Page 141 of Back to Willow

She doesn’t answer, glazing down in shame. It’s a low blow since I know she always fought with John because of Mason. She disagreed with the ways my father dealt with the issues, but being completely dependent on him and having her place in their community secured was more important to her, so she always did as he ordered. Letting my father become the wedge that tore my brother apart from his family.

Now? Now, it’s too fucking late for amends.

Turning my attention back to Mason, I demand, “Confess, and I might go easy on you. What did you do?”

“I—I had sex with her,” he admits.

I growl at his choice of words.Sex, my ass!

Ihad sex with her last night, with consent.Her consent.My forearm presses tighter against his throat as the burning flames of wrath order my brain to inflict pain, to make him suffer as much as she did.

Loathing and remorse rise to the surface, too. I know this is pointless because it won’t erase what she went through, but it’s the only thing bringing me a fraction of relief in this moment. Because my own brother, a man I adored and looked up to, was able to hurt the love of my life beyond repair.

“Did she want it?” No answer comes out, and it only spurs me on. “Tell me!”

“N-no,” he croaks.

I let go of him, my arms falling limply to my sides as a huge crack grows in my heart. It’s one thing to know, but to hear it…“So, you raped her.”

“Baby brother, I was high. I didn’t–”

The familiar cracking sound of a bone breaking rings throughout my apartment. My knuckles sting upon impact, but the pain is welcomed, a feeble distraction from the real hurt within.

One more. Two. Three.

Not even when he’s on the ground—unconscious—do I stop. There’s no going back now as everything comes out. All of the anguish I endured throughout these years and the recently gained guilt are unleashed, trying to make up for the fact that she wasn’t safe. Not even from my own family—my own blood.

A trauma so strong she still has panic attacks about it. The kind of emotional scarring that never leaves, and all because ofhim.

“Stop! You’ll kill him!” My mum’s high-pitched voice rings in my ears, and I finally stop.

Her sobs are followed by a strong body pulling me away from my brother. I know it’s my father, and even though I don’t want him to touch me—hell I don’t want anyone touching me—this time, I let him.

“Look what you’ve done.” She glares at me before kneeling before him. “This was never supposed to happen,” she grits. She’s speaking to me, but looking at him, surveying his injuries. “I have failed him time and time again. I had just gotten your father on board with helping him, and now this...We were going to make it better,” she sobs, holding on to him.

When I don’t answer her rant, she adds, “My poor boy, he just wanted to get back on track.”

Her sobs are exaggerated and honestly, they’re starting to piss me off.

“I–I deserved it,” Mason croaks as he rouses.

The fact he is still conscious is both relieving and disappointing. The last thing I want is to go to jail, but every drop of sympathy I had left for my brother has vanished. Nothing—nothing—justifies what he did. Especially his little brother’s girlfriend. What kind of sick man does that?

“No!” our mother wails, clutching him in her arms. “You were sick. Now, you want to make things right; that should be enough.”

“Make things right?” I bark. “Then why was dad threatening to ask for Dylan’s custody? That’s not making things right!”

“What would you prefer?” my dad growls, making me turn to look at him. We look so much alike, yet we are so different. “Have your brother thrown into prison instead? That would ruin our lives, on top of his!”

“So, ruining hers is the solution? Wasn’t all the pain she went through already enough? To go through a pregnancy and raise a child in her teenage years thatcouldbe her rapist’s kid?”

My father’s mouth snaps shut as his eyes widen in reaction to my booming words. My head feels like it’s going to burst soon. If I look as raging as I feel, it must be a terrifying sight.

“Nothing he can do will make it up to her–tothem! And if it’s up to me…” I turn to my brother. “You’ll rot away in jail for a long time for this shit. Mark my words.”

“You can’t possibly be serious, boy.” My father swoops in once again, walking towards me. “We’ve given you everything, and you’re going to side with that girl?”

I laugh sarcastically. “How can you possibly ask that?”

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