Trapped in her darkness

7- Jealous

James PoV

Is this even real? Did my brother just warn… no, order me to back off?!

And how dare he lay his claim on her?!

“Yours? As in you own her?” I mock him.

“You know what I mean, James.”

“No, I do not know what you mean. I thought you wanted to help her. She needs a friend, not someone to own her.”

“You are giving me a lecture about how to treat Harper? Or women in general? YOU! When everything you ever do is use women and throw them away!” he huffs.

“That’s low. I expected better from you, little brother.”

I love my brother and I will do anything for him, but I do not accept being judged like that. I never used anyone. I was always clear and straightforward. And I do not appreciate that my own brother is talking like that about me …

“Don’t, James. I know what you are doing. So don’t.”

“But I do not think you know what YOU are doing, Connor!”

“Listen, I don’t want to fight with you.”

“You could have fooled me!”

Connor sighs, closing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose. After a few seconds, he opens his eyes and looks at me, a cocktail of emotions swirling there.

“James, I know that Harper needs a friend and I want to be that friend for her. I will help her through this nightmare, and I will give her my shoulder to cry on. But when she is ready for a relationship, I intend to be there.”

“And I don’t want you in my way.” He adds.

I have never seen my brother so riled up before… And I have never seen him interested in a girl either! He has always been focused on his studies, sports, and just recently, on work as well.

I know what the right thing to do is, but every fiber in my being is fighting against this decision.

“ OK.” I simply state and the word leaves a sour taste on my tongue.

“OK? Just Ok?”

“What? You want me to sign a contract?” I huff.

“No, but you never back down so easily…”

“There is no backing down. I was not interested in the first place. Unlike you, I just want to help her.”

I am not sure whether I am lying or telling the truth. But there is no need to analyze my feelings any further, since Harper is off-limits now.

Connor frowns and jerks away a bit, and, although I hate to admit it, this brings me a tad of satisfaction.

“Ok. Great… Thanks, James. I am going back to your house. Can you stay out for the day? I want to spend the afternoon with her.”

“Kicked out of my place? This never happened to me in college and sure as hell won’t happen now, Connor!” I growl in annoyance.

“C’mon James, I just want to get to know her, and she is uncomfortable when you are there.”

Can’t argue with him on that!

I do not know why, but she gets stressed and worried when I am in a room. It happened when she saw me yesterday at Connor’s place, and it happened this morning when I came down from my room to find her and Connor having breakfast.

“Ok. Whatever, I have work anyway.”

“Thanks J.! You are the best big brother ever.”

I roll my eyes at his enthusiasm as he almost runs out of the office. Running to her… Harper…

I look back at my screen and there she is, taking a nap on the living room couch. She is curled like a kid on the big white couch and the t-shirt is way higher than where it is supposed to be.

The things she does to me… There is no more room in my pants anymore! And I must make this torture stop.

I take a deep breath, looking at her sleeping, her face relaxed from all the anguish and fear. I need to stop staring at her… this could easily become too creepy. Thank God, I had already informed her about the heavy security in the house, so I do not feel like a stalker.

But still, there is no use of looking at her, not now that Connor expressly told me of his plans.

I close the surveillance application window and decide to focus on work for the next hours. I even go to the gym, located in the HQ building. I somehow manage to keep my mind busy until 7pm, when my thoughts start drifting back to Harper.

I try to fight the urge to check the surveillance videos again, but this time, I cannot stop myself. I open the application and I am surprised that I cannot see her nor Connor through any of the surveillance cameras in the house.

Fuck… are they in the bedroom? I do not have any cameras there… for obvious reasons! I scroll through the live feeds again, jumping from one camera to the other, until I reach the cameras in the garden. And then I see them playing and laughing in the pool.

They are fully clothed, which makes me think this was an impromptu pool party. But they seem happy. Connor splashes her and she comes after him, laughing and trying to push him down the water.

I close the application and slam the laptop down.

Fuck… I rub my face in frustration realizing that I am more interested in her than I thought…

I need a f*****g distraction!

I grab my keys and storm out of the office, texting my buddies to meet me at the Baroque Bar in twenty minutes.

“I AM ALREADY THERE” replies Andrew in the text group.

“I ALREADY HAVE PLANS WITH SAWYER.” Ethan replies.

“E. SEE YOU IN 20” I write back.

And I believe that’s enough for him for him to understand, as he immediately replies.

“OK. WILL BE THERE.”

I drown two Moscow Mules and two Scotch, before I can start to relax.

“Are you ready to talk?” Ethan asks.

“Nope.” I answer as I signal to the waitress that I need another glass of Scotch.

Andrew is blabbing about the latest scandals at the Country Club, when his eyes shoot to the left.

“Yes! The brunette from last night is back! Dibs!” he yells as he stands up and walks towards her, smirking.

“Are you going to let him steal her from you?”

I shrug as I gulp another sip.

“Really? Since when do you let someone take a girl you expressed interest in?”

“Second time it happens to me today!” I hiss, gulping the whole drink down my throat.

I do not give a damn about this brunette. Andrew can marry her, as if I f*****g care.

Ethan c***s an eyebrow in surprise.

“Lily! Another one!” I yell to our usual waitress.

“Connor?” Ethan asks me, putting two and two together.

“Yep!”

“And why do you care?” Ethan challenges me.

“I don’t know… I don’t f*****g know, Ethan!”

“Damn, she got under your skin.”

Yes, she did! And now, I need to extract her, even if I have to skin myself alive!

I down my sixth drink and am ready to order the seventh when Ethan grabs my hand and puts it down on the table.

“You had enough, James.”

“I know that you are right, Ethan. But I need it. I need to numb my feelings.”

“James …”

“No, Ethan… You don't understand! I just saw them laughing together in the pool… my pool… and I almost lost it.”

Ethan jolts back, his lips pinched together in a thin line… I know what he is thinking…

“I know what you are thinking… I am that obsessed that I stalk them through the security system in my house...”

I shake my head, laughing bitterly at my situation.

“They were just laughing, Ethan… and my blood boiled… What's next? Am I going to fight with Connor? Is this how it's gonna go? Me fighting with my brother over a girl?!”

“James, I don't know how strong your feelings are towards Harper, but my advice is to take it one step at a time. You must realize that you and Connor know nothing about her. She might be scamming you!”

I try to interject and reject his claims, but he raises his hand, asking me to let him continue.

“You do not know anything about her, James. So, let's get the information that Jonathan needs, and then, if she is cleared, we will consider your options.”

“What options? I will not fight with my brother…”

“One step at a time, James… Now, you need to go home and get some rest. Sleep on it and we will continue our discussion tomorrow at brunch.”

I know he is right, but I don’t want to go home and see them making out.

“Go home, James. Just go home.”

I nod and I stand up to leave. I have to go home eventually. And given the time, they might be already asleep.

“Thank you, Ethan.” I tap him on the shoulder.

“See you tomorrow, James.” Says Ethan. “But first, give me your key, I will make sure your car is at my place and you can take it back tomorrow.”

During the drive back home, I think about everything that happened today… Maybe the guys are right. Maybe we are too far gone to really see what's happening around us.

But why does it feel like I'm betraying her by questioning her story?

When I reach home, I get inside the house and hear whispers coming from the garden. Against my better judgment, I go there and my blood boils when I see Harper in Connor’s lap, her head buried in his chest.

The alcohol doesn't help me control my emotions and I slam the patio’s French doors open, startling them.

“Hi, James. Is there a problem?” asks Connor.

“Why are you still up?”

“We were talking and did not see the time pass.”

I doubt she can do much talking with her head buried in his chest.

I stare at Harper, and she does not look at me. She keeps her head down as she fidgets with her fingers. I hate that I want her to look me in the eyes. I hate that she has such power over me without even knowing.

“Did you get the information?” I ask Connor, my eyes still trained on Harper.

“No, we still have until tomorrow.”

“Well, I need them now.” I spit out.

“Harper, I want to have a talk with you.” I order her with a stern voice.

Harper's head snaps up when she hears the anger in my voice, and she takes a couple of steps backwards... Which pisses me off!

I step closer, purposely invading her personal space.

“James…” she whispers.

She tries to step away from me, but I grab her upper arm.

I swear I hear her breath hitch as I lean down, and our faces are just an inch apart.

“We are going to have a talk, and you will tell me everything I want to know, sweet little harp.”