Page 59 of Prized Possession

He appears almost lighter, and I can’t help the small smile that spreads across my lips at the thought that opening up to me has helped to relieve some of his burden.

Now I just need to think how I can actually help him…and my wayward brother.

“We need to come up with a plan to fix this. Blackthorn will go to shit if Scott gains power. I know the most obvious solution would be for me not to marry him, as he can’t gain any of our power if he doesn’t marry into the family, but it’s not as simple as that. We also need to make not only Dad, but all the people who work for us, see that Jake is a good leader,” I explain, my brain ticking away as I try to think of a plan.

Marcus chuckles, the hint of a smirk on his face. “Before we do that, we actually have to make Jacob into a good leader. Even if he weren’t getting drunkor high every day, and was taking the job seriously, the fact he hates it means he doesn’t really make an effort.

“It’s clear to anyone paying even the slightest bit of attention that he doesn’t want the job, and until he looks like he wants to rule, nobody will take him seriously,” Marcus says with a shrug of his shoulders.

“How the fuck do we do that? I mean, making other people think he’s a good leader isn’t too hard, as it’s all about creating the right image, but getting Jacob to actually want to do the job, and to do it well…that’s something else entirely,” I snap, sounding a little harsher than I intended.

“There used to be a time when both me and Jacob looked forward to taking over from our fathers. We hated living in their shadows, and wanted the opportunity to prove the sort of leaders we could be. I have no idea when that changed for him.

“I keep trying to think back, to see if there was a catalyst, but I just don’t know. I feel like such a shit friend for not seeing it,” he admits, his cheeks flushing just a little as he shows me a vulnerable side to him that I never expected to see.

“You’re not a shit friend, Marcus. I lived with him, and I have no idea when he changed either, or what caused it.” The words feel like ash on my tongue, and I hate admitting that I missed it too. He’s my brother and I love him… I should have seen the change in him before he became this wild.

“You were going through your own shit,” Marcus says, then he shocks us both by reaching out and placing his hand over mine.

It’s almost like he does it without thinking, and as soon as our skin touches, we both look down at where his big palm is encasing my smaller one.

The skin on the back of my hand is tingling, and I wonder if he can feel it too. He’s looking at his hand like he’s not sure how the hell it got there, and I can see the war in his eyes as he considers pulling away.

I don’t want to lose the warm contact, so I take the decision away from him by turning my hand over and lacing our fingers together.

His eyes are glued on the way our hands fit together, and his breathing appears to speed up slightly. I’m so used to him trying to maintain eye contact with me, I’m a little thrown when his gaze remains locked on our hands.

“I should have noticed you too.” His voice is low, barely above a whisper, but my heart stutters under the intensity of his words.

I squeeze his hand, and this is all it takes for Marcus to lift his big blue eyes up to meet mine, making my stomach flip. “It’s not your job to look after us.”

His eyes narrow as he shakes his head. “Jacob is my best friend, and you… I should have noticed. I knew you were both spiralling, but I can’t pinpoint exactly when it happened. Did something happen to you both?”

His question catches me off-guard. I don’t like thinking back to that time, but I try to remember if Jacob started acting out before or after me.

“No, or at least, I don’t think so. I have no idea what happened to Jake, but he had already started to drink more and do drugs before…my incident.”

I don’t really know how to explain what happened to me without actually telling him, and although labelling it as an ‘incident’ fucking diminishes what I went through, it’s all I can think of on the spot.

Marcus’ nose crinkles while his other hand tightens into a fist, and I can tell he’s angry on my behalf. I can’t help the way my lips tip up into a smile, as for the first time in a long time, I feel like I actually might have someone who is on my side, someone who will fight for me.

He looks like he’s struggling to find the right words, so I decide to help him out. “We need to find out what Jacob’s trigger was. Until we know why he’s behaving the way he is, we can’t help him. Telling him to do better, to be better, won’t work. We have to get to the root of the problem.”

Marcus lets out a humourless laugh. “You make that sound so fucking easy.”

I shake my head in disbelief. “He’s your best friend. Surely you can talk to him about it?”

This time when Marcus laughs, it’s a full belly laugh. He throws his head back, and the sound echoes around us. He looks younger than I’ve ever seen him, his face and eyes bright with humour, and butterflies flutter in my stomach like I’m a teenager all over again.

“We may be best friends, but we aren’t girls. We don’t talk about our feelings, Chloe,” he chuckles, rolling his eyes at me like I should know that.

I mean, I don’t really have any friends, but I always thought that if I did, the whole point of the friendship would be that the other person is there for you, as a shoulder to cry on, a listening ear when you need them the most. I know guy friendships aren’t exactly the same as girls, but I always assumed they had some version of this.

“But you talk to each other? Couldn’t you find some other way to bring it up?” I ask him, watching his head tilt as he considers my suggestion.

“I mean, I could, but I’m not really sure how,” he admits.

I give him a reassuring smile as I squeeze his hand. “I can help. I will think about how you can approach it, and then we can give it a try.”

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