Break Me (Brayshaw, #5)

by Meagan Brandy

“Come on now, little Bishop. Don’t stand there looking so helpless. You had to know what was happening here. We talked about wha...

“I know what you’re doing,” she rasps. “And you can kiss my ass if you think this will work, but go ahead, Playboy. Break me if you dare.”

“I needed to catch Coach Von in the act.” My shoulder lifts, but I hardly feel the move. “He had it coming after everything with Enoch and his girl, the girls he likely hurt before her. Took longer than I thought, but you finally did something useful, fell right in. I mean, come on, you’re so desperate to feel wanted you even volunteered for the dirty little role.” A fucking knife, right through the heart.

“Royce,” Captain snaps.

“You were nothing but a game piece, one I had to track, bring in, and mold into the perfect little part. And it worked. Why you think I tested you out first?” I force a foul fuckin’ laugh, welcoming the rotten taste in my throat. “Why you think I put molly in your drink the first night here? To see how much work I had to put in to blind you. I was shootin’ for figuratively, but man, maybe I’m better than I thought, yeah, since you ‘lost your sight’?” I speak as mocking as I can muster, tip my head, and wish for a fucking sword to chop it from my body. “But it took a whole lot of work, didn’t it?”

“You’re such an asshole.” She rasps, uncertainty in her gaze. “I know.” And this will be my greatest show.

I need her away before I crack.

“I’m sorry for what happened to you, it never should have.” The only true words to leave me tonight. “But I’m not gonna stand here and pretend I have any more use for you. I’ve already taken all you’ve got to offer. Used you up like I planned to. Erased the halo hanging above your head and replaced it with some horns, but that’s what you wanted, right? To be bad? To be a part of the darkness of our world.”

“You’ve got nothing left I want, so go on, little Bishop,” I rasp, not recognizing my own voice. “Get out of here before you get bit. I’m trying to...

“I’m not done talking to you,” sh...

Micah steps up, gripping her arm gently and I fly from my seat, shove him back, and dip into her face. I growl the final gauntlet; one I know will get her to leave. “You really want another person to get their ass beat because of you?”

Her lip trembles, but she fights it. “How dare you say that to me.” The cords in my neck stretch tight and I grind my teeth together. “You’re pathetic to think I wouldn’t.”

“And you’re a bastard who’s afraid to show himself because what if people don’t love you when you do?” She pushes into my chest. “Well, fuck those people, and fuck you too for being too much of a coward to stand here and do what you really want, because I know it’s not this, but I guess you want to learn this the hard way.” She begins to back away. “Watch me walk away from you this time, Royce, and don’t expect me to be the one who strolls on back.”

Fucking me even more, my brother leaves with her.

“Brielle, wait!” I keep rushing for the exit, but Captain catches up to me, gently shooting in front of me. “Please, just—” “Get the fuck away from her.”

His arms wrap around me instantly, pulling me closer, and I begin to full-on cry. He clutches the back of my head gently, and whispers, “I’ve got you, baby sister.”

“Tell your brother he’s a dead man,” Bass growls. “Fuck you,” Captain rumbles, his presence growing closer. “Threaten my brother again, Bishop. You know what’ll happen.”

Captain steps in once more his voice a desperate whisper, “remember what we talked about at the zoo, Brielle.” I drop my eyes to my feet and he walks away.

“You’re beautiful, B.”

“This isn’t who he is. He’s upset with himself.”

To be you and stay away and you’d be fine!”

“Why be me?!” I scream, shifting in my seat to face him full on. “Because he could never love a girl like me?! Because I’m not worth it?! Well, guess what, Bass, it wasn’t him I lied to. It was you!”

“You asked me if he fell for your plan, and I said yes. I said yes because it was true. You told me to be me, to make sure Ciara was around when I was, so he’d see us both, and fall for the lie, and he did. He took one look at her, and just like you said he would, decided she was me. Bass Bishop’s tall, gorgeous, look-alike.” “Brielle.” He shakes his head, but I don’t let him say more.

“What I didn’t tell you, was how she outed me not fifteen minutes later, so I stuck to your little plan. I did exactly what you said, like I always do.” I throw my hands out, letting them fall to my lap with a slap. “I was me, fully and completely, and what do you know, he didn’t hate me for it. He didn’t throw me away for being me, like you did.”

“Yeah, Bass, I know.” I glare. “I know now that you’re the one who made the decision for me. You had me sent away...

Screw Royce Brayshaw and screw my brother.

“He has a beautiful and fitting name.” I haven’t had a chance to tell her that. “The raven and the phoenix.” “And the wolf.” She grins. “I’m just waiting for that first person to clown so I can knock their teeth in,” she teases. “No more baby in here, even if it still kind of looks like it.”

“You’ve thought about leaving.” It’s not a question, so I don’t answer. “Don’t do it, Brielle.”

“If you go, he’ll find you and bring you back anyway. So just don’t do it.”

Her defenses fall. “I need your help, Brielle.”

Royce. “He’s fucked-up,” she confirms my heart’s whispers with a broken one of her own. “And for the first fucking time, we can’t help him.”

“So you come to me as a last resort.” “Not last, Brielle. First. Only.”

“I’ve never seen him like this, and we’ve been through some shit. It doesn’t take much to recognize heartache from a Brayshaw.”

“These boys, they self-destruct. Fuckin’ crash from the inside and by the time it’s on the out?” Her eyes come back to mine, and she shakes her head. “We need your help.”

“I understand, I do.” I grab my bag off of the bench. “And I know you understand exactly why I won’t. It’s like you said, he’ll only come for me once I’m gone. So maybe I should be?” I lift a shoulder. “My brother is only a call away.”

“You self-sabotaging dumbass!” I groan, opening my eyes when the trampoline wobbles beneath me. Raven stands over me, glare heavy and eyes heated. “How many times do you think you can push a girl before she tumbles?” “Mac already told me fuckhead’s here now, RaeRae.” My hands lift. “It’s almost over.”

“Oh my god. You called him.” She shakes her head “Royce, what the fuck is wrong with you?!” “What’s the big fuckin’ deal?” Her arm flies out. “Her fucking leaving with him, that’s what!” “I’m giving her what she’s wanted from the beginning. News flash, RaeRae. It ain’t me.”

“You really are an idiot.” My lips tip up. “Never claimed I wasn’t. At least you see it now.” “Don’t play your word games, they don’t work with me and you know it, and I know you. She leaves, and you will crash and burn. Hard.” “I’m good with it.” “Well, we aren’t.” She flashes. “Something fucks up with one of us and we all fuck...

“Did you not learn from that?!” she damn near screams, throwing a phone at my head. “Fuck, RaeRae!” I push myself up, rubbing my skull. “You’re a dumbas...

“I failed her!” I shout, falling back against the netting. “I fucking failed her when I didn’t even know her, Raven. If that’s not a sure ass sign I’ll keep doing it, like I...

Her features pull. “Are you talking about sending her to her aunt’s? Royce, that wasn’t on you.” “Wasn’t it?” I argue. “We take people from shitty situations and help them out, offer them more, but what happens to the ones who don’t make it here? Or the ones like Brielle, who don’t even get a chance? We sent her away because we trusted it was better for her, and yeah,...

“That girl’s had no one, for almost four fuckin’ years, not a soul to trust or body to hold on to. She was alone, in her house, in the dark, in her fucking mind. No friends, no family, other than a brother who was here, protecting mine while no one was around to prot...

“You ever think maybe she was strong enough to handle all that by herself? That she didn’t need a hand to hold her, that she could make it on her own until it was time for her to... fall into the arms she was meant for?” “What, mine?” I scoff and it burns in my throat. “Please. She’s everything I am, all that I’m not, and so much more. I could never be enough t...

“You’re the reason we have what we have,” he snaps angrily, growing closer. “You believed in Raven first, led us into the thought of opening up to someone new. You saw something in Victoria we refused to until you convinced us to look deeper. When we break, you step up with a bottle and break with us. You don’t judge, you don’t push, and you don’t fucking run. If there was something in this life I couldn’t give Raven, I couldn’t live with that, but you’re stronger than I am, brother. If your girl for real loses her sight, you’ll find a way to make her see. No-fucking-body else will be able to give her that. You’re not her ruin, Royce, you’re her only fuckin’ recovery.”