Fractured (11 page)

“I’m fine,” Lily quickly explained. “I’m just freshening up.”

She headed towards the bathroom, her heart still pounding in her ears. She didn’t even pause when it split off into men’s and women’s. She turned and went into the men’s restroom without giving it a further thought.

The restroom was empty, save for Rick. He was bent over the sink, running the tap to wash down all of the blood. He held a paper towel to his nose, which was wet with red. He saw the reflection of her coming into the men’s room in the mirror and he whirled around to face her.

Let me take over
, the voice told her.
Let me show you what we can do.

Okay
, Lily told the voice. She felt like a little girl acquiescing to adults. She gave herself over to it. The writhing in her stomach stopped. The shakes in her hands ceased. Her consciousness had melded with something else.

“Lily...” he said, his own voice hoarse with surprise. “Why...? What...the hell are you doing...here?”

She didn’t answer. She strode right up to him and kissed him deeply. Because she had caught him off guard, he didn’t even fight back. And she held the kiss long enough for him to realize that he was enjoying it.

“Lily?” he squeaked when he could breathe again. His voice was husky with emotion, his eyes unfocused. “What...
Why
?”

“Shhhhhhh…” She kissed him again to stave off any argument. Her thoughts and the voice in her head converged as one and she let it roll over her. His nose was still bleeding, covering a bit of her face. She found it highly erotic.

She reached her hands down, undid his belt and pants, and pulled out his cock, stroking it with her right hand. His eyes widened as she did so, but he didn’t stop her. He was completely in her thrall, his now-throbbing erection was confirmation of that, and it made her crazy with desire.

“You want me,” she whispered hotly. “You want me like this.” She leaned into him, and braced herself with one leg propped up against the sink. She pulled aside the crotch of her panties and guided him inside her, sighing happily as he filled her, completed her.

He didn’t stop her or pull away.

Yes.

So what if Seth was fucking her sister? She was powerful and a desirable woman. She could have any man she wanted, especially weak-willed men like Rick. This was making her happy. At least she was feeling something.

“You want me. Just like this,” she said again, biting his ear. She started thrusting her hips against him, and she felt his arms encircle her, pulling her to him.

He’s ours, Lily. All ours. Like the bartender, he’ll do anything you ask.

“Just like this,” he repeated hollowly.

*****

Rick had been in the bathroom for a while. Seth frowned in the direction where he’d left, wondering what was keeping him. What if his nosebleed was really bad? They were all sitting around the table, not knowing if he was fine or not. Maria was visibly shaken. Rick hadn’t wanted any help, and everyone else was so shocked about it, they hadn’t noticed the time that had passed.

Then Lily had gone to the bathroom.
I’m just freshening up,
she’d said. Yet, now she’d been gone for a while too.

It was a reminder of why he was grateful that he had ended up with Bash. His relationship with Lily would have ended a long time ago, if it had even started, and he wouldn’t be with a wonderful woman like Bash.

Where
was
Rick?

The wait staff had put their entrees down several minutes ago, and Rick’s food would turn cold if he didn’t come back soon.

“I’ll be right back,” Seth said, getting out of his seat.

“Seth...” Bash said unhappily. It broke his heart to see her unhappy. Dinner wasn’t going to be ruined. He promised himself that. This holiday wasn’t going to be ruined. They were going to enjoy themselves. That started with finding out what was keeping Rick.

“I’m going to check on Rick,” he announced. “See if he’s all right.”

“I’ll come too,” Darius offered.

“Stay,” he snapped. “Eat your food while it’s hot.”

Darius smiled grimly. “Yes
sir
,” he affirmed in a less-than-kindly way. Seth mentally winced, realizing that he was going into that sergeant-voice again.

I’ve gotta get over that
, he thought to himself.

“I’ll be right back,” he conceded, feeling the heat in his cheeks. “Get started without me.”

He hurried to the bathrooms. As he got to the hallway, the men’s room door opened and, to his relief, Rick stepped out. He looked pale and dazed and his shirt was bloodied, but otherwise fine.

“Are you okay?” Seth asked, concerned. “You were gone for a while.”

The door opened wider, revealing a breathless Lily. She looked up at Seth and gave him a wide smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes.

“Hi,” she said.

Seth was so shocked, he didn’t say anything when she pushed her way past him. He watched her go, noticing how her dress was hitched a bit higher around her hips. She slinked about like she owned the place, a spring in her step that hadn’t been there before.

“Rick...” Seth started, his voice breaking. He looked back at his friend, stunned. “What did you do?”

His friend said nothing and only looked forward with empty eyes.

“What about Maria?” Seth hadn’t really liked Maria much, yet this was a betrayal he had never thought his friend was capable of. Rick had played around a lot, but once he had met Maria two months ago, he was hooked. She was the goddess of his world. Hell, he was even talking about marriage!

And he had thrown it all away. On
Lily
of all people.

Before Seth could beat the answer out of him, Rick wordlessly pushed past Seth and headed back to the table.

Speechless, Seth watched them for a few moments before heading into the men’s room. Once he was there, he noticed that the two of them hadn’t even bothered to clean up their mess. There were bloodied paper towels on the sink, smears along the glass where someone had had their hands up.

How had no one walked in on them? The restaurant was busy enough,
surely
someone had come in. Although a quick look revealed that the stalls were empty. Somehow, miraculously, they had fucked each other by the sinks in a very public space without getting caught.

Seth looked at his reflection in the mirror, feeling the old familiar anger rising inside him, a feeling that he had been trying to quell for months now.

How dare she? How dare both of them? Rick was supposed to be in a committed relationship with Maria. And Lily...

He met his own eyes in the mirror.

“What the hell?”

*****

Rick seemed really out of it when he got back to the table. He hadn’t said anything, even at Maria’s concerned questions. Bash supposed it would have been from dealing with his nose. He must have been embarrassed that it had happened at the dinner table.

She frowned, wanting to say something comforting to him, not knowing how to start.

“Refreshed,” Lily declared, breaking into Bash’s thoughts.

“Good,” Bash said with a tired smile.

“Took you long enough,” Maria huffed from across the table. She seemed to be a bit more brazen now that Rick was back.

“Oh well,” Lily answered, heat edging into her voice. “Food’s here, at least.
Yummy
salad and breadsticks.” With that, she sat down next to Bash’s right. Bash frowned at her. Something was off about her sister. She seemed...different.

“Can someone cut my steak for me?” Scott asked weakly. His knife and fork scraped helplessly across the table.

“I’ve got it,” Darius said. “You’re sad, you know.”

Scott laughed nervously. “Thanks.”

“I’m not hand feeding you,” Darius added after a beat, to which Scott sighed.

Something caught Bash’s sense of smell. She wasn’t particularly good at discerning different scents—she could tell some things apart by them, but she was far from being a savant at it. Everyone did have a particular brand of smell though, so she was able to tell who she was talking to. Somehow, over the tantalizing scent of the food, Lily’s was different. It was hers, mingled with something else, something less familiar.

Her blood ran cold when she recognized it.

Rick.
Lily’s scent had mingled with Rick’s.

Why would...?

“I’m back,” Seth whispered in her ear. “Sorry it took me so long.” He placed a hand on her shoulder, giving it a tight squeeze. There was too much tension in that squeeze for it to be a normal squeeze. Something was bothering him. Badly.

“Seth, what’s wrong?” she whispered back, alarmed.

He ignored her question and tapped on his wine glass, the clinking noise creating silence around the table.

“Everyone,” he announced. He cleared his throat. “Bash and I have an announcement to make. Sometimes, when we’re stressed out and things aren’t going right, we can
forget
the things that matter to us.”

It was barely perceptible, but Bash heard him emphasize “forget”.
He’s going to announce our engagement
, she realized. This wasn’t the time or the place to announce it. They hadn’t discussed doing that tonight, and she didn’t want to create ripples, especially with Lily already in such a disagreeable mood.

“Seth,” she whispered, reaching up to try and pull him down. “Seth, I
—
”

He pulled away from her, not because he was angry at her. He had an agenda to his speech and he wasn’t listening. “In the last six months, Bash has made me the happiest man in the world. Darius, you can attest to that.”

“Yep,” Darius said proudly.

No. This was happening all wrong. She had wanted to prime Lily a bit more before making the announcement.

“We’ve been saving this announcement for a special occasion. And after everything that’s happened today, why not?” Seth pulled her to her feet and held her close. “Bathsheba Irene Martin has consented to be my wife. We’re getting married!”

The words still had a bit of a thrill for her, but it was masked by her sense of dread. This wasn’t right.

Maria screeched at the top of her lungs in giddy glee while her boyfriend didn’t say anything. Scott whooped, and Darius clapped Seth on the back saying, “Congratulations!”

“What?” Lily asked, her voice bordering on disbelief.
“What?”
She sounded different. Like there was someone else speaking through her mouth.

“We’re getting married,” Seth answered for Bash, his voice a bit calmer. There was also an edge to his voice, as if daring her to cause some trouble.

“You...you
can’t
marry her,” Lily said. Her chair legs scraped on the floor as she stood up, then the entire char clattered as it fell. Bash barely heard it over the blood pumping in her ears. “
You can’t marry Bash
! You were meant for
me
!”

Bash reached up and tugged on her sister’s dress. “Lily, listen to me, I—”

“
Don’t tell me what to do!
”

Suddenly, Bash was flung backwards. It took her a few stunned moments of cradling her sore cheek to figure out what had happened. At first she thought that Lily had hit her, but no. It was Rick who had come across the table and rammed his open palm into her face. Beat her down was probably the more appropriate phrase. A choked sob escaped her throat as she heard Seth’s angered yell at his friend, who wasn’t responding. Maria was yelling too. There was another crack, like a fist to the face, and Maria was screaming now for Rick’s safety.

Above the pandemonium, Bash could hear Lily’s voice.

“After everything—
EVERYTHING—
you’re going to marry her, you fucking piece of shit?” Lily’s raging voice reverberated in her brain, filling up her senses with her terrible words. There was a shocked silence as everyone in the restaurant paused to hear what Lily was saying.

Lily laughed. “I can’t believe it. I can’t believe I ever loved you.”

Bash’s heart fell somewhere into her stomach. Lily was still in love with him? Suddenly everything clicked into place, her sister’s descent into further despair, their strained relationship being pushed to the limits. Everything was making sense now.

The silence was overwhelming. No one answered. Bash couldn’t bring herself to explain what was happening.

Lily laughed again. “I see. If that’s the case, then you can all
BURN. IN. HELL.
”

The restaurant around them exploded.

There was no other word for it. Bash felt her body lift up in the air several feet with the swell of the impact. She screamed as her body was flung across the dining room. She hit the wall with such force, she was sure something was broken. She slumped to the floor, her hearing gone.