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25
Camdyn
On Saturday morning, my father, Big Brody, sits at the wooden slab of our island in the kitchen. Around him is our clan as they discuss the next shipment leaving MacKenzie Freight to Boston.
My older cousins and oldest brother, Little Brody, surround him.
Jamie’s in the corner at the breakfast nook. The little shit’s studying, per usual.
“Dad.” I clear my throat, putting down my pencil and notepad for my next tattoo. “Jamie should go on a run.”
My cousin Knox, who isn’t much older than me, whispers, “Wit the feck?”
“Our Jamie took his first life a few months ago.” I get up and step over to Jamie. He won’t meet my eye. “Pretty late in the game, but he showed promise. Bashed the fucker’s face in.”
Little Brody tugs at his beard. “Nae. Our bràthair can fecking speak for himself, American.”
He spits out the name they call me—as if I’m different from them. The only motherfucker different from them is trembling in his skin at my side.
As my father continues talking, I slink down in the booth next to Jamie.
Voice lowered, I ask, “Willow tell you that she’s completing her project alone, now?”
I’m looking in a mirror when his eyes lift, though the rest of him is different—slimmer face, narrower jaw, dark blond where I’m a strawberry blond. I smile, confident Willow hadn’t revealed to my brother all the things she’d shared with me about their interaction.
A few beats later, the pariah speaks. “I convinced Willow that the workload’s too great to complete alone.”
The slither of weakness in my soul that begs for the best of her crashes into a crater. Deal with Willow later. Clearing my throat, I address my brother.“We’re having a conversation, bro. Look me in the eye.”
He lowers his head and picks up his pencil. I snatch it from his hand and break it in my fist. “Why are we doing this, bro? I’ve always supported you. I fucking love you, Jamie.”
“I love you too,” he begrudgingly drones.
“That’s debatable.” I take a deep breath before continuing. “Listen, when you found that abused, stray puppy, Mom was going to pay for him to be adopted by someone less fortunate. Who ditched school to feed the little fucker, huh?”
“You.”
“Who helped you save the bird with the broken wing?” Willow’s not your broken thing. Not this time.
Irritated, his voice strains, “You, Camdyn.”
“Oh, so you suddenly remember who the fuck loves you, Jamie.”
My jaw constricts at the thought of how that girl has weaseled her way into my feelings. No. I tell myself the venom bubbling in my veins isn’t jealousy because I give a fuck about her. I don’t. It’s because my brother put an outsider before the clan. Before me.
“You helped Lo get away from me when we first met.” I offer a dry, humorless laugh as Jamie’s eyebrows raise. “I see. You didn’t expect my bitch to snitch.”
In a low tone, he snaps, “Do. Not. Call her that.”
“Where’s your sense of clan loyalty?”
“Don’t call her that.” His hormones must solidify because it’s less squeak, more force.
“Did you see the bite mark on her neck?” I lick my lips. “The taste of her blood is delicious. Her pussy, best meal of my life.”
“You eat girls now?” Jamie taunts.
I clasp his face. Jamie’s jaw muscles flex. He lifts an arm. My forearm slams into his throat. Willow consumes my mind. Ugh, why? All I wanted, all I had planned, was a birthday Twinkie for her and some birthday dick at Motel 6. Now, dark thoughts swirl through my mind. She’s bewitched my brother, getting Jamie to put her above our clan. The thought plays on repeat, drowning out my other thoughts . . . and something unfamiliar deep inside me.
