and my college fund.” Luka continued ignoring my glare.

     Cole frowned. “Poker games…with who?”

     “Rich, dim-witted college kids. I’ve been doing it for
months.” I said casually.

     “You go to these things alone?” Cole asked, his hand
frozen on his jacket zipper.

     “She did at first, but then someone started going with
her.” Luka flicked an anxious glance my way at the word ‘someone’. I kept my
face expressionless even as my heart pinched painfully. “But now she’s back to
going alone again.”

     Cole’s frowned deepened. “That doesn’t sound very
safe.”

     When would men realize I could take care of myself?
“I’ve been fine for months, and there are loads of other people at these
things.”

     “How come you’ve never mentioned them?” He asked
looking curious and suspicious.

     “There was never a segue way into it.” I countered
irritably. “You’re new to the family and I didn’t need some big brother butting
in and possibly telling me what to do.”

     He grinned. “I like that…you calling me a big brother.
And since I am I would like to know a little bit more about it. How about I
come with you tonight and watch you in action?”

     Great, another bodyguard. My heart pinched again.
“Whatever, but you going to be bored silly.”

     Cole shrugged. “Maybe, maybe not. It will still be
interesting seeing this in action. And maybe we could talk about this college
fund and other ways to supplement it.”

     He was back to frowning in displeasure and I just knew
he was thinking about my money situation. He hadn’t been pleased when he’d
found out we’d been left nothing after our father’s death, and soon after
learning that he questioned me about work, how much I made, if it was enough
for the three of us, and had even made a couple comments about asking him for
money if I needed it. Cole had started up his own business and from what I was
gathering was making really good profits.

     However, I had assured him we were doing fine but his
inquiries made me realize that Cole had a dominant authoritative personality
with a strong responsibility to family and he was starting to consider the
three of us as part of his family.

     It was something that was both annoying and touching at
the same time.

     There was a knock at the door and since Cole was
standing right there he answered it. “Can I help you?” He asked.

     There was a moment of silence before I heard someone
reply. “I’m looking for Nadia.”

     I frowned at the voice. That sounded like Landon.
Jumping up off the couch I stepped up to the door to see that it was indeed
Landon standing in the doorway. My heart sped up wondering why he was here.

     “Landon!? What are you doing here?”

     He was staring back and forth between me and Cole,
scowling. “I wanted to talk to you about Seth, but it seems that you might not
care what I have to say.”