Chapter 33
“PAINT IT BLACK” ARANKAI
I relax in my seat at Aiden’s place, releasing the smoke from my lungs. It tickles and burns my throat, and I don’t resist the urge to cough. It makes the high hit faster, and I won’t complain.
“How’s it going at Jerry’s?” Aiden asks as he takes the offered joint from my hand.
I cough one last time and rest my head against the edge of the sofa. “Same as usual.”
It’s not entirely the truth. Yes, it’s the same with my stepfather and mother, but things changed between Madison and me.
It’s been two days since she came into my room and demanded I use her as a fuck-toy.
Two days of sneaking around and keeping my promise about bending her over and fucking her senseless.
The private album on my phone is already increasing in size.
“You haven’t been hanging out with us much.” Aiden takes a drag of the skunky smoke and holds it in for a few seconds before blowing it out.
I make a noncommittal sound at the back of my throat. “Too busy getting my cock sucked.”
Goddamn it.
I didn’t mean to say that out loud. I want to blame the weed for my loose tongue, but I can’t.
Not when I already have it in my head that Madison is mine.
I want to flaunt her for the world to see.
Being a dirty little secret is all fun and games until it’s not anymore, and I don’t want her to be ashamed of our relationship.
Not that I have room to talk. It wasn’t so long ago that I was hesitant and worried about being judged about being with my sister, but I’ve hit the point where I don’t care anymore. I want her. She’s mine .
“You’ve been getting your dick sucked?” Aiden’s head whips toward me, his eyes wide and jaw on the ground. “By your sister?”
“No, you idiot. Why are you so stuck on fucking sisters?” I roll my eyes and kick his leg. He flinches, even though I didn’t hurt him, and moves to the other end of the couch.
He blows a raspberry and waves me off. “Fuck you. I’m not.” A beat of silence passes before he adds, “Then who are you getting your dick wet with? Is it Emily?”
I don’t know an Emily, and if I do, she’s obviously forgettable.
It feels weird, talking about sleeping with anyone other than Madison. But for her sake, I have to play it cool and pretend she doesn’t exist.
“Tiffany,” I say. It’s as close to the truth as I can get.
Aiden looks at the ceiling as he sifts through his memory for any Tiffany he might’ve met. She’s just as forgettable to him.
All the women I’ve slept with blur together until they’re a jumbled mess.
I can’t recall just one. Only that it took little effort to get them into bed with me.
These are the same girls who made fun of me in high school because I was the “emo” kid.
Now look at them. They all fall at my feet, begging for a chance now that I’ve gained height, muscle, and have piercings.
Aiden shakes his head, then shrugs. “Yeah, I don’t know. Is she at least hot?”
“Mediocre at best.” I fish my phone out of my pocket and open the text thread with Justin. The corner of my lip curves into a subtle smirk. I sent him several videos over the past few days, with captions to antagonize him.
It’s working.
On the first video—when I took Madison’s virginity—I wrote, This your girl, bro? in the caption. Justin responded with a slew of threats that only made me laugh.
For the second video, I sent a clip of Madison on her back on my bed, with her head hanging over the edge and my dick ramming into her throat. The caption reads, She sucks a mean cock. Almost came twice. Again, Justin wasn’t amused. He even got creative and tried insulting my dick size.
The third video was the best, though. I sent a clip of me behind Madison as my fat cock stretched her tight pussy.
She’s bent over the kitchen counter, her pants and underwear pooled around her thighs, and she’s death-gripping the edge of the table while I pound into her.
The video captures the moment I came inside her and pulled out to watch as my cum oozed out of her abused hole.
The caption reads, You begged her for a kiss.
She begged me to come inside her. We’re not the same.
10/10 will do it again *thumbs-up emoji*
Aiden clicks his tongue, dragging my attention away from the phone. “That’s a damn shame. I’m a little jealous you got some action while I’m over here unable to bring anyone home because my sister will chase them off.”
“Why is she chasing them off?”
“Beats me.” He grabs his Xbox controller and unpauses the video game. “If I can’t come soon, I’ll lose my mind. I swear my dick is about to fall off from neglect.”
“Why can’t you just jack off like a normal person?” I look back at my phone and stare at Justin’s last text message.
“Because,” Aiden growls. His thumbs hit the buttons on the controller harder than necessary.
“Nova always interrupts. She keeps wanting me to take her out. Or she needs the shower. Or god forbid we have a thunderstorm at night. She runs into my room and dives into my bed because she’s scared.
Do you know how awkward it is to have your dick out, then your grown-ass sister barrels into your room? I can’t have a moment of peace.”
I don’t answer his question. I know what it’s like because it’s happened to me with Madison. Things escalated from there, and obviously not for Aiden.
I raise an eyebrow and peek at him from the corner of my eye. “Isn’t she twenty?”
“Yes!”
“And she’s scared of thunderstorms?”
The TV blasts gunshots and explosions as Aiden fights the boss. “Yeah. I don’t get it.”
I watch him for a moment, wondering if he’ll get with his sister too. He admitted he’s jealous of Jaxon’s relationship with Dahlia. There has to be a deeper meaning beneath all the teasing and joking he does about us potentially sleeping with our sisters.
Wanting to test the waters, I say, “Well, if she keeps interrupting, then I’d give her the choice of leaving your room or letting you fuck her.”
Aiden’s shoulders stiffen, and his head whips toward me, eyebrows bunched together and a look of utter shock on his face. “Bro? What the fuck? She’s my sister.”
I crack a smile. “And I’m sure if you give her that offer, it’ll make her leave and you can go back to beating your meat in peace.”
He stares at me with a frown, but his gaze becomes distant as he gets lost in his thoughts. I turn back to my phone, and Aiden returns to his game and stays quiet. Probably weighing the pros and cons of doing something like demanding sex from his sister.
Justin
If you think you can get away with this, you have another thing coming. I’d be very careful if I were you.
I roll my eyes at the message. Justin is spewing hot air and empty threats he’ll never dream of keeping. If he squeals, I’ll take care of the problem, along with anyone else he brings into it. Namely, my stepfather.
Footsteps thud from above. I raise my head and stare at the ceiling, listening to the steps as they pace. “Is your sister here?”
“Yep.” Aiden says, popping the P.
Strange how he bitches about his sister while she’s here at the house. I wonder if she heard everything he and I said. The worry passes as fast as it comes. I shrug. It’s not my problem to deal with.
“What is she doing?” I say.
The footsteps fade until all I hear is Aiden’s video game.
He shrugs, keeping his focus on the TV. “I don’t know. She went to lie down for a nap not too long before you got here.”
I look back at my phone, checking the time. It’s past noon, and I’m already antsy about seeing Madison again, even though I saw her earlier this morning.
Nova enters the room dressed in her usual all-pink clothes. Her pigtails sport black ribbons, adding a little pop of darkness to the mix. “Aiden, I can’t sleep. Can you come cu—” She stops as she notices me. “Oh, hey, Ryder. What are you doing here?”
“Killing time.” More like staying away from my stepfather so I’m not hanging out in my room all by myself. It becomes too much to bear, locking myself away in a small space with nothing to do. It’s not like I can hang out with Madison. It’d bring too much attention to us.
Aiden pauses the game and turns to look at his sister. I don’t miss how his gaze drops over her body, taking in her tight shirt and miniskirt. “What do you need?”
Nova glances at me, then returns her gaze to him. Her cheeks turn a light shade of pink, and she nibbles her bottom lip. “N-nothing. It’s not important.”
I raise my eyebrows.
Aiden turns around and lets out a long, heavy sigh as he runs his fingers through his hair. “You know you can tell me anything.”
Nova shifts her weight and peeks at me again. Whatever is happening with her, she’s clearly nervous about me being here.
Tires squeal outside, growing louder as the sound moves toward the front of the house.
I jump to my feet as the living-room window shatters and shards of glass rain down on the floor.
Nova yells and scrambles backward with her hands raised to protect herself.
The car’s engine screams as the vehicle speeds away.
“Stay here!” Aiden yells at Nova.
He follows me as I run to the front door and fling it open. We rush outside and down the driveway, glimpsing a dark sports car speeding around the corner and disappearing.
“Goddamn it,” I growl.
“What was that?” Nova screams from inside.
Aiden strides to the street and checks the area. I search for anyone with the hope of ambushing us.
Aiden storms up the driveway, a deep frown marring his usually relaxed features. He glances at the damage, then enters the house. I follow him and stop dead in my tracks.
Nova hugs the wall furthest from the broken window in the living room.
Aiden rushes to her and drags her into his arms, and she buries her face in his throat, gripping him like he’s the anchor holding her swaying ship in place.
He leans down and kisses the top of her head, all the while burying his fingers in her hair.
“What was that?” she whimpers.
“Don’t know yet. Are you okay?”
She trembles and presses herself against him. “Just shaken up.”
Aiden picks her up, and she wraps her legs around his lean waist. He carries her to the couch, then settles on the cushioned seat with her straddling his lap, a tattooed hand on her waist. She doesn’t move away from him and winds her arms around his neck while still hiding her face in his throat.
My eyebrows shoot up my forehead at the sight of them acting more like lovers than siblings. And that motherfucker wanted to complain about how his sister wants to be babied? But I’m not judging them for it, because I’m in the same boat.
I take measured steps toward the window and peer at the ground, looking for whatever was used to break the glass. My eyes widen.
“Who would do that?” Nova says, on the brink of tears.
“I don’t know, but you’re safe. I promise,” Aiden says, attempting to soothe her. “You can sleep in my room tonight if it’ll make you feel better.”
I bend at the waist and carefully pick up the severed hand tied to a brick. The body part is cool to the touch. Decomposition hasn’t started yet, so my best guess is the person lost their limb hours ago. I twist the brick around, looking for a note.
“What the fuck is that?” Aiden’s voice hardens, a complete contrast to how he just sweetly talked to Nova.
I straighten while still searching for the message. It can be one word for all I fucking care, but there has to be something .
“Is that . . . is that a hand?” Nova screeches.
“Hey, why don’t you go up to your room for a bit, yeah?” Aiden says.
“No! I’m staying?—”
Aiden lowers his voice to a growl. “That wasn’t a suggestion, sis. Go to your room.”
Nova huffs and stomps out of the room and up the stairs. I turn to Aiden as he gets up from the couch.
“Who do you think did this?” he says.
I pull out my knife to cut through the layers of duct tape holding the severed hand to the brick. “Don’t know, but we’ll find out.”
“How?”
The brick falls to the floor, and I couldn’t care less if it caused any damage. My focus stays solely on the hand while Aiden scoops up the brick and looks it over on all sides.
“It’s obviously a message,” he says.
“My thoughts exactly.”
Aiden raises his head and looks at me with a serious expression. It gives me a glimpse of the monster he tries so hard to hide beneath the surface. “This isn’t the last we’ll see of them.”
I nod in agreement.
I only came here to get high for a bit before I return to Jerry’s house and sneak around with Madison, not have some motherfucker do a drive-by with a hand tied to a brick.
My phone vibrates before it rings. I snatch it out of my pocket and answer.
“We’ve got a problem,” Jaxon says from the other end.
“Yeah, no shit,” I growl.
“Declan is in the hospital. Someone snatched him up from the streets and took his hand.”
I drop my gaze to the severed appendage. “Left hand with a rose tattoo?”
Jaxon is silent for a moment before he says, “Yeah. How do you know that?”
“Someone thought it would be funny to throw it through Aiden’s living-room window with a brick.”
“When did this happen?”
“Not even five minutes ago.”
“We’ll check the footage to see if we can get any info. Any way you can bring the severed hand to the hospital?”
I nod. “Yeah, I’ll be on my way right now.”
“Be careful.” He hangs up.
I turn to Aiden. “Check the camera feed and see if you can get the car tags and an image of the person.”
He nods and pulls out his cell. “On it.”
I stride past him and search through his kitchen for a container. Once I find something suitable, I pack it with ice, then place the hand in a plastic bag and put it in the ice. I don’t know if they can save it because of how much time has passed, but I have a feeling that’s what Jaxon hopes for.
Jaxon texts me which hospital Declan is at, and I climb onto my motorcycle. There’s no time to waste. I only hope Declan will have enough information for us to go off of so that we can take care of the problem before it becomes something bigger.