Staking Her Claim...: Book 1 in the Patricks' Brothers series by Natasha Thomas Page A

there?”
     
    If I were watching him like I usually do, I would have noticed the way his eyes darkened until the beautiful blue I loved so much was almost non-existent. I would have seen his large muscular frame turn rock solid. And I would have picked up on the intense waves of pure malice rolling off him. But I didn’t. I didn’t notice anything because I had become so comfortable with him, and being able to ask him anything that I stopped paying as close attention to his moods months prior. Mistake number two. Big mistake. The first being asking the question to begin with.
     
    In a move so fast I never saw it coming, Rob gripped my shoulders hard. Hard enough to leave imprints of where his fingers had been for a week following. Shaking me, not gently, he snarled,
    “Don’t. Don’t ever ask me about them. Not only do I never want to talk about them, but it’s not your fucking business. Do you hear me, Alysia? I don’t want you to talk about them or ask about them ever again, okay?”
     
    I’ve never seen him this angry before, and before I can beat them back, hot tears pool in my eyes and stream unchecked down my cheeks. Humiliated and mad at myself for crying in front of him, I shake myself free of his iron grasp and run from the room before he can say another word. I heard him calling my name over and over again, but I didn’t stop running until I’d locked myself safely in the downstairs bathroom.
     
    It took less than a minute for him to find me and start apologizing profusely through the door, but I ignored him, curling myself into a protective ball between the toilet and the sink. I stayed there until I heard him slump against the wall outside and his voice died away to a low murmur. He sat there for over an hour talking about baseball practice that day, teachers he hated, and homework he had to do later. He talked about anything and everything, but never about anything of substance.
     
    I knew he was trying to distract me. I saw it for what it was. He was attempting to gloss over what had just happened and get us back to where we were before I dared to ask him anything personal. In hindsight, I should have known better. I should have known he had no intention of sharing his demons with me, but like always, I had to push it didn’t I?
     
    Brookes apparently took one look at, Rob, and decided he wasn’t going to get anywhere anytime soon so he ushered him away, leaving me to my tears. Later that night, Brookes came into my room and explained that not all families are like ours. He told me that there are a lot of families, Rob and Thomas’s included that are far from idyllic, and it’s our job to show them there is a light at the end of the tunnel. To show them there are people out there that care about them, love them, will protect them regardless of what they believe. Brookes also gently, but firmly, explained it isn’t our place to ask questions. We’re there to listen when they want to open up and not judge.
     
    After our talk, I felt better yet empty at the same time. I felt like I hadn’t been doing my job where Rob was concerned if he didn’t feel safe enough to open up to me. I mean, it had been almost fifteen months and I still knew so little about him. Did that mean he was simply humoring me? Was he friends with me out of pity? Did he see me as just another obligation because I refused to leave him alone? All those questions and more ricocheted around inside my head until I come to one startling conclusion; it didn’t matter. None of that mattered. As long as I was breathing, I would be there for him. I wouldn’t ask him questions or push him to talk to me. I would be strong and stoic for him. I would show him through my actions that he could trust me implicitly.
     
    What I didn’t realize was, he already did.    

CHAPTER FIVE
~ Rob ~

“When I’m bored, I send a text to a random number saying; “I hid the body…now what?””
- Rotten eCards
     
    I spent years hiding behind