Page 77 of Just Between Us

“But I’ve never wanted you!” I half shout.

I know a few people are looking at us now, probably appalled that we’re quite obviously arguing at a Sunday farmer’s market in such a good neighbourhood.

“Please, you’ve fucked half of London and it’s me you didn’t want?” He laughs, white teeth showing. “Right.”

It’s meant to sting but it doesn’t. So, I’m sexually liberated—sue me.

“You’re delusional and a rapist,” I spit. “And if you come near Kai again, I promise it won’t just be Cole you have to worry about.”

“That’s not true and keep your voice down,” Adam grits out. His eyes dart around to check if anyone else heard that. When he notices the people whispering around us, his face flushes a deep red. We’ve made a scene, but I don’t care. They can gossip about it at their private clubs and brunch dates. I hope they do.

“Look, Levi, I’m just trying to help,” he says. “You’ll realise I was right when Kai shows you how much of a wannabe social climber he is. They are all like that.”

Rage burns inside me. I want to spit in his face. The Levi of three years ago would have done that. But I’m not that Levi. I’m not destructive and I want to get better for Cole, for myself and maybe Kai.

“Goodbye, Adam. I really do hope you get everything you deserve.”

He runs a hand through his hair. “Wait, shit, Levi, I’m sorry—”

But I don’t stick around to listen. I need to talk to Cole. I need to go back home.

Chapter Twenty-One: Cole

My grandparents assigned Daniel to me when I moved in with them at fourteen. Over the years, he shadowed me like a ghost and when I moved back to London after university, he chose to come with me and leave New York.

We’ve come to understand each other without saying too much and I know he’d follow me into hellfire if I asked him to.

I look at him from across my desk, a plan forming inside my head. It’s been a week since I bumped into Charlie and learned the truth. I’ve debated letting Nick go. A part of me almost understands it. He was always meant to be the sole heir to the entire empire like Dad was once but then I was born, and he had to share.

He’s hated me from the moment he saw me, and it’s made him blind to the fact that I never wanted any of it. Maybe if I was someone else, I’d let it go but I’m not and I’m not in a forgiving mood right now.

“You wanted to see me?” Daniel asks.

“Can you find out what shipments my father is expecting through the ports in the next few weeks? High-value goods only.”

He narrows his eyes. It’s an odd request. In all his years working for me, I have never asked about my father or the family businesses. “Whereabouts? New York? Rotterdam?” He doesn’t ask why.

I shake my head. “Doesn’t matter. If it's of high value and belongs to a longstanding client, I want to know about it.”

He nods, his mind working then he tilts his head slightly, blue eyes gleaming. “Hasn’t your father handed Nick the shipping side of things?”

I smile. “He has.”

After I refused my father’s offer, his natural next choice was Nick. As far as I know, he’s been doing well and fucking this up for my father is his worst nightmare. My brother might know how to hit where it hurts but so do I.

Daniel nods, understanding where I’m going with this.“Your father will not be happy if you’re planning what I think you are.”

I shrug, leaning back in my chair. “That’s what I’m hoping for,” I say with a smile. It feels like my first genuine smile in weeks.

Whilst I may not have started that fire, I’ve always known what I am—what I’m capable of. I’ve just never bothered with Nick or anyone else for that matter because of the effort it would take or what it would make me, but he took it too far.

Kez says I shouldn’t focus on him and maybe she’s right. I have spent the last few days obsessively rummaging through those reports Nick sent me. I went through every memory, every single detail from that night until I could account for every second.

It was hard at first, seeing the nurses, and reading what they said about me, but I don’t hate it as much anymore. I finally know the truth and somehow it makes me feel like I know who I am.

Nick is desperate to see a monster, I’ll happily show him one.

Across me, Daniel looks like he wants to say something, but he thinks better of it. He nods. “I’ll let you know as soon as I find something.”

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