The Lies That We Tell

Chapter 11

She’s going to hate us, I just know it. What happened last night shouldn’t have happened. Not because of me and Liam being brothers. We’ve had threesomes before, more times than I can count. Hell, we’ve even shared girlfriends a time or two. There isn’t anything I wouldn’t share with my twin. But Rhyann was so scared last night, so needy, we took advantage of her vulnerability, and I hate myself for it.

I’ve loved the woman since we were children, but I knew she never belonged to me. But, I wanted her, needed her anyway. Then, I lied to her, I broke her heart and made her hate me as much as I hate myself. There’s no going back from that, no fixing the broken heart I caused. At least not by me. All I can do now is make sure she’s safe and happy for my brother to love, and for me to watch from afar.

“Which one of you ass hats thought it was funny to forget my panties?” Rhyann asks, descending the spiral staircase.

She’s wearing the black joggers and the hunter green fitted t-shirt I picked out for her. I knew she would look good in that. She would look just as stunning in a canvas sack if she came down the stairs wearing one. Her copper red hair is more of a crimson color when it’s wet, but it still glistens like fire in the sunlight. A fire I would gleefully burn in if she would ever love me like I love her.

“Good, you’re ready to go.” I lock my conflicted emotions away in the dark parts of my mind and turn on autopilot. It’s the only way I can get by right now.

“Ready to go where?” She asks, looking from me to Liam.

“The hospital, princess.” Liam practically skips over to her, planting a kiss on her cheek. “There’s been some development in the break in at the apartment.” Rhyann sends a fist to Liam”s gut, making my brother double over, out of breath. “What the hell was that for?”

“Watching me in the shower, perv.” Rhyann walks to the door. “Let’s go then.”

“Told you she’d know you were there.” I smirk at my brother, satisfaction washing over me watching him catch his breath.

“How does she know it was me?” he asks.

“Because your brother’s not the idiotic pervert you are,” Rhyann answers before stepping out into the hall.

I laugh, really laugh from my belly and follow the fiery woman out the door.

The drive to the hospital is long, and the dead silence in the car makes it feel even longer. Rhyann hasn’t spoken a word to either of us since she walked out of the hotel room door. I’d give my left nut, hell I’d give my soul just to know what is going through her mind. What is she thinking about? Is she really that pissed that Liam saw her masturbating in the shower? My fears from today sneak back to the forefront of my mind. Does she hate us, hate me, for what happened between us last night? Maybe she’s still in shock from the kidnapping.

My knuckles whiten as I grip the steering wheel. I imagine myself, my knees pressing into the hooded fuckers abdomen as I strangle the bastard to death for what he put Rhyann through. All the ways I could kill the piece of shit goes through my mind. I could duct tape him like he did Rhy, then beat him with the same wrench she used to defend herself. That idea leaves a bad taste in my mouth, it’s never any fun beating a man who can’t defend himself. It’d be more fun to chase the piece of shit through a junkyard and then watch him die slowly as the weight of a fallen car crushes him to death.

“What’s got you grinning, Dev?” Liam asks from the passenger seat.

The images in my mind have me smiling like a love sick fool. Only I’m not love sick, I’m vengeance hungry. “Nothing, just planning for the future,” I say in a low voice, wiping the smile from my face and focusing on the road ahead of me.

The rest of the drive is fairly silent. None of us say a word to each other, and what are we supposed to say anyway? Hey, how about that threesome? Or, A set of twins and a redhead walk into a bar… Yeah, I can see my brother saying some shit like thatif he thought it would lighten the mood.

Once I exit the freeway, I can see the roof of the hospital in the distance, we’re a few blocks away, and as long as the traffic is light, we’ll be parking in a matter of minutes. I risk a glance in the rear view mirror at Rhyann. She’s head down looking at her phone. An intense expression on her face as though there’s something on the screen she doesn’t like. I’m afraid to ask her what she’s looking at, afraid of the response or the fuck off she would give me. She punched my brother in the solar plexus without thinking twice when she saw him, there’s no telling how she’s feeling about me right now.

As if she can feel me looking at her, Rhyann looks up from her phone. Her face ghost white and there’s the shimmer of tears in her lashes. “Tate and Aubree publicly announced their engagement this morning,” she says with a sad sigh. “I’m so happy for them.”

Liar. I know she’s lying through her teeth. Lying to herself as much as she is to Liam and myself. “I think Aubree was hoping to announce it at the gala last night but that didn’t work out. So the hospital announcement must have given her the attention she craves.” Leave it to Liam to psychoanalyze the engagement announcement.

“It doesn’t say anything about Tate being in the hospital, and the picture attached to the article looks like an older one. At least I’m certain it’s not from the hospital.” Rhyann hands Liam her phone from the back seat. My brother stares at the screen until I come to a stop at a red light.

“Let me see.” I hold my hand out, waiting for him to hand me the device.

“Dude, it says he’s going to take over Devereux Pub in the fall. What the fuck?” Liam says as he hands the phone to me.

“I know,” Rhyann sighs. “ Why would he make that claim, it’s a lie.”

I look over the article, skimming through the words while the light remains red. Sure enough, it’s as plain as day. The article says that as a wedding gift, Adrian Craford, the soon-to-be groom’s father, will be taking his son under his wing to take over as CFO of Devereux Publications.

“Don’t worry, princess. What Tate and his spoiled little brat don’t know is that you’ve already signed the papers and have taken over the company already,” I reassure her.

She gives me a tight smile as I hand the phone back to her and go through the green light.