Page 63 of The Bargain

“I know how seemingly heartless Dean can be.”

“Seemingly?” I couldn't help but ask.

She chuckled before sighing. “I would like to say our home was loveless, that we didn't learn how to love, but that’s not true.”

I leaned forward, dying to know more about Dean, to understand him, to forgive him…and myself.

“Our father loved our mother to the border of insanity. It was all-consuming - a human in love with a goddess.”

The waiter appeared with our food, but even the amazing-looking little sandwiches didn’t manage to distract me.

“He worshipped the ground she walked on, and she loved him just as deeply in her own way, despite her shortcomings.” She took a bite of her sandwich. “He bought the house for her. You should have seen the garden; it was majestic. He’d created it for her - every single tree, every flower was an ode to her.”

“It’s beautiful. What a proof of love.”

She nodded. “Yes.”

I thought of the plain deserted garden it now was. “What happened then? Why is Dean so-”

“Unfeeling?” She finished for me.

I nodded with a blush. I really felt like prying, but I couldn’t help it. I needed to know him.

“Our mother killed herself when Dean was eleven. He found her in the bathtub.”

I gasped, resting my hand over my mouth, envisioning poor little Dean Beaumont finding his mother. I blinked back tears at the thought of how I’d rejected his small, yet real attempt to connect.

“Our father -” She shook her head. “He’d pretty much died when she had - at least mentally. He barely survived without her. Dean had to step up much sooner than any little boy should have. He fought so hard to keep our family together.”

“That’s really sad.”

She nodded. “Yes, it is. And I know Dean’s been hard on you -”

That was a nice way of putting it. Cruel was far more like it.

“But you need to know that he’s harder on himself than anyone else. He carries an amount of unjustified guilt that no one should carry.”

“Why would he?” I was truly confused. “Your mother had died when he was a child and he has made it clear that I’m to blame for Eddie’s death.”

She cocked her head to the side as if she was analyzing me. “Our mother was bipolar, untreated obviously. Our father gave in to all her whims - highs and lows. I didn't understand at the time, of course, I didn't, but she was a textbook case.” She smiled sadly. “I suspect Eddie was too.”

It was my turn to nod. That made sense. “He was a sensitive soul, your brother. He was kind and despite his shortcomings, he did care. He’d even given me a present for graduation.”

“Dean is not unkind. He has the ability to love just as strongly; he is just scared of letting himself go.”

I wasn’t sure why she was pleading Dean’s case so strongly, but it didn’t matter. How could I go back to hating a little boy that had found his mother’s body? A little boy who had grown up much faster than he was supposed to.

“Okay, lets stop with all the sadness. Today is supposed to be a happy day.”

“Where to?” I asked, forcing a smile, but my thoughts were already on all those nights Dean had tried to open my door. I’d watched the handle dip down slowly. My body had reacted to that every night. My pussy had pulsed and my nipples had hardened, but I’d kept it locked. But maybe I shouldn’t have. Maybe I should have let him use me as an outlet. It had not been bad when he’d used me. I’d enjoyed it until the end, until hearing his cruel, belittling words.

“Opal?”

I blinked and looked at Lea who was standing beside me.

“Sorry, what?”

“Where did you go?” she asked with concern.

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