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“You conspired to take my place,” he said. “You would’ve killed me if it meant taking my power. Instead, you sold Penny to Kaspar, and you struck off on your own when you realized I wouldn’t be so easy to replace. You nearly ripped this family to shreds. Anthony still won’t forgive you.”
“I know.” I looked at my hands, unable to take the heat of his stare.
“We love you, Erin. All of us do, especially Anthony. I want to forgive you. I want to bring you back into the family. But how can we ever trust you again?”
I glanced at Redmond. His face was a mask, but his eyes were soft, and he touched my hand. I knew what that touch meant: say what you feel.
That was hard for me. I grew up ignoring what I wanted in favor of what I thought was best for the Servants.
But now, I didn’t have to think about that anymore. I was my own person and found my place in the world. My mind was quiet, and I was at peace.
“I miss you.” My voice trembled. I pushed on. “I miss Penny and Anthony. I even miss Mom, believe it or not. What I did back then was wrong, and I’ll never make up for it. I’ll never fix the trust I destroyed. I was a twisted shell of a human, and I hate that I did so much damage to the only people that ever cared about me.”
“How do we move on from here?” He sounded like he genuinely wanted to know.
“I’m sorry. I really, truly am. I’m working on my relationship with Penny, and all I can ask is that you let me work on my relationship with you.”
“As a sister? Not as an Oligarch?” He cracked a small smile. “We have a lot of work to do.”
“I hope we can be both brother and sister and fellow Oligarchs. But brother and sister first.”
He nodded slowly, smile getting bigger. “I’d really like that.”
I blinked back tears. Darren stood, and I stood, and he hugged me. I hugged my brother back, my half-brother, one of the few people that suffered my extremes, my worst impulses, and still didn’t leave me.
We broke apart and I wiped my eyes. For so long I never cried, never felt anything beyond anger and selfish righteousness.
I liked having a soul again.
Redmond put an arm around my shoulders. “We should celebrate,” he said. “To mending families and building something new.”
“That sounds good. I can have the staff put together a good meal?”
“I’d like that,” I said, grinning.
Darren nodded and turned to the door. He paused before he left. “I’ll touch base with Nervosa soon. But do me a favor and don’t get involved with that guy. He can be a little… nasty.”
“I’ve warned her,” Redmond said. I felt his arm tighten like he wanted to protect me from the West Coast Oligarch.
“I’ve barely heard of the guy. Why are you two suddenly talking about him like he’s the boogie man?”
Darren shook his head. “Trust me. It’s better if you don’t know him.” He left the room and closed the door softly.
I turned to Redmond and leaned against his chest. He kissed the top of my head and pulled me close. The fire was warm, and the familiarity of the room was strange, but comforting.
“That went well,” I said. “I thought he’d tell me to fuck off. He’s been so short this past year.”
“I suspect Penny talked sense into him.”
“Do you think we can fix this? Can we become siblings again?”
“Not right away,” Redmond said, touching my lips with his fingers. “But eventually, I think you can. Darren’s a decent guy, even if he is an Oligarch.”
I laughed and kissed my husband, and let him hold me tight.
Epilogue: Melanie
California was paradise.
I got it. I totally understood why people flocked to this place.
The weather was freaking perfect. I strolled down a side path through a shady section of Stanford’s campus. School wasn’t in session yet, but I’d managed to talk Redmond into letting me come here a couple weeks early to get my bearings.
He tried to talk me out of it. He’d said Blackwoods was the best choice for me. I’d be safe at Blackwoods.
I wasn’t safe anywhere. Not when he was my brother.
But at least California had sunshine. There was a slight breeze and no humidity, and I couldn’t help but smile as I sat down on a bench and kicked my legs out, gazing across the way at a red brick building, the glass entrance closed and quiet.
Soon this place would be crawling with other students. I’d meet people my own age, socialize, be a normal kid for once in my life. I was eighteen years old and I’d never had a real friend before, all because I was born into a family of psychopaths.
