Page 5 of Ruin
Daniel smirks, crossing his arms. “You know I have no issues in taking care of myself, brother.”
I sigh, suddenly feeling very, very tired. “I know you don’t. But I’d rather not have to arrange for our lawyers to help defend you in a murder trial. I’ll get Connell to arrange a few more security staff. Never hurts to be cautious, after all.”
“Spoil my fun,” he murmurs, and I shake my head.
My brother was always the more hotheaded of the two of us. I guess he had the luxury, being the youngest. I’d had to step into the guardian role as soon as I’d aged out of foster care, applying for kinship care as soon as I could. It was only after Lily came along that he’d tempered his more impulsive side, and I will be forever grateful to her for that.
“I’m ready,” Lily murmurs, reappearing at the door with a small, designer suitcase in her hand.
Daniel and I say nothing further on the matter as he walksus to the door, but I know he’s hoping things will be different for her the next time they see one another.
If only it was that simple.
“Here,” Daniel says, handing Lily a phone. “I got you this earlier. I’ve programmed mine and Sebastian’s numbers into it. You better pick up when I call you.” His tone is light, but the smile on his face seems forced.
She stares down at the phone for a moment, before looking back up at him. “You’ll call me?”
“So much you’ll be sick of me,” he replies, slipping an arm around her shoulders and pulling her into his side before guiding her towards the car.
I draw a deep breath before following behind them, not sure what these feelings are that are swirling inside me. All I know is that I have no idea how this is all going to to turn out. And that scares the shit out of me.
The woman at my side is a shadow of her former self. The light in her eyes has been snuffed out, and the girl who was always laughing is long gone. In her place is this haunted waif who shrinks from people, seemingly determined to keep herself as small as possible, lest anyone take notice of her.
And people have always taken notice of Lily.
With long blonde hair that hangs down to the small of her back in waves, her porcelain skin and blue eyes stand out just as much as ever. She has long reminded me of a living doll, with perfect Scandinavian features that wouldn’t be out of place on the runway of a fashion show.
Since we climbed into the back of the black Audi waiting for us out the front of Dark Desires, she’s not uttered a word. There is no sign of the woman who used to talk a mile a minute and was so full of life.
The day she’d fallen into Joseph’s clutches, I’d known that he would be responsible for her downfall. I just hadn’t expected it to be like this.
I don’t do jealousy. I find no point in it. But something inside me had broken the day she accepted his proposal.
Joseph had always had a jealous streak, and often resented the wealth that my brother and I had come into, once our father passed. From the minute he met Lily, he had set out to pull her into our world, wanting her for himself.
He’d always coveted beautiful things. And Lily was breathtakingly beautiful. Still is, despite the hell he has put her through. She’s maintained her youthful appearance, and could easily be mistaken for a woman a decade younger than her thirty-two years.
I’ve seen them on TV, though. A man a decade older than me, with the youthful, trophy wife. I’ve had to turn the television off whenever that has happened, nausea churning in my gut every time.
I have long wondered how I ended up allowing myself to become friends with a man like that, but when you come from a family like mine, it’s not surprising to end up in the same circles as men who use their power for evil. The day I walked away and moved to a different city, I knew I’d done the right thing.
I just should have taken Lily with me.
But she’d made her feelings clear in that final text message.
“Have you been to Brisbane before?” I ask, trying to draw her out of her timid shell.
She shakes her head, still not quite meeting my gaze. “No. I’ve never left Sydney.”
Stunned, I raise an eyebrow. “You never travelled?”
She shakes her head again, before returning to look out the window once again.
Joseph has always travelled. The knowledge that she hasnever left this city while he was jetsetting all over the country sends another wave of anger through me, and I clench my fist into a ball against my thigh, before shaking it out.
The last thing she needs is to see my fury.
I rarely let anyone see my emotions. I pride myself on always being in control. And there have only ever been two people who have truly seen beneath my controlled exterior.
