Page 66 of Magnetic God

He angles his body so we’re facing each other, and I do the same. We used to sit like this all the time, talking for hours.

He sighs. “I don’t know where to start. There’s so much that I need to tell you, and it’s all interconnected. I guess I’ll start from the beginning.”

I nod.

There’s so much nervous energy bouncing between us that I clasp my hands together, just so I have something to do. It’s that or let my leg bounce, which is basically the same thing, but super distracting. God, even my thoughts are all over the place.

“When I was eighteen and went off to college, I knew my life was going to change. At the time, I thought it was because I was going to be a huge football star that went pro.” He snorts. “But then I fucked up my knee, and that dream went down the pipes. I was lost, goofing off and doing shit I shouldn’t. One night, I met Ace, and everything changed.”

“I remember you saying you met him in college.”

He nods. “We hit it off right away. That’s about the time that we were approached by the Brotherhood to join.”

“Brotherhood? Was that some kind of fraternity?”

His smile is wry. “It’s a secret society.”

“Did you join?”

“We both did. They promised us the world, and we were both young and hungry and seized the moment.”

Something Jacqueline said at her dress fitting comes back to me.

“Wait. Are you still in the society? Jacqueline made a comment about Elite wives and when I asked what it was, she changed the subject.”

“I’m still in it. Not only that, but I’m now an Elite Member.”

I say, “I’m not sure what that means.”

“The society has been around for hundreds of years. We are the men behind the curtains, pulling the strings on the puppets. But even we have rules to follow. The Elite Members are the ones who make sure that happens. We’re also the ones who have final say in all matters related to the Brotherhood.” He exhales. “One of their big rules is that they want their members to be married to women who bring something to the Brotherhood. Money. Fame. Power. The Brotherhood wants it all. When I joined, I knew they would want me to marry. I didn’t expect it to happen so soon.”

Dread pools in my stomach.

“The Brotherhood told me I was going to marry Liza Mars. I met her the next day and two months later, we were married. It was a fucking nightmare. We were both too young to be married. Liza was so fucking talented, but she had so many demons that I couldn’t help her fight.” He shakes his head. “We separated after five years, doing our own things. I kept pleading with the Brotherhood to let me divorce her, but they wouldn’t agree.”

“Why not?”

“She came from money but was also talented enough that they hoped she’d bring in even more money. What they didn’t count on were her addictions. She drank and snorted her way through most of her cash before it even had time to hit her banking account.”

I hesitate. “She died a few years ago, right, when the two of you finally did divorce?”

As much as I hate to admit it, I followed his career after we broke up. I knew he divorced about a year after the news of the baby and reconciliation hit the news. I know about every movie and TV show that he’s done in the last six years. Even when I didn’t want to know, the universe would put news about him in front of me in one way or another. That’s how I know that Liza died after overdosing.

He nods. “Yeah.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I’m sorry, too. She deserved better than what she got with me. I never loved her the way she wanted and when she had a chance of happiness, the Brotherhood scared her into coming back to me.”

“What do you mean?”

“I told you I was divorced when we met.”

My reply is dry. “I remember.”

“We had been separated longer than we were married. She was going down a path that was going to bring unwanted attention to the Brotherhood.” He shakes his head, smiling. “She did an interview and told them I was in a secret society. There are enough people out there who know the Brotherhood is real, even if they can’t prove it, and the rumor took off on the internet. It was enough of a push that the Brotherhood finally agreed it was time to cut ties with her.”

I vaguely remember Jess showing me a meme about Brooks being in a secret society a long time ago. It’s the internet, so I take everything with a grain of salt.

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