Read Online You Don't Know Me: A Stand-Alone New Adult Romance by Faleena Hopkins - Free Book Online
Authors: Faleena Hopkins
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sensual grip this beast of a man has me in. Sean has closed the distance to us now, his face a mask of foreshadowing and irritation. “He saved me,” I mumble, realizing how odd that sounds.
“Saved you?” Sean frowns deeply from me to his friend like he’s the one doing the saving, not Alec. “Is that what he was doing?” The sarcasm drips from every word.
“Desiree cornered her in the bathroom and punched her. I saw them going in together and knew there would be trouble,” Alec explains, his manner unhurried, unapologetic.
Sean isn’t impressed.
“Come on, Rue.” Sean holds out his arm to invite me to walk beside him.
I glance to Alec, wishing badly I could stay with him, that he might object and whisk me away to somewhere very, very private. There’s an ache in my chest that feels like it might burst if I can’t touch him. But the look in his eyes tells me silently to go with my brother. I lower my chin, eyelashes falling to the ground as I walk into Sean’s outstretched arm. I steal a furtive glance at Alec as the three of us walk back toward the club, but he’s not looking at me. His body is relaxed, but his eyes are rigid as he strolls with his hands tense in his pockets. I glance down and see he’s hiding an erection. Suddenly my heart flips over and I turn to face the world with a smile of wonder on my face.
Sean stops at the valet and gives him the ticket. Behind me, I feel Alec’s departure before I even see it, like a cord is attached to us and it’s being pulled taut. My head swings around to watch him walking back toward the entrance, the crowd behind the ropes watching him, too.
“Isn’t he coming with us?” I ask, my eyes locked on his back. Jack walks out of the club’s entrance just in time to fist-bump his best friend, wordlessly saying they’ll catch each other later. As Jack meets my eyes with a devilish glitter, Sean warns me, “Forget him, Rue. He’s not the one for you.”
I look up at my new brother and say nothing, because inside I know my response is a loud and resounding Oh yes he is.
Chapter Seventeen
Alec
“ W e got her . I wasn’t at the door when they let her in but now the guys know who she is,” Gabe explains in a low monotone.
I clasp his shoulder on my way in. “Don’t blame yourself. Desiree always finds a way.”
“Bitches, man.” He adjusts himself on the stool and reaches out for the I.D. of the next person in line.
The music, lights, smells, and sounds of the club all feel very differently from when I arrived earlier. I knew there was a sister before I got his text. Jack filled me in. I knew about the money. I knew about his hatred for the whole situation and I was right there with him. It’s a fucked up turn of events to find out what they found out, and to have all that cash going away to someone they don’t know, but who they have to now call family.. .it’s fucked up. “You can disown her,” I’d offered when he dropped by my place after the trip downtown to their lawyer’s. “You can act like she doesn’t exist and let her go about her life, with her spending the money you never knew was stashed away for her anyway. What about that?”
He took the beer I offered him and plopped down on my couch. “We had to meet her. We had to see for ourselves who she was. Now Sean’s taken a liking to her.”
Picking my guitar up, I sat back on the ottoman and hit a few chords on a new song. “Of course you had to meet her. I would’ve been curious, too.” I flipped the page of the notebook and wrote down the chord change to f-sharp.
He took a swig and looked into the memory. “She’s a piece of work. Acted like she didn’t care about the money. Can you believe it?”
I raised my eyebrows, trying to picture what she must be like. Shaking my head, I strummed a bit. “No. I really can’t. So, he likes her? Why?”
Jack’s eyes narrowed. “He believes her act. She said she didn’t want the money, didn’t want to take our
“Saved you?” Sean frowns deeply from me to his friend like he’s the one doing the saving, not Alec. “Is that what he was doing?” The sarcasm drips from every word.
“Desiree cornered her in the bathroom and punched her. I saw them going in together and knew there would be trouble,” Alec explains, his manner unhurried, unapologetic.
Sean isn’t impressed.
“Come on, Rue.” Sean holds out his arm to invite me to walk beside him.
I glance to Alec, wishing badly I could stay with him, that he might object and whisk me away to somewhere very, very private. There’s an ache in my chest that feels like it might burst if I can’t touch him. But the look in his eyes tells me silently to go with my brother. I lower my chin, eyelashes falling to the ground as I walk into Sean’s outstretched arm. I steal a furtive glance at Alec as the three of us walk back toward the club, but he’s not looking at me. His body is relaxed, but his eyes are rigid as he strolls with his hands tense in his pockets. I glance down and see he’s hiding an erection. Suddenly my heart flips over and I turn to face the world with a smile of wonder on my face.
Sean stops at the valet and gives him the ticket. Behind me, I feel Alec’s departure before I even see it, like a cord is attached to us and it’s being pulled taut. My head swings around to watch him walking back toward the entrance, the crowd behind the ropes watching him, too.
“Isn’t he coming with us?” I ask, my eyes locked on his back. Jack walks out of the club’s entrance just in time to fist-bump his best friend, wordlessly saying they’ll catch each other later. As Jack meets my eyes with a devilish glitter, Sean warns me, “Forget him, Rue. He’s not the one for you.”
I look up at my new brother and say nothing, because inside I know my response is a loud and resounding Oh yes he is.
Chapter Seventeen
Alec
“ W e got her . I wasn’t at the door when they let her in but now the guys know who she is,” Gabe explains in a low monotone.
I clasp his shoulder on my way in. “Don’t blame yourself. Desiree always finds a way.”
“Bitches, man.” He adjusts himself on the stool and reaches out for the I.D. of the next person in line.
The music, lights, smells, and sounds of the club all feel very differently from when I arrived earlier. I knew there was a sister before I got his text. Jack filled me in. I knew about the money. I knew about his hatred for the whole situation and I was right there with him. It’s a fucked up turn of events to find out what they found out, and to have all that cash going away to someone they don’t know, but who they have to now call family.. .it’s fucked up. “You can disown her,” I’d offered when he dropped by my place after the trip downtown to their lawyer’s. “You can act like she doesn’t exist and let her go about her life, with her spending the money you never knew was stashed away for her anyway. What about that?”
He took the beer I offered him and plopped down on my couch. “We had to meet her. We had to see for ourselves who she was. Now Sean’s taken a liking to her.”
Picking my guitar up, I sat back on the ottoman and hit a few chords on a new song. “Of course you had to meet her. I would’ve been curious, too.” I flipped the page of the notebook and wrote down the chord change to f-sharp.
He took a swig and looked into the memory. “She’s a piece of work. Acted like she didn’t care about the money. Can you believe it?”
I raised my eyebrows, trying to picture what she must be like. Shaking my head, I strummed a bit. “No. I really can’t. So, he likes her? Why?”
Jack’s eyes narrowed. “He believes her act. She said she didn’t want the money, didn’t want to take our
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