Garden of Sins

34. Flying Splice

Carter

Alayna, Ava, and Caden are on their way to the entrance, but I hold Melissa back by the arm and indicate to Caden that we will be along shortly.

Melissa turns to me, her blue eyes guilty, and her hair falling across her face.

Abruptly, I press her against the car. A gasp escapes her lips and she looks up at me in horror.

“What was that shit? I hiss and know what she sees in my expression. I don’t let go of her and my merciless expression bores into her. I am really pissed off. I don’t like it when people fuck with me in that way.

Melissa swallows. “I don’t know, Carter.” She tries to avoid my gaze. I grab her face roughly by the jaw and force her to look at me again. No reason for her to pretend. Anyone with such a big mouth can look me in the eye. The only one who I condone behavior like Melissa just demonstrated is my brother. Everyone else should not even dare try it with me. And Melissa is usually not like that, not at all. I also don’t like it when people try to make things difficult for my brother in order to fuck him up, in whatever way.

“I asked, what was that just now, Melissa!” I thunder relentlessly.

She briefly closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. Then she looks at me again. “I don’t like her, Carter. Can’t I defend my territory?”

“That’s not what I’m talking about, Melissa!” And what fucking turf, fuck! Alayna doesn’t want anything to do with me. She’s not one of those whores who fucks around with everyone — consciously.

I hate to argue with Melissa because she’s not an equal opponent. She’s fragile. Every time, I have to be careful not to hurt her too much during such moments.

“Then what do you mean?” she asks i

“You acted like Caden. You even suggested fucking him, Melissa. What was that? You want me to send you over there so he can rip you a new one?” The anger in my voice is unmistakable. I hate co

“NO! I don’t know, I was merely... I don’t know,” she hems and haws.

“Melissa,” I reply seriously, “if you’re here to fuck with me, fuck off now!” I would never have thought it, but her behavior now makes me believe it is possible. I don’t know what is going on. She wasn’t like this before and she would never have said anything like that.

Tears well up in her eyes. “I would never fuck with you, Carter. I love you.” Those words are so meaningless, I can’t take them seriously.

But, okay, fuck it. I don’t give a shit. Fuck. I can’t deal with this right now. I have to check on my brother and make sure he does not descend into psycho-mode because of Melissa’s taunts. I’ve had enough for this week and he’s shaky as it is.

I run my fingers through my hair, claw at it briefly, and count to ten and concentrate on breathing so I don’t freak out. Usually, that quickly makes things better. Or it doesn’t. It all depends. Sometimes, I get even angrier because I get all worked up as I silently count.

I take a deep breath and look at Melissa. “Okay,” I snap. “Fuck it, Melissa. Let’s just go.” I’ll deal with her tomorrow. Right now, I have to check on Caden.

I grab her hand firmly and tow her to the entrance behind me, still trying to contain the seething rage. She stumbles after me, but I don’t give a damn.

We walk past the queue and the bouncer. Because of our job and the people we know, all doors are open to us in all clubs in the south and north of the city.

The club is an old converted factory. Everywhere, colorful spotlights and lasers flash through the room. Smoke is pumped into the dancing crowd by various fog machines and the bass booms from the speakers. Everyone is on something and escalating. And it is only eleven o’clock. Caden told Dad we would only have one beer before the summer finally says goodbye. Definitely not Ava, that’s for sure.

There are so many people around, but I don’t need to search for my brother because I always know where he is. I follow my i

Ava stands next to them and furtively looks around while I keep an eye out for guys staring at her, however, I don’t believe any of the idiots around us would dare, at least, not obviously.

Caden leans with his elbows on the counter. He watches Alayna, who is standing next to him, bobbing a bit to the music with her back to him. I know that the things Melissa said pissed her off. Understandably so.

Caden raises an eyebrow as I step up to him with Melissa. The music is deafening and a red light dances across Caden’s face as he waves Melissa over with two fingers. I stiffen for a moment and hold her back. I don’t want Caden to overdo it, so I give him a look that should stop him.

That pisses him off, visibly so, but if I back off now, he will escalate again and everyone will suffer, not only Melissa.

He takes a deep breath and turns to me. “Good, then you tell her. Tell her if she pulls that shit again with Alayna, she should run. Fast. I’ll give her a head start. And when I catch her, I’ll slit her throat.” He says all this forcefully and in a way that Melissa can hear. His gaze wanders over to her again and I am simply silent. I’m not going to provoke Caden further right now.

Then my brother cracks his neck and abruptly steps back. My gaze wanders over to Melissa, who is pale, and as soon as Caden is no longer fixated on her, I let go of her.

“I’m going to the bathroom for a minute,” she mumbles to me and I nod before she turns away and disappears.

I get a beer at the bar and lean against it. Caden is talking to Giova

“Everything okay?” my sister asks next to me. I flinch because I forgot all about her and I turn my head in her direction.

She gives me a challenging look and I wonder if she can read my mind…or why she is looking at me like that?

“You can go, but come find me once an hour so I know you are okay. If you can’t find me, text me.”

“Don’t let someone fuck you up,” my sister says. Her gaze wanders once more briefly to Caden with a slight frown, then she turns, and stealthy disappears into the crowd.

But as I watch Ava, my gaze stops on something red. Alayna. Alayna, who is being boxed in. A guy pushes himself in front of her so she can’t go any further. And if Caden sees that, that’s it for today for him. It’s practically the icing on the cake for psycho-mode.

Now Alayna attempts to push past the guy, but he grabs her by the arm.

“Fuck!” I hiss and push off the counter because, obviously, I’m going to intervene. But then I see Caden come up behind Alayna, grab the guy’s hand...and break it in one move.

“FUCK!” I yell. Fuck, Caden, fuck!

The guy screams and Caden whispers something to him and shoves him into the crowd so that he disappears.

What doesn’t my brother understand about: Don’t attract attention. Never stand out.

Groaning, I rub my face as Caden turns to Alayna. His face is frozen and Alayna appears scared. Her cheeks are pale and she takes a step back. It probably scared her quite a bit.