by K. I. Lynn
It’s a for sure thing. My father isn’t sleeping with that girl because she reminds him of his wife when she was young.
He’s sleeping with her because she reminds him of my Kira.
I already punched several holes in the wall. It’s a miracle my neighbors didn’t hear. Either that, or I got lucky and they weren’t home at the time.
They’re there now. I heard them come home an hour ago.
I have to remind myself not to decimate that wall anymore.
He wants my woman. Somehow, he hid it all this time. But for years Kira lived there, under his roof, without the protection of either me or Ryan.
He could’ve done anything to my girl.
Anything.
I was so busy running from Kira that I left her alone with that monster.
The doorbell rings, pulling me from the shit in my head. I head straight to the door, wishing there was some way to spare both of them this.
Kira’s standing outside with Ryan. She was hanging out with Dana and her friends, and Ryan volunteered to pick her up.
Something about my expression makes both of them frown.
“How bad?” Ryan asks.
I shake my head. “You have no idea.” This is going to hit him the hardest. I know it is. He’s extremely overprotective of his baby sister.
If I had been anyone but me, I would have never been allowed to date her so easily.
They both walk inside.
I grab Kira and press her to me. Kissing her is the only thing I can think about. The only thing that centers me.
It isn’t anything more than a sweet, close-mouthed kiss but I needed it anyway.
Not that I don’t want to devour her. I do. But how do I do that when she’s about to see my father mauling a girl that looks like her?
I pull away from Kira. She cups my cheek, looking at me worriedly.
Reading me.
Like she always does.
Like she’s always been able to.
“What’s wrong?” she asks.
“It’s bad,” is all I can say.
“He’s definitely cheating on my mom.”
I nod.
“With who?”
This time I shake my head. I can’t answer that. It’s better to just let her see it for herself.
Well, not better. But necessary. I promised not to hide things from her anymore. To be completely open about everything.
Grabbing her hand, I silently lead her in. My body revolts with the force of my shame. Self-disgust. Not for the first time in my life, I wish I could reach inside me and rip out the half of his DNA I inherited.
I urge Kira and Ryan to sit on the couch.
The camera is connected to the TV. It’s on. All I have to do is press a button on the camera and the video will play.
I lift the camera off the TV stand.
And freeze.
I can’t do it. Can’t do this to them. It’s bad enough that man is my father. How can I, his son, bring something this heinous to their attention?
“Brayden?”
The sweet way Kira says my name makes me look over my shoulder at her.
One look. That’s all it takes. A single reminder of why her mother needs to leave my father. Of why this is needed for us to ever be truly together.
“It’s bad,” I repeat, eyes bouncing between her and Ryan.
“Play it,” Ryan says in that infinitely calm tone of his.
Swallowing, I step aside so I’m not blocking the screen, and do as he asks.
I started recording as soon as my father exited his car. And it’s a short walk to the outside seating.
It doesn’t take long for the girl to come into view.
Ryan’s foul curse hisses through the room.
I can’t look at him. I can’t. He’s my best friend. He’s been better than any best friend could ever be. Forgave me for hurting his sister. Forgave me for lusting after her.
Forgave me for being with her.
Now my father does this.
Kira takes longer than him to react, but when I hear her sharp intake of breath, I instantly seek her out.
Her mouth is hanging open. Her eyes are glazed with tears. Furious tears. I know her well enough to know the difference.
I drop the camera on the carpet. Didn’t even notice. Don’t care. I kneel on the floor before her and place my hands on her knees.
The video dies out behind me.
Kira’s eyes are still glued to the screen.
“Son of a bitch!”
My brand new lamp goes flying into the wall.
For a second, this is so out of my depth of experience that I think I’ve imagined it.
“THAT FUCKING SICK BASTARD, I’LL END HIM!”
My end table flies across the room next.
Kira jumps to her feet. “Ryan!”
Ryan is no longer Ryan. He’s nothing like the guy I grew up with.
A tornado of pure murderous rage barrels down on my flat screen.
In seconds, it will be nothing more than broken pieces on the floor. A poor stand-in for my father.
Kira slams into Ryan, her feet dragging across the carpet. “Ryan, stop!”
He almost doesn’t listen.
And that’s what finally slaps me out of my apathy. He’s far gone. Lost. Turned into something I never expected or recognize.
I rush to them.
He comes too suddenly, blinking down at his sister.
There are tears streaming down her face. She begs at him wordlessly. Shakes her head once.
“I’m going to kill him.” His voice vibrates with the force of his barely leashed fury.
Kira cries harder. “Oh God. You mean that.”
“I do.”
The scariest part of that statement? Ryan sounds like himself when he says it. Calm. Collected.
Decisive.
I approach him and put my hand on his shoulder. It’s a sad fact that I expect him to jerk away from my touch.
My touch. The touch of my father’s son.
He doesn’t. Turning his head, he stares at me with a calm facial expression and blazing eyes. “How can you stand it?”
“What?” I ask.
“Being his son?”
“I don’t. Sometimes I can’t breathe. It disgusts me,” I say in a low tone.
More tears fall down Kira’s cheeks.
“We need to get your mom away from this,” I tell Ryan.
He’s breathing slow, trying to calm himself down. “Yeah. Let me call her.”
“No,” Kira and I say together.
“What?” Now Ryan shrugs out of my hold, his agitation returning. “I thought the whole point of this is to get my mom out of that asshole’s life!”
“It is. But Steve can’t find out Brayden is involved with this. We don’t trust him. Some of what Brayden did is illegal. If Steve wants, he can press charges on him,” Kira says.
Ryan runs a hand down his face. “Shit. Didn’t think about that.”
I did. For months, that knowledge followed me. My freedom was on the line with every move I made.
It’s still on the line now.
Ryan goes to sit back on my couch. “So how are we doing this? And how fast?”
“Have to plan it right—”
He interrupts me. “Brayden, get that man out of my mother and sister’s life before I fucking kill him.”
It’s chilling hearing him say that in such a calm, assured tone.
“I have to anonymously mail this video and the pics to your mom. I’ll have to go outside the city, maybe Lima, and send it from there.” Wearing a hoodie and glasses and praying that’s enough to hide my identity.
Just like I did it the first time, when I mailed that video to Jennifer’s parents.
Ryan shakes his head. “Whatever post office you go to, there’ll be cameras.”
I divulge the hoodie and sunglasses part of my plan.
“Not good enough. Let me do it.”
Kira and I
gape at him.
“Absolutely not.” He glares at me but I continue regardless. “I’m not letting you put yourself in danger to do this.”
“I’m not the one with a recent arrest on my record.”
Damn it, he has a point, but him or Kira putting themselves in any kind of legal danger was never part of the plan. “I don’t like the idea. When I came up with this plan, my intention was to keep you both out of it. Safe.”
Ryan and Kira shake their heads at me, their stubborn expressions identical.
It’s times like this that they seem more like twins than regular siblings.
“Either Ryan does it, or I do.”
I glare at her. “The hell you will. You are definitely staying out of this.”
“Then my brother does it and that’s final.”
I want to kiss that raised, stubborn chin as much as I want to spank her.
Ryan stands back up and stops in front of me. “Get everything ready. We’re leaving. Now.”
Jesus. He’s in even more of a hurry than I am.
And that’s saying something.
Not that I blame him. “Fine.”
He rushes out of my house while I unplug the camera from the TV.
“Going to get a hat and hoodie. Meet you back here with Dana. I’ll have her get her car.”
We’re taking Dana’s car instead, too.
Shit. I don’t want him involved with this. I don’t.
Kira comes up to me. I didn’t even realize I’d frozen in the middle of disconnecting the camera. She must read my facial expression because she caresses my cheek lovingly. “It’s the only way, Brayden.”
“If something happens . . . if my father decides to investigate who followed him . . . if he presses charges—”
“It’ll fall on Ryan. We both know that. It’s a chance we have to take. And Ryan won’t get hit as hard as you. You already have a recent prior. A prior that’s all my fault.”
It’s mine, actually. I will never condone her sleeping with Austin, but I’ve come to realize that him caring for her the way he does must have helped her get through what I did somehow.
She should have picked someone else.
A selfish part of me wishes she had never picked anyone at all. That she’d waited for me.
But the entire thing went down because of one person—me.
I pushed her away.
I left her hurt and vulnerable.
I left her open to Austin’s advances.
He couldn’t help but fall in love with her. I of all people know that better than most.
And it was I who couldn’t deal with the reality of both of them together.
Shit, I can’t even blame him for not backing off right away. Look at me. An entire world seems to be standing between us, and even that’s not strong enough to keep me away.
“What happened between you and Austin, and what happened later on between me and him, is all my fault. I’m also not ready to stand back and let you or Ryan put yourselves in legal jeopardy.”
Kira stares at me with a tender but almost shocked expression. “Jesus, Brayden. You really . . .”
“I really what?”
Blushing, she drops her hand from my cheek and blushes. “Nothing. You just grew up into the man I always knew you’d be. You were always such a wise little fucker, even when we were kids.”
I can’t help but laugh and bring her closer. Inhaling her hair, I hold her to me, scared as hell of what’s about to happen once this video makes it into her mother’s hands. “You mean I grew up, period.”
She shakes her head against my chest. “You always had such a big, good heart. Aside from your dad, you really did see the best in everyone sometimes. Even the people you shouldn’t have given chances to.”
She means Jennifer. I’d considered her a friend for a while there. Not my best friend of course. That role was already taken by Kira and Ryan. But Jenn? Yeah. I’d cared for her. As a human being and nothing more. I shouldn’t have fucked her again after our first time together.
Fuck. I’m probably to blame for the road she’s taken. I thought being friends with benefits with her from time to time was cool.
“I disagree with what you said, though.” Kira pulls back to stare up at me. “The Austin thing is my fault. Stop shaking your head at me. It’s true. And the other part? About protecting us? We’re a motherfucking team. We always have been. Stop with this flying solo crap. Every time you try to do that, it backfires. Want to know why? Because it’s not meant to be that way. It’s meant to be all of us. You, me, Ryan—”
“I hope I count in there, too.”
We turn toward the door at the sound of Dana’s voice.
Ryan must have left the door open.
She smiles sheepishly at us. “Just saying. I’m down for whatever as well.”
“Dana,” Kira says in a serious tone. “Said it before. I’ll say it again. I think I fucking love you.”
Dana does this goofy little dance and fist pumps. “Score! I’m in.”
I turn to Kira and pinch her chin so she’ll look at me. “And I love you. More than anything. For-fucking-ever.”
Her eyes water but she smiles at me. “And I love you, you stubborn, sometimes irrational man.”
I’ve waited so long to hear that I go weak. Cupping her face, I try to control my breaths and stare into her eyes. “Say it again,” I whisper in a hoarse voice.
She gives me a teary smile. “I love you.”
Closing my eyes, I let that sink in for a moment. “Again.”
Giggling, she complies. “I love you, Brayden Hunt.”
I crush her to me and kiss her like I want to eat her. Don’t give a fuck if Dana’s watching. Hearing that just made every problem in my life so much easier to bare.
I don’t think it’s ever going to be enough. “I’m going to need you to tell me that like fifty times a day, baby.”
Kira giggles again against my lips.
“I love seeing the two of you happy, but we have to fucking go. Mom needs to be free of that bastard.” Ryan is at the door, zippering up a black hoodie and adjusting a black ball cap on his head.
“Give me a few minutes. I need to burn this onto a DVD.” I rush to my laptop and do just that, making sure to drop the pictures into it as well.
“Type up something for her. Tell her to please play it, or something like that.”
I almost jump at the sound of Ryan behind. “Jesus, fucker.”
“Do it.” He has no patience, those hazel-green eyes focused on my laptop screen.
I do as he said and hand him the DVD once it’s done. We exchange a silent, tense look, almost an acknowledgement of sorts, and head outside.
Kira comes up to me and holds my hand the entire way out.
She holds my hand on the hour-long drive to the post office we picked to send this from.
No one says anything.
No one can.
The heaviness of our purpose is almost suffocating.
And when Ryan slips on a pair of sunglasses and heads out to mail the package, we can’t do anything but watch him go.
Kira’s fingers are wrapped in my hair, tugging and pulling as she holds a molasses cookie in front of my mouth, just out of reach.
“Yes, Kira, that’s how you get him to do whatever you want,” Mom says in the background where a phone rings.
We’re at her house.
I think.
It’s also my Dad’s house, at least the pool.
Kira’s on my lap, wearing nothing but a skimpy little pink bikini and grinding down on my cock. I push my hips up into her, but it’s not close enough.
The phone rings again.
My eyes snap open. Shit. I was dreaming. Groggy, I reach over Kira for my phone that’s lit up on the night stand.
“Hello?” My voice is gruff and I rub my eyes before looking at the clock. It’s 1:27 a.m.
“Brayden, it’s Mom.”
I shoot up into a sitting position.
The move tosses Kira off my arm and onto her back, waking her with a confused start.
“Are you okay?” I ask into the receiver.
“What’s going on?” Kira asks as she sits up next to me.
“I’m fine. Is that Kira?” Mom asks.
I nod, my mind still sleepy even with my adrenaline spiked jolt of panic. “Yeah, she’s here.”
“Good. I need you to grab her and Ryan and get down here as soon as possible.”
“What is it?” My blood runs cold.
“It’s an emergency. Just get in the car and call me once you’re on your way down.”
“Down where?”
“Bethesda North at Arrow Springs. The hospital in South Lebanon.”
The adrenaline spikes back up and I know. Suddenly I know.
I’m halfway off the bed and flip on the light. Kira cringes as I throw clothes at her. “We’re on our way.” I hang up the phone and turn to her. “Get dressed.”
“What’s going on?”
“I don’t know, but we need to get Ryan.”
The mention of needing Ryan sends Kira into the same panic I’m in. It takes two minutes to put on whatever clothes we can find, slip on some shoes, grab our coats, and lock the door.
There is only a block down to Ryan’s, but his apartment is on the way out.
I’m shaking, because I know what happened. Almost a week has passed since Ryan mailed out all the information to Sonia. A week of all of us waiting on pins and needles for a call from her or some way of knowing she received it.
And this is it. A worried, frantic call, but not from Sonia, from my mother.
That tells me everything, because my worst fear came to fruition. The same darkness, the anger, which is in my father is in me. It’s not hard for me to imagine what he’s done.
He hurt Sonia.
And it’s my fucking fault.
He’s been sitting on the edge, holding it back for years, and I’ve been waiting for the explosion since I was a kid. I just didn’t even think about the consequence of him unleashing it on her.
Back out of the car, I start slamming my fist on Ryan and Dana’s door while Kira presses on the doorbell.
“Motherfucker!” Ryan yells when he swings the door open, but the anger evaporates when he sees the serious expressions on our faces. “What’s wrong?”
“Get dressed, we have to go. Now. Get Dana and let’s go.”
