Page 91 of Ruin
Fuck, what is wrong with this guy?
“I don’t need to do anything. Butyoureally need to fuck off and stop acting like Dad.”
He scoffs. “Don’t you see that’s the problem here?”
“What the fuck does that mean?”
“He’s old enough to be your father.”
“I’m well past legal age.” I roll my eyes.
“He was friends with Dad,” Kaison growls.
“Maybe you should start worrying about your—”
His fist slams onto the desk, causing everything to rattle. “He was friends with Dad,” he says again, this time more slowly. And I think he’s trying to tell me something without saying it.
I fucking hate when people do that.
“Just spit it out, Kaison. What are you saying?”
“What he did to you…”
I can’t stop my eyes from going as wide as saucers. I should be grateful that my brother is concerned about me, but his allegations piss me the fuck off.
“Don’t you ever compare him to Dad,” I seethe.
“How could he be friends with someone like that? How canyoube with someone who was friends with someone like that?”
“Because he doesn’t fucking know!” I shout, jumping to my feet. I hit the desk on the way up and it slides a few inches. “He doesn’t know,” I repeat, this time more calmly.
Now Kaison’s eyes widen, and he takes a step back. He blinks a few times, mouth parting and then closing again. “How?”
“What do you mean, how? Because I didn’t tell him—that’s how.”
“But you were with him then.”
“I told you things with Lucian and I started when I was nineteen. Dad was done with me by then.”
His face twists into disgust. “Don’t say it like that.”
“Like what?” I bark. “Like I was a piece of trash he threw away? I mean, it’s what I was. The entire time. I was no son of his. Not like you.”
“Hey!” he bellows, pointing a finger at me. “That’s not my goddamn fault.”
“Didn’t say it was,” I respond. “But if the shoe fits.”
“Fuck you,” he growls. “Don’t you ever fucking talk to me like that.” He moves around the desk getting right in my face. “I don’t give a fuck how much I hated you when we were younger. You’re my brother. We’re family. Had I known what he was doing, I’d have shot him in his fucking sleep.”
A wave of emotion hits me, but I swallow it down. Maybe things would be different for me now if I had my brother on my side during it all. If I had told him what was going on, maybe we could have stopped it. But I was too afraid that Kaison wouldn’t believe me. Or worse, that he just wouldn’t care.
I throw my arms up and let them fall to my sides. “What do you want, Kaison?”
He sighs, running a hand through his hair. “I just want to make sure you’re okay.”
“Why do you suddenly care now?”
“I don’t know,” he snaps. “I just do, okay? Can’t that be enough? I can’t go back and fix things, so just let me be a big brother now.” There’s that emotion again. Hanging around in my throat and making it hard to breathe. “Please, Kolt. Let’s just… start over.”
