She rolled her eyes and he scowled. “Calm down, Dorian. You have not. I was working.”
Brian shot Dorian a look, silently telling him to cool out. Dorian grimaced and downed more of his drink. He knew Dorian was overprotective, had been since they were kids, and rightfully so. Destiny was beautiful and sweet and sometimes a little too trusting. And recently, the overprotectiveness had kicked into overdrive, for both of them. His body heated in anger, as it always did whenever he even thought about her assault.
He’d only been living in Miami for a couple of weeks when Destiny was attacked in a parking deck outside of a concert she was covering. It’d been hell getting through it.
The flashbacks, the guilt, the anger, the bitterness—all of it had manifested itself in the months that followed, sometimes threatening to overtake her and challenging him in ways he didn’t even know were possible. He was used to dealing with his mom’s shit. Used to taking care of his sister Alexis. But handling Destiny after her attack, knowing what to do, how to reach her, how to just be there for her, had nearly drained him. The nights she’d wake up covered in sweat, screaming. The times when she seemed to shut down completely, refusing to get out of bed, struggling with the insecurity and fear she was left to grapple with.
The idea that she’d been violated that way because he wasn’t there to protect her almost sent him over the edge. Every time he thought about her attacker he literally had to will himself to calm down. The asshole was in prison, serving an eight-year sentence now, and that was probably for the best. Because if he would’ve gotten to him, he wouldn’t have stopped the way he did with Larry. There wasn’t a doubt in his mind that he would’ve killed him.
The real challenge though, hadn’t been containing the rage he felt for her attacker. It was dealing with the realities of the aftermath. Destiny was a virgin at the time. He didn’t know if that made it harder to deal with or not, although he guessed it didn’t matter. Invasion was invasion.
He did his best never to let her know how it affected him though. She already felt guilty enough, though he knew she was in no way responsible for what happened to her. He didn’t want her thinking he loved her any less or couldn’t deal with their new reality. If anything, he loved her even more. Her strength and perseverance, the fight in her was admirable, almost unreal.
So, he read as much as he could, knowing he needed to support her in every way possible. He understood, on some levels, what she was going through. Not the attack itself, but some of the feelings that she was left with—the helplessness, the rage, the confusion. They were all emotions he’d experienced growing up with Teresa as his mom. Her disappearances, the times he caught her locked in her bedroom, so high she couldn’t function. The days she let men like Larry come around and take control of her mind and body as they pumped her with that poison and then used her like they owned her. He was too young to do anything, but the anger, the questions about why his mother had to be the way she was, had haunted him for years.
He looked at Destiny now, hating that she’d ever had to experience anything that caused her that level of pain. Almost subconsciously he reached and ran a hand down her back, his need to touch her suddenly overwhelming. She looked at him curiously and smiled, oblivious to the dark place where his thoughts had just strayed.
“This is Jennifer and Star,” Nathan said to Destiny. The girls greeted each other politely and Star moved closer to Brian.
“Nice art,” she said, eyeing his NEEMA tattoo that was peeking from beneath the sleeve of his dark gray v-neck.
He watched her eyes travel down his chest before meeting his eyes again. Destiny stared at the girl as she took another healthy sip of his drink, watching her watch him.
“Thanks,” he replied.
“NEEMA?” the girl continued curiously, not caring that he was clearly with Destiny. She stepped closer, peering at it. “What’s it mean?”
“It’s ‘grace’ in Swahili.” He glanced at Destiny. She was pretending to be disinterested.
“Yo, Tweet, who you got for the game Sunday?” Dorian asked her, shooting Brian a subtle look. He knew he was trying to diffuse any potential situation by distracting her.
Destiny wrinkled her nose adorably. “The Dolphins,” she answered as if there was no debating her answer. She lifted the almost empty drink and took a dainty sip. She flicked a glance at Star again before turning toward Dorian, Nathan, and Jennifer.
Star took the opportunity to position herself on the opposite side of Brian, grinning up at him.