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Matty jammed a pointy finger into his brother’s chest. “What gives you the right to have a say over my life, huh? I can sleep with whoever I want to, whether you like it or not.”
Leo pulled at his hair in frustration. “I’m not saying you can’t, but I’m telling you that Sebastian isn’t good enough for you.”
“Who are you to say that?”
Horror had me frozen in place as this all unfolded. Matty, he looked so…angry. I’d done this. I’d corrupted him. Turned his sunshine into wrath.
“I didn’t say it,” Leo responded, finally looking over at me with a withering glare. “Sebastian did. I asked him one question, Matty. One. Could he guarantee he wouldn’t walk away from this and leave you with a broken heart?”
Matty’s face was frozen as Leo laid all my shittiness out for him to see. “You know what he said, Matty? No. He couldn’t promise me that. He’s using you, Matty.”
“No, he’s not,” Matty insisted stubbornly. He turned to me, his tone beseeching. “Right, Seb? Tell him he’s wrong.”
Everything I’d been afraid of was coming to fruition. Even if Matty and I did try to give this a go, the others wouldn’t accept us.
I couldn’t come between him and his family. I might’ve lost my own, but I wasn’t letting him lose his too. The pain of that… No. I knew what I had to do.
He said he wouldn’t choose, and he wouldn’t have to.
I was going to do it for him.
I looked over their heads to Ferry. “Can you give us a minute?”
Ferry’s lips thinned, his displeasure at my request obvious. Thankfully, he didn’t argue, just tugged on Leo’s arm again. “Come on, let’s give them privacy.”
“But—”
“You’ve said your piece,” Ferry said firmly. “I know you’re worried about Matty, but he’s an adult. He can make his own choices.”
Leo looked chagrined, wincing slightly as he glanced back at Matty. “Matty?—”
“Save it,” my sunshine said, storm clouds filling his face. “You’ve said enough.”
The tension between them was so thick I could almost taste it. I hated it. Hated the anger and sorrow that Matty wasn’t even trying to hide.
This was all my fault. This was what I did. I’d tried to protect Matty from this, and I’d failed.
Leo and Ferry left, leaving us alone.
For the last time.
I stepped close to Matty, cupping his face with my hand. “Sunshine?—”
“Don’t,” he cut me off, his voice trembling. “Don’t you dare end this, Seb.”
“I have to,” I whispered. “This is what happens, Matty. Rage follows me around like a cloud. It’s my curse. It’s the life I’ve chosen. I’m not pulling you into my darkness. I can’t.”
“They’ll come around,” Matty said desperately, his hands coming up to cling to my shirt. “Just give them time, Seb.”
I shook my head, circling his wrists and carefully pulling them away. “No, Matty. They won’t. I’m not going to be the person who comes between you and your family.”
“If they can’t accept you, then they aren’t my family. You’re all I need.”
Even as he said it, I could see the lie in the way his lips twisted. He did need them. He might think he’d be okay with just me, but the resentment would eat him alive. Not straight away, but eventually he’d end up as damaged as I was.
“Matty, I kill people for a living.”
He flinched before lifting his chin defiantly. “So? You only kill bad people. Besides, it’s not like you have to keep doing that.”
