Chapter 97: Sadie: You’re Like Him

TREY

Ezra jerks toward Sadie, and I shove him back against the wall.

"You think helping him means he’s going to win?" he asks her before turning his glare on me, still pulling against my grip. "Everyone knows you’re incompetent. You don’t deserve to be heir. The trials will prove it."

"I’d worry about yourself." I hold him through another attempt to get loose. "You sure your wolf can get through the challenge section? You’ll be facing Alphas with actual Alpha blood."

His jaw tightens, and he puts more weight into another attempt. When that gets him nowhere, I let out a scoff.

"You can’t even get out of my grip." I lean closer. "What do you think’s going to happen in that arena? I’ll rip you apart."

I release him with a shove and step back, pulling Sadie behind me. "Get out before I break your arms. You’ll need them next week if you want to put up a fight."

He stays against the wall, his chest heaving as he glares at us.

Same entitled, delusional asshole he’s always been. He got everything he wanted as a kid, and if someone told him no, he cried until they changed their mind. It worked often enough that he never bothered learning anything else.

Too bad nobody’s going to stop a fight because he doesn’t like how it’s going. He can tell everyone I’m incompetent until he’s out of breath, but once we’re in that arena, they’ll get to see exactly what he’s capable of.

I’m looking forward to how little that turns out to be.

Ezra straightens his shirt, his hair a mess and a vein standing out on his forehead.

"I’m going to win." He meets my eyes. "And when I’m heir, I’ll burn everything you have. That’s a fucking promise."

"Make promises you can keep." I glance toward the exit. "Save the rest for next week. We’ll—"

"And you." He turns to Sadie. "You’re going to regret this. You had a chance to come crawling back, and you wasted it. That door’s closed now."

I shift in front of Sadie, blocking her from his view. He’d better enjoy getting through a sentence while I’m still letting him.

"Maybe one day you’ll stop being so desperate for attention and realize he’s not who you think he is." He glances at me before looking at her. "Start with your old boss. He might point you in the right direction."

He storms off before either of us can answer, and I close my eyes for a second. The fucker can’t stop talking about Howard, can he?

I wait until his footsteps fade before turning to Sadie and she’s still watching the exit.

We should be upstairs by now, ordering dinner. Instead, I’ve had to deal with him showing up where he’s not wanted, and she’s had to listen to more of his shit. I should’ve called security before he got close enough to open his mouth.

I glance toward the elevator, but Sadie doesn’t move. "Ezra is such a—"

"Is there really nothing you need to tell me?" she cuts in, still looking at the exit.

[Tell her,] Trex urges, shifting restlessly. [I don’t like this. You have the chance.]

"Like what?" I ask, ignoring him.

Sadie turns to face me. "I know Ezra. He’s a jerk, and he changes his mind whenever it suits him, but when he’s that sure about something, he means it."

"So he’s inconsistent until you decide he isn’t?" I ask. "How does that work?"

"I know him."

I don’t like that answer. I like it even less coming straight after he’s threatened her.

"He keeps telling me he didn’t get me fired." She adds. "That it was you. He’s asking me to speak to Howard, Trey. He wouldn’t do that if he wasn’t sure what I’d hear. There are only two Mercer brothers, so it’s either him or you."

"Sounds like you’ve already picked one." I shove a hand into my pocket. "What do you need me to answer?"

"No, I haven’t." She swallows. "I’ll believe what you tell me, Trey. But you have to actually tell me something."

She drags a hand through her hair and looks away, letting out a breath before facing me again.

"When I brought this up earlier at the clinic, you changed the subject." Her forehead creases. "And now that I’m thinking about it, I’ve been letting things go since we met on my birthday. Things I should’ve asked about. So I’m asking now."

Trex draws back with a whimper. [She’s angry. This is bad.]

I can see that. I’m just not used to being the one she looks at like this.

She steps closer before I can answer. "Ezra said you were at the hotel on my birthday, and you saved me from those rogues, so I know you were there. But why, Trey? Why were you in the room right next to mine?" She watches my face as she continues. "And how did you happen to have a job for me exactly when I needed one? A job that meant moving in with you?"

"Sadie—"

"You pay me twenty-four hundred dollars a day. For the amount of work I do?" She shakes her head. "And you know what I like to eat without me telling you. How do you know that? Why does it feel like I was pushed toward you? Like I didn’t even get to decide how I ended up in your life!"

I stay quiet, my hand still in my pocket. Usually, I have no problem explaining a decision I’ve made. Now I can’t get the truth out, and I can’t look at her and deny it.

"Can we take this upstairs?" I nod towards the elevator. "I’d rather talk about it inside."

"Trey, I just need the truth." She doesn’t move. "You can tell me that here."

I could, but we’re too close to the exit, and I know what she does when she gets upset. I’d rather have her upstairs before she decides she’s heard enough and runs away.

"You hesitating makes me think Ezra’s right," she says. "But I’m still waiting for you to answer."

I let out a breath, watching her for another moment. I’ve explained this to myself enough times. It shouldn’t be this hard to explain it to her.

"It’s true," I say with a nod.

Her eyes widen, and her lips part. She asked like she already knew, but the horror on her face tells me she’d been waiting for me to deny it.

"W-what?"

"We met five years ago," I tell her, forcing the words out. "Not on your birthday. I was seventeen."

She says nothing, and I keep going.

"My father had just signed the announcement making Celia Luna. I left home, ran into some rogues, and fought them. Got hurt." I watch her face. "You were the one who saved me that night. You forgot, didn’t you?"

Her lips tremble as she swallows, the muscles in her neck tightening before she takes a breath through her mouth.

"When you applied for the job at the student employment office, I told Howard to hire you." There’s no point avoiding the rest now. "And when you lost it, that was me too."

Getting the first part out hasn’t made the rest any easier. "I put the job advert up for you. I could’ve asked you directly to tutor me and move in, but I wanted to try that first. Lola was in the group, and you needed work. I figured you’d send an application. I wasn’t expecting you to show up and ask me yourself."

She bites down on her lip, her face reddening.

"And while we’re being honest, I was at the hotel because of Paige." I pause. "I asked her to come between you and Ezra."

Her hand comes up to cover her mouth as she gasps, and I keep talking before she can misunderstand why I did it.

"He was already cheating on you. The rejection was going to happen, he was just waiting for someone our father would approve of. Paige was an opportunity and I used it."

Admitting what I did feels nothing like watching it work. Trex has gone into hiding, Nash and Walker aren’t here, and Sadie’s looking at me with a disappointment I don’t know what to do with. Then her expression changes, and I find out I preferred that to her being fucking furious.

"You..." She presses her lips together, but tears run down her face.

"Sadie, please don’t cry." I step closer and reach for her, only for her to move back before I can touch her.

I lower my hand.

"You asked Paige to do what?" she asks, shaking as she waits for an answer. Trex retreats farther.

"She came to me. I only used—"

"Do you even know what she’s done to me?" Sadie cuts in. "Do you have any idea how... how much she’s hurt me?"

Before I can answer, she looks at my face and seems to find one herself.

"You do, don’t you? You know all these things about me. There’s no way you missed that. And... and..."

She chokes on the words, and the sound sends pain through my chest.

"How could you do that?"

"I messed up," I admit. "I know. But you’re out of it now, Sadie. You’re free of him. You’re happy with me, and I can protect you. Whatever you need, I can give it to you. You know that."

Her hands close into fists before she turns away. I expect her to say something, but she picks her bag off the ground and walks toward the exit.

I catch her arm when I reach her, and she whips around, pushing my hand off.

"Don’t touch me!"

I stop, my hand still half-raised. She sounds so cold that for a second, I don’t know how to speak to her.

"Where are you going?" I manage. "Let’s go upstairs, Sadie. We’ll talk about it properly. Just..."

She starts to leave again, and my hand closes around her arm again.

"I need to get away from you!" she screams, pushing me back. "Both of you. I need to get away from both of you Mercer brothers."

I release her, my hand hovering near her arm as she draws in a shaky breath.

"You both think you can do whatever you want with me." Her chest heaves. "You’re just like Ezra. Selfish, controlling, and so fucking pleased with yourself that you can’t even see what you’ve done."

She turns and runs with her bag clutched in her hand. I watch her go, unable to get past what she just said long enough to call after her. I’m nothing like him. I should be able to tell her that, but she’s through the exit before I manage to speak.

I look down when my hands start trembling and close one around the other. I can’t make them stop, and the pain in my chest is getting harder to ignore.