Chapter 17 #2
“Naw, sorry, Ma.” Devin ran down the hall, but my Ma turned to me and put a finger over her lips, and I nodded. Walking behind her, we went to the window, and she didn’t say I could move until we saw him running across the grass from the back of the house toward the barn.
Ma moved us away from the window and closed the door before squatting down in front of me.
“Now tell me what he did this time. Did he give ya these bruises?” Ma touched the marks on my face, and I held out my hands that had dirt, cuts, and bruises on them.
This wasn’t the first time that Devin had hurt me.
He was always finding ways to make me cry or scare me. He thought it was funny.
“He was up in the loft hurtin’ the new kittens that Da told em to stay away from, and I told em ta stop.
” I pointed to my cheek. “He hit me, and we rolled around in the hay fightin’, and he just kept hittin’ me, but I got free and ran to the ladder.
I said I was gonna tell Da what he was doin’, and he said he would skin me alive.
He pushed me off the ladder, but I landed on the stacked bales.
” I took a deep breath. “I got up and ran and hid. He was callin’ me name and said that if I didn’t come out, he was gonna kill me new puppy, and if I told Da, he would kill me.
He was sayin’ it for real, Ma. I’m tellin’ ya the truth.
” I shook my head. “Please din’t make me do chores with him. Please.”
Ma gripped my shoulders and stood. “Go get cleaned up in me loo. I’ll speak to yer Da when he gets home.”
Devin glared at me all through supper, and I made sure to stay right beside Ma until our nighttime reading. When I finally had to go to bed, I was scared to close my eyes. I could hear Ma and Da yelling down the hall and knew it had to be about Devin.
Hours later, I lay on my side, curled into a ball with my eyes closed, but I heard the creak of the floorboard before my door opened.
I cracked my eyes just enough to see Devin slip inside and close the door behind him.
I tried to pretend I was asleep, but the closer he got to the bed, the more I began to shake.
Unable to stop myself, I opened my eyes and screamed at the top of my lungs as I saw the knife.
Holding out my hands, I stared at the silver tip as it came for my face, and the sharp blade went right through my hand. I screamed again in fear and pain, as my door burst open.
Da ran into the room with Ma not far behind. Devin stopped and looked at me. His eyes were dark, like a monster, instead of my brother’s.
“It’s all his fault. He made me do it,” Devin said, letting go of the knife.
“Liar,” I cried.
“Shut up, ya baby.”
“Naw, you shut it,” Da said and marched for Devin.
He cracked him so hard across the face that he landed on my bed.
The bouncing made my hand hurt more, and Ma ran to me and picked me up.
Crying, I held my hand with the sharp blade sticking out of it as she rushed me from the room and left my Da to deal with Devin.
The next day, I stood and watched him load his suitcase into the car to go to the airport. I didn’t know where Da was sending him, but I didn’t care. The pain in my hand told me that as long as he was far away, I could breathe.
B ut it didn’t stop him from picking up where he left off every summer when he came home.
I dreaded those months and hated that no matter how much older and taller I got, so did he.
Nash was the only one who knew all the horrid details of the torture I’d suffered—things that only a demon would dream up.
I could still remember the faces of those he invited over to humiliate me and how he took money to let them touch me.
I couldn’t hate anyone more than I hated my brother.
It took coming to Wayward to feel safe. It had been the first time I slept through the night without waking up in a cold sweat.
The sound of shoes in the hallway still woke me from a dead sleep and made my heart race.
I could never look at a shovel, broom handle, or pitchfork without shivering.
I didn’t dare love a pet again for fear that Devin would kill it in front of me.
Whenever he was home, I always spent a week or two in the hospital.
My brother was a monster, and he was as sadistic as they came. I wasn’t crying over him being taken away and most likely dying. I was crying because no matter how old I got, a part of me would always remain the little boy who was abused by his brother and forced to keep it secret.
Relief mingled with the pain, making my chest hurt.
With each gasp came another memory that I’d beaten down.
Opening my hand, I stared at the thin scar on my palm.
It was a constant reminder that if I’d fallen asleep that night, I would be dead.
Another memory that helped turn me into the person who could pull a trigger and walk away.
Devin had tried to kill me, but Da was no better.
The only difference was that he wanted to crush my soul and turn me into a puppet he could control.
As hard as I worked to be free of the memories that haunted me, deep down, I never thought I would be free of any of this.
No matter what I said to Blake about us getting out from under the crazy, the doubt lingered like a cheap cologne.
It felt inevitable that I would end up buried six feet under before I turned twenty-five, and the person holding the shovel would be a family member.
“You okay?” I nodded, but I was too embarrassed to look up at Nash.
He laid his hand on my knee, and I slowly lifted my head to meet his steady gaze.
I’d already pledged my life and my gun to him, but I would do anything he ever needed or wanted.
Tonight was the greatest gift anyone had ever given me, and a new faith had filled me.
We really would take over and be free of the tyranny once and for all.
Nash didn’t say anything else, but he pushed himself to his feet and held out his hand.
As I gripped it, I felt in my heart that he was my brother.
Blood didn’t matter. Our bond was forged on something much stronger.
Pain and revenge were the fuel that had brought us together, but friendship and respect fused us forever.
As soon as I was on my feet, I pulled Nash into a hug. “Thanks,” I said as he gripped me back. “We’re gonna get them all, aren’t we?”
“That’s the plan,” he said as my cell rang.
Pulling the phone out of my pocket, I stared at Da’s name, and my pulse leaped. “Shite, so ya think he knows,” I asked, showing Nash the screen.
“Let go of me! I’ll fucking have you all killed. Let go,” Devin raged as he was brought out of the office, his toes scraping uselessly along the floor.
“Shut him up,” Nash yelled, and a guard’s fist connected with Devin’s jaw, snapping his head to the side while his body went completely limp. “I’d use some tape or a gag. I have some in the office you just came from.” Nash looked at me. “Okay, answer it.”
Shit, shit, shit. I sucked in a deep breath and steeled myself for whatever my Da was about to say.
“Hey,” I said as I stared at my brother while silver tape was placed over his mouth.
“Where are you?”
“Out in town gettin’ food with Nash, why?”
“Have you talked to your brother?”
“Which one,” I asked, and there was a growl of impatience on the other end of the line.
“Devin. I’ve been trying to reach him since Christmas,” Da said. I lifted a brow at Nash, who was leaning in to listen. I mouthed Do you think he knows , but Nash shook his head.
“No clue. I thought he changed his mind and went with you instead of stayin’ behind. Ya know, we don’t exactly share schedules or do each other’s nails,” I said sarcastically.
“Don’t fuck with me, Myles. If you know where he is, tell me.”
“Why would I keep where he is secret? I don’t give a fuck what he does, and you know why. So no, I don’t know, and I don’t care.”
He impatiently grumbled and swore. If nothing else, just hearing the frustration in my Da’s voice and knowing that I had one up on him would fill me with joy for years.
“If you see him, tell him to give me a call. It’s important that I speak to him.”
I rolled my eyes. “Aye, of course. Anythin’ I can do?” It was better to play the game.
“Actually, there is one thing. If you happen to see any of the Mikhailovs, let me know immediately.”
“Send me pics. I don’t know what they look like.
Any reason we should be worried,” I asked as I watched Nathaniel talk to his sister while Devin was loaded into a large dog cage in the back of the SUV.
My phone dinged, and pictures of the entire Mikhailov family appeared a moment later. Nathaniel was one of them.
“That’s none of your concern. Just let me know.”
“Got ‘em, and I’ll let ya know if I see any of them, but no so far,” I lied, but I must have been convincing enough because my Da’s voice was less tense when he answered.
“Good, very good. I knew I could count on you, son.”
Nash shook his head, and his lip curled up as he stared at my phone in disgust. I agreed with the look. Such bullshit. He was fine with Devin abusing me, but now that Devin was AWOL, I was suddenly in his good graces—two-faced, lying prick.
“Oh, by the way, Myles, I spoke to Fiona. She is very excited about the wedding next year.”
“Da, I told ya, I’m not marryin’ her.”
“You will, or else.”
“Or else what? The answer is no. Tell her I’m sorry, but I’m not going through with an arranged marriage just so we can have a stronger hold in Ireland with her family’s political standing. Have her marry Devin if ya want that, but it won’t be me.”
He repeatedly swore on the other end. “We’ll talk about this when I’m back. Remember, have Devin call, or let me know if you see a Mikhailov.” He hung up before I could say anything else.
“Fucker,” I growled and wanted to crush my phone and throw it across the room. I looked at Nathaniel and, for just a moment, wondered if I could steal Snowflake and run to Cali with them. Hell, I’d run anywhere as long as I could take her with me.
“Ready,” Nathaniel called out to us.
“Ya know what I can’t wait for?”
“What,” Nash asked.
“The day that it’s our fathers tied up and in the back of a truck like that.”
Nash’s lip curled up. “You and me both.”