The Arrangement 12(11)

“Do they think you did it?” I ask the question that I’ve been dreading. Everyone hates him, even his own family seems to have a distaste for Sean, but I can’t see why. Jonathan stormed off, but from the look of things Sean was trying to help him, the same way he helped Peter. Why can’t Jonathan see that?

There are more things at play in the Ferro family than I can see, issues that lay far beneath the surface. Even Peter, who for all practical purposes seems normal, is far from it. What the hell happened to them?

Sean’s chest rises and falls in a steady motion as he holds me close. His voice is soft and strained. He kisses the top of my head. “You don’t need to worry about me.”

Fuck. “So they didn’t clear you? They think you’re a suspect?” Pulling back, I look up into his tired eyes. “How? You were with me the entire time.” Sean presses his eyes closed and steps away, turning his back to me as if he’s trying to hide the fact that he’s losing his composure. “Sean, talk to me.” I reach for his shoulder and touch it gently.

He doesn’t shake me off, but he doesn’t turn. Sean runs his hands over his face and speaks softly, making sure no one else could possibly hear. “I’m not a suspect, not yet, but close enough and it’s because of Amanda.”

A chill runs through me and settles in my stomach. The sensation is so horrible that I want to cry and I know that it’s only a fraction of the emotion surging through Sean. I don’t wait for him to look at me. Instead, I step around and look into his face. There’s a glassy sheen on his eyes and he evades my gaze.

I say what I know, the thing that no one else realizes and the one thing that Sean is desperate to forget. “You’re a good man, Sean. No matter what they say, no matter what they see.” I touch his cheek and smile warmly at him. “You hide it so well that even you forget at times.”

He touches my hand, smoothing his fingers over the back of it. “You scare me more than anything I’ve ever encountered, and at the same time, I love you for it. You see through me, Avery Stanz, down to my mangled soul, and you stay. Every time, you stay.” Sean’s voice is uncharacteristically soft and he closes his eyes for a moment, and presses my hand more firmly to his cheek.

I don’t worry about shattering the moment this time. I’m sure of myself—and even more certain of us. I know what he needs, but I can’t give it to him here, so I take his hands and pull him to a clearing backstage. Sean follows without protest. When I stop, I take his hands and slip them around my waist and place my hands around his neck.

We dance slowly, saying nothing, until Sean bows his head and rests it on my shoulder. We stay like that for a long time, occasionally stepping as if we’re still dancing. It doesn’t escape me that Sean is letting me comfort him. He’s given up control for the moment and is relying on me to hold him together. This is so unlike him that it worries me. I don’t know if he’s growing emotionally or falling apart. Sometimes those things look identical.

A flicker of movement catches my eye when one of the curtains across from us stirs. I lift my gaze and see Jonathan standing there in the shadows, watching. Our eyes meet and I mentally beg him to leave Sean for the moment. I can’t stand to see him hurting any more right now, because it doesn’t matter what Jonathan thinks—Sean cares about him. The man would do anything for his brothers, I’m certain of it.

The anger melts off of Jonathan’s face and he stands there a beat longer than he should, almost shocked. His lips part slightly and his hands, which were fisted, unclench and linger at his sides. Has he never seen his brother hurting before? Sean the invincible is weakened at the moment, no doubt reliving the hellish night his wife took her life.

Maybe the embrace, and the way he hangs his head, makes Sean seem more human, I don’t know, but whatever the reason, Jonathan shrinks back into the shadows and disappears without a sound. No one else comes looking for us either. We stay like that for a long time, and don’t break apart until we’re ready to face whatever comes next, even though I don’t think I’ll ever be ready.





CHAPTER 11




Mel. This whole goddamn mess stems back to her and I need to find out what happened. I’d assumed she wasn’t in the room after I found out that it wasn’t her dead body under the sheet. There was no blood on her clothes and no indication that she’d done anything wrong. It seemed like Mel left the hotel when she found out what happened, the same way I did. If one of us gets caught and it gets back to Black, we’re all screwed.