Chapter 15 #2
“Either way, they’re breaking up a multinational company into more manageable chunks,” Dad says.
“Separating subsidiaries into businesses that won’t be in direct competition with each other.
” I already know this, but Dad’s repeating it for a reason.
“It’s still early days, but Rory thinks the benefits outweigh the risks and the stock market seems to agree. ”
“You want to replicate it?”
“It’s an idea, but we don’t have to rush things,” Dad replies. “I want each of you to explore your own interests and develop areas of expertise that suit your individual talents. Rory says you’ve taken on the redevelopment of Corbyn House.”
I wait for some remark about me taking an interest in a certain interior designer too. Dad would absolutely mention it if he knew, but the comment doesn’t come. Maybe I should trust Rory and Calder to keep their mouths shut more than I do.
“I hope to have something to share soon,” I say.
For a moment, I forget about the constant knot of anxiety in my stomach.
Working with Grace might have been a ruse so we could spend more time together, but I’ve enjoyed the challenge of something new almost as much as her company.
“I’ve been working with a designer and we’re leaning heavily into the history of the place, making it the spa’s unique selling point. ”
My dad watches me intently. “I’m glad to see that spark of interest, son. It’s been a while,” he says. He clears his throat. “Keep doing what you’re doing. Find your passion and I’ll support you all the way.”
For the first time in months, I see a clear path ahead. For me and Grace. What’s more, my dad is holding the door to it wide open. Our family can be five shades of fucked up sometimes, but occasionally we get it right.
“Thanks, Dad. I needed that.”
I drain my glass and I’m feeling more confident as I go in search of my sister. I can hear the thwack of a cue against a billiard ball, followed by Calder’s curse.
“Sucker!” Meri cackles.
I pause by the door, lurking out of sight in the shadows.
“Fuck, where’s Rory when you need him?” Calder mumbles. “There’s only so many times I can let you win without it getting boring.”
“Who are you trying to fool?” Meri says.
As I creep silently into the room, my sister has her back to me.
She’s wearing yoga pants and an oversized sweatshirt that could be one of Ewan’s.
Her thick coppery mane falls in tight curls over her shoulders so I can’t see her face, but I imagine she’s scowling as she points her cue at our brother.
He dwarfs her. We all do, but Meri is no less intimidating.
“You want Rory here as a distraction so you can cheat,” she says. “That’s the only way you ever win.”
Calder doesn’t look in my direction, but he knows I’m there. “You could never win against Duke,” he says, taking a step back so he’s not within striking distance of that cue.
“Another good reason for him not to be here.”
My brother flicks his gaze to me. “Should I leave?”
As Meri spins to face me, she doesn’t give herself time to register shock. She goes straight to anger, then fury as she switches her hold on the cue stick and throws it like a javelin straight at my head. I don’t flinch. If anything, I’d anticipated the move and snatch the cue from midair.
“Yeah, I’ll leave,” says Calder. Not my referee then.
“If anyone’s leaving it’s me,” Meri hisses, but when I step away from the door to let my coward of a brother leave, I step back to block my twin’s exit.
“I came here to see you.”
“And I only came because you weren’t supposed to be here,” she replies, pointing a finger at me. “Let me through, Duke. You do not want to be locked in a room with me and a full set of billiard balls.”
I fold my arms across my chest and flick the door shut behind me with my foot. “I gave you space. You gave me space. It’s time to talk,” I say, my tone firm, if just a little unsteady. “It’s been over a year.”
“And what?” she demands, her eyes glistening. “Is there a time limitation for hating you for killing Ewan?”
“It was an accident.”
“An accident you caused,” she says through gritted teeth.
“Yes, it was my fault,” I agree. I might not have been driving recklessly, but the split-second decision I made to swerve away from the fox was mine and it cost Ewan his life.
“There’s nothing I can do or say to get Ewan back, but I don’t have to lose you too.
And you don’t have to lose me. Let the loss end here.
I need you,” I plead, choking on the confession. “More than ever, Meri. I need you.”
She stares at me, her eyes shining, but it’s with pure rage. “Well, I don’t need you! Go away, Duke! Go away and stay away!”
“So you can wallow in your grief?” I ask because I’d done the exact same thing.
“You don’t have to waste the rest of your life proving how much you loved Ewan, Meri.
We know that. I know that because I loved him too.
But there comes a point when you need to take a risk on life again. Maybe even love again.”
Meri’s hands curl into fists and when she launches herself at me, I don’t back away. “Fuck you!” she screams as she rains punches down on my arms and chest. I stand there and take it. “I shouldn’t be grieving Ewan at all! He didn’t deserve to die. It should have been you. I wish it had been you!”
“And I wish all three of us had walked away!” I yell at her. “But shit happens!”
Her next strike glances off my chin and her scream is ear splitting.
“Fuck this!” I grab her waist and lift her off her feet. “I’m sick of being everyone’s punchbag!” I yell as she keeps hitting me. I carry her over to an overstuffed chair and drop her onto it with enough force to wind her. “Enough!”
Meri’s chest heaves, and now that we’ve stopped screaming at each other, I can hear voices in the foyer. Our fight has drawn attention. I could wait for someone to intervene, but where has patience ever got me?
“Ash investigated the accident,” I begin.
I was planning to put this off until all the other drama was settled, but I need the psycho I shared a womb with back in my life. There’s every chance the truth will make her hate me more, but it’s time to start taking risks again.
“He went through every inch of the wreckage,” I continue. “He helped figure out what caused it.”
Meri sees how it hurts bone deep to tell her. Fuck, she can probably feel it, just like I can feel her pain. She draws up her knees to her chest as I crouch down in front of her.
“Ash found fox hair and it triggered a memory. I swerved to avoid a damn fox,” I confess. I swallow hard and Meri’s throat bobs up and down too. “I didn’t know I was choosing its life over Ewan’s, and I have to live with that decision. And maybe I have to live with your hate too…”
In a perfect world, Meri would collapse into my arms and tell me I reacted on instinct. She’d tell me she doesn’t hate me and she didn’t mean it when she said she wished it had been me who died. But she just stares, tears streaming down her face.
Hesitant footsteps come to a halt outside the door. There’s a knock. “Is it safe to enter?” Rory asks.
“Come in,” I tell our brother, but I keep my gaze fixed on Meri. She’s still in shock.
The door creaks open, but instead of sure footsteps, there’s an ominous shuffle.
Meri blinks out of her trance as she looks over my shoulder. “Rory?”
I’m already rising to my feet as I turn. “What the hell?” I say, just as Meri says the same.
“Nice to see you two are back on the same page.” Rory goes to smile, but winces as the movement pulls at the cut on his lip.
There are more cuts on his face, fine lacerations that collectively add up to a horror show. There’s blood on his shirt and his left arm is in a sling.
“It looks worse than it is,” he insists as I move towards him. In a hushed voice he adds, “Have you told her?”
I’m nodding as Meri sweeps past me. “You need to sit down. What happened?”
Rory goes to resist, but Meri isn’t averse to manhandling one of her brothers, even a battered and bruised one. She drags Rory towards the chair she’s just vacated as Calder and Dad appear. Dad passes my brother a crystal glass with a generous measure of whiskey, and Rory takes it gratefully.
“What in god’s name happened, son?”
“It was a minor mishap on my way home from meeting Ash,” he explains. “A car came out of nowhere, probably went through a red light. It slammed into the side of my car hard enough to spin me around a few times and I hit a streetlight.”
“And the other car?” asks Meri, perching on the arm of the chair and checking through his scalp for more wounds.
“No idea,” he says, completely unfazed by the whole drama. Or maybe that’s just how he wants it to look for our sakes. “Whoever it was didn’t stop.”
“Do you want me to ask Mace to check CCTV?” asks Calder.
“Already did. There were no cameras nearby for him to hack into.”
“Someone was lucky,” mutters Meri.
“Yeah, me.” He offers our sister a wan smile. “I was treated at the scene, then got a cab here. I called Ash on my way. Just in case.”
My heart’s been thudding in my chest since I laid eyes on Rory’s wounds, but now it races like a jackhammer. “Just in case what, Rory?”
“In case there’s a threat we don’t know about” It’s no coincidence that he’s looking at me when he says it. “Ash is convinced we’re not seeing the whole picture with Katarina. Could there be a connection?”
I close my eyes, but instead of being greeted by darkness, all I see is red. My eyes snap open. I thought all the threats to my family were known. I thought I could handle it. “Are you sure you’re OK?”
“I’m good. And you shouldn’t worry. Ash thinks it’s unlikely I was targeted.”
Either Rory’s making that part up, or Ash said it to reassure his friend. It feels very targeted. “Even so, I’d feel better if I reviewed all our security measures. I should go.”
“Not a bad idea,” Dad replies. “Let me know if you need anything from me.”
“I should be good,” I say, but the world doesn’t feel solid under my feet anymore. I look to Meri. “Can we carry on our talk later?”
“I don’t think that would help either of us,” she says. The anger has left her, but that makes her words all the more damning. “I don’t have it in me to ease your conscience, Duke. I’m not that strong.”
Neither am I, I want to tell her, and yet somehow, I have to be. I turn away from my sister, if only so I don’t have to see the tears welling in her eyes again and she can’t see the emptiness in mine as I set off to face my demons.