Page 54 of Black Willow Witch
‘Neal, go to the restroom and clean yourself up,’ Ripper instructed. ‘Then you’re gonna clean this mess and getthe fuckout of here. I’ll deal with you tomorrow.’ He wanted to talk to his brother.
Neal’s back snapped straight. ‘Why isn’t Logan being forced to help? I didn’t throw the first punch—’ He cut off as Ripper got right into his face.
‘Don’t play fucking innocent with me,’ Ripper growled.
Neal’s gaze dropped to the floor.
‘You came here with the sole purpose of setting Logan off.Youstarted the fight just by walking through that door. You knew exactly what would happen.’ Ripper flicked his gaze to CeCe. ‘And so did you.’
Her eyes widened. ‘What? No!’
He turned back to Neal. ‘Restroom,now.’
The werewolf scurried away, a slight hobble in his step.
CeCe crossed to Ripper, wringing her hands. ‘I know how this looks, but I swear I didn’t—’
‘Don’t bullshit me,’ he bit off. ‘You could have gone anywhere with Neal tonight. Any-fucking-where. You chose this bar,knowingLogan would be here – he comes here every Sunday night to play darts and shoot the shit with some wolves from our clan. You knew it would hurt him to see you with Neal. Knew it’d set him off. So the only reason you’d come here is if you wanted that.’
‘I didn’t!’ she protested. ‘I would never do anything to hurt Logan!’
‘Then why choose this bar?’
‘It was a busy week, I had a lot going on, I lost track of the days, thought it was Saturday. I didn’t realize my mistake until I walked in and saw people gathered near the dart board. I was about to walk straight back out, I swear. But Logan saw us and rushed over.’
Ripper clenched his jaw. ‘Didn’t I just tell you not to bullshit me?’
Her eyes flared. ‘I’m not lying, I got confused.’
‘Did you also get confused when you started dating a guy you only think of as a friend?’
She snapped her mouth shut. ‘I could tell that you weren’t going to change your mind about the triad. But Logan . . . he wasn’t giving up hope. I thought that if it looked as if I was moving on, it would force him to let this go and move on himself.’
‘So you’re using Neal? Does he know that?’
‘No.’ She averted her gaze, pulling a face. ‘I feel bad about it, but I didn’t know what else to do. This is my mess. I suggested the triad, I caused all the friction, I needed to put it right.’
‘How in the hell was seeing you with Nealevergoing to put this right for Logan? All you had to do was make it perfectly clear to him that you’re not interested in a triad anymore.’
‘I did! He could tell I was lying!’
‘You really thought that this was the solution?’
She grimaced, adjusting her tee. ‘I’m going to go talk to Logan; check he’s okay.’
‘No, you’re not. You’re going to help Neal clean this mess, and then you’re going to leave with him.’
Her head jerked back slightly. ‘Look, I realize you’re upset about me and Neal—’
‘I’m not, CeCe. I want things to go back to the way they were before, when we were nothing but friends. A natural part of that would be you dating someone. But you’re not dating Neal, you’re using him. And you’re hurting my brother in the doing of it.’
Her lips thinning, she jutted out her chin. ‘I love Logan. I love you both.’
‘Yeah? You’ve got a messed-up way of showing it.’ Ripper walked off, weaving through the tables until he arrived at the office.
Inside, Logan sat on a chair near the desk, gently probing his jaw. He looked up at Ripper, his eyes dull. ‘Neal ain’t much of a fighter, but he got a few good shots in.’
Ripper walked over to his brother. ‘How did all that play out exactly?’
