Vernon sighed and flipped his body around so he was sitting cross-legged in the middle of the bed. “But you’re going to try and sleep with her with an ulterior motive. That’s not nice, and it isn’t like you. I know you don’t want her here, but what you’re planning is a bad idea.” He pointed at me. “I can see the wheels turning in your head. You’re thinking about her reaction, and hurting her and embarrassing her enough that she leaves, but you aren’t thinking about how you’re going to feel when you become an actual villain.” He shook his head. “I know that’s a fine line you’ve gotten comfortable walking over the years, but I can’t stand by and watch you turn into an actual bad guy, Huck.”
“If you ghost her after fucking her, there is a good chance she’s going to run right to Mr. Peters and tell him what you did. Then we’ll all be out of a place to live, and you’ll have added yet another black spot to your soul for no damn reason. Your head might be telling you this is the only way to win this standoff, but I refuse to believe your heart is on board with this scheme.”
I moved away from the bed toward the mirror that was attached to the wall. The outfit was basic, but it looked good, and my tips tripled on any shift where I showed up wearing something that showed off my ink and was tight enough to make out the nipple rings under the fabric visible. I needed to dry my hair and brush my teeth, so I walked into the bathroom, hoping it would end the conversation.
I appreciated they were concerned for my moral wellbeing, but when I was backed into a corner, there was no end to how dangerous and defiant I could be. I thought they knew me better than that, but it seemed like even after all this time and the hardships we’d faced together, there were still secrets for us to uncover about one another. And neither of them knew just how sweet revenge sounded now that I let myself remember all the ways Ollie had let me down back when we were best friends.
I watched in the mirror as Vernon came into the cramped bathroom. He closed the lid to the toilet and sat down, his sharp eyes unblinking as I watched him in the mirror as I finger combed my hair. Huffing out an annoyed breath, I reached for the blow dryer and told him, “I know you kind of like her and think you can be friends with her, but you can’t trust her, kid. You have no idea what she’s really like. Everyone who comes in contact with her is compelled to take care of her, to worry about her, to protect her. She’ll eat you up and spit you out before you know what happened. Don’t get close to her. Don’t let her hurt you. Trust me when I tell you that she won’t feel bad about it when she inevitably does. If it comes down to you or her, she will pick herself each and every time.”
Vernon rubbed his hands along his thighs. “What’s the story with you and this girl? And what did you mean when you said she grew up with a madman? You and she grew up together, didn’t you? So, you would’ve been close to this man, too? We can’t help you if we don’t know what we’re dealing with, Huck.”
I swore under my breath and switched on the hairdryer. It was all so complicated and hard to explain. It was also the last thing I wanted to try to explain to anyone. Sawyer was like a character out of a comic book or a thriller. It was hard for someone normal to understand how he operated. Shouting to be heard over the noise, I asked, “You’ve had girls obsessed with you before, right? Ones who are convinced that you’re their one and only? Ones who say they can’t be happy unless you love them back?”
He nodded and made a face. “Girls and boys.”
I laughed because I didn’t doubt it. He was pretty enough to be irresistible to all.
“Growing up, Ollie had someone like that in her life. Someone who watched every move she made. Someone who was there every single time she turned around. Someone who infiltrated every corner of her days and nights, and who tried to influence every decision she made. It was more than an obsession. It was oppression. And bit by bit, this person started to take parts and pieces of the Ollie I knew, the one who was my best friend in the whole world, and corrupted every last bit. The way she started thinking changed. All the ways she tried to fight back and rebel against the control everyone had over her started to fade away. I felt like I was watching her turn into a shell of who she was as time went on. No one around her—not her mother, not her teachers, or her classmates, none of her friends, aside from me—seemed too concerned about what was happening, because this bad guy has the face of an angel. He seems too good to be true, because he fucking is.”
I blinked as dark, heavy memories started to swirl in my mind.
It was one thing to fight a monster from a distance, but I’d had to do battle daily while the beast lived under the same roof. I’d done my best to insulate Ollie and be the barrier between her and the insanity that was seeping into every aspect of her life. But I was just a kid. A hotheaded, smart-mouthed kid, and back then, when even the adults in our lives kept saying there was nothing wrong, that the infatuation was ‘cute’ and ‘sweet,’ I didn’t know how to do anything more than I was already doing to keep Ollie safe.
“That sounds so scary for her.” Vernon breathed out the words as I finished with my hair and moved on to slap on some deodorant and cologne.
I met his worried eyes in the mirror and dipped my chin in a nod. “It was. And it was terrifying for anyone who cared about her. I don’t know why she finally decided to leave. I don’t know how she got away. But I do know that wherever she is, the person who thinks she belongs to him, the person who is obsessed with her, won’t be far behind. And I know there is nothing he won’t do to get her back.”
Vernon was quiet while I hooked a silver hoop in my earlobe and put a big silver ring on my thumb. When he finally spoke, his voice was soft and serious.
“Who is this person, Huck? Who are they to you? Why are we just finding out all of this now? You know every single dirty secret Harlen, Fisher, and I have. You’ve seen us at our worst, and yet, you’re holding onto something like this, something this big, all to yourself. It doesn’t seem fair, does it?”
I knew the question was coming, but I still didn’t want to answer it. However, if I didn’t, I knew Vernon would get on his computer and go digging into every single aspect of my past. He would find a lot of information. I didn’t need him picking at old wounds unnecessarily.
I turned around and leaned against the antique vanity. I crossed my arms over my chest and met his gaze with an unflinching one of my own.
“The person obsessed with Ollie is my half brother, Sawyer.” Vernon gasped at the bombshell, and Harlen swore loudly from where he’d propped himself up against the doorjamb.
“Since when do you have a brother?” The question was bitten out as Harlen glared at me. “We’re your brothers.”
I grinned at him because the statement was true. The four of us who’d found each other at our lowest moments had a bond that often felt like it went beyond brotherhood. They had been my family from the moment I met them, and they had done more for me than the people I shared blood with from the beginning.
“Sawyer is my older brother for all intents and purposes.” A shocked silence descended on the small space. “Same dad, different mothers. Mine was a criminal who got pregnant for a paycheck. His is the heiress to a multimillion-dollar real estate fortune who was pretty much betrothed to my dad from birth.” I shrugged. “My dad’s affairs were the worst-kept secret in the town where I grew up. It has always been Sawyer’s misfortune that I look just like our old man, so no one could ever deny I was his kid. Ollie’s mom was the head housekeeper at the estate. She took care of me and Sawyer, and then Ollie when she came along a little bit later. The minute Sawyer saw Ollie, he decided that she belonged to him. It was instant and intense before she could even talk or walk. Something in his wiring was always off, but his mother coddled him and let him do whatever he wanted. Her mom was stuck between a rock and a hard place; she tried to rein Sawyer in but didn’t want to risk being tossed out on her ass with a baby. I was the only one Ollie had to protect her from him.”