Page 45 of Pretty Poisoned

Declan climbs further onto the bed and tosses the teddy bear Layla clung to so tightly last night aside like it's nothing. Then, he lies down next to me, mere inches away.

"You were trading stories, right? That's what Luca said." He props himself up on his side then runs his hand through his raven hair, brushing it away from his eyes.

"Not really," I tell him. "I told him a story. I never got one."

"Well, I am going to tell you a story about Luca—or maybe about Luca and I both—that might help you to understand. And it's not the one he was going to tell you."

"Okay…" I say hesitantly.

"Our mother died shortly after he was born," he says. "She hemorrhaged; they said there was nothing they could do. He never knew her, but I did. I was three years old."

"I'm so sorry," I say.

"I don't need you to do that. Just listen. Our dad, as you may know, is a pretty prominent international investor. He's acquired quite a bit of wealth as well as inherited it, and he was never around a lot—always traveling, we always had live-in nannies. And, when I was seventeen, Dad came home with a twenty-one-year-old bride and told us she was going to be our new mommy. But new mommy didn't understand how things worked around here; she thought that since they were married, my dad was going to be around and would stop sleeping with other women."

"And he didn't."

"No, he didn't. And they fought and fought until she decided that to get back at him, she was going to start sleeping with his son."

"Wait so…you had an affair with your stepmom?"

"No."

"No?" I ask.

"Luca did."

"Luca? But…he would have been…" I start to do the math in my head, thinking I must have misunderstood.

"He was thirteen when it started, yeah. You're about her age, Teagan. Can you think of anything you would want from a thirteen-year-old boy?"

"What?" I ask, repulsed. "No."

"Exactly," he says. "But he thought they were in love. Eventually, he called my dad and told him, and he immediately hopped on a plane. He prepared this big speech where he was going to tell my dad she wanted to marry him instead, and they were going to leave together; he told her to pack a bag, and then she left without him before my dad made it home. He was devastated. He was convinced for months that she would come back for him, but obviously, she never did."

"Why are you telling me this?" I ask.

"Because that's the story that matters," Declan says. "That's Luca's origin story, and that's why he'll never really be able to love a woman. It fucked him up, Teagan. He doesn't understand this…concept he's obsessed with. He's not capable of it. But he is more than capable of violence in its name. I'm not controlling him, Teagan. I love my brother more than anyone; I would do anything for him. I'm taking care of him."

"Are you?" I ask.

"Am I what? Capable of love?"

"Yes. Or violence."

"Yes to both," he says. "Promise me that you'll really stay away from him this time."

"Yeah. No problem."

"Say it."

"I promise."

"See? That wasn't so hard, was it?" He pushes up into a seated position and climbs off the bed. "Come with me."

"What?" I ask. "Where?"

"You'll see."

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