Page 49 of The Game

Her question hits me in the gut, my eyes widening and drying in their sockets. This is my chance to be honest, to stake some sort of claim over him if I wanted to. Maybe if I do that, she’ll tell me who her daughter belongs to, and I can get over the shock and adjust before…before I somehow make it out of here and back into their lives.

If they’ll take me back.

“I’m their step-sister, but please don’t go advertising that. I’m here to keep…to keep them safe, okay?”

Her wide eyes are flummoxed, and the cap to her lipstick drops to the ground with aclinkbefore rolling away. After a moment, her brows drop, and her face softens.

“How…how are you able to protect men like them?” she whispers.

“I’m…not really at liberty to say…but I love them, and clearly I’d do anything for them,” I whisper, fiddling with the tassels on my new outfit. Another night of knife throwing awaits me. Joy. Her gaze drops as she nods before she sniffs.

“They are good men. Well…as good as men like them can be. I never…never intended to leave Jameson like that. That’s all I really want to let him know.”

Her exhausted eyes skirt up to mine. Little Alina is asleep on the old couch behind us, bundled up in one of Teddy’s extra hoodies; he’s made friends with the girl, showing her magic tricks when she has enough energy to engage. The sight always makes my heart melt.

But I nod to Oksana, understanding that she needs her side to be heard by him for her own closure. Before I can say anything else, a coy smile grows on her lips.

“She’s not his. I left Jameson because my father married me off to another family, a rival of the Stefanov’s. I…I was afraid he’d come for me and get hurt, so I lied,” she says, voice dropping to a whisper as she shrugs and stares at her hands. My stomach knots up as my shoulders relax; her story is just as horrid, but at least the little girl hasn’t missed out on the chance to know Jameson, to know the love of a father who would go to the ends of the earth for her.

Before graduation, we’d all been laying in Jameson’s bed together, sort of a pastime of ours, a way to hold one another at the same time in a platonic way that somehow always ended with Tristan getting a blowjob. The thought makes a sad smile ache to form on my lips. But in those times, my twins would tease me and pester me to hurry through college, saying they couldn’t wait to watch me waddle around, filled with their children. Being so young, at the time I’d brushed it off, but now that I’ve been away from them for so long, I ache to fulfill that dream of theirs, to grow our bond and cement it in an intrinsic way.

I want to be bound as deeply as possible to them.

“I’m sorry,” I whisper back, voice thick with tears for the both of us; we’ve lost them in ways beyond our control, and it fucking kills me just as much as I can tell it kills her. But true to her strong nature, she straightens up and shrugs.

“Don’t be. Alina was created from a monster, and he received the death he deserved. I have her now, a little angel. I just have to make her better is all.”

Smiling at Oksana as she turns to finish her makeup, I nod.

“A lot of good things are created from darkness,” I say. And as I stand to find Teddy waiting for me at the doorway with that little smirk on his face, I know just how true that statement is.

CHAPTER 25

Alice

Yesterday, (my actual birthday), Teddy told me that was lame, and that from now on my birthday is on Halloween. Can’t really argue with him, especially as he was saying it while pinning me to a board before he threw knives at me. Again.

But the performance went so well, Dick requested Teddy’s skills on a new feature for the circus, some hall of mirrors filled with images of naked women. Classy, I know, but it gives him a reprieve from performing, which will also give me a break as well. Small blessings are becoming my favorite thing.

His bedroom door creaks open in the late afternoon golden October sun, and I pry one eye open, prepared to glare. But when he fully slips into the room carrying a tray of black cupcakes with fluffy white icing and golden-gilded candles, my heart melts. Sitting up as he draws near, the smile on my face makes my cheeks ache, and a lump of tears forms in my throat.

“You’re getting the A Capella version.”

“Can’t wait,” I tease before he bursts into song. Giggling as he serenades me and slowly saunters closer, the blush in my cheeks gives my whole body a hot flash, and I can’t wait to see what else he has planned. Today, one year ago, was the best day of my life. I’ve promised myself to not think about it until midnight; then, and only after, will I allow those moments to wash forward like the unyielding tide, bringing with it memories from the deepest trenches of my heart.

Teddy knows this. He told me it’s part of the reason he wanted to make a big deal out of today, so that I wouldn’t wallow and be miserable. I can’t argue with him; fucker should’ve been an attorney.

“Happy birthday, to…you!” he sings beautifully, holding out the plate of cupcakes. My eyes flick to his, those teal orbs so engulfing, so gentle and adoring right now. I’m more myself with him than anyone on this planet, even my twins, because our bond was born from hatred, misunderstanding, and finally acceptance. In his eyes, I see the truth reflected there as well; one day, this will end, whether by victory or defeat. We cannot cling to any other idea, so for now, we just have to give it our everything and not look back.

So I close my eyes, take a deep breath, and make the most important wish of my entire life.

* * *

“Hey asshole!” I giggle as he swipes frosting onto my nose. Lounging in bed scarfing down cupcakes is the perfect birthday present, and his stupid little jokes and magic tricks are taking my mind to a happy place. He grins down at me, eyes tracing my face and full of mirth.

“Okay, but are they at least good? I’ve never baked.”

His admission makes my heart swell, so in response, I sit up more on my elbow and reach across his lap for the plate, grabbing my fourth. Screw calories today. His answering smile is genuine.

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