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One after the other, memories of that young man assault me, of him playing cards with me in front of a fireplace, him reading to me, him teaching me to ride a bike. Him desperately holding on to me as we were torn apart.
Only, the boy’s name wasn’t Gideon. In my memories, I called him Dionne. Because I couldn’t say his full name.
“I remember.” I gasp.
“Father?”
“You.” I lift my gaze to his, knowing without a doubt that the man sitting in front of me is my older brother. “I remember you.”
He sighs, letting out a breath that it seems he’s held for a long time. “I was afraid they’d brainwashed you too well.”
Yes, they brainwashed me. I remember that too. Anytime I tried to mention my other family, specifically my brother, the boy I worshiped, I was beaten by my uncles.
Mother begged me to stop asking for him, to stop saying his name.
For her, because she cried so much for me, I listened. I stopped saying his name and finally managed to forget it too.
My chest tight, I regard him. I’m completely unsure of what to feel or what to do. He’s my only living relative and yet he’s been my enemy for months. Has been taunting me, ruining my business, killing my allies.
“Why did you raid my trucks?” I ask. The question comes out without any of the initial anger I experienced when it happened.
Gideon frowns. “I never raided your trucks. That was all on your lovely wife.”
“Lou?”
He looks to the side as if in thought. “Lou,” he repeats. “I’d call her a traitorous bitch.”
I shove out of my chair and grab him by the throat. “Watch what you say about my wife.”
Laughter erupts from him as he lifts his hands in surrender. “I’ll call her whatever you want, little brother. As long as I don’t have to like her.”
Growling, I move away from him. “Are you certain she was behind the raids?”
“The bit—” he starts but catches himself. “Lou has a contact in Brighton. He owns a Latin eatery. You might have heard of it. Enrique’s.”
Peering out a back window, I watch the landscapers working on the garden behind a large pool. But all the while, I’m thinking of Lou and that restaurant she made me take her to. Of how afraid I was she’d be hurt for being my wife, when the entire time, she was plotting against me.
“My wife,” I whisper, my chest tight at the thought of her betrayal. Then I think of something else. “Why did you try to take her on her wedding day? That was you, wasn’t it?”
“I didn’t want her to marry someone else,” he admits. “I didn’t know you’d be there too. Wish I’d taken her after all. Would have been better for you.”
I turn in time to see Gideon’s smug face. “Don’t act all high and mighty. You’re just as dirty as she is, Dionne.”
He grins when I accidentally use the nickname. “All I did was save you, Rowan. Declan would have killed you with that woman’s blessing. I extracted you from a deadly situation.” He comes to stand in front of me. “I’d fucking do it all over again.”
His phone buzzes and he reads a text that’s just come in. “Hang on, I need to make a call.” Moving to the door, he dials a number.
While he talks, I glimpse at Stephen Black’s portrait, still unable to see his face in my mind. Still unable to remember him as my father. But I remember Gideon as a boy. My big brother.
“Of course, for a man like yourself, I’m always available,” Gideon says to the person on the phone. “Meet me at the Varleigh Hotel in an hour.” He hangs up and returns to my side.
“What do you want from me?” I cross my arms over my chest. “You saved me because I’m your brother. But there’s more.”
He nods. “All of your men are dead. Your wife has betrayed you. You’ve lost it all. Except for me. I’ll always be here for you. No matter what. With my help, you will get it back. The question is, will you be there for me, little brother?”
Everything he’s said sinks in, the truth of it crushing my soul. “What do you need?”
“Stand by my side where you belong and help me defeat the Sinacore Alliance.”
