24. Unapologetic #2
Glancing over her shoulder, she saw Caleb leaning back against a tree with his arms folded across his chest. His hazel-green eyes settled on her as a deep red flushed his cheeks.
She knew that heated look all too well and quickly found something else to focus on.
“I’m just gonna feed her first,” she said, picking up Chloe.
Caleb’s Adam’s apple bobbed with unfettered desire as he watched Deja unbutton her cardigan. His eyes lingered on her swollen, heavy breasts as she peeled her bra down before he forced himself to look away while she nursed.
While Deja breastfed Chloe, she quietly watched Caleb shed his flannel, leaving him in a white tee. His arm had stopped bleeding, but the towel was bloodstained. She bit her lip as he picked up his ax and rammed it into a piece of wood, splitting it in half.
“We’re running a little low on firewood,” he said, seamlessly splitting another log. Deja reflexively jolted. Her breathing sharpened as she admired the way his muscles flexed, and his shirt tightened around his biceps.
She blinked herself out of her aroused trance. “Caleb?”
“Yeah, babe?”
“Were you and Jax fighting?”
Caleb paused briefly, staring at the blood-soaked towel around his bicep, and shrugged. “We always fight,” he said, splitting another log.
“Why?”
Caleb snorted. “Have you met the guy?”
Deja chuckled, and it brought a smile to Caleb’s face. “But it’s different than with Ian and Keith, isn’t it?” she continued. “It almost feels like… you hate each other…” she probed. But Caleb remained silent as he split another log. “ Do you hate him?” she asked.
“...he’s my cousin…”
“That doesn’t really answer my question...”
Caleb sighed. “We just have… bad history…”
Deja bit her lip. “...about Jamie?”
Startled by the mere mention of his brother’s name, Caleb split both the log and the stump underneath it in half from the sheer force of his swing. Deja looked at him, startled. “I’m… I’m sorry- I didn’t mean-”
“No, it’s fine. You’re fine,” Caleb said, breathing heavily as he dropped his ax.
“You just… caught me off guard.” Deja looked at him, concerned as he wiped his hands on his jeans.
“You hungry?” he asked without looking at her.
Caleb didn’t wait for her response before he was digging into the cooler.
He pulled out two sandwiches and two bottles of water and handed one of each to Deja.
“You made us lunch?” she asked.
“Gotta keep my girls fed,” he smirked. Deja’s cheeks hurt from trying not to smile so hard. Staring at the ground, Caleb got lost in his thoughts before biting into his sandwich. “Jamie and I were… close…”
“You don’t have to-”
“It’s fine. I can’t keep this from you forever…” Caleb sighed. “Ian told you about the brothel we worked at? House of Navine.”
Deja frowned. “Yes.”
“Well… so did our mother.”
Deja looked at him, confused. “Like to help with utilities-”
“No…” Caleb said quietly. “...she did not help with… utilities .” Deja’s heart dropped to her stomach.
“My mother was young. Too young when she met my father. He was part of a local Scottish gang. She was the daughter of a diplomat who held one of the highest seats in Scottish Parliament… and the Society. She became pregnant at the age of 16 by a man twice her age, and her parents, my grandparents, disowned her.”
Deja frowned as Caleb angrily bit into his sandwich. “Did your father stick around?” she asked.
“For a while…” Caleb muttered. “At least a year or so before he ditched her, too. That’s where the Donovans came in. My mother’s sister, Jax’s mother, offered to take her in.”
“That was kind of her.”
Caleb snorted. “You haven’t met Lillian. She’s a manipulative, soul-sucking witch who can rip your soul from your body with mere words alone.”
Deja swallowed hard as Caleb angrily bit into his sandwich again. “Was… she like that with her sons, too?”
Caleb looked at Deja. “If you’re wondering if she’s the reason why my cousins are fucking psychopaths, then yes. That’s definitely part of it…” he said, biting into his sandwich. Deja exhaled sharply as she looked at Chloe.
“Maybe that’s why they’re so obsessed with you…” Caleb said quietly. “Because you’re everything she wasn’t. I mean, you wouldn’t sell your sister into prostitution for housing, instead of giving her a fucking room in your massive house, right?”
Deja was at a loss for words. “I… I’m an only child…” was all she could muster, and Caleb burst into laughter. She shook her head. “Sorry, I… Why couldn’t she just take your mother in?”
“Because Lillian feeds on the pain and misery of others,” Caleb’s eyes darkened. “My mother worked in that House for 15 years… before dying of syphilis...”
Deja’s heart fell. “...I’m… I’m so sorry, Caleb…”
Caleb smiled ruefully. “That’s what Jax said when I got the news right before an algebra exam in the 10th grade. Here. Let’s switch so you can eat.”
Caleb peeled Chloe off of Deja and carefully placed her against his shoulder to help her burp while Deja bit into her sandwich. “So… you and Jax were close?” she asked.
“Jax was like my big brother,” Caleb said, gently patting Chloe’s back. “He was protective. Empathetic. Understanding… And then he turned into a traitorous piece of shit.”
“Caleb,” Deja sighed.
“Shoot, sorry,” Caleb said, covering Chloe’s ears.
“What made him traitorous?”
Caleb’s jaw tensed as if it pained him to say more.
“I grew up with the Donovans. We went to school together. They covered for Jamie and me while we worked to get our mum a place so she didn’t have to work in that damn House, giving her body away to those filthy-” Caleb stopped himself, remembering Chloe was in his arms. He calmly exhaled.
“When my mother died, Jax asked his mother to take us in. And that’s when the Society consumed my life and destroyed what remained of my family… ”
“It sounds like he was just trying to help…?”
“Oh, I know he was. That wasn’t the problem,” Caleb said. “Jamie and I trained under the Donovans. I was killing men twice my size by the time I was 17, like it was a hobby.” Deja looked at him, horrified.
“That’s normal, Deja. In fact, we were late bloomers,” Caleb said casually.
“The way the Society works: Reapers work in familial divisions, spearheaded by the first-born. Jax was to succeed his father, and he planned for Jamie and me to join his division. Well, since we had come of age, our grandparents reared their ugly heads and reclaimed us instead.”
Deja’s eyes widened. “Is that what tore you guys apart?”
“No,” Caleb said. “No, actually, Jax promised to protect us from our grandparents. From the Society. As long as we followed him. Jamie had always been a rebel, just like Mum. He gave everyone a hard time, especially Jax.” Caleb’s eyes glazed over with regret.
“...but I would’ve followed Jax into hell… ”
Deja frowned at the emotion that flooded Caleb’s face as he affectionately kissed Chloe’s head.
“Our grandparents were worse than the Donovans. They hated us. Treated us like prized animals bred to do their bidding. But I did everything they asked because I feared them. Feared their power. What they could do to me… to Jamie.”
Chloe abruptly burped, bringing a smile to Caleb’s face. “There we go. Little Spitfire needed that.” Swaddling Chloe, he put her back in her nest of pillows. “You wanna get started on those krythnoids?” he asked.
Twisting her mouth with anticipation, Deja nodded as she got up and followed Caleb to an open area. She grabbed her tools and started digging into the grass. She glanced over at Caleb to see him digging as well. “Can you tell me more about him?” she asked. “...your brother?”
Caleb slowly exhaled. “He was a perpetually angry asshole who didn’t know how to channel his emotions, except through ripping people apart… and he was my best friend…”
Caleb looked at her. “He was the only person in this world who knew exactly how I felt. It was like we shared a brain sometimes. But he was so starved for attention that he became a menace. He was always so competitive. Especially with Jax. As if he had something to prove. He felt like the world had screwed him over, so he did everything he could to screw the world. I think that’s why he resonated with Roselyn so much… ”
Caleb smoothed out the fresh soil. “But he only got worse under my grandparents. Killing partners. Clients. Politicians. You know… important people ,” he snorted. “He got out of control. I tried to stop him, but… Jamie’s a behemoth.”
Deja started planting seeds while listening to Caleb. “One day, he killed the wrong person, and the Society put him on trial,” Caleb said quietly.
Deja paused. “...on trial?”
“He was forced to stand before the Board and plead his case. Any Reaper that’s put on trial must be represented by their Division. But my grandparents were the ones who called for the trial in the first place…”
Deja furrowed her brow. “Did Jax represent him?”
Caleb snorted. “ I represented him. Dear cousin Jax… was on the Board. There were ten members. All they needed was one vote. Just one to save my brother.” Caleb’s eyes glazed over with anger. “It was fucking unanimous .”
Deja’s heart dropped. “Sophie told you what happened to him?” Caleb asked, covering the seeds, as his voice cracked.
Deja struggled to speak. “She… she said he was… excommunicated or s-something-”
“ They killed him ,” Caleb said, trembling with anger.
“They fucking killed my brother! I w-was 19- I didn’t know a f-fucking thing about their goddamn rules- I had- They g-gave me three days to prepare, and I- I didn’t sleep, t-trying to study their stupid fucking books, b-but I couldn’t! I c-couldn’t save him-!”