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He shakes his head, lowering his gaze to the glass. “He died. Breathed his last breath a six months ago. River, Dante, and I made sure he saw our faces the moment he died. He suffered. Each day I poisoned his whiskey until the day it finally ate away at him and he was bedridden. Then, we took the final step and killed him,” Drake says proudly. “There are a few things he left me with though. Things I haven’t told River or Dante.”
“Why? Aren’t they your only family? Surely they need to know if something is wrong.”
He lifts his blue eyes to meet my hazel ones. There are so many emotions flickering in his gaze it’s startling to see. The windows to Drake’s soul are tarnished with pain and agony, with violence and mayhem, and I have no idea if he would ever be free of them.
“My father held so many secrets from us, from River, it’s worrying. We found his sister in Thanos’s house,” he tells me.
“The wild girl?” Drake nods. “She’s not the only family he has, is she?”
“No. River’s mother worked for my father. She was on his payroll, and she sold River to the Savage Organization in the hopes of getting her ass seated in the White House.”
A shocked gasp comes from the doorway. Both our heads whip toward the entrance to find River staring straight at his best friend.
“Shit,” Drake hisses, rising from his seat, but River is gone. I follow quickly, wanting to comfort the man who’s slowly becoming part of my life. I watch him race up the stairs, ignoring Drake calling his name. “Fuck it.”
“I’ll go.” Placing a hand on his shoulder, I press a kiss to his cheek and follow River up to the second level of the house. When I reach the door with the large, ornate R carved into it, I knock tentatively. It flies open, and I’m met with the striking gaze of River.
“Can we talk?”
He shrugs in response. Leaving the door open, he makes his way into the room. When I enter, I take in the rich browns and golds in the room. Deep, warm colors furnish the space, offering a homey feel. He turns to me, his green gaze penetrating mine with curiosity.
“He didn’t want you to find out like this,” I start, unsure of how to speak to him.
“And you know my best friend so well?” His voice is low, but I hear him. I don’t respond, because I can’t say I do. Drake is mostly a stranger to me, but I don’t feel it. For some reason, it’s as if we’ve known each other all our lives.
“Perhaps not as well as you, but I can see the pain he holds onto. This can’t be easy for him,” I implore, wishing he would see that this wasn’t a plot to hurt him.
“You know,” River breathes as he nears me. Our bodies inches apart, and the spark that ignites between us is something new.
Drake has always been the one to make my body come alive, but with what happened last night, it seems River can ignite my desire just as much.
He leans in, closing the distance between his mouth and my ear, before he whispers, “Drake didn’t give up looking for you, even though I told him it was futile.”
Even though the room is empty, I feel the nervous fear that I’ll be ripped away from them both. That I’ll be severed from my links to both men, and I’ll once more be shoved into a hole in the ground.
“And each time he tried to find you, I watched the agony on his face when it was a dead end. I’ve seen his pain. I’ve tasted it, savored it. Don’t tell me that you’re the only one who sees it.”
His words cause me to snap my gaze to his. “I want this,” I tell him then, offering the same words I gave Drake moments ago. Placing my hand on River’s chest, I smile up at him. “I told him as well. I want you both in my life. There isn’t a fight for who he’ll choose, because I don’t want him losing either of us. This isn’t a game, River.”
“I know it’s not, darling,” he smirks. Lifting his hand, he trails his knuckles over my cheek, causing chill bumps to rise over my skin. “You see, Drake is all caught up over you, and that makes this vendetta dangerous for him, for me, and for you,” he tells me, glancing behind me, and I wonder if there’s someone there. If Drake has silently entered and he’s watching our exchange. “Soon you’ll learn all there is to know about Drake and me. Our past goes back so far into this shithole, we’ve survived so many things, and I just hope you’re strong enough to stomach the truth.” He shakes his head as if the memories are attempting to drag him under. When he meets my stare once more, he smiles sadly. “My best friend cares far too much about you.”
