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“What are you…?” My father’s panicked eyes flicked to me. “Aoife?”
“Dad, I didn’t mean… I’m so sorry,” I sobbed, hands hanging limply at my sides. I looked at my brother and shook my head. “I hate you.”
“I tried to tell you about him,” Kev continued to shout, aiming his pain at our father now. “But you wouldn’t be told. I warned you about what kind of person he was, but you insisted on hiring him—on treating him like the son you always wanted but never got with me!”
“Kevin.”
“Well, congrats, Dad,” Kev croaked out, voice breaking. “You finally got your wish. You’ll have a grandchild off him soon enough that will cement him deeper into the family. You’ll finally have the son you always wanted.”
Unable to handle another second of watching my world fall around me, I bolted from the kitchen, ignoring my mother’s pleading and father’s shouting as I made a beeline for the front door, desperate to escape.
“Aoife,” Kev called out, hurrying after me. “Wait up.”
“Don’t touch me,” I spat out, yanking my arm free from his hold and glaring up at him. “And don’t ever speak to me again.”
“I didn’t…” my brother began to say, but then he jutted his chin out defiantly and hissed, “He had to know.”
“It wasn’t your place to tell him,” I countered shakily, feeling the ultimate form of betrayal at the hands of the person who’d shared a womb with me. “It wasn’t your place to tell anyone. It was mine, and you took that choice away from me.”
Regret flickered in his eyes.
“You’re so jealous of Joey’s relationship with Dad that you threw your own twin under the bus to get one up on him.”
“Aoife.”
“You literally destroyed my entire world, Kevin.” I shook my head, not bothering to wipe the tears from my cheeks. Fresh ones would just take their place. “Why?”
“I didn’t…” He ran a hand through his hair and sighed. “Look, at least it’s out in the open now. If anything, I did you a favor.”
“You told my father before I could,” I choked out, chest heaving. “You told Paul who told my baby’s father before I could.”
Confusion filled his eyes. “Joey didn’t know?”
I shook my head.
“I didn’t know that.” Sighing heavily, he reached for my hand. “Shit, Aoife, I didn’t—”
“No.” I held a hand up and warned him off. “Stay back.”
“Aoife.”
“I mean it,” I snapped. “I’m ashamed to call you my brother.”
“And you think I’m proud to call you my sister?” he shouted back, cheeks reddening. “Proud to have a slut in the family? You’re the embarrassment here, Aoife. You’re the one bringing down the tone. You’re the screwup, not me,” he tossed out defensively. “It’s not my fault that you didn’t tell the guy. He’s the first one you should’ve told.”
“Not your fault?” I gaped at him. “This is all your fault. You might have the brains when it comes to school, but you’re a cruel, spoilt, jealous bastard without a shred of heart, and I will never forgive you for this. Do you hear me, Kevin? I will never forgive you!”
“Fine,” he shot back defiantly, tone thick with emotion. “See if I care.”
“Oh, you’ll care, you spiteful little shit,” I growled, backing up the garden path toward our gate. “And you’ll be sorry.”
“What are you going to do?” he called after me. “Set your guard dog on me? Again?”
“I pulled him off you the last time,” came my heated reply. “Don’t think I’ll make that mistake twice.”
“And I let him off the hook the last time,” my brother reminded me. “Don’t think I’ll make that mistake twice.”
“No, Kev, I won’t set my boyfriend on you,” I hissed, shoving the gate open. “Because, unlike you, I don’t need anyone to fight my battles for me.”
