Page 57 of Through You
I hold Claudia by the wrist and lead her upstairs.
“I’ll be right back,” I hear her whisper to Apolo.
The moment we enter my room, she folds her arms over her chest, furious.
“Have you lost your mind? Beating your own brother? What in the—”
“What happened between you two?” She’s not expecting the question. “Tell me everything. I need to know every detail. How many times he kissed you. If he touched you. Everything.”
She gives a snort and is visibly indignant. “You have no right to ask me that.”
“Yes, I have every right to! I earned it weeks ago when you let me touch you. And now you’re allowing my brother to do the same thing with you?”
“Are you listening to yourself?” She raises her voice. “Artemis, you lied to me. You have a fiancé—you let me in only to push me out. What gives you the right to make a scene? Have you lost your mind?”
I run my hand over my beard and my head. “Stay away from him.”
She lets out a sarcastic laugh. “You’re not even listening to me.”
“Claudia, you need to do as I say. You have no idea what I’m capable of.”
“I’m not afraid of you, Artemis.” She comes closer just so I can see the disdain in her eyes. “Listen to me, you idiot. You and I are nothing. I don’t belong to you, or to any other man. I am not an object, I am a human being. What I do with my life from this moment on is none of your fucking business. So please do me—and yourself—a favor and focus on your life and your fiancé, and let me live in peace.”
She turns and walks to the door.
“Not him, Claudia.” She stops but keeps her back to me. “Not with my brother,” I say through clenched teeth. “Not with my fucking brother.”
She glances at me over her shoulder. “I want you to know that it wasn’t my intention to hurt you.”
It never is. My shoulders slump in resignation.
“Don’t take this out on Apolo, he loves you and is your brother.” She pauses, choosing her next words carefully. “You and I were done before we even started. That’s how it is with us. Stop trying to make the impossible happen, Artemis.”
I walk up until I stand right behind her.
“How can I ever do that when it’s you?” She doesn’t say anything. I put my hands on her shoulders and rest my forehead against the back of her head. “I can’t do that, Claudia.”
I can feel her tremble a little at the sound of my words.
She puts her hands on top of mine and tries to get them off her shoulders. I gasp in pain when her hand touches the knuckles of one of mine. I hadn’t noticed they were bleeding. Claudia turns to face me and holds the hand that is injured.
“Oh, look what you’ve done.” The coldness in her eyes vanishes and concern immediately takes its place. “Sit. I’ll go get the first aid kit.”
I do what she says and sit on my bed. She comes right back, leaving the door open, and sits down next to me. I quietly watch her disinfect my knuckles with utmost care. I frequently got into fights when I was a teenager and she was always there to scold me and tend to my wounds. She purses her lips as she treats my cuts with great care and attention.
It takes me back to a day . . .
“Artemis! Artemis!” The urgency in Ares’s voice alarmed me.
I paused my video game as he ran into my room. His eyes were red and tears streamed down his small cheeks.
“What’s wrong?” I imagined a slew of devastating scenarios.
Ares was crying inconsolably and could hardly speak. I took his face in my hands.
“Ares, what happened? Tell me.”
“I got . . . a good grade.” He wiped his face with the back of his hand. “And I went to show Mom . . .” His face twisted in a grimace, looking anguished. “She . . . There’s a man in there . . .
