Page 22 of Broken King

I turn away to face the window, and Eleanor gets the hint I don’t want to talk. I hear the sadness in her voice when she tells me to just let her know if I need anything before closing the door behind her and leaving me alone.

She and everyone else have no idea how much I wish I was still by myself at my apartment. They won’t let me go back there, though. Not after what I tried in April.

I listen to my brother and his happy family get ready like they’re going on a ten-mile hike. They’re walking out to the pool in the backyard, not going up Everest. Yeah, the estate is huge, but it’s not like the pool isn’t less than fifty yards from the back of the house. What the hell are they doing that requires them to make so much noise?

Not interested enough to go find out, I pad across the room to get my lunch. Maybe today I’ll eat standing up instead of in bed. I’m pretty tired of spending all my time there anyway.

Is that a pun? Tired of being in bed? No, probably not.

As I take the first bite of my ham and cheese sandwich I have to admit is pretty good, I question if I’m starting to lose my mind since I’ve taken to asking myself if I’m thinking up puns. Eight weeks here after a couple weeks in the psych ward at the hospital, and it feels like forever. No wonder I’m starting to get a little squirrely.

I’ll never forget my brothers’ faces when they came to see me in the hospital. Now there was a loud place. All that screaming, and that one guy who punched the wall so many times they had to restrain him. I’d never been around people like that.

But their faces. Matthias just looked worried. Then again, he always looks that way since he took over King Industries. Marius looked lost. I’d never seen him look like that. Like he didn’t know what to do or what to say. He mainly stood near the door whenthey all came to see me. Not that I blame him. I wouldn’t have wanted to visit that place either.

Kellen was the worst. Maybe it’s because he’s finally happy now that he has Salem, or maybe it’s because we’ve always been best friends since we were the two youngest in the family, but whatever the reason, damn, he looked crushed seeing me there. He kept having to turn away, and when he was able to get a few words out, it sounded like he was choking on them.

I hated seeing them like that. Worst of all, no matter what their faces were saying, I know they were scared. Even when our mother died, they didn’t look like that. Not when our father died either. I guess we all knew we had one another, so we’d be okay.

And then I slit my fucking arm and they couldn’t think that anymore. After losing Theo, that must have freaked them out.

If only Marius hadn’t found me that day when I did it. Everyone would be better off if he didn’t decide to stop by and see how I was doing. He wouldn’t be fucking scarred for life. Matthias and Ava wouldn’t have to keep me here so they can watch over me. And Kellen could be his happy-go-lucky self again.

“Hey, Ava sent me up to ask if you want to come outside. Any chance of that?”

Just the sound of that babysitter’s voice makes me want to throw something. Does this person ever fucking knock? You’d swear she was part of my family. They rarely knock either.

I spin around to see Sabrina standing over near my bedroom door in white shorts and a pink t-shirt waiting for my answer, but she’s about to get a whole lot more than that. “I see Ava either didn’t mention that I didn’t want to be bothered, or you ignored that. Nice.”

“She did, but then she asked me to come up to invite you out to lunch. You do see the dilemma, right?”

This person irritates me to no end.

“No, but that doesn’t matter. Maybe you need to hear it come from my mouth, so here goes. I don’t want to see you in my room. I don’t care what anyone asks you to do. Go away, and don’t come back. Am I clear enough now?”

“Crystal. Jeez, you really are a miserable bastard. No wonder that girl ran out of here crying. You’re a real charmer.”

My mouth drops open as I stand in amazement at how fucking rude this person is. Did I ask to be bothered? No. I just want to be left alone. Why doesn’t anyone understand that?

And how dare she mention Kate and what happened yesterday?

She walks out of my room before I can tell her what I think of her opinion, so I follow her out into the hallway, intending on cluing her in on how I don’t give a damn what she thinks. She’s halfway down the stairs by the time I get out there, but that’s not going to stop me.

Not today. Today, I’m going to make sure my family and whoever this babysitter person is understand don’t bother me means just that.

Do. Not. Fucking. Bother. Me.

I see her marching through the house out to the backyard, so I pick up the pace and do the same. Along the way, I see that thing little Theo rolls around in. What do they call those things? I don’t know, but it’s in the middle of the hallway. I scoot around it and walk outside for the first time in weeks.

Jesus, it’s bright out here. I lift my left hand up to shield my eyes. Damn, it’s sunny.

Matthias sees me first and nearly drops his glass of iced tea he’s so surprised. “Ronan, I’m so glad to see you. Come sit with us. We’re having lunch before we let the boys go swimming.”

Holding my hand up, I try to stop him, but it’s no use. The guy is lost in this domestic bliss of a life of his.

“Not now. Ava, didn’t I tell you yesterday I didn’t want to have your babysitter come into my room uninvited? She literally did exactly that, and that’s the only reason I’m down here right now.”

Now it’s not just my brother paying attention to me but Ava, Eleanor, and Sabrina, along with the two kids. Maybe now they’ll realize there’s a damn good reason to never ask me to join them for these family things.

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