Being Zolt by D. L. Raver Read Free Book Online Page A

couldn’t stand to see the hurt in her face; hearing it in her voice killed me enough. “Brody and T showed up hours later and kicked my ass.”
    “Did you fuck her?” Her voice cracked, and so did my heart.
    “No. I wanted to; needed to. The plan had been to fuck you off my mind. But when I tried, I couldn’t.”
    “Oh.” She wiped a tear from her face.
    Then I did the worst thing possible. Instead of sanctioning my response and walking away, I got pissed. In reality, my anger came from me being so weak.
    “Hold on a moment, you don’t get to be upset about this. As far as I knew, you left me and were marrying Marcus. So don’t you dare start with the waterworks?”
    I heard my dickish words fall from my mouth, but that didn’t stop my lips from flapping more vitriol in her direction. I wish I could blame it on my shadow self or even Crazy Zolt, but this was all me.
    “I didn’t have a choice. I—”
    “Neither did I. You left.”
    “Only after you flipped out. But I didn’t run to Marcus.”
    “I didn’t know that, did I?”
    “You have no idea what he did—what he said.” Tears streamed down her face.
    Once again, I’d brought Irelyn to tears. Why did I have to be such a fucking bastard? “You’re right. I have no idea what happened because you haven’t told me.”
    “He killed my brother, Zolt. He bashed in his head without so much as a thought. The man I let take my virginity murdered my brother, and he threatened you and Kenna. So, yes, I went with him, and I did exactly what he wanted me to do. You know why?”
    I shook my head, once again shocked by my own inability to shut the fuck up.
    “I did it to save you. I couldn’t let him hurt you again, not when I had to power to stop him. And yeah, you’re probably right, I don’t have the right to be upset, but I am. Screw this!” Irelyn ran from the room, slamming the door behind her. A minute later, I heard another door down the hall slam, as well.
    “Well, shit! Way to go, Hamil,” I said to the now-empty room and hit myself on the forehead with my palm. “Stupid dick!”

I flung myself on my bed, cringing when the harsh motion pulled the welts on my back. The sores were well on their way to being healed, but I still had some stinging pain, and flinging about didn’t help matters. I buried my face in the pillow on the massive four-poster, oak bed and cried.
    Zolt had a point. I really had no right to be upset. At least he hadn’t slept with the woman. Still, hearing he wanted to screw someone so soon after I left hurt.
    “Stupid twit,” I mumbled into the pillow. Honestly, what did I expect?
    Rufus jumped on the bed, startling me. I hadn’t realized he had followed me in the room.
    “Hi, boy,” I said, turning over so I could stroke his head. “Here we are again. Grieving for Chris. Grieving for Zolt. And grieving for myself.”
    Rufus whined and rolled on his back for a tummy rub. I swear the dog understood English, and I know he still missed Chris.
    “Irelyn,” Brody said through the door. “Can I come in?”
    I let out a long sigh and sat up, wiping my face with the back of my hand.
    Rufus barked and jumped off the bed. He headed for the door and barked again. The damn mutt had dog-handled me again.
    “All right,” I said, giving into Rufus. “You can come in.”
    Brody came in and gave Rufus a pat on the head. He shut the door and put his hands in the pockets of his khaki shorts. His dark hair stood on end as if he’d been running his fingers through it.
    “What did Zolt do now?” His sexy lips, the same as Zolt’s, were curved down in a frown.
    “It’s not his fault.” I pulled my knees to my chest. “I overheard him telling T-bone about the woman he had at his apartment, and I got upset. It’s not fair for me to point fingers and call him out because I have enough of my own shit to be blamed for.”
    “Zolt did what Zolt always does; he acts out when he’s overwhelmed. Sex is his go-to device. So is