Chapter 31 Sterling #2
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Elle glance up.
See the way her shoulders pull together.
Hearing her brother’s name must be jarring.
I want to run to her side and comfort her.
But she smiles a little at me, like she’s saying it’s okay, I’m okay.
That’s not enough for me, but I trust her to make that call.
Stan leans over Damon’s shoulder, squinting at the screen. “Damn, Damon, you move fast,” he mutters. “One minute, you’re balls-deep in Kaye. Next, you’re launching a counterstrike. Shit, don’t tell me you’re the type to bring a laptop to bed while you’re banging your wife.”
Damon doesn’t acknowledge the joke, but Kayla stifles a laugh. I narrow my eyes at Stan, who just looks proud as hell at his lame commentary.
“Focus, Stan,” Damon says.
“Focused,” Stan says brightly, running away to stir the pot of soup on the stove. “Focused on how fucked Ma’s about to be. But I can focus better when I’m not hungry. Do you not know how to feed your family, Damon?”
Elle laughs a soft sound that eases my chest. Kayla smacks the back of Stan’s head—thank god, someone with sense around the idiot—while cussing him off for “always giving Dae shit.”
Damon’s gaze pins me. “We have a fortnight to make sure her empire doesn’t rise from the ashes. Are you ready to end this, Sterling?”
I glance at Elle again. She’s wrapped in borrowed clothes, smiling at Kayla and Stan who are bickering back and forth.
Elle welcomes the chaos, this little last piece of our strange normal, even if it’s for a short while. Soon, we’ll have to face the monster that made us, when all I wanna do is make Elle smile. I want to see her happy all the time. But the only way to do that is to take down Clo once and for all.
So I turn back to Damon. “I’m ready. Whatever it takes.”
***
Damon’s back on the phone within seconds, pacing the corner of the open den. He’s coordinating, tightening the plan, building a noose around Clo one careful move at a time. It’s impressive how he naturally brings people together to accomplish all that.
I stay leaning against the wall, eyes on Elle.
She’s cozied up in a blanket, curled small on the couch.
She has one of my journals in her hands, reading it with such a tender look on her face that it rips me apart.
But once in a while, she looks up to smile at me.
And when she does, it feels like she’ll always love me at the end of the day.
Love me through it all, despite the horrible things I’ve written in my journals.
But Stan’s hovering too close to her right now, acting like a mother hen in the form of a giant man with a goddamn death wish.
He hands her a mug of tea with theatrical flourish and cracks some joke that makes her laugh.
It guts me a little, seeing and hearing it.
But I know she chose me. So whatever, Stan can have her little laughs. I get to have her whole heart.
Someone steps closer. I clock the movement without turning.
Kayla. She plants herself on my left, preening proudly.
“Hello there, Sterling,” she says with a sly smile. “Been meaning to get some alone time with you. By the way, you can call me Kaye.”
I arch a brow at her. “Sounds a bit much for strangers.”
“Well, that’s the thing. I wouldn’t say we’re strangers.” Her smile shifts into a smirk. “Would you, my dear little half-brother?”
I grunt, but it’s not a protest. She’s right anyway. No use pretending otherwise.
“Stan’s a blabbermouth, by the way. He sketched a really awful family tree where he spelled his own last name wrong twice. And then, he went ahead and estimated who’s the biggest down there.” She shudders with a disgusted groan. “Including your dad.”
I don’t know whether to groan too or laugh at his ridiculousness.
Kaye keeps going. “It was the worst plane ride over here, being stuck between Stan and Dae.” She snorts a tiny laugh. “So I just ended up making out with Dae so much that Stan forced himself to sleep rather than see any of that PDA.”
I don’t hide my smirk this time, letting out a little laugh of my own. My half-sister’s got pretty funny anecdotes.
“You’re not as mysterious as you think. You have to know that, right, Sterling?” Kaye nudges me lightly. “In fact, Stan says you’re half-Batman, half-wet cat, and Dae kinda sorta completely agreed.”
I turn my head to face her. She looks nothing like me and she’s chatty with her jokes and quick wit.
Must’ve learned to deflect that way. Growing up in a messy mafia family might’ve done it.
I grew up above cliffs the sun kissed when it felt like it.
Hers must’ve been all dark. Heard she handled most of her family’s business herself.
Doing things on her own. That makes two of us.
“So Naomi Knight,” she says, still smiling. “Our mother.”
I nod, no hesitation.
“Figures,” she says. “The hyper-independence should’ve been a dead giveaway.”
I huff under my breath. Damn, she clocks people fast too.
“I always wanted a sibling,” she says, frowning now. “Someone to split the weight with when things got ugly. Growing up in Darkhaven? Being the only child of a crumbling crime legacy? Hell…”
I don’t say anything. I don’t have to. She clears her throat, cutting through the heaviness.
“Anyway,” she says, brisk again. “We’re doing this. Taking Clo down won’t just help you. It’ll clean up Darkhaven too. Kys pumps into that city. Cut that circuit, the corruption goes with it.”
I nod again. No arguments there either. Seems like my half-sister makes a lot of sense. Maybe that’s what we inherited from Naomi. I sure as hell didn’t get it from Kai.
When the quiet settles for a few seconds, I stare across the room. Stan wraps the blanket tighter around Elle’s shoulders.
Kaye watches too, her smile brightening.
“She’s different, huh?” she says, sounding fond.
“The moment I met Elle, I knew it. She makes people feel seen and brings the best out of us.” With a soft sigh, Kaye continues, “She sees the criminals around her and acts like we’re actually people who still have potential to be humans. ”
“I know,” I say.
“No duh,” Kaye taunts. “You’re so in love with her it’s leaking out of your damn pores.”
I grunt, not bothering to deny it. She smirks, tipping her head.
When our eyes meet, I see too much mischief in hers. “You better marry her, Sterling. I need her to be my sister-in-law, you got that?”
I smile a bit. My half-sister can’t keep getting away with this. I gotta get even. “You and Damon,” I say, glancing toward him. “Extended honeymoon? Didn’t want to come back to reality?”
“Please,” she says, waving a hand. “You’re just jealous that Dae and I got uninterrupted sex and sunshine for months.”
I snort, silent and dry. “Not jealous of your poor judgment,” I counter. “Considering you once slept with Stan.”
Kaye’s smile widens with her brown eyes. Then her laugh booms across the room.
Stan looks up suspiciously our way. “Huh?” he asks, frowning from the other side of the room.
“Nothing, pumpkin!” Kaye calls sweetly.
I shake my head. She grins like we’ve known each other for years.
She bumps my shoulder. “And you,” she adds, still teasing, “would’ve hidden in that shack with Elle for a goddamn decade if the storm hadn’t ripped it out from under you.”
Shit, she got me again. I don’t say it, but a bigger smile tugs at my mouth.
Kaye notices, clearly pleased. “You realize,” she says, “I married a guy who shares a half-brother with me. Dae and you—same dad. Me and you—same mom.”
She sighs and spreads her hands in front of her as if she’s solving a fucked-up math puzzle.
“I don’t even know why I’m surprised anymore. My life’s always been one long soap opera.”
I let out a low laugh. “Tell me about it.”
My gaze goes back to Elle on the couch. She’s cradling her cup of tea, journal still open in her lap. Stan leans close, his hand rubbing her back. Another joke. Another laugh. My jaw sets. My muscles go tight.
Kaye sees it immediately. “Relax,” she says, nudging me one more time. “If Stan tries something stupid, I’ll break his nose before you do and before he can even blink.”
I hum low, but my mouth curves without thinking. Elle lifts her head and smiles at me again, and all my stupid worries disappear.