Page 10 of Devil's Riches

My skin prickled with curiosity. “What was he doing?”

“He had the bird on a bench, and he was operating on it.”

“Operating?”

“I don’t know what else to call it. He had a scalpel, needle, and thread, and it looked as if he’d conducted an autopsy on the bird. He was sewing it back up when I walked in on him.”

“That’s fucking weird.”

“Yes, that’s what I thought too.” Colette paused and swallowed audibly. I could tell the incident still had her shaken all these years later. “Technically, he didn’t do anything wrong. The bird was already dead when he got to it, so he didn’t hurt it. But it was still so strange, and it gave me such an odd feeling about him. What kind of teenager does things like that?”

“A psycho one.”

“Oh, I don’t know about that,” she said. Guilt had crept into her tone. “Like I said, it made me think he was a bit creepy, but he didn’t actually do anything wrong. I suppose he could’ve just done it out of interest.”

My brows furrowed. “What do you mean?”

“Well, he was a very smart young man, and he became a surgeon when he grew up, remember? He was actually one of the best transplant surgeons on the west coast,” she said. “So perhaps he decided he wanted to do that sort of work at a very young age, and the bird was just practice.”

“Yeah. Maybe,” I muttered, brows furrowing. I’d completely forgotten that Greg was a surgeon. “So is that all you remember about him? That he was a weird teenager?”

“No, there’s more,” Colette replied. Her tone had turned frosty. “The main reason I disliked him so much was because of the way he acted as an adult.”

“What did he do?”

“Well, as the eldest sibling, I always assumed he’d take over the estate when your grandparents decided to retire and move away. But he didn’t seem to have any interest in being here, even when he came back to the island after finishing medical school. He moved up to Avalon City and let your mother have the place instead, which was probably the only nice thing he ever did for her, though I suppose it was only for his own benefit in the end. He worked at the hospital in the city as well as the teaching hospital near Blackthorne, so it was probably more convenient for him to live there instead of here.” She paused and let out an annoyed sniff. “Anyway, after that, he hardly ever came back here to visit your mom, and he never went to visit your grandparents at their new place, either. It was like he didn’t really consider himself to be part of the family. Either that or he simply didn’t care about anyone but himself. I’d say the latter was more likely.”

My brows lifted. “What did you mean when you said it might’ve been the only nice thing he ever did for my mom?” I asked. “She’s never said a bad word about him, so I always thought they were close.”

“Not really. She loved him, but he was quite awful to her.”

“Really?”

“Yes. I always got the impression that he was envious of her, and that was why he behaved in such a way.”

“Why would he be envious of her?”

“I have no way of knowing for sure, but I always thought it was because your mother is so—” Colette stopped and made a soft humming sound, obviously searching for the right word. “Normal, I suppose. She’s always seemed like a perfectly normal person, and Gregory was always strange and antisocial. I think he resented her for her normalcy.”

“Right. What did he do to her that was so awful?”

“Well, I’ve already mentioned how he rarely came to visit her. It wasn’t my business, of course, so I never said anything, but I don’t think family members should be so distant with each other,” she said. “He never seemed happy for your mom, either. He’d just sulk and glower like a child if anything good happened to her. Did you know he didn’t even go to your parents’ engagement party or wedding?”

“No, I didn’t.”

“It’s true. And here’s the worst part.” Colette lowered her voice. “After the wedding, your parents started trying for children right away. Your mom fell pregnant three times before you, and she lost all of them.”

I felt a pang in my guts. “Shit. She never told me that.”

“Yes, well, she probably doesn’t like to bring it up. I’m only telling you because it’s relevant to the story,” she replied. “Anyway, she told Gregory about the miscarriages when he finally came to visit one day. He didn’t seem sad for her at all. If anything, it seemed as if he was gloating. Like he was pleased that something hadn’t gone right for her for once. I think he even laughed about it, although I may have misinterpreted that particular moment. He could have been laughing at something else, I suppose.”

“Jesus, what an asshole.”

“Yes. Now you see why I never liked him very much.” Colette paused to concentrate as she placed another strip on my head. “He didn’t get any better when you were born, either. Part of me thought he might take a liking to you because you looked so similar to him. I suppose I thought he’d see that and form a bond with you. But he didn’t seem to care about you at all. He hardly ever came to visit you, either.”

“Yeah. I barely even remember what he looks like,” I said. “I mean, lookedlike.”

“That doesn’t surprise me.” Colette let out a long, heavy sigh. “Your mother still loved him despite it all, and she tried her best with him. I was very sad for her when he died in that terrible accident. For her to lose her husband and her brother like that…” She trailed off. “It was so awful. I worried she would never recover, because I know firsthand how terrible a loss like that feels, but she was very strong. Very brave. You should be proud of her, Nate.”

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