Steamed 3 (Steamed #3) Read online

  Steamed #3

  By Nella Tyler

  This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are products of the writer's imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.

  Copyright © 2015 Nella Tyler

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  Chapter One

  I stared at the closed door, shock making me immobile. Stunned was a better word and I didn't know what to do about it. Tears sprang to my eyes. “Oh my god, what did I do?” I couldn't believe what was happening; it was almost too much for me to bear. I thought for a moment that I was going to throw up. Yes, I could definitely throw up at any moment.

  Link was by my side instantly, putting his arms around me. “I'm so sorry Gemma; I know how you must be feeling.”

  Tears were rolling down my cheeks now and I turned into his embrace and cried on his shoulder. I had hurt my brother and there was a chance he would never forgive me. I didn't know what to do, or how to fix the situation. I should have told him. I should have been honest and straightforward. Instead I hid the fact that Link and I were dating and he saw it as a betrayal. I wasn't betraying my brother. I was just trying to be happy with a man that made me feel complete in every possible way. I didn't know how to let go of Link and I knew for a fact that I didn't want to. Link had become such a huge part of my life in such a short period of time that I couldn't imagine being apart from him. So I had dated him, knowing that it could hurt Jared, hoping that it would all work out in the end. But how could I have possibly done anything else? He was everything to me; I couldn't possibly let him go. Not now and possibly not ever.

  But it hadn't worked out. Jared had found out and I hadn't meant to hurt him but I did anyways. I wasn't sure how I could possibly hope to get him back. How could I explain that I was falling in love with his mortal enemy? He would never forgive me and I didn't think I could bear the thought of losing my brother forever. I had no idea what I was going to do to fix things. I wasn't even sure if it was going to be possible to fix things. It was a terrifying thought.

  “Gemma? Gemma baby are you okay?”

  I looked up at him, tears staining my cheeks. “I can't believe he's gone. I really messed this up.”

  “It's going to be okay Gemma, I promise.”

  “No, he's never going to forgive me Link.”

  He brushed the hair out of my face and wiped the tears gently off my cheeks. “Gemma, I'm falling madly in love with you.”

  My breath caught and I just stared into his eyes in disbelief. “What?”

  “It's true. I love you and I want...no I need you to know that you can trust me. My whole life I have wanted to make something of myself you know? I wanted to be something more than just being a chef. Don't get me wrong, I love cooking but I always believed in being something bigger than that.”

  I nodded.

  “I know you must be so confused right now, unsure of what to believe, especially since your brother keeps calling me a crook. I need you to trust me baby. That sauce recipe was the key to my fortune and it has been with me all along.”

  “Link, where did the recipe come from in the first place?”

  “It's been in my family for generations. It was my great-great-grandmother’s recipe and she passed it down amongst the generations until it came to me. It's mine Gemma, I promise you that.”

  I looked deep into his eyes and whispered, “I believe you.”

  He kissed me firmly on the lips and I got lost in him for a moment. I always felt so safe and comforted being with Link. He was my calm when my life got stormy. I never felt anxiety around him; he was like a human Valium. He was the one person that could help me, and be there for me if I needed him.

  “It's all going to work out Gemma, please don't worry about it.”

  Chapter Two

  The next afternoon I headed over to Jared's restaurant to talk to him. I was sure that if he just heard me out that he would forgive me. I had no intention of ending things with Link, but there was a possibility that if he heard how innocently things had started between Link and I that he could see that I wasn't out to hurt him. Fate had brought Link and I together, I couldn't help but to have fallen in love with him. I needed Jared to forgive me but I was afraid he never would. What if he didn't forgive me?

  I walked into the restaurant and headed to the back. Marcus was prepping for the dinner crowd. A couple of the servers were there taking a break as well. I waved to them and looked at Marcus.

  “Hey Marcus, where is Jared?”

  “No idea. He didn't come in today.”

  “What? Are you serious? You haven't seen him all day? I don't think he's ever missed a day of working at his restaurant since it opened.”

  “Nope, and he's been acting really strange lately; I think something is wrong with him.”

  Dread filled my heart as I looked over at the servers. They both nodded their heads in agreement.

  “You guys have seen the same thing?” I asked.

  A blonde girl whom I didn't recognize answered, “Yeah, he's been pretty weird lately.”

  “How has he been acting?”

  “Well paranoid.”

  “Yup, that's the word for it,” Marcus added, “Paranoid and quick-tempered, it doesn't take much for him to go off the handle. It's not like him at all. He acts like he should be suspicious of all of us. Like we're all going to start taking his stuff and moving on. The servers have taken the brunt of it, because I don't take any of that shit from him.”

  “My god, what is going on around here?” I couldn't have been more alarmed by the news and to hear that he has been abusing his staff was so unlike him that I worried that he was unraveling at the seams. But why? What was going on with Jared? I needed to find him immediately.

  “I'm going to go to his house and see if I can find him. Call me if he shows up here.”

  “Will do.”

  I drove to my brother’s place as quickly as I could. I was worried sick about him. The behavior that his staff suggested was so unlike Jared that it scared me. What was going on with him these days that he was starting to fall apart in all aspects of his life? It couldn't possibly be about that stupid recipe? Would he really let it get to him this badly? It just didn't make any sense. It seemed that my brother was unraveling at the seams and I didn't know why. Even if he believed that Link had stolen from him, why not just let it go? Instead he was letting it destroy him. He was an incredible chef and he had created many recipes on his own, he didn't need to worry about one recipe. He had a successful restaurant and he was throwing it away over a recipe that Link claimed was his from the beginning.

  When I arrived at Jared's place I saw his car parked out in front of his house. I still couldn't believe he hadn't shown up for work that day. He was always working hard for his business because he loved being there.

  I got out of my car and ran to the door. I banged on it while I called out his name. I waited but I didn't hear a sound in the house. Was he actually just in there ignoring me? What, were we five all over again? It annoyed me that he was acting this way instead of just hearing me out. I continued to bang on the door. When it became obvious that he wasn't going to answer I decided to take matters into my own hands. I knew where he hid the key for his back door so I headed to the back yard. Underneath a turtle statue was his spare key. I went up onto the porch and used it to let myself into his back door. Once inside I went in search
of him.

  I went into the living room where I found him passed out on the couch. Okay, maybe he wasn't ignoring me but what was he doing sleeping in the middle of the afternoon?

  I looked around the room where I saw a bottle of whiskey and to my utter disbelief, something that resembled cocaine was scattered on his coffee table.

  “Holy shit.”

  I went to Jared on the couch and shook him until he woke up.

  “What the hell?” He muttered.

  “Get up. Get up right now Jared and explain to me what the hell is going on here? Did you lose all your brain cells recently or what?”

  He sat up on the couch and looked at me bleary-eyed. When he realized I was standing there in his house he asked, “What are you doing here Gemma, get out!”

  “I'm not going anywhere.”

  “This is my house,” he shouted.

  “I don’t care whose house it is,” I yelled back at him, “You need to get your life under control because what I see here is someone whose going to throw everything good in his life away.” I motioned to the cocaine.

  “You are one to talk. You're a traitor to your own family. Now get the hell out of my life.”

  I stood there stunned by his words. I didn't even know the person that was standing before me. He was a stranger. Drunk and drugged up, ready to throw his life and family away over nothing. This recipe situation, Link, it was all a ridiculous reason to ruin your life and disown your family.

  “You make me sick,” I said as I turned and left him sitting on the couch.

  I headed out to my car with tears in my eyes. Just a few weeks ago my brother was a healthy and happy man. I didn't know who that other person was in that house but he wasn't Jared. I couldn't believe what kind of person he was becoming and why? Over a recipe? It just didn't make any sense to me.

  As I drove away from his house I felt totally lost. I felt like I had lost my brother forever.

  Chapter Three

  I drove straight to Link's restaurant practically in hysterics. I knew that I should just let my brother live his own life but I couldn't do it. There must be a way to pull him back from the abyss. I was sure that I could do it if I just found a way to get through to him. There had to be a way.

  As soon as I parked I ran into the restaurant; it was starting to get busy for dinner. I walked right past the hostess without saying a word, noting her alarmed expression. I headed straight for Link's office, hoping that he would be there. I stormed right in and caught him by surprise sitting behind his desk.

  He looked up startled. Seeing the look on my face he said, “Gemma, are you okay?”

  I shook my head as tears streamed down my cheeks. Link got up quickly from his chair and circled the desk coming to me. He wrapped me up in his arms and held me tight. He didn't ask what was wrong right away, he just held me like that for a few moments. It allowed me to calm down and get a hold of myself. When we parted I looked up into his eyes.

  “What's wrong sweetheart? Please tell me.”

  “It's Jared, he's completely fallen apart.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I went to his work this afternoon and no one had heard from him.”

  His eyebrows shot up, “Wow really? That's not like him at all.”

  “No. And it gets worse. I went to his house after that and he was passed out drunk on the couch. There was a whiskey bottle and...oh god...cocaine.”

  “What??”

  “I'm serious Link.”

  Link was silent for a moment taking it all in. I knew exactly how he felt. I still hadn't processed everything that had happened that day.

  “Link, I don't know what's happening to him. I wasn't even aware that he ever did drugs. I don't know if this is a new thing or if cocaine's been around this whole time.”

  “I doubt it Gemma, a cocaine addiction is kind of a hard thing to hide. You would have seen signs of it by now. I think that's why he's falling apart right now. He's not used to stuff like that.”

  “I don't know what to do anymore. I feel like I'm losing him. I can't lose him Link, I just can't.”

  He kissed me on the forehead, “You won't Gemma. I'm so sorry that this is happening to you because you don't deserve it at all. You are a sweet girl. I feel terrible that you have to go through this but you're not alone. I'm here with you. I will help you through anything.”

  I was overwhelmed by his compassion. I wasn't entirely sure what I had expected but he responded in a way that made me feel less alone. I guess that had been the point. My heart flooded with love for Link. I had never expected such things from him, I had never expected things to get so serious between us but I was so happy that they had.

  “How about I try and help Jared. Maybe there is something that I can do.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well let me talk to him. Maybe I can get through to him. We used to be buddies after all. Let's go back there right now and talk to him.”

  “Oh god Link, that would mean the world to me. Thank you,” I gushed. I couldn't believe he was willing to put himself out there. He knew what Jared was like right now and what he thought of him and yet he was willing to go over there and talk to him anyways. That said a lot about who Link was; I knew it couldn't be easy for him to want to help someone that had spent weeks trying to bad mouth him and who called him a crook at every turn. I certainly wouldn't want to help someone that has systematically started a smear campaign against me. That's how I knew that Link must really love me. None of it made any sense. I didn't understand why Jared was spiraling out of control. How could one small recipe cause this much damage?

  “Okay love, let’s go and get this figured out.”

  I kissed him firmly on the lips.

  My heart was pounding when we arrived back at Jared's house. I didn't know what kind of condition he would be in at that point but I knew that he didn't want me there. He would be even less thrilled that Link was there too. I wasn't sure what we would be walking into and it scared me. I had to try though. I just had to. I couldn't leave him in that mess without first trying to get him out. He was my brother, the closest one to me in our family and I couldn't just sit back and watch him fall apart without doing everything in my power to stop it.

  I looked over at Link in the car and smiled weakly. He smiled back and me and squeezed my hand. “Are you ready?”

  I nodded. I still had the key for the back door but I doubted he had taken the time out of his drunkenness to go back and lock it again. We went into the back yard and up the porch steps. Just as I had thought the back door was unlocked.

  Link and I enter Jared's home and headed straight for the living room. Thankfully Jared was still awake and he watched us as we entered the room. Daggers came out of his eyes as he stared at me.

  “Hey Jared, I know you are going through a rough time right now. Maybe it's because I left the rest. I'm not sure. But surely we can work things out like old friends. We used to be buddies and things have got way out of control, don't you think?”

  “Go fuck yourself Link.”

  I gasped. “Jared, what is wrong with you? Link is here to help you and is willing to work things out with you in a civil manner. Why are you behaving like a fool?”

  “You think because he's your boyfriend he actually cares about me? You're just as much of a traitor as he is.”

  “That's bullshit and I'm sick of you blaming everyone else for your problems. I didn't do this,” I said as I motioned around his room. “You have made a mockery of your business and you only have yourself to blame. Link and I together has nothing to do with this stupid recipe.”

  “He's a crook!” Jared yelled.

  “Where did the recipe come from Jared? I sure as hell know it wasn't something passed down through the generations. So, if it's yours where did it come from?”

  Link looked over at me and smiled with pride.

  “Ummm...it's been around for a while Gemma...probably a few years. I made it up myself.”
r />   I shook my head. “You're a liar. I can't believe you are sitting there lying to me. You need to let this vendetta go. Link's success is not your failure. You're restaurant is its own success with or without Link being a part of it.”

  Link jumped in, “Look Jared. Let’s just forget this whole thing. I have no intention of getting lawyers involved; just pull your teeth out of my business and me. We can go back to the way things used to be, we could still be friends. Your sister loves you a lot; nobody wants to see you like this. I don't hold grudges Jared. I just want this thing to end between us. You need to stop beating yourself up about all this and do the right thing. What do you say, Buddy?”

  Jared looked up at us and I couldn't read his expression. I wasn't sure if either of us was getting through to him. I thought that link's speech had been genuine and I found it surprising how easily he was willing to forgive Jared for me. After everything that Jared had done to him it was a wonder that he would be willing to forgive him at all, but there he was doing just that. He was doing anything he could to help get Jared out of that fog and back into his old life again. I could have kissed Link for all that he was doing, but I restrained myself.

  “Get the hell out of my house, both of you.” Jared looked straight at me, “This is now the second time I've told you. I want you to leave and never come back.”

  I turned away from him immediately and fled his house. Link was right behind me as I ran back to his car. I was crying by the time I reached Link's car and I flung myself inside. He came around to the driver's side and let himself in.

  “I'm sorry Gemma, you did nothing wrong. We did everything we could. It's time to let him fend for himself for a while.”

  I nodded, not saying a word.

  Chapter Four

  Link drove me back home and when he parked in front of my building he turned to me. “Gemma, I need you to go upstairs and pack yourself a bag.”

  “What do you mean?”