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“As quickly as possible. I’m not a patient man. Make it happen,” William growled, followed by the front door slamming shut.
I spun away and continued down the hall to my room. Once inside, I stripped out of my clothes and went straight to the shower. I wanted to rid myself of William’s touch, and I thought it might help me feel better. But twenty minutes later, I was in a ball on the shower floor, trying to get control over the tears that seemed to never stop.
The need to get on a plane and go to the twins was crippling. The pain came crashing down, and I couldn’t fight it any longer.I sobbed until I felt like I had nothing left. I thought they had loved me, but they didn’t even fight for us. They didn’t stop to let me explain more. I should have told them sooner, but I didn’t want to ruin what we had.
Maybe I wasn’t good enough for them. Maybe I wasn’t good enough for anyone.
I loved them with all my heart, and it was too late. It was all my fault, and there was nothing I could do about it now. All I could do was remember the betrayal and hurt in their eyes when they’d discovered the truth, and how I’d done that to them.
ANDREW
The buzz of silence surrounded me in the early morning, and my teeth ground together. I
slammed a pillow over my face, screaming into the feathers just to hear something. I’d barely slept in days, and I’d watched the sky change from a starry night to a colorful sunrise for the second day in a row. The icy chill from the countertop hit my skin as I laid my forehead on the unforgiving surface, waiting for the coffee to finish brewing. It was my second pot of the morning, as the first one had failed to brighten my mood.
No matter how hard I tried, it was no use. Every time I closed my eyes, all I could see were the photos from the websites featuring the return of Lady Victoria. Of those other men with their hands all over her. Their proprietary grip, the familiarity of their touch. Anger ripped through me at the thought of her being with them. Men who weren’t us. Men who didn’t deserve her.
The expression on her face haunted me. It was cool and impassive, not the face of the caring and loving woman I’d grown to know.
The last week had been torture. Not a word from Tori except for the article detailing how she’d returned home and was eager to plan her wedding. Whether it was denial speaking or something else, I didn’t believe in this sham of an engagement. I couldn’t believe it. There was no way she was happy about pledging her life to them. Her feelings for us were real, and I had to believe she was as torn to pieces about our breakup as we were.
As much as he tried to put on a brave face, Caleb was just as devastated as me. We hadn’t spoken more than a few words to each other in days. First, he’d gone to Florida for the horse show, but now that he was home, the divide between us kept getting bigger. It was hard for me to not be in tune with him. If I was hurting, I knew he was too.
He’d opened up to her and trusted her more than I’d seen him do with anyone else. Who knows if he would open up to anyone else again.
My twin walked into the kitchen and headed toward the coffee I just brewed. His only response was a grunt of acknowledgement. That was what our relationship had come down to. No words, just silence or this.
I couldn’t take it anymore.“Are you ever going to speak to me again?”
He turned from the coffeepot, and his heartbroken gaze slayed me. “What’s there to say?”
“Oh, I don’t know. How about hello, or do you want me to pour you a cup of coffee?” I threw my hands up.“Or we could talk about the elephant in the room.”
“I didn’t think we needed small talk. We are brothers, after all. We know what each other is thinking most of the time,” he grumbled before turning and refilling my empty coffee mug.
“That only works some of the time. It isn’t telling me how you’re feeling or handling what happened.” I took a sip and sighed. The familiar taste of bitter black coffee calmed my nerves.
“There’s nothing to talk about, Drew. Tori lied to us and then she left.”
I set my cup down a little harder than intended, and the brown liquid sloshed over the edge. My gaze narrowed on my brother. His line of thinking was bullshit. “She didn’t leave us.Youpushed her out.”
“I did not. She was the one who kept secrets from us.” The pain that flashed in his eyes was clear as he stared at me.
“Ones we could have addressed and maybe worked through.”I was done letting him avoid me and this conversation.
“There’s no forgiving her for what she did.” He firmly crossed his arms over his chest.“She wanted to start our relationship built on lies. I won’t stand for that, and neither should you. We can’t trust her anymore.”
I stood and moved to stand before him, toe-to-toe. “Let’s get this straight. Yes, she lied to us, but really, we knew what her life was like. We knew in her country there are arranged marriages. If we’d all had a little more time, maybe she would have told us.”
His eyes shot daggers at me. “Why? We both fell for her. Why would you want to drag out the inevitable? She would have just left anyway.”
“Are you kidding me?” I clenched my fist, wanting for the first time in our adult life to punch my brother in the face. “You’rethe one who kicked her out. I would have listened and let her explain. Maybe let her try to fix things with us, but no, you had to throw it all away without even consulting me.”
His shoulders deflated, and his arms hung loosely by his side. “She left and went home, Drew. We don’t have a chance of getting her back. If she truly had feelings for us, she would have stayed and fought harder for it. For us.”
“Oh, you mean like you did?”
He flinched, but I wasn’t done yet. My anger flashed red before my eyes. “We were in love with her, but now I’m questioning if you ever did, because like you said, if you love someone, you fight for them.” I shoved my finger against his chest. “You didn’t. You ran away. So does that mean you never loved her at all?” The red that tinged my vision quickly receded as quickly as it had come as I saw the hurt that flashed across my brother’s face. I’d hit the mark.
