Max (A Carter Brother series Book 4) (32 page)

I look away, my gaze staring out the window, watching the streets pass us by. My brother snorts from the backseat which has my back straightening. I turn around giving him a glare, still pissed off at him. Not just for the drugs but for putting himself in danger. He’s my other half. Without him I’m just a shell of a person. As much as I hate who he’s become, I love my brother with everything inside me.

“Grow up, Cowen,’’ I snap.

“Fuck off, Lake,’’ he laughs dryly. “We can’t all be a goody fucking two shoes like you,’’ he replies sarcastically.

“Watch your mouth, Cowen. You’re not too old to put over my knee,’’ Mum warns him, her eyes looking at him through the rear-view mirror.

“Goody two shoes? Are you high right now?’’ I ask him, my eyes widening in horror when I realise what just slipped out of my mouth.

“You’re such a fucking bitch,’’ he shouts, leaning forward to get in my face.

“Will you two shut up, right now,’’ Mum shouts but both of us ignore her.

“I’d rather be a bitch than a loser like you,’’ I growl, my eyes watering. We’ve never fought before and I never thought we would. Truth be told, though, I don’t think he’s a loser. Yeah I think he’s heading down a darkened path but I know this is just a bump in a road, that there’s more to him than this. I just want to hurt him the way he’s been hurting me. Selfish and childish, I know.

He laughs bitterly. “Wonder if Mum and Dad would still kiss your ass if they found out you’ve been fucking a drug dealer?’’

“Cowen,’’ Mum cries mortified. But then I see her face register what he just said and she looks over to me briefly, disappointment and concern shining in her eyes. “Lake?’’

I turn further in my seat, pulling the seatbelt as far as it will go and turn to my brother with eyes rimmed with tears. “I hate you,’’ I cry, angry. “I didn’t know until today. And you should know all about him being a drug dealer since you’ve been buying drugs off him,’’ I shout, leaning over and smacking him in the arm.

“Is that true, Cowen?’’ Mum gasps. “Lake, sit back down.’’ I turn in my seat, a few tears leaking down my face.

“You just had to open your big trap, didn’t you?’’ Cowen yells. A punch to my shoulder has me cursing, pain radiating down my arm and up my neck.

“I hate you,’’ I scream, turning back around I hit him over and over with my free hand.

“You two stop it, now!’’ Mum screams, the car swerving a little before she straightens it back up.

Cowen and I both ignore her, the two of us pushing and shoving each other across the seats.

Mum keeps screaming at us to stop, to sit back down in our seats, when the car swerves sharply knocking me a little into Mum. When her scream turns fearful I move quickly sitting back down in my seat in time to see the car swerve again in the rain. I also notice we’re going a lot faster than we were when we started out.

The street lights are limited on the road we’re on so the darkness and rain makes it harder to see, but when I notice a flicker of light coming towards us I scream out. “Mum, look out,’’ I tell her, gripping my seat. The car in front tries to swerve to miss hitting us but with the rain and slippery roads the car hits the back end of the car causing us to tailspin.

I hear Cowen grunt in pain from the backseat and I turn to find him passed out, his head dangling lifelessly to the side as blood oozes from his head.

Just when I feel like the car is coming to a stop, another car hits us from behind. My body shoots forward, the seatbelt locking and knocking the wind out of me. From the side I notice Mum shoot forward, a scream escaping her throat as the car lurches forward. My head turns and my whole body freezes when I find we’re heading for the edge of the old wooden bridge.

A scream is lodged in my throat and I close my eyes as tightly as I can, hoping to make it all disappear and pray we all come out of this unharmed.

Everything seems to happen in slow motion, nothing registering until it’s too late. The wood splitting reaches my ears, causing a cold chill to run through my body.

“Mum,’’ I scream, fear seeping through my bones. I’ve never been so scared in my life. I hold my breath as I feel the car hit air and I know we’re going over. There’s nothing to prevent what is going to happen.

It’s my last thought before I hear the loud splash, the force of the car hitting the surface of the flooded stream knocking me out, darkness filling everything around me.

Groggily, I wake up wondering what the hell Emma and I drank last night. I’m pretty sure we didn’t even plan to drink.

Confused, I open my eyes, but then panic, a hoarse scream leaving my throat. Water has filled the car, reaching my waist. It only causes me to panic more and I rip the belt from my body. I look over at Mum first, my eye sight blurred from the tears.

“Mum! Mum!’’ I sob, shaking her still body that is hunched over the steering wheel. The side of her face is smothered in blood and her wrist doesn’t look normal.

Nausea rolls through my stomach and I’m about to check on Cowen when a cough escapes Mum’s mouth. I know the minute she gains consciousness. Her whole body locks up, before she must realise where she is, and what happened. Her head snaps to me, her eyes filled with fear. As soon as she see’s I’m okay her body relaxes but only by a little. She tries to turn to check on Cowen, but she winces, the seatbelt keeping her body in place.

“Lake? Are you okay? Is Cowen okay, baby? Please tell me you’re both okay,’’ she cries and a lump forms in my throat.

“I’m here mum. We need to get out, though. It’s not safe,’’ I tell her, probably something she already knows. The water is rising, if only by a little but it’s enough to bring on another panic attack.

“Cowen?’’ Mum calls.

With everything still in a blur, I forgot to check on my brother. Painfully, I turn my body to the side, checking on my brother. I gasp when I see him slumped to the side, the water slapping up his body against his face. I begin to struggle, moving my legs so I’m kneeling on the seat.

“Mum, can you move? Do you think you could climb out your window?’’ I rush out, noticing her window has broken from the fall.

“I think I broke my arm,’’ she whispers; now holding it limply against her chest.

“Mum, I need to get to Cowen, but we need to get out first,’’ I tell her, my voice choked up. I feel under the water, ignoring her cries for Cowen until I find the plug to her seatbelt. It comes undone easily enough and I free her from it.

“I need you to climb through the window,’’ I tell her, hoping my voice doesn’t sound as scared as I feel. “Come on, Mum.’’ I help guide her through the window, my eyes flickering to Cowen every few seconds. I feel torn on what to do, but I know I need Mum to go get help.

The wind grows stronger as Mum falls with a splash outside the window, a cry of pain leaving her mouth.

“Are you okay, Miss?’’ I hear asked, but I don’t wait around as I climb over the seats to get to my brother. The water is rising quickly and when I see Cowen is now under the water I scream.

“Miss, do you need help?’’ another voice asks and I breathe a sigh of relief.

I struggle to hold Cowen’s head up above water, and I cry out with fear. “Cowen! Wake up. So help me, God, if you don’t wake up I will kill you myself,’’ I shout.

“Help! Help!’’ I shout when no one comes to the car for us. The water around us moves in angry waves and a dark figure sticks his head into the car window. When he spots us in the back seat, he curses.

“My brother, he’s stuck. Please help,’’ I cry out.

“Hold on,’’ he shouts through the window and moves to the back of the car. He’s by the window and I notice he’s trying to open the door. I want to scream at him. He must know he’s never going to get that open with how powerful the water is flowing. When it doesn’t budge, he curses before moving back to the front of the car, sticking his head in the window.

“I’ll be back. I’m going to get something,’’ he shouts. I cry out to stop him, begging him not to leave us, but he doesn’t listen.

I move so Cowen’s head is leant against me, but his seatbelt is restricting his movements. Manoeuvring us so his head is leant against my neck, I find his seatbelt plug and undo it. When it doesn’t come unloose the first time, I try again, fear seeping through my bones. My heart is aching, but I don’t feel it. I’m too scared. I could lose my other half. I won’t be able to live without him. There’s no me without him. There’s a reason people tell you twins have a special bond. This is one of them.

I pull on the belt strap as my other hand presses down on the plug. After a few presses the belt comes free and Cowen’s body slumps forward into the water.

I reach out to catch him but his body is too heavy. I lift with everything I have, my whole body fighting to keep him above water.

“Please! Somebody help me!’’ I scream, tears rushing down my face. “Please, Cowen. You need to wake up. Don’t do this. I need you. We need you. You can’t leave us,’’ I scream.

“Cover your faces,’’ is shouted through the window. Before I have chance to realise what is happening the back window is smashed. I watch with relief as he removes as much of the glass as he can before leaning through the window.

“Can you move him towards me a little more?’’ the man wheezes out, just as a younger man arrives behind him.

“Yes,’’ I shiver, my teeth chattering together. “Help him,’’ I beg them and with the help from the two men I get Cowen out of the window. The two men hold Cowen: one is carrying his feet while the other holds him by the shoulders. I stumble out of the car window, cutting my knee on some broken glass still lodged into the door. No one pays attention to me as we make our way to the bank.

My mum is on Cowen the minute the men gently drop him on the grass. Paramedics run out of nowhere causing me to jump.

“He’s not breathing!’’ My mum suddenly screams, tears falling from her face.

“No!’’ I whisper, stepping backwards. He can’t be dead. He can’t. Oh my God! This is all my fault. If I didn’t drag my mum out in this we wouldn’t be in a crash and Cowen would most likely be sleeping off his drunken behaviour at Banner’s.

“What did you do? What did you do?’’ my mum chants over and over, her head turning towards me before she falls onto my brother’s chest.

“Miss, we need you to step back,’’ a paramedic shouts as he starts compressions on Cowen’s chest.

A sudden pain in my chest causes me to silently cry out, my eyes never leaving my brother. With each deep press on his chest another agonising pain hits my chest knocking the wind out of me.

“Still nothing,’’ the other paramedic calls, checking for a pulse.

My mum is still chanting, ‘What did you do?’ and it all becomes too much. I find myself taking another step back and then another: before I know it I’m running, leaving the sounds of my mother’s gut-wrenching screams begging Cowen to come back to her.

“So there you have it,’’ she whispers. “I killed my brother.’’

I reach out, laying her on top of me to hold her closer. She needs to know. “No, you didn’t,’’ I begin.

“Yes, I did. You weren’t there, Max. Had it not been for me he would have been okay. I caused the crash by leaning over the seats and fighting with Cowen. I shouldn’t have told my mum about what was going on,’’ she tells me, her heavy sobs breaking me.

“You’re wrong, baby. Did you stick around after the paramedics got there? Did you go home?’’ I ask her, needing her to think clearly.

“No, I went straight home, packed a bag and left. Hearing my mum, seeing that broken look on her face and knowing I did that to her... I couldn’t stick around. Without Cowen I wasn’t me. I felt him die inside my chest. The pain had me falling to my knees on the side of the road gasping for breath. I knew then in my heart, that I had lost him forever.’’

Hearing her telling me this has me imagining losing Myles. As much as the fucker can be a pain in my ass, the thought of living in this world without him is enough to kill me.

When Myles got run over and I didn’t know if he was okay or not, I felt the very pain Lake is describing. I can relate to the pain she felt but she needs to know she didn’t kill her brother.

“Lake,’’ I whisper.

“Make it go away,’’ she begs, looking at me with pleading eyes.

“I don’t know how,’’ I tell her honestly, forgetting everything I was going to say to her.

“Kiss me,’’ she whispers, her eyes darkening a touch.

She moves up my body a little, her luscious curves causing a growl to rumble through my chest. My hands move to her hips, gripping her tightly.

“I don’t know if that’s a good idea,’’ I tell her, knowing she’s been drinking and has just emotionally exhausted herself. She’s not in the right frame of mind.

“It’s the best idea,’’ she whispers, her lips hovering over mine. The second her soft lips touch mine I’m lost in her. My hands move up her body, one diving into her hair and the other holding her neck, tilting her head to the side so I can deepen the kiss. I lose my breath with each stroke of her tongue massaging against mine.

When her body begins to thrust and rub against mine my hard on turns painful.

“Lake,’’ I whisper, breaking our kiss. When I see how turned on she is, I roughly turn us so I’m the one on top, so that I’m the one in charge.

My lips hover over hers before I nibble her bottom lip into my mouth. She moans, her body trying to seek out what she needs as she thrusts her hips up against me, growling in frustration when I move my hips away. If I didn’t I’d most likely blow my load.

“Are you sure?’’ I ask her, needing her to be one hundred percent.

“Never been so sure about anything in my whole life,’’ she mutters, grabbing me at the back of my neck and pulling me down on her. Not wanting to be a jerk, I comply, my lips slamming hard down on hers as I slide my hands down her body, my fingers gripping the thin tank top before lifting it up over her head. As soon as she’s free her lips are back on mine, her hands touching every inch of my body causing me to lose my ever-loving mind.

Trailing my lips down her neck, her body arches at my touch. Chuckling, I nip at the skin before soothing the sting with my tongue.

“Max,’’ she moans, her hands gripping my hair.

“Babe, I’m not into being bald,’’ I chuckle, looking up at her through my lashes. She’s so fucking beautiful. Her eyes are half open, her skin flushed, her cheeks pink and the swell of her breasts are falling and rising with each breath.

“Sorry,’’ she whispers, letting go of the hold on my hair.

“How about you tug on something else,’’ I smirk, my lips hovering over the swell of her breasts.

She shakes her head whilst rolling her eyes and I chuckle.

“How about you hurry up and get inside me already,’’ she tells me, being her usual bossy self.

“I feel like I’m being taken advantage of,’’ I mutter, teasing her.

She playfully slaps my arm but I move back up her body, my lips taking hers in a hot, searing kiss.

Before I know it we’re both naked, our bodies slick with sweat. Rolling a condom on, I position myself at her entrance, my eyes locking with hers. Her eyes look up at me full of trust and desire and it takes my breath away, twisting my stomach up in knots.

Moving, I plant myself inside her, both of us hissing at the pleasure. My eyes close tightly, trying to gain control of my body that is throbbing with need.

Lake digs her nails into my ass, moving her hips at the same time and my eyes roll to the back of my head. Moving in and out I hit the right spot, watching smugly as Lake starts to lose control. Her breathing picks up and with each thrust a strangled moan leaves her mouth.

Picking up my speed, my thrusts become harder. Lake cups her sex, her finger swirling around her clit. My body instantly jolts with jealousy and I’m pretty sure my eyes darken as I watch her touch herself intimately.

“Stop,’’ I rasp out when her sex tightens once more around my cock. “Touch your tits,’’ I plead, taking one in my mouth before she can move. I feel her body obeying my command and I grin around her nipple, nipping lightly before pulling away.

My eyes stare down at her, her body stretched in front of me, writhing with pleasure and a surge of warmth spreads through me, along with a feeling I’m not accustomed to, scaring the shit out of me.

Not knowing what else to do or how to explain the feeling surging through me, I lean forward, capturing her lips with mine. My body feels like an inferno and with each thrust inside her and with each meet of our tongues, sparks shoot through my body and I growl out with pleasure.

I’m surprised Lake can keep up, her hips rocking against mine, doing everything she can to match me with each thrust.

My vision begins to blur and I know I’m close and if Lake’s breathing and moans are anything to go by, then so is she.

My heart feels like it’s going to explode in my chest when I look down at her. Desire flares in her eyes and a look I’ve seen on Denny’s and Harlow’s faces when they look at my brothers crosses her features causing a wild fire to burn through my body.

My hips pumped inside her harder, harder than I’ve ever taken her before and my eyes never once leave hers. She must feel what I’m feeling because she looks just as lost in me as I am with her. Heated tingles erupt suddenly; the same time Lake tightens her legs around me, her sex clutching me so tight in her grip, that my release causes me to see fireworks. My body stiffens from my release, an animalistic growl erupting from my chest at the same time Lake screams through her release, her back arching off the bed.

Both of us are shaking from our release. Adrenaline pounds in my ears as I try to catch my breath. When the tingles in my lower stomach begin to ease off I lower myself on Lake, our sweat-slicked bodies coming together. I breathe in her scent, my head shoved into her neck.

“I think I love you,’’ I blurt out, panicking when her body freezes against mine. “Best sex I’ve ever had,’’ I add on quickly, causing her body to relax.

A yawn escapes her mouth, her breath blowing on my shoulder causing shivers to run up my back.

Rolling onto my side, I pull the condom off, tying it off before throwing it into the bin next to my desk. Pulling the blanket up I cover me and Lake before turning and pulling her against my chest. She willingly obeys, wiggling her ass against my groin, causing my semi-hard dick to become fully erect.

“Again?’’ she whispers amused, her voice tired.

“I’m always hard when it comes to you. But sleep. You’ve worn me out,’’ I tease.

“No stamina,’’ she mutters, already half asleep.

“We’ll see,’’ I chuckle, pulling her tighter against me. I’ll wake her up once I’ve rested my eyes for a little bit and show her just how much stamina I’ve got.

I wake up in the middle of the night needing a piss. Once I relieve myself I make my way back to my room. When I pass my desk I notice my laptop is still on and when I wake the screen up it’s still on my emails and a reply message is in my inbox waiting for me.

My eyes widen as I read the message, my hands scrubbing my unshaven jaw.

Fuck!

I didn’t want to believe Lake but I also didn’t want this to be true either. I feel like I’m being torn in two. Either way I’ll lose Lake.

If someone told me a few months ago I’d be going crazy over a girl I’d tell them to get clean off the drugs making them high, but then I met Lake and everything changed.

Yeah, I’ve always wanted to fuck her but she’s more than that. I love hanging out with her. Even if it’s just watching stupid ass movies or that TV series she’s got into. I don’t even mind when we play Grand Theft Auto and she stops at every red light. I just make her believe it annoys me when really I think it’s fucking cute as hell.

She makes me laugh, she doesn’t expect anything from me or anyone around me, and she doesn’t have fantasies about ‘happily ever afters’. But for once I’m cursing myself and her for not believing in it because at this precise moment in time I want her to want a happily ever after. 

Maybe it’s me. Maybe I’m not supposed to have love in my life in any other form than brotherly love.

Rereading the message again, my heart begins to ache and I shove away from the chair needing a stronger drink.

Once I’m downstairs I walk into the kitchen, jumping when I find Maverick sitting on the barstool at the breakfast bar looking at his laptop.

“What are you doing here?’’

“What are you doing up?’’ he asks, eyeing me funnily.

“I was coming to get a drink. What about you? I didn’t think you were here tonight.’’

“Got some shit going on at the club,’’ he sighs, running a hand over his tired face.

“Everything okay?’’ I ask worriedly, noticing how tired he really looks. He’s been working more than normal lately, but I don’t think that’s it. I know he’s been getting called into work a lot lately over certain things happening. I just hope it’s nothing serious, not that he’d tell me anyway.

“Yeah, it’s just been a long fucking week,’’ he grunts. “What’s up with you? You look really pale.’’

“I’ve been meaning to complain about the weather,’’ I mutter.

Rolling his eyes he gives me a pointed look and I sit down across from him and sigh. “I found something out and now I don’t know what to do with the information I got.’’

“Does this have anything to do with Lake and why Liam accidentally text me saying he sent the information to my email address?’’

“Fucking prick,’’ I mutter, cursing Liam. “Yeah.’’

“So? Are you going to tell me?’’

“She told me she killed her brother,’’ I blurt out, keeping my voice down.

My brother’s eyes widen, his mouth open in shock. “What?’’

“Yeah, but there’s more,’’ I tell him, feeling my palms begin to sweat.

“Don’t tell me she killed all her family. She doesn’t seem like the kind of girl,’’ he chokes out, looking behind him like Lake will be standing there with a butcher’s knife.

I snort. “No, jackass, she didn’t kill her brother either but she thinks she did.’’

“Now I’m fucking confused.’’

“Welcome to my world,’’ I mutter.

“You were born confused,’’ he tells me and I grin.

“You got jokes.’’

“Learning,’’ he winks. “But seriously, what’s going on?’’

“Long story short, she thinks she caused a crash that caused her brother’s death. Not just a brother but her twin brother,’’ I tell him, watching his eyes go as wide as saucers.

“Holy shit,’’ he whispers.

“I know, right? That’s her side of the story anyway. She ran away when the paramedics were there and couldn’t revive him,’’ I tell him, pausing. As soon as I’ve said the next part it’s all going to be true and that I’ll have to do the right thing. No more pretending I don’t know what I know.

“And? I’m guessing there is more,’’ Maverick says, pouring us both a glass of Jack Daniels.

I grunt, nodding my head. “Yeah, I got Liam to look into her. When we had that fight last Sunday I remembered something she said to me on the Saturday. He finally found some newspaper articles. Her brother didn’t die and Lake is a missing person. They are still searching for her. They’ve even got a ten thousand pound reward for anyone who can tell them her whereabouts.’’

“Shit!’’ Maverick mutters. “What happened with her brother?’’

“I’m not sure. She’s pretty sure he died. But in the article it says they brought him back but he sustained long term illness,’’ I shrug.

“Why do I have the feeling you’re still keeping something from me?’’ he asks.

“Because I am. I emailed her parents. They confirmed everything. Lake is their daughter and they want to come meet her. But I tried telling Lake earlier and she didn’t listen,’’ I mumble, knowing I didn’t try hard enough.

“I’m pretty sure fucking her brains out isn’t trying to tell her anything,’’ Maverick says, rolling his eyes.