Page 9 of A Twisted Arrangement

Damon grunts. “You’re so fucking jealous.”

He’s not wrong. I’d kill to hide away with Scarlet.

“What do you want?”

“Reminding you there’s an order meeting tonight and to check up on you. You looked like you were going to kill Scarlet’s fiancé earlier. I’m just checking if you need me to get a body bag.” There’s a teasing tone to my brother’s voice, but I know he means it.

“He’s still alive. For now.”

“Fuck…you sound so ominous.”

“Your wife looked happy tonight.” I switch to his favorite subject. He’s beenhead over heels for that girl since they met. He did some shady shit to get her, but I can relate. There’s not much I wouldn’t do to get to my Little Sparrow.

“Don’t try to distract me.” Damon’s sigh comes out clear through the speakers.

“Why? It’s working.”

“Tell me what’s up with you…I thought you wanted nothing to do with her, but you watch her like she’s the fucking air you breathe.” His voice turns low, edged with a deeper warning. “We don’t keep secrets from each other.”

I drop my head back to rest on the seat, knowing that explaining everything is long overdue. “I’ve always wanted her.”

“You could’ve fooled me. Tell me. What’s going on in that screwed-up head of yours so I can help you out.”

I know he means it. If I asked for his help, he’d do whatever it takes, even if it meant breaking a few moral rules.

I flick my lighter—open. Closed. Open. Closed—until Damon’s about to lose it, then ask, “Do you remember what she said to you the day she saved us from her family?”

“I remember you disappearing for a month and scaring the shit out of me.” He sounds pissed but waits for my response.

“I didn’t leave right away. I’d planned on cornering her when she was alone. I needed to own just how badly I’d messed up. I needed her to know that I’m so sorry.”

It would take more than just an apology to get her back, but fuck, I was desperate for her. I still am.

I was willing to fall to my knees and beg. Everette family pride could fuck right off. Even at sixteen, I knew she was the one for me. I’d always hate that she had to go through all of it, but I’d be damned if I wasn’t grateful that it bonded us together.

It was fate, and I wouldn’t let go of that without a fight.

I roll my neck, the crack relieving some of the tension, and check her window again. Still black. “When I found her, she was with you. Smiling with her head tipped back, blue eyes shining.”

I can still remember her words from back then, the joy in her voice.

“She asked you if you were going to marry her off, and you told her she saved our family. You’d give her whatever she wanted. Do you remember what she asked for?”

“No, but I’m guessing you do?” His voice sounds shocked, like he’s learning a whole different side of me.

“She told you she didn’t even want to think about settling down. That she wanted to go to college, get a job. To stand on her own.”

I roll my tongue in my mouth, swiping it over the sharp edge of my teeth. “You asked her what she wanted if someone approached you with interest.” I pause, taking a breath, knowing the next thing held me back for the last ten years.

“She told you she didn’t want to hear about it until she was at least twenty-five. That if someone was truly interested in her, they’d be willing to wait.”

Her response echoed what she told me in that prison cell of a room. When I’d thought I was about to die and none of it mattered. She’d kissed me hard, saying she didn’t want it to be anyone else. I wanted to believe I’d be the one to marry her anyway. Even if it was just a delusion.

“Fuck, Matthias.” Damon whistles low.

I don’t say the next part out loud, not needing Damon to know just how gone I am for her, that I keep these words tucked away in my chest, reminding me of what she wants.

I want to live in an eggshell-blue house with a wraparound porch and a tire swing hanging from a tree. I want to be chased around my backyard by jelly-covered faces. Is that too much to ask?

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