Page 60 of Sweet Venom

Tate rests his hand on her shoulder, drawing my eyes to him, and I ask, "Is that accident what caused all your scars?" I didn't miss the tiny lacerations all over his chest when we shared Vivian back at the pool house.

His lips thin, and he closes his eyes.

"What lacerations? Tate doesn't have any scars." Sayward looks at him and says, "What's he talking about, Tate?"

"Say, please just leave it alone."

"No." She slams her glass on the counter. "No more. We're doing this now. No more secrets. I'm tired of the lies; I'm tired of running. I'm tired, Tate, please..." she trails off.

Sebastian slides a glass across the island to Tatum, but he doesn't take it; instead, he grabs Sayward by her shoulders and says, "Listen to me. I chose my scars, all of them. I chose them. They are mine, and I would choose each and every one all over again."

Her eyes gloss over with unshed tears as her bottom lip trembles and then she says, "The screaming, those were cries?" Her eyes search his.

He pulls her into his chest and says, "Yes, Say. Please, please don't ask me to say anymore. It's over. We're never going back."

Sebastian's eyes find mine, and I see his rage. The second he found out Sayward was blood, she became his. I'm certain he's pissed that Tatum took licks he believes should have been his to bear, and I know he will hunt down whatever family thought to harm his.

"Finish the story, Sayward. What's wrong with you?" Sebastian grinds out.

She runs her fingers under her eyes to wipe away her tears and starts. "Weeks after the crash, I started getting headaches, but because we were getting bounced between houses and we had just lost our parents, I was told countless times it was just stress. Over the years, it was more of the same, 'Oh, it's PTSD and stress.' No one ever looked into the possibility that I might have sustained internal trauma from the crash. Which, as it turns out, I did. My spinal cord injury went unchecked for years and turned into spinal stenosis. I started getting tingling sensations here and there before numbness would occur, and on bad days, I have balance issues. On rare occasions, I can't walk, but with treatment, those days have been few and far between."

"Fuck," Sebastian chucks his glass into the sink, and it shatters. "Why didn't you just tell me?"

Tate steps in front of Sayward. "You need to calm down."

"I'm not going to fucking hurt her. I would never lay my hands on a woman in that way." I watch his eyes hold Tate's to ensure he understands his meaning. He's well aware Tatum has seen the marks he's left on Vivian, considering he now knows they've been fucking.

He tears his eyes away from Tate's, looks at Sayward, and says, "I wouldn't have made you wear the damn heels. I might be fucked up, but I'm not that kind of monster."

"I didn't know," she says timidly before adding, "We didn't know. To us, everything looked different. I saw a brother who knew I existed and never once cared to get to know me or, god forbid, help me when I had no one else." I watch as she reaches for Tatum's hand and gives it a squeeze.

Tatum stood by her side even after discovering he wasn't her blood. He loved her anyway, the same way I love Sebastian, and that is something I can respect. We're more alike than we realize. If there was any doubt before, I'm certain now. My love for Vivian he witnessed the night of the anniversary party stilled his hand. It's why they didn't make any more hits. He saw my heart and what I would do to ensure someone I loved was happy.

Sebastian looks at me, and I can see he's upset that I never told him. "I never once looked back after I drove home that afternoon. I had no idea that their parents died or that they ended up in the foster system. I can't change the past. I thought you had a good life, Tate. That's why I left well enough alone. But you're here now, and we can choose how we move forward."

No one says a word. All that has come to light is too raw, too fresh. They're unwilling to let go of their hate. I can't blame them; when you carry its weight for so long, hate becomes a part of you. But we're only hurting ourselves by continuing to feed it. So I make the first move. "Sayward you can keep whatever you've taken, but more than that, you'll never have to pay another medical bill—"

Before I can finish, Tate cuts in. "We don't need a handout."

Sebastian strikes back. "Because stealing it is decent." He and Tatum glare each other down before Sebastian reaches for his keys on the counter and says, "I gotta go." When Sebastian's eyes meet Sayward's, they soften in apology so fast that I'm unsure if she even catches it.

And just like that, my girl and my brother walk out of my life. Damn it.

Chapter 25

The Viper

"Out of all the men in the world, these are the three you choose?"

Of course, we couldn't drive in silence. I'm not sure why I didn't see this coming. Probably because I just needed to get out, and at the time, my grandmother felt like the better evil. There was no way I was staying in that condo. I fucking gave my heart to three men—not one but three—and they all managed to break it. Stupid fucking heart.

"Look, Grandmother, I don't care to discuss my love life with you. We both know out of all the people in this world, no one in our family is capable of understanding the meaning."

She taps her long, manicured nail on the clasp of her Birkin bag and thins her lips before saying, "I suppose I can see why you would think that. God knows your parents loved in the ugliest of ways, but it seems you have yet to learn that love doesn't choose wrong; people do. All those men chose to love you even though they knew the pain was inevitable. You were looking for love to hurt, and that's what you found. Now you're running."

It's those last words that piss me off. I'm not running. At least, that is not how I see it. I'm allowed to feel hurt. I'm allowed to take a minute to assess my feelings and my own heart. I'm allowed to be mad. I may not have grown up with love, but I know it's not easy, and it hurts more than it has any right to. I can see now why people run from it and how it can make a sane person mad. Self-preservation is a basic human instinct, and what I felt back there was pain, so naturally I removed myself from the situation.

"Look, if you really don't want to discuss it, that is fine, but don't make rash decisions out of anger. I'd hate to see you end up like your father—which is why I'm here."

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