The Promise (Wolfe Creek Duet #2)

30

THEA

I wake with a pounding headache and my mind is foggy. What the hell happened? My room’s dark. Peering around, I see my curtain is pulled closed and Sutton’s sleeping curled up in a chair that’s not usually there.

As I roll over, the soft sound of my movement wakes him.

“Morning,” I croak out, rubbing the sleep from my eyes.

“Hey,” he answers back. “How are you feeling?”

I take stock of my body. The first thing I notice is that I’m not in my dress anymore. Aside from the pain in my head, my body feels a little stiff and my mouth is very dry. Other than that, I guess I feel alright. “I’ll survive,” I reply. “You didn’t have to sleep in a chair all night. You could have slept with me.”

Sutton stretches his arms. “I know. I tried, but you were tossing and turning a lot. I wanted you to have your space and I think the chair was my best option for getting some decent sleep.”

“Sorry.”

He stands, then comes to sit on the edge of the bed. “You don’t have anything to be sorry about, baby. I think you didn’t eat enough and that champagne hit you hard. It happens to the best of us.” He’s being too nice about this.

“What happened last night? I don’t remember much after the pictures.” When he averts his gaze, that’s when I know it’s bad. “What happened?” I whisper, low and pained.

“Thea…”

“Tell me,” I demand.

Sutton takes a deep breath. “You were fine for the most part until it was time to give your speech.” My chest shutters as I try to hold in what wants to come out. “We turned the mic off before you could say much. But then…” He pauses, gathering the words. “You kind of tipped the table over, almost,” he corrects. “Wes caught it and then we left. I let Cassie know that we made it home and you were doing a little better last night. I’ll text her again this morning. I’m sure you two will want to talk.”

I’m so filled with shame that I don’t know what I’ll say to her. I’ve ruined my best friend’s wedding. I wasn’t there for her when she needed me. How did this happen? I only had one glass. I nod. “Thank you for taking care of me.”

“Do you need anything? I’m going to hop in the shower. I have to head to work in a bit, but I can make you some breakfast before I go, if you’re up for eating.”

I smile weakly at Sutton. “Yeah, I can try to eat.”

He leans over and kisses me on the forehead. I watch him leave, giving it a minute before I dig beneath the mattress for the burner phone. I call the only contact programmed in it.

Three rings in and I’m terrified that she’s never going to speak to me again. I nearly cry when I hear her voice on the other end.

“Thea? Are you alright?”

“Mhm.” It’s all I can get out at first. After a few seconds, I follow up with, “I’m so sorry, Cass. I’m so sorry that I ruined your perfect day. With my parents and with drinking. I’ll never touch another drink again. I swear it as long as you’ll forgive me.” I’m trying to keep my sobbing voice to a minimum so that no one hears me.

“Shhhh. Thea. Shhh. Stop. You didn’t ruin my day,” she reassures, that makes me cry more. I don’t deserve her. “I’m sorry that your parents showed up. I can’t imagine how you felt seeing them.”

Suddenly, I remember that my room isn’t safe. Cole could be watching. I need to speak in code and I hope she understands. “Cass—” She doesn’t let me finish, my tone must signal her.

“Thea, I’ll do the talking. I know you can’t.” She either realizes I’m in view of Damian’s cameras or I’m around the guys.

A weight is lifted off of me. “Okay.”

“Do you think it was Cole who had that invitation sent to your parents?”

I force my response to be casual, like we are having a regular conversation. “Yeah. I think so.”

If Cole was able to orchestrate that, what else is he capable of? A pit forms in my stomach as the pounding in my head is a reminder of last night. I only had one drink. That wasn’t enough to make me feel this bad. A chill runs over me.

My thoughts race. I know I shouldn’t say what I’m about to, however; I have my reasons. I want Cole to think I’m paranoid. I want him to think that he’s getting to me. He is. But I need him to think that I’m much closer to breaking than I actually am. “Cass, do you think I could’ve been drugged?”

There’s only silence on the other end. She’s trying to figure out what I’m playing at. “Thea?”

“That’s crazy, right? How? It doesn’t even seem possible. But I don’t see any other possibility.” She’s quiet as I spill out my thoughts. “I feel like I’m crazy.”

“You’re not crazy. I think you were and I think we know by who. I’m not sure why you’re saying it out loud, but I trust you.”

I hold back my smile. She gets me even when she doesn’t. “Thank you.”

“Take care of yourself today. Let me know if you need anything.” She pauses for a moment. “I love you, Thea.”

“I love you too, Cass. Always.”

I hang up and shove the phone back under the mattress discreetly. Picking up my other phone, I see a ton of notifications. Texts from my mom and Cassie and in the group chat. Then a notification from Cassie’s wedding website where guests have uploaded pictures they took.

Opening up the wedding website, I scroll through the images. Cassie walking down the aisle. A close up of Anthony watching her. Pictures of the tables, centerpieces, and the happy couple dancing. Then, I see a photo of the waiter who gave me the glass of champagne.

Flicking back through the photos, I notice one major difference. He’s wearing a different uniform than the others. My skin prickles and my hair stands on end. That’s how he did it. That motherfucker.

I’ve been bound and determined to keep Cole’s torment quietly packed away in this room, but he’s dragging his psychotic behavior out for everyone to see. And he’s told me why. He wants to ruin me.

Cole thought that by drugging me and having me make a scene at Cassie’s wedding, he’d alienate me from her. He’s trying to get her to hate me. It didn’t work. I’m glad, however, it terrifies me for what’s coming when he realizes he’s failed.

ADRIAN

This is fucking stupid. I shouldn’t care. I don’t care.

I linger at the door of the gym, waiting for Sutton to come out of Thea’s room. Turning, I decide to workout instead. Then I hear a door open and close. I can’t help myself. Sutton heads to his room. I’m in so much shit if I get caught.

Damian’s been clear about staying away from her. It was easy… until she kissed me. Still, I was able to keep my distance… until we fucked. I’m not into her or anything, but my dick didn’t mind something other than my hand for once.

Thea said we couldn’t do it again. I doubt she’ll be able to resist. I gave her what she’s been craving and I wouldn’t say no if she wanted round two. Biding my time until she wants more isn’t a problem for me, although when they came home with her barely able to stand last night, I was concerned.

I can’t have my new toy dropping dead on me. Not at least until I can use her a few times first.

Carefully, I make my way across the room to her door. I’m not sure if I should knock or just walk in. It’s not like I haven’t seen her naked. But knocking would be the proper thing to do, I guess. I’m about to when I hear her voice.

“Yeah, I think so.”

She must be on the phone. I press my ear to the door to hear more clearly.

“Cass, do you think I could’ve been drugged?”

Cass, that’s her best friend, the one who got married yesterday. Why would Thea think she’d been drugged? She wraps up the conversation pretty quickly after that. Suddenly, it feels wrong to check in on her after eavesdropping. Still, her suspicions make me uneasy.

I hit the stairs and head back to my room. As I push open the door to Damian’s closet, he opens the door to the bathroom. Our eyes lock, but mine quickly flick away.

“What’s wrong?” he asks suspiciously.

I push my hands into my pockets, finally meeting his gaze again. “What?”

“C’mon. It’s been a long time, but I still know you. There’s something going on.”

He’s right. He’s always been able to read me, all of us, for that matter.

“Fine. I think something’s going on with Thea.”

Damian motions for me to follow him into his room. I go reluctantly. I’d planned on keeping my mouth shut because I don’t care enough about her to say anything. Now I’m forced to be involved.

We sit on the sofa. He watches me patiently, waiting for what I have to say. I run a hand over the back of my neck. “I overheard her talking to that girl, Cassie. She thinks she was drugged last night.”

My brother’s face morphs from calm to confused. “How did you overhear that? Where was she?”

Fuck. I touch the cigarette behind my ear nervously.

I don’t need to answer. “Adrian,” his voice edges on warning. “You two fucking is one thing. You getting invested in her is something else. I don’t think either of you is ready for that.”

“How—”

“You two didn’t exactly try to hide it. Do you think I don’t go through the security footage every once in a while? How else would I be able to make sure none of you are fucking up?”

I didn’t even realize there was a camera in the gym. No point in hiding how I overheard Thea’s conversation then—he can easily pull up that footage, too. “I went to go check on her and heard her talking.”

“Checking on her?” he says as if it’s the strangest thing he’s ever heard.

“Well, maybe not so much for her wellbeing. I woke up horny.”

Damian shakes his head, his wet auburn hair still dripping at the ends. “She liked it. When you two fucked.” It’s not a question. It’s a statement.

It’s not my nature to be embarrassed. If anything, my ego swells, knowing he saw how badly Thea wanted me. Leaning back on the sofa, I put my hands behind my head and shrug. “Havoc needed someone to destroy her for a change.” His eyes narrow, a warning to watch my mouth. I roll my eyes.

“Yeah, something’s going on with Thea alright.” He takes a deep breath and then meets my gaze. “I have a task for you.” I can tell he doesn’t want to ask me and I don’t know if I want to do whatever it is. “Thea needs an outlet for whatever’s going on. I don’t know if this is some residual anger from Cole or just stress, but she needs to release it.” Anger surges at Cole’s name.

“I don’t know what you want me to do but—”

Damian puts up a hand. “If you’re going to be screwing her anyway, it might as well be with a purpose.” My face scrunches. I don’t understand. “You’re the only one who can give her what she’s needing right now. Wes, Sutton, and I care about her too much. We can’t demean her or fuck her like she’s nothing. She means everything to us. So I need you to do that. Be that outlet for her. Within reason, of course.”

“You want me to treat her like she’s a whore?”

This wasn’t what I was expecting. He cringes at the word, but eventually nods. “If that’s what she wants, then yes. Fuck her like a whore, like you don’t give a shit about her. Because I know you don’t, so it’s easy for you.”

Normally, I’d argue against him. He wants me to help keep her sane or something. I should tell him no. She deserves to lose her mind, just like she made Cole lose his. I know I can’t outright defy Damian. “She said it can never happen again. Sorry, D.”

His chin tilts down as he cocks his head. “I know Thea, it’ll happen again. I need your word that you’ll indulge her and keep her safe.”

I pull my hands from behind my head, crossing them over my chest. I don’t want to indulge her.

Damian senses my resistance. “Sorry. I know I shouldn’t ask that of you. Listen, if you two find yourselves going at again, don’t feel like you need to stop if you don’t want to. I know I told you not to touch her, but that was because I thought she wouldn’t want it. I was wrong. You have my blessing, but don’t get carried away.”

This is insane. “Fine,” I mutter. Arguing that it won’t happen again is pointless. “Are we done?”

He nods. I push myself off the sofa and head to my room. If anything, this talk makes me want to fuck her even less. A flash of her face pressed against the mirror and being balls deep inside her makes my stride falter.

If… and that’s a very strong if, if we do find ourselves fucking again, it’ll be because I’m wanting to take my anger out on her for ruining my family. My reasons will be completely selfish. She doesn’t deserve anything more than that.

Throwing myself onto my bed, I open my sketchbook to the drawing I’ve been working on for a few days now. I can’t get it to look the way I want—it’s driving me crazy. Flipping to a fresh page, I start a new one, something easy. That’s all I can handle right now.