Aileen looks over her shoulder and addresses Rush. “Be nice.”
“To you? Always, princess.”
They give me one last glance and walk toward the terrace door, leaving me staring at my brothers in the distance, and while they are both tall, dark-haired, and green-eyed—after all, they are twins—they are so different.
Rush sports a five-o’clock shadow while wearing jeans and a leather jacket, with a wild look about him that speaks to his chaotic nature, always craving to inflict suffering on whoevercrosses him. The pure fire in his eyes, demanding vengeance, extinguishes only when his fiancée is around.
On the contrary, Rafael wears a three-piece suit that fits him like a second skin, and his cold, detached stare has the power to scare the dead, and you can see it soften whenever his wife comes closer to him.
Both of my brothers have thisdon’t fuck with meenergy, and right now it really sucks to be me.
“We got your complaint.” Rush speaks up first, breaking the deafening silence. “Although I assume I’m the only one who is threatened with a lawsuit in this, right? Since I’m the heir to our family fortune.”
“No, it’s both of us. Since I’m your brother and a lawyer, and was aware of what was going on.” Rafael sips his whiskey while I wish for the ground to open up and swallow me whole so I wouldn’t have to experience their rage. Usually, it’s aimed at someone else. “How did you find out about it anyway?”
“Scarlett told me.” I hate how small my voice sounds, and I clasp my hands, rubbing them together. “Why did you hide it from me?”
“When were we supposed to tell you? When you pretended to have age regression? Or once you came to New York and started doing stupid shit like coloring your hair every other day, throwing tantrums, and locking yourself up in your room while blasting rock music all over the apartment?” Rush’s harsh tone hits my nerve endings, and I flinch, once again rubbing my hands. “Exactly when was the right time to tell you about this, Lavender?”
After they discovered the truth about my condition, they brought me to New York so I could start my treatment with Dr. King. The first few months were rough, and there was a lot of anger brewing inside me I couldn’t control.
So yes.
I acted like a spoiled teenager and refused to have any deep conversations with both of them.
Still, though.
I would have listened if they insisted.
“I’ve been on my best behavior for the past seven months. I deserved to know the truth. Instead, you gave me credit cards under your name and watched all my spending.”
“You were never limited in your spending. You had freedom to buy whatever the hell you wanted.” Rafael cocks his head to the side, taking another sip. “So, what changed now?”
A heavy breath slips past my lips. “I don’t want to sound ungrateful, but I turned thirty weeks ago. I have a right to have access to my money without someone supervising me.” I repeat the words Scarlett said to me, and while my voice is still shaky, there is finally some steel in it. “Otherwise, I’ll have to depend on you for my whole life.”
“So this whole lawsuit is about independence?” Rush asks.
“What else would it be about?”
“Not some guy who advises you to get access to your money so he can take it from you?” Rafael’s question makes my jaw drop. “It’s a valid concern. You have to admit your sudden desire to be ‘free’ feels a bit strange.”
“Strange?” Anger slams into me, and I dig my nails into my palms, stopping myself from losing control because it would just prove their point. “When was the last time you had to ask someone for money, Rafael?” A muscle twitches in his cheek, and I turn my attention to Rush. “Or the last time you had to explain yourself to anyone? I bet a long time ago. Yet my whole life was filled with men who wanted to control me. It’s not strange to want my independence. It’s long overdue. Our father seemed to understand that.”
“Our father is dead, so his opinion doesn’t matter,” Rush snaps. “You’re our responsibility now, and we won’t apologize for wanting to protect you.”
Something inside me breaks at the word responsibility, and resentment spreads through me, poisoning my blood and tongue. “Protect me or your assets?” The change in their demeanor is instant at my words, the temperature dropping several degrees around us and casting a different kind of doom into the night. “In case you failed to notice, that’s exactly what I’m trying to do. I don’t want to be yourresponsibilityanymore. I think we’ll all benefit from that.” My hollow laughter echoes in the night. “And don’t you worry about any man. Trust me, no one is interested in this.” I point at my scars. “My virtue is safe and sound with me, probably for eternity.”
Gulping for air, I will my heartbeat to slow down and really hold on to my sanity, for if I go on a downward spiral, they will lock me up.
I won’t be locked up in any room again, never!
Their expressions stay unreadable, and Rafael says, “We can’t leave you be, Lavender. You’re our little sister, and we’ll always look out for you. We love you.”
The sweet words, though, pour salt in all my open wounds, the pain so harsh and unbearable it shatters all my walls. “Why not? It’s not like you hadn't abandoned me before. So it shouldn’t be such a hardship for you both.”
Something flashes in their eyes at my cruel and undeserving words because they were kids themselves who experienced hell. They have their own scars, pain, and complicated pasts.
I shouldn’t hold them responsible for what happened to me, yet they built their lives away from me while I suffered with Jade… It can’t be cured.
