Chapter 18 Silas
Silas
Shouting wakes me.
Loud. Male. Furious.
My eyes snap open, and Tania stirs beside me, disoriented.
More shouting from downstairs.
Ben.
I’m moving before I’m fully conscious. I’m only wearing sweatpants, and my bare feet are hitting the cold hardwood. floor
“Stay here.” I don’t look back at Tania, and I don’t wait for her to answer.
I rush toward the living room, where the shouting is coming from.
The yelling gets louder.
“—fucking unbelievable! You think I wouldn’t find out?”
I round the corner into the living room.
Ben’s pacing with his phone in his hand. Callum and Evan stand near the windows, both fully dressed like they’ve been up for hours.
Callum’s arms are crossed. Defensive. Evan’s hands are loose at his sides, but his shoulders are tight.
Ben sees me. Everything stops. His face changes. Rage sharpening into something colder.
“You.” He takes a step toward me. “You. I trusted you.”
Ice spreads through my chest.
“Ben—”
“Don’t.” He holds up his phone. “Don’t fucking lie to me.”
He taps the screen and turns it toward me.
It’s the paparazzi footage from when Tania and I kissed outside of the gala. And now that I am actually seeing it for the first time, it’s not the brief, camera-friendly version I told myself it was.
In the video, my hand slides up her bare back, and her mouth opens under mine. And that kiss is anything but chaste. For just one moment, while the cameras were flashing, I forgot we were being watched.
“I told you.” My voice is steady, even though my pulse isn’t. “I told you they asked for a kiss.”
“Nobody kisses like that unless it’s real.” Ben is breathing hard. “Don’t insult me by pretending this was for show.”
I don’t answer. Neither does Callum. Neither does Evan. The silence is the confession.
Footsteps sound from behind me.
No. Fuck. Don’t come in here, Tania.
But I already know she will.
Ben’s eyes track past me. His face goes white.
I turn.
Tania stands in the doorway. Her hair is tangled, and her face is flushed from sleep. She’s wearing my t-shirt and nothing else. Just my t-shirt that reaches mid-thigh.
I can’t deny anything now and wait until he calms down. The evidence is right in front of him.
She freezes.
Ben stares at the shirt. At her. Processing what it means.
I step between them.
“You think I’m going to hurt her?” Ben’s voice cracks. “You think I’m going to hurt my sister? The person I love most in this world?”
He turns, so he’s facing my brothers and me.
“I promise you that I am not going to hurt her.” His eyes narrow, and his fists clench and unclench at his sides. “You’re the ones hurting her.”
And then, Ben lunges. Not at Tania. At me.
Callum intercepts him and grabs Ben’s arm. He stops him two feet from my chest.
“Don’t blame Silas.” Callum’s voice is flat. “He held out the longest.”
And even though I thought this couldn’t get worse, it does. I watch Callum’s face change as he realizes what he just admitted to.
Ben goes still. Processing. Then realization hits.
All three of us.
He jerks free from Callum’s grip and swings.
The punch lands on Callum’s jaw, and the crack echoes through the room. Callum’s head snaps to the side, but he doesn’t raise his hands. He takes it.
Blood pools at the corner of his mouth.
“We didn’t want you to find out like this.” I realize my words won’t make this better.
Ben rounds on me. “You shouldn’t have had to tell me at all.”
Tania steps forward. “Ben—”
“Don’t.” He doesn’t look at her. “Don’t defend them.”
“I wanted this.” Her voice is strong and confident. “This was my choice.”
“They were supposed to keep you safe.” Ben’s breathing ragged now. “I trusted them not to take advantage of you.”
“They didn’t take advantage of me. They—”
“You all lied to me.” Ben cuts her off. “How the fuck is that supposed to make me feel? My best friends. My sister. Everyone I trust most. And you all looked me in the eye and lied.”
Nobody answers. What can we say? He’s right.
Ben grabs his keys from the counter. “Fuck this. I can’t look at any of you.”
He’s at the door before I can move.
“Ben.” My voice comes out quieter than I mean it to. “Let’s talk.”
“Talk?” He laughs. Bitter. Broken. “The right time to talk was before you all fucked her.”
The door slams behind him, and the sound fills the penthouse.
Silence.
Tania’s still standing in my t-shirt. Barefoot. Frozen. Callum wipes the blood from his mouth and doesn’t say anything. Evan stares at the closed door like Ben might come back.
He won’t. I know my best friend. He won’t come back until he’s ready. And I don’t know when that will be. If ever.
Tania moves first and crosses to Callum.
She examines his jaw gently. “Let me get ice.”
He catches her wrist. “I’m fine, Red.”
“You’re bleeding.” She leans into him. I don’t know if it’s to offer him comfort or to seek comfort. Probably both.
He wraps his arms around her. “I’ve had worse.”
“I’m getting ice.” She pulls back gently and heads to the kitchen.
Evan finally looks at me. “What do we do?”
“Nothing.” I sit on the arm of the couch. My legs won’t hold me standing anymore. “We give him space.”
“And if he doesn’t come around?”
I know my brother is looking for answers, but I don’t have them.
Tania returns with ice wrapped in a towel and hands it to Callum. He presses it to his jaw and sits on the couch. She sits beside him. Evan drops onto the couch, too, and stares at the floor.
We sit in silence.
“I’m sorry.” Tania’s voice is barely audible. “This is my fault.”
“No.” I look at her. “It’s mine.”
“It’s all of ours,” Evan adds quietly.
“He’ll forgive us.” Callum lowers the ice. “Eventually.”
I want to believe that. I don’t know if I do.
Ben’s face showed his true feelings when he saw Tania in my shirt. The betrayal. The rage. That’s not something that fades quickly.
“I need to call him.” Tania stands.
“Give him time.” I catch her hand. “He needs to cool off first.”
“How much time?” she asks.
“I don’t know.”
She pulls free and heads for the stairs. I watch her go.
When she’s out of sight, I lean forward and press my palms against my eyes.
Breathe. Try to breathe.
“Well, that went well.” Callum’s sarcasm is thick.
Evan doesn’t laugh. Neither do I. I drop my hands and stare at the floor.
We are going to inherit our fortune. We got the girl.
But we lost our best friend. And I don’t know how to calculate that cost.