Rush

She was appalled and humiliated
     that Ash and her brother had burst in unannounced to Gabe’s apartment, and seen her
     bound and naked.It was something out of her worst nightmares. And to make it worse, Jace was beating
     the crap out of Gabe and Gabe was doing nothing to fight back. Nothing to defend himself.
    She forced herself to sit there and breathe deeply, to gather her composure when what
     she wanted to do was run to Gabe and then explain to Jace. Just like they’d planned
     to do when Jace returned home from his business trip. Just one more day. It was all
     they’d needed.
    She was numb with shock. So numb that she couldn’t process the simplest thing. All
     she knew was that she had to get to Gabe. She had to end this. She had to
fix
this! God, she had to make everything right. All her fears had been realized and
     now two men who’d been best friends almost as long as she’d been alive were in a terrible
     fight.
    Hot tears pricked her eyelids and she swallowed them back, fiercely determined to
     maintain her calm, but she was shaking violently. The last thing she wanted was for
     Ash and Jace to see her upset and think it was because of anything Gabe had done to
     her.
    “Ash, I’m fine,” Mia said, her voice quavering. “I’d prefer you go to make sure they
     aren’t killing each other.”
    Ash’s expression was dark. “I’m not stopping Jace if he wants to beat the shit out
     of Gabe. The bastard deserves it for what we walked in on. Jesus, Mia, are you
crying
? Did he hurt you? Did he force himself on you? Are you all right? Do you need to
     go to the hospital?”
    Mia hastily wiped at her face, horrified by the direction Ash was going with his questions.
     Did he and Jace truly believe that what was going on was nonconsensual? She supposed
     it could have looked that way, but surely they were familiar enough with Gabe’s preferences
     to know he regularly indulged in such things.
    Or maybe it was because she was their baby sister and all they could see was her tied
     down naked to an ottoman and being flogged. She winced at the sight she must have
     presented. Shecould understand why Jace had lost his mind. Who wouldn’t if they’d walked in on what
     they’d witnessed?
    But she had to make them understand.
    She was on her feet, determined to go back into the living room, when Jace burst into
     the bedroom, his eyes blazing. He immediately came to her and enfolded her in his
     arms.
    “Are you all right?” he demanded.
    There was an edge to his voice that told her how shaken and angry he was. This was
     quickly spiraling out of control and she had no idea how to make it stop. How to make
     them understand. Emotions were high. There was no way for either of them to see reason.
    “Jace, I’m fine,” she said, forcing her voice to remain level so she didn’t worsen
     the situation. “What did you do to Gabe?”
    “Nothing he didn’t deserve,” Jace said darkly. “Come on. I’m getting you the hell
     out of here.”
    He took her hand and dragged her toward the bedroom door. She had no choice but to
     follow him. And it was fine because she only wanted to go to Gabe.
    As soon as they entered the living room, Mia saw Gabe sitting on the edge of the couch,
     his head buried in his hands. Concern filled her and she started to go to him, but
     Jace pulled her up short.
    “We’re going, Mia,” he bit out.
    She frowned and yanked her hand away. “I’m not going anywhere.”
    Gabe looked up then, and his eyes were distant and vacant. Carefully encased in ice
     as he stared at her.
    She hurried to Gabe and knelt in front of the couch where he sat. She reached up,
     tentatively touching his arm, but he flinched and shrugged away her hand.
    “Are you okay?” she asked softly, dread filling her chest and her heart until it squeezed
     the breath right out of her.
    “I’m fine,” he said in a stiff, formal voice.
    “Talk to them,” she whispered. “
Explain
. I’m not leaving you, Gabe. We have to make them understand. You can’t let them think
     what they’re thinking. Make this right. We were going to tell him anyway. Make him
understand
.”
    She was pleading with him, but what else could she do? Fear was making her desperate.
     Irrational. And Gabe was worth her pride. He was worth anything.
    Gabe stiffly rose and put distance between himself and Mia. She pushed to her feet,
     confused by his mood and demeanor. Dread knotted her throat. She didn’t like the way