Free Misperception (Finnegan Brothers Book 3) by Morgan Black Page B

became wide with fear as I backed up, knowing I couldn’t catch him. I heard a girl scream behind me as I looked at the crumpled figure that was Slade Finnegan on the stone patio. My hand covered my mouth in horror. He wasn’t moving. I moved closer and I could hear him crying. I reached out to him and just as my finger brushed against his jacket he shook me off though I knew he was hurt. “Zoe! Zoe where are you?”
    I heard the girl behind me again, “He jumped! I saw him jump!”
    I shook my head and yelled back, “He didn't jump, you idiot, he fell. Has anybody seen Zoe?”
    Just as I turned around to call for Clara to look for her, Zoe rushed my side.
    “Is he okay?”
    I turned looked at her. “I don't know.”
    She tried to talk to him and stroked his bicep as he cried in a crumpled heap. “Slade, are you okay? Is anything broken?”
    He looked up at her and wiped his face. “No, I'm fine. I just need to go home.”
    Zoe looked over her shoulder and nodded to two of the guys Slade had been talking to earlier in the evening. “Pick him up and take him home. Make sure he's okay before you leave.”
    One of the guys grabbed him from under the armpit and practically lifted him up by himself. “You got it.” He gave me a nasty glare as he pulled Slade away.
    I was still kneeling on the ground as they dragged his body away, completely unsure of what to do with myself. He hadn't jumped, he had slipped, but it was still my fault. I looked at Zoe shaking her head. “Girl, you have got to get these guys off of you. They go crazy when you're around.”
    I closed my eyes. “You and I both know that Slade was crazy the whole time.”
    She chewed on her lower lip and sat back cross-legged on the ground. “You know he's been like this ever since the accident.”
    My head snapped up the word accident. I hadn’t heard anything about that. “What accident?”
    Zoe started to pick some dirt from underneath her nails. “It was maybe two years ago? He'd been dating this girl named Megan. She was pretty and a real badass. Totally Slade’s type, nothing like you.” Wow, that was a relief. “She liked to ride motorcycles with him, but then one night… I don't know, the story was that she got hit by a drunk driver and she wasn't wearing a helmet. She didn't even make it to the hospital. Slade saw the whole thing. He's never really gotten over it.”
    I was shocked. No one had ever said anything to me about this. Why had another secret been kept hidden from me?
    “Oh my God, that's awful. Why didn't anybody tell me?”
    Zoe shrugged, still not making eye contact with me. “You weren’t around. And I was leaving on a tour, it just didn't seem like the right time. But after tonight—I don't know, Lena. I think he might need some help.”
    I didn't really have anything to say. “Yeah maybe.” It was all I could come up with. Slade did need help, but was I the right person to give it to him? I didn't think so.
     
    2
    I decided the next morning I would call Blake and ask for help with his brother. I had to assume that he didn't know how bad it was, or he would've gotten him help already. I waited anxiously as the phone rang, but he picked up quickly. “Hi Blake, it's Lena.”
    “A little early in the morning for you, isn't it? Especially after a party as dramatic as last night was.”
    “Very funny. I can't believe you just left me there to deal with him.”
    “Left you there? You left me four years ago. I've been dealing with him being a jackass ever since. Scratch that; I was dealing with him being a jackass before that too. So what? I wanted a night off. I deserve it. I'm tired of dealing with his antics all the time.”
    I sighed thinking about what I was about to say. “But don't you think there could be a reason for him acting so inappropriately? Zoe told me about Megan. Why didn’t you tell me his girlfriend was killed?”
    There was silence at the other end of the line. I felt like time stood still until he