Page 26 of Perfidious Passion

SLAM!

"With his fingers. He told me I was too dry and went down... but I couldn't let him do that. I fought and fell. When I reached to pull myself up, I felt the emergency button and pushed it. I remember him coming toward me… but that's it. I don't recallsecurity kicking the door in or the police arresting him like you say happened."

"When I woke up, I was scared. I wanted my guys… but the nurses forced me to stay still. Like-like Brett did, and I-I was just so scared."

It's beenfive minutes since the officers left and her words are on a loop in my head. With each question they asked her and every response she gave, I felt my world crashing down around me even more.

There was more to the conversation, but those are the details, the feelings that won't stop banging around my brain.

He had a gun. Forced her to bend over Aaron's deck. He scared her. He touched her.

The force in which Aaron punched his fist through the wall when she said that still ricochets through my body. Having an inkling of who hurt our woman is one thing, but for Aaron to find out, it was his boss, a man he liked and trusted, tore something inside of him. And the high probability that Brett stole her phone number from his phone? Inconceivable.

Brett played the role of charismatic and friendly all too well. It was the greatest deception. One I fear has altered our family for good.

We all bought it, leaving Lilly alone.Confused, she had said.

I want to demand the answer to the awful question lingering in our silence. Why the fuck didn't she tell us?! She said he started harassing her on Monday. I remember seeing them inthe hall after they had bumped into each other, but I, honest to God, thought she was just feeling awkward.

I'm waiting for Caleb to lose his shit, and I half expect Aaron to bolt out the front door and kill Brett. I'm stuck. Absolutely stuck in a swirling tornado of emotions because of everything that happened to my wife this week without me knowing.

How could she keep this from me?

It's on the tip of my tongue to ask, but before the urge can fully rise, Caleb jumps up from the couch in a fit of fury. Aaron stops pacing, and I take a step forward when my twin rounds on Lilly. He doesn't say anything, though. Where I expected a full lecture from my brother, he's completely silent as he scoops Lilly off the couch and stomps his way upstairs.

Our bedroom door slams shut a minute later, making me jump. I won't interfere. I trust my brother even when he's angry. My wife is safe with him, and should she need me, I know one of them will come get me.

They need this time. Caleb has always struggled with accepting Lilly's anxiety more than me and Aaron. Our mom never felt good enough either, but in reality, she's the greatest fucking person in the world. We feel the same about Lilly. But Caleb hasn't been able to not take it personally, always blaming himself for why the women in his life don't feel secure.

I get it. I do. We grew up like this, but the truth is, it's not about Caleb necessarily. Lilly just needs additional reassurances, and what she needs from each of us is unique.

From me, she needs to know that I love my life and won't resent her for loving my twin and Aaron. She struggles with Aaron's stoic expressions, thus needing him to clarify how he's feeling. And with Caleb? That's complicated because their energies feed off of each other, causing them to project their worries, often making Lilly think he's mad at her for something.

My thoughts have traveled from the trauma we're all experiencing to the root problem in our unique relationship.

"Aaron, I'm going to get us all set up with a counselor."

Now isn't the time, especially seeing as he's resumed his pacing and muttering. "Dean.” He sighs. "I can't right now."

I know what he means. He can't talk about anything. He's so wrapped up in his own head that I'm pretty sure what I just said didn't even register.

"If I talk, then I won't stop."

I frown and lean forward. "You can talk to me, you know that."

He nods and digs a hand through his dirty blond hair. "I know, Dean. Thanks."

I bite the inside of my cheek as I study my friend. "Aaron." I wait for him to look at me. "It wasn't your fault."

His comeback is quick and hard. "If it wasn't my fault, then it wasn't yours either."

I’m not sure if I can believe that.

Lilly

FEB. 16TH - SUNDAY

The blip has become an endless abyss with arms and claws reaching for me, trying to drag me down. They're Brett's hands I can't shake the feeling of.

---