Matt finished his next beer. I wanted to reach out to stop his extending hand when Leo offered him another one. Clamping my hands together, I resisted the urge. If he needed beer to open up, I wouldn’t stop him.
‘After a year or so, they started to discipline us. One day we were allowed to run around doing exactly what we wanted, and the next, there were men telling us what to do. If we weren’t well behaved, we were beaten. Fights became necessary to build strength. Whispers started. We didn’t train for no reason. We still watched the monitors, listening to Nick’s hateful words about you. Even when the younger lads became teenagers and eyed you up instead.’ Matt winked at me.
Leo laughed. ‘That’s so creepy. A bunch of boy’s perving over you as you were growing up. Does it make you feel weird?’
I hit his arm but it didn’t make an impact. His muscles were too big. He was right, it was pretty freaky knowing that a bunch of boys watched me as I battled my teenage years. I shivered, unable to control my body as I cringed.
‘Don’t worry, Virgo, they wouldn’t have eyed you up.’ Leo ducked when Virgo swiped a hand towards his head. He giggled like a girl. I couldn’t help but laugh with him. Even Matt cracked a smile. Derek shook his head but his own laughter joined in too.
‘Shut up. I bet some of them were even looking at you,’ Virgo said.
Leo’s mouth dropped open. He jumped up from his seat and rushed towards Virgo. She stood her ground until right at the last minute. Stepping to the side, she covered her mouth as Leo tumbled headfirst into the swimming pool. Our laughter echoed around the patio as Leo spluttered.
‘Fair play,’ he called. ‘I don’t blame them for fancying me anyway.’
Virgo smirked down at him, her arms crossed over her chest. She had managed to get him back for pushing her earlier in the day.
I glanced at Matt, pleased to see that he was amused. Leo deserved comeuppance. It was good to see that Matt appreciated my family.
‘Virgo?’ Leo called as he made his way towards the edge of the pool.
She looked down at him, raising an eyebrow instead of answering.
When Leo reached the side, he lunged from the water. Grabbing Virgo’s leg, he pulled her straight in with him. Her head only just missed hitting the concrete ledge. As she plunged underwater, I jumped up from my seat. It had been too close.
‘Leo, you need to be careful!’ I shouted as he rose to the surface of the pool.
Virgo spluttered as she attempted to throw a punch at Leo’s head. He swam away quickly enough to avoid her. She growled low in her throat when she struggled to catch up to him.
‘The fun never stops with your family, does it?’ Derek said from his seat.
Leo turned and grinned. Virgo threw her middle finger up at him. I laughed at them.
When I glanced back at Matt, I found him watching me. His eyes travelled over my figure as I turned around and put my hands on my hips. A smile quirked his lips, which made my heart beat. He was checking me out again. At least it was in the flesh this time.
‘Derek, you’re very quiet tonight,’ Leo said as he climbed out of the pool and made his way over.
The bodyguard shrugged, not turning to look at us as we settled back around the table. Leo dripped everywhere. Virgo pulled off her wet clothes as she walked into the house. Derek’s eyes trailed after her, not resisting the near nakedness.
‘Okay, go on.’ Leo gestured at Matt.
For some reason, my gaze was drawn to Derek’s back. Why was he not fully engaging? Something didn’t feel quite right.
‘Wait for Virgo to get back. In fact, let’s get a few snacks. I’m hungry,’ I said, getting up. ‘Can you help me, Derek?’
Derek stood, keeping his eyes averted as he went into the villa. Smiling at Matt, I followed my bodyguard inside. Something was wrong with him. I needed to find out what it was.
‘Are you okay?’ I asked as we rooted around in the cupboard.
When we had attempted to get clothes earlier in the day, Matt had popped to the local grocery shop and stocked up on food. At least he had bothered to do something. I clenched my teeth as I tried to take back the negative thought about him. I shouldn’t be so harsh.
‘I’m listening, that’s all. Taking it all in.’ Derek handed me a bar of chocolate.
Taking it from him, I tucked it under my arm and reached for the cookies. ‘I don’t think I’ve ever seen you so…’
When I turned round, he was smiling at me. I smiled back, unable to help myself. It wasn’t very often he focused his whole attention on me.
‘This is how I learn. I’ve been with your father for a long time. Since I was the same age as Matt was when he first met Nick. Almost fifteen years ago. I’ve learned a lot in that time. But I’ve only known the full extent of your mission in the last few years. I never realised I would be so involved.’
It was nice to have someone on our side. Matt might have switched to our cause but his conditioning fought inside him. Since being away from Nick, his mood had been lower than I had ever seen. Could he really transcend his belief?
Taking a bottle of fizzy drink out of the fridge, Derek nodded at me before making his way back outside. He wasn’t the chatty type either. What was it with the men in my life not being able to communicate with me? Maybe that was something I had to see within myself.
Looking around the kitchen area, I sighed. The breath left me in a rush. All I wanted was a home of my own, a man to love, and children in the future. Running away had pulled me down.
‘Our brother is such a moron,’ Virgo stated, coming out of her bedroom with a handful of clothes. ‘You can borrow these clean undies, too.’
I smiled and pecked her on the cheek as I grabbed the garments. ‘Thanks, sis.’
The villa was the perfect size. Leo would have to sleep in the lounge area but it was big enough for him. The four bedrooms were already taken up. Virgo had managed to snag the last one as soon as she walked through the front door.
‘No different to usual, then.’ I handed her packets of food.
She rubbed her hair with a towel as we walked outside. She had changed into a nightie. Her small frame gave the impression that she was a lot younger than she was.
Dumping the food on the table, we sat down with the boys to continue our conversation. Virgo crossed her legs in the chair and pulled her nightie over her knees. I glanced down at my jeans, glad I now had a change of clothing.
‘Go ahead,’ Leo said, nodding at Matt. ‘Sorry I interrupted but I was getting a little bored. No, I’m only joking.’
There was no point hitting our brother or reprimanding him. He didn’t listen, anyway. Instead, I rolled my eyes and smiled at Matt. Derek had pulled his chair around to sit with us.
‘When I turned sixteen, Nick invited me to his house alone. My father puffed his chest out as he helped me pick out what to wear. It was weird, like he was helping me get ready for a date or something. When it obviously wasn’t.’ Matt scratched his jaw. He hadn’t shaved in a day or two. I didn’t mind, though. In fact, it suited him. If only I could get close enough to take advantage. Maybe after we had finished the conversation, he would let me get near him. Hopefully, we could have our own conversation once we were alone.
‘When I got to Nick’s house, something wasn’t right. My father had said goodbye as I walked out the front door. He seemed sad but I didn’t know why. Things were about to change.’ Matt stared at his hands.
It was silent as we listened to him. In my mind, I urged him to carry on telling the story. He obviously needed to pause to process what he was saying. Leo cracked his knuckles as we waited for him to continue.
‘When I walked into the house, Nick’s men grabbed me and shoved a bag over my head. They dragged me out to a car and drove me away. That was when I realised I was about to be tested. They took me to a house in the country. The one where Aries and Cancer found me that day, when your mother had come looking for your father. That was my home for a year. That was whe
n my real training began.’
‘Was it a bit like a concentration camp or something?’ Leo asked.
I stared at him, my mouth hanging open. How could he be so insensitive? Matt was baring his soul and Leo was being tactless. Not that it surprised me.
‘Just shut up, will you?’ Virgo spat.
Matt smiled slightly, ignoring them when Leo stuck his tongue out at Virgo. He was used to their antics by now. My face heated. Why couldn’t Leo behave for a few minutes? Especially when it was something so important. The information Matt was spilling could help us with Nick.
‘Not quite, mate. We had to go through rigorous exercises every day. Mentally, physically and emotionally. We had to do simulations. Ones where you were our target. I shot you all...well, your hologram, anyway.’ Matt coughed.
I scooted my chair closer to him. Taking his hand, I refused to let him pull away. He was with us now. We wouldn’t let anyone hurt him, especially not Nick. No matter what happened, he was part of our family, even if we didn’t end up together. My stomach clenched at the thought. At the same time, I wasn’t completely convinced any more. We certainly needed to connect again.
‘After a year, I was deemed ready to join the rank of Nick’s men. The Dysfunctionals. I was buzzing. I couldn’t wait to get my hands on you. Then came the bombshell. Nick told us that we weren’t allowed to kill you. We would have to shoot someone else if the time ever came. We couldn’t quite understand why we had been trained so thoroughly if we weren’t able to kill you. The next part of our training had only just started. Not that I knew at that time.’ Matt rubbed his stomach with his free hand. ‘Back at the house in London, we started to learn the real reason we had been trained. Nothing to do with you destroying the earth in the way we had assumed. It was all to do with love.’
‘I bet that pissed you off,’ Leo said, shaking his head.
Glaring at my brother, I nudged Matt to continue.
‘I’m surprised he didn’t let you know about it a lot sooner,’ Derek spoke, taking the attention away from Matt.
Derek’s hands rested on the arms of the chair. A slight breeze had picked up, ruffling the very tips of his hair. His green eyes met mine as he stared at me. I blinked, looking away when it felt like he searched my gaze.
‘I know. We were surprised, too, considering how much easier it would have been for us to be brainwashed at a younger age. We would have been more likely to believe it before we hit puberty. However, Nick was persuasive. He knew what he was doing. He told us about your mission to unite with your twin flame soulmate. He said that if you were successful, he would die. We would all die.’
Leo slapped his thigh. ‘That’s why he didn’t say anything before. He got you to love him before he told you the real truth. So you would protect him no matter what.’
‘He sounds like a sicko to me,’ Derek said.
Matt clenched his hands, squeezing my fingers as he did. Even now, he was so conditioned to defend Nick, that he couldn’t help the reaction. He didn’t say anything to Derek. I glanced at our bodyguard but he concentrated on Matt.
‘The thing is, he’s right. If you’re successful.’ Matt glanced between me, Virgo and Leo. ‘He’ll no longer exist. The balance of love will outweigh the emotion of hate. Once you’re all living from that state, you’ll be able to teach other people how to do the same. Which is a good thing, now that I’m away from Nick. When you’ve been made to believe that it’s actually the Zodiacs that are not good for the planet, it’s hard to get that out of your head.’
I resisted the urge to pull away. The words he spoke came from a conditioned mind. I knew that. It made me wary to know that he had basically been raised by our enemy. I had never stopped to think what it would be like to date a man who had believed me to be evil most of his life. How had I ever imagined it would work between us?
‘Do you still believe everything he told you? About us, I mean?’ Leo said.
It was nice to see my brother serious for once. Although, to be fair, when it came to business, he did get his act together.
‘No. I’ve been around you enough to know that you’re not evil. Sometimes I wonder what I’m doing with you, though. My wife, she…’
He gazed at me, his cheeks flashing red when I glared at him. I couldn’t help it. Why did he have to bring her up now?
‘My wife was brought in by Nick. She had also been brainwashed. Together we determined that we would bring you down. No matter what stood in our way. You managed to capture me before we could.’ Matt looked pointedly at Leo.
Leo grinned as wide as his mouth would let him. He was proud of the fact that he and my brothers had managed to hold Matt captive. ‘Got me back by stabbing me in the leg, though, didn’t you?’
Matt burst out laughing. I put a hand to my forehead as the memory of that day came back. It hadn’t been the best day of my life. After a while of talking to him, Matt had persuaded me to let him go free from the attic. It seemed so long ago now. It had been a few years. My siblings had forgiven me but only because I was so adamant that I was in love with him.
‘Yeah, sorry about that.’
Leo waved the apology away. He wasn’t one to hold grudges. Not when he believed that Matt was on our side.
‘Did you know that this would happen when you left our home?’ Virgo asked.
Matt blinked as he thought about her question. He still held my hand tightly in his grip. During the whole conversation both of us had tried to pull away at one point but neither of us had let the other go.
‘No. Never in all my life did I believe that I would be sitting here with the woman I love. The woman I thought I would kill one day. I could never harm her.’
I swallowed as a flush of warmth tingled over me. My skin heated so much I had to look away from everyone else. Matt watched me, smiling when he saw how he had affected me. It had been a long time since we had shared how we really felt.
‘Does that mean you two will finally get it on?’
This time I didn’t ignore Leo, I hit him as hard as I could on the arm. Not that it made any difference. He yelped, grasping his arm where my fist had connected. He was so fake. There was no way I had hurt him.
‘Yes.’
Matt stood and held out his other hand to me. I gripped it, letting him pull me from the chair. He led me into the villa, away from the others.
Leo whistled as we went.
Derek didn’t look up as we left them. It was time for us to have our own conversation.
Chapter Thirteen
We didn’t talk. As soon as we got into the bedroom, our clothes had come off. I wanted to stop it but I couldn’t. The temptation was too much so I let him do what he would.
‘That was amazing,’ he said, stroking my back.
Biting my lip, I smiled. I laid on my front with my arm tucked under the pillow. He was on his side, peering down at me. My blonde hair fanned out around us.
Leaning forward, Matt whispered into my ear. ‘I’m sorry about everything that’s happened. All I ever thought about was being with you. And now we’re here, I’m trying to wrap my head around it.’
Burying my head in the soft cushion, I hid my warm cheeks. He couldn’t help but make me blush. My heart swelled as his hand dug under my chin and lifted my face to look at him.
‘When we were back in the attic, you opened your heart to me. We shared a connection unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. I never touched you, yet, it felt completely real at that time.’ He sighed.
‘Like we were in our own world. I never told my family that we lay side by side, not talking, just breathing with each other.’ I warmed at the memory.
‘I’ve got to go back. You know that, don’t you?’
The air rushed out of my lungs as I was reminded of the court date. It was only a few days away, and yet, I wished it would never come.
‘I don’t have a very good feeling about it.’ I ran a finger down his stubbled jaw.
He pretended to bite me when I t
raced his bottom lip with my nail. I grinned, basking in the loving glow of his smile. It was what I had been waiting for. The comfort of being in his arms, beside him.
‘Be honest with me. Do you have any feelings for your wife?’
The smile dropped from his mouth. In fact, his whole face sunk in on itself. Clambering from the bed, he pulled on his clothes, and went to walk away. Wrapping the sheet around me, I jumped forward and grabbed his arm, refusing to let him go.
‘You can’t run away this time. The fact that you’re running away makes me question whether or not you do love her.’
Sighing, Matt ran his hand through his hair and sat next to me on the edge of the bed. ‘I’ve been with my wife for ten years. No, I don’t love her. Yet…’
He tried to take my hand but I wouldn’t let him. He had seduced me without telling me that he still had feelings for his wife. I was so stupid. How dare he treat me like a fool?
‘Cancer, I’m not the only one in this relationship. You keep blaming me for how uncomfortable it’s been since we’ve been here but you’re here, too. Ignoring me isn’t helping. When I finally opened up today, you let me in. Then when we were comfortable, you had to push it. You couldn’t just let us have one whole night of peace together. Why have you bought it back up again?’
Bending my head, I let my hair fall around me. It helped to shield my eyes from him.
‘I couldn’t help it. The thought of you and her together makes me feel so…’
His hand landed on my back. I tried not to cringe. It took all my willpower not to duck away. I even clenched my fists so I didn’t hit out. Why had I suddenly become so angry with him?
‘I’m going back to London to divorce her. Doesn’t that tell you something?’
The smell of him wafted up my nose as I shook my head. Now that I’d had what I wanted, I wasn’t sure why I’d wanted it so much. It was hard work.
‘You’re right. I’m sorry that I didn’t let you in. Just one question. How would you feel if I was married?’ I tucked my hair behind my ear, finally looking at him.
Cancer: Book 5 in a Young Adult Paranormal Romance Series (The Zodiac Twin Flame Series) Page 10
