Chapter 46

I fish in my purse for my key to Tyler’s apartment, juggling the bag of groceries in my other hand, when I hear footsteps behind me. The familiar heavy tread makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up.

With a thumping heart, I look over my shoulder and come face-to-face with my brother. “I have nothing to say to you, Bryce.”

Grabbing my arm, he spins me around and slams me against the door, knocking the wind out of me and making me drop the bag of groceries.

Bryce’s face twists into a vicious snarl. “Did you know we just lost our biggest contract? The only thing keeping us from going under? All the investors I had lined up won’t even return my calls. All because you couldn’t stick to the fucking plan. You ruined everything, you stupid bitch.”

I square up to him, unwilling to play the role of dutiful little sister for a second longer. “There was no plan. You had someone drug and assault Nathan. You should be in prison. I hope he presses charges and you end up there. You pathetic weasel.”

He brings the back of his hand crashing down over my right cheekbone, and I stagger back, clutching my hand to my face. Tears prick at my eyes, but the sting of his blow hurts far less than the stark reminder that my brother despises me and always has.

He advances on me again and is about to wrap his hand around my throat when a deep voice booms down the hallway. “You lay another finger on her and you’ll be taking a fucking leap out of that window, pissant.”

I shiver at the tone and the familiar voice it belongs to but sigh with relief when Bryce backs away from me, fear etched all over his face now. Yeah, he’s a big man hitting a woman, but he would never stand up to a man, and definitely not to Elijah James.

I rub my cheek and mouth a silent thanks to Nathan’s older brother as he approaches. I have no idea what the hell he’s doing here, but I’ve never been more grateful to see anyone in my life.

Bryce turns on his heel, his lips visibly quivering as he fights to maintain his composure.

Elijah bares his teeth like a rabid animal. “I suggest you get the hell away from her, and me, before I give you the ass-kicking you deserve.”

My brother doesn’t hang around to argue. Knowing he doesn’t stand a chance in hell of even landing a blow, he darts past Elijah and runs for the stairwell. Coward.

Elijah scowls at my brother’s retreating back, then returns his attention to me. “You okay, Melanie?”

Nodding, I absent-mindedly rub my cheek. “Yeah. Thanks to you.”

He stoops and places the spilled groceries back into the paper bag before handing it to me. I thank him again, and he stands in front of me, rubbing his knuckles. “Should have beat the shit out of him,” he grumbles.

I don’t argue, although I’m grateful he didn’t. It would have resulted in yet another family drama I’d find myself in the middle of. “Why are you— What are you doing here?”

“I was going to leave this in your mailbox.” He removes an envelope from inside his suit jacket. “But then I saw Bryce coming in here, and I …” He licks his bottom lip. “Well, I guess I was right to check on you.”

I blink at his outstretched hand, and my heart sinks. Surely that’s not … “What is it?”

“It was delivered to the penthouse. Nathan said you might need it.”

I take it from him and glance at the postmark, sighing with relief when I see it’s from Harvard. Probably Ashley’s college tuition invoice. “You could have mailed it to me.”

“Yeah, I could have.” Elijah stuffs his hands into his pockets. “Maybe I also wanted to look you in the eye and ask if you knew what was going to happen in Chicago.”

Guilt balls in my throat and tears burn my retinas. “I swear I didn’t. And the fact that Nathan was hurt because of me will haunt me every day for the rest of my life. I’ll never forgive myself for what that woman did to him.”

His Adam’s apple bobs. “She didn’t do anything to him.”

I blink at him, hoping I didn’t mishear what he said. “She didn’t?”

“Well other than drug him, which is still pretty fucked up. But that was it. She didn’t assault him.”

I suck in a breath as relief floods my body. While nobody has ever said the word rape aloud, that’s exactly what it would have been, and knowing Nathan wasn’t a victim of that makes me feel like a crushing weight has been lifted from my chest. “You’re sure?”

Elijah nods. “Nathan spoke with her, and with Bryce, and he’s one hundred percent sure.”

“Oh, thank god. I appreciate you telling me that. Thank you, Elijah.”

His dark eyes narrow with curiosity, his expression otherwise unreadable. After a few moments of silence, he tips his chin. “You should put something on that eye.” Then he turns and walks away, leaving me standing alone outside Tyler’s apartment.