Chapter Twenty-Two #2
Oliver sucks in a harsh breath and averts his gaze. “Because I betrayed him.”
“I see.”
“Not in the way you think,” Oliver adds quickly.
“I was… God, I don’t even know what I was thinking, but I was trying to help.
When Dad brought me back, I was angry and frustrated, and I thought I wouldn’t be here long, but when the days dragged on, I realized I had to take matters into my own hands. ”
“So, you went to our enemies for help?”
Oliver tilts his head in confusion. “What? No, I would never do that. I know I don’t have the experience you and Mathew do, but I know getting into bed with them is a bad idea. They’d gut me like a fish as soon as they were done with me.”
Oliver glances behind me, and a flicker of fear moves across his face. “I went to Mathew for help. I told him that we needed to do whatever it took to end the war, and he agreed.”
“Go on.”
“He told me the only way to end the war was to make a deal with our enemies.” Oliver winces. “I know it sounds bad, and I fought him on it, but he told me that he knew better, and I believed him.”
I motion for Oliver to continue.
“He told me that he was too recognizable and that I had to be the one to meet with them, so I did,” Oliver continues. “We discussed terms for a new alliance and handing over more of the Payne assets.”
Searing anger erupts within me. “Fucking hell, Oliver. At no point did you stop to consider what a bad idea all of this was? Why didn’t you come to me?”
“Because you don’t listen to me. You’ve never listened to me.”
“You’re my little brother! You weren’t supposed to get dragged into any of this. You were supposed to know better. Do better.”
Oliver’s expression tightens. “How am I supposed to when I’m always treated like a child? Even Mathew was always looking over me and telling me what to do.”
“Let’s say I believed you. Why would Mathew turn on you?”
Especially when it was all happening under my nose, and I was none the wiser.
Is it possible I had the wrong brother followed and watched?
You know how power-hungry and jealous Mathew is. He hasn’t made it a secret that he thinks he’d do a better job than you.
But my twin has always been direct and clear about his ambitions.
Working in silence and secrecy isn’t his style.
Unless he got fed up with waiting around for your father to have you removed. If you think about it, everything Oliver is saying makes sense.
Unless my little brother is playing me, too.
I can’t shake the feeling that this is all a test to see how far my loyalties go.
“Because I discovered how deep the betrayal ran,” Oliver replies. “I had no idea. If I had, I never would’ve… I didn’t know he wanted to hurt you, Mason, I swear. I got played.”
“You should’ve come to me.”
“I’ve been wanting to come clean for weeks.” Oliver’s voice is so quiet now that I have to lean in to hear him. “But he’s got eyes and ears everywhere, and I was afraid of what he’d do if he found out I was going to flip. I knew he’d pin this on me.”
I reel back. “And here we are.”
“I’m being set up,” Oliver repeats. “I don’t know what I can do to make you believe me, but it’s the truth.”
I can’t dismiss the possibility of Mathew being the traitor, but it makes the reality so much worse.
Oliver would’ve been easier to deal with. My twin has far more power and influence, and he can bring the empire to ruin around us, just to prove he can.
If Mathew is behind this, you’re all fucked.
“I’m sorry.” Oliver hangs his head. “I know it won’t change anything, but for what it’s worth, I am sorry. It wasn’t supposed to get this far. I just wanted to go back to my life.”
“So, you wanted to turn on Mathew, and he did it first?” I shake my head.
“Yes. When I found out about the attack, I knew I had to do what I could to stop all of this.”
I want to believe Oliver, for our mother’s sake, at least. But too much has happened, and there have been too many hits for me to take him at face value.
A part of me wants Mathew to be the culprit and for Oliver to be the innocent one, if only so the world can make sense again.
Is that Mason Payne talking, or the man who’s going to be a father?
Because fuck it all if I don’t want to believe something good can survive amid all this darkness.
I take my knife out and hold it up to his neck. “I should cut you open and leave you to bleed out for what you did.”
Oliver holds still. “You could.”
“You still betrayed me,” I hiss. “Having a change of heart doesn’t change that.”
“I know.”
With a grunt of disgust, I release him. “If I find out you’re lying to me, you’ll wish I had sliced you open.”
I pick up the gag, turn back around, stuff it into his mouth, and leave the basement.
London is standing by the window when I turn the knob to our room.
She jumps up when I walk in, then gives me a smile. “Are you okay?”
“Mathew has Oliver tied up in the basement.” I lean in to run my mouth along her neck. “He knows Oliver betrayed us.”
London’s hands move down my back and pause at my behind. “Isn’t that a good thing?”
I move my mouth up to her ear and rub myself against her. “Oliver insists that Mathew betrayed us, and that Oliver only helped him because he wanted to end the war.”
“So they’re both guilty?”
“Yes, but that’s not the worst part. Oliver says he wanted to come clean, but Mathew sold him out before he could.”
“Mathew framed Oliver?” London draws back to look at me with a half-smile.
One of my hands moves under her shirt, the other keeps her arms pinned over her head. “That’s what he said.”
London’s breath quickens as she drops a hand between us to touch me. “You believe him.”
“I think he’s telling the truth. Or at least part of it.”
London’s hand moves to my pants. She pretends to fumble with the button there. “This is bad, isn’t it?”
I unhook her bra and move to the buttons of her shirt. “It’s much worse than we thought.”
“What are we going to do?”
I attach my lips to her neck again and press hot, open-mouthed kisses there. “For now, we have to be careful where we speak and who we talk to.”
London’s fingers move to my shoulders. “Okay.”
“We need to keep acting normal.” I draw back, pull down my pants, and step out of them. “We have to put on the best damn show of our lives.”
London shimmies out of her sweatpants. “Okay.”
I pull her to me and bury my face in her hair. “Fuck. I’m sorry you got dragged into all of this, but I’m going to do what I can.”
London melts against me and sighs. “It’s not your fault.”
“We might have to run.” I withdraw to look at her, frame her face in my hands, and brush my lips against hers. “Your parents, too.”
London nods and pulls me in for another kiss. “We’ll figure it out.”
I shiver when she pulls down my boxers and steps back, running her fingers lightly along my back. She does a full circle before she stops in front of me. Slowly, and without taking her eyes off me, she hooks her thumbs through my underwear and pulls it down.
This time, when she reaches for me, I growl.
I cup the back of her neck and pull her so she’s flush against me, and there isn’t an inch of space between us. In silence, we move backward until we reach the bed, and we fall together.
When London climbs on top of me, I grip her hips and send up a silent prayer.
This is not how your story ends. Do not let this be your legacy.