“You don’t get to credit yourself for the life I chose to live the minute I walked out of your office. You don’t have that much sway over me, not anymore. You lost that right,” I snap.
Jaw set, I see the sting I inflicted with my words in his eyes a second before I flit my gaze away and start unloading the rest of the groceries. He keeps his stare on me while I wordlessly finish my task, refusing him the fight he wants. I feel his disappointment when I don’t rise to his challenge as silence lingers between us before he turns and storms out of the kitchen. The front door slams minutes later, and I know he’s gone for another run.
Later that night, I feel the dip of the bed before he pulls me tightly to him, so I’m snug against his chest. Wrapped in his arms, I feel his apology, his need to make it all right with every beat of his steady heart against my back, but I stay mute with the burn of the truth he spoke. If the conclusions I drew were also the truth—which they were due to his bite—then we’re both adrift for the moment.
Age Twenty-One
“What’s with you today, man?” Tyler asks, taking a chair as I toss another log onto the fire. Sean and Dominic finish setting up camp just as the sun begins to dip past the tree line.
I’m still jet lagged from my flight in, on Paris time, the realities I’m living between worlds blurring as I scan the clearing. The burden of maintaining my roles in each is beginning to wear on me, but I refuse to let it deter me. Especially after today. Ten years ago, in this very place, I set out on a path to avenge my parents’ murders, and being here grounds me, reminds me of how far I have to go to seek that justice. But my presence here, in this place I consider sacred, also lets me know how far I’ve come and how close I’m getting.
“I’ll get to it,” I tell him as I glance over at Dominic who takes his chair and meets my pensive gaze. I swat at the mosquito sucking on my forearm as Sean uncaps a beer. Fresh from his first school pep rally, Triple Falls’ budding star quarterback is still clad in his jersey.
“I told you we aren’t drinking tonight.” I snatch the bottle from his hand just as he lifts it to his mouth.
Sean glares up at me. “You make it through a two-a-day football practice and tell me you don’t deserve a beer. And newsflash, I have a set of parents. They live a few streets over from yours, and they’ve taught me right from wrong.”
“As much good as that’s done you,” Tyler jabs.
“This is important,” I snap. Sean’s eyes flit to the confiscated beer in my hand before I toss it into the flames. This past summer was supposed to be my time to reconnect with my brothers, but I was absent, often flying back to France, and mostly because of Antoine’s demands. But I still need him for the moment, so I’m stuck being his errand boy until I can find a way to be less dependent. He’s been the resource I thought he would be, supplying me with damn near everything I’ve needed while remaining greedy with his wealth, so he’s the only leg I have to stand on. It’s the right move on his part to keep me contained, keep me reliant on him, but it’s stifling my progress to the point I need to make moves to ensure I can sweep his legs if need be.
“Can we get on with this?” Tyler says, pulling my attention from the fire.
“You have somewhere you need to be?”
“Yeah, I do, actually,” he darts his eyes away.
“He’s been disappearing a lot,” Sean supplies. “And won’t tell us who she is.”
“Because there is no she,” Tyler snaps.
Sean grins. “Methinks the lady doth protest too much.”
“Methinks you’re going to lose some baby teeth if you don’t shut your fucking mouth.”
I ignore their exchange, eyes trained on Tyler.
“Anything I need to know?” He jerks his chin in reply. He’s clearly hiding something, and it’s personal from his bite. There most definitely is a she, and that’s one of the reasons I’ve called the meeting.