Page 38 of The Heart of a Villain

“So he’s rude to everyone?”

Jesse puts the plate in front of me and pours some tea into my mug, the chamomile scent filling the air. “He acts like he owns the place, while Rush just barely tolerates him.” She looks around and then drops on the chair next to me, leaning closer. “A few years ago, when I just started working here, he came in all angry and shouted at Rush for giving half of the island to Rafael.”

Digging my fork into the scrambled eggs and lifting it to my mouth, I groan at finally having food in my system while my mind reels with all this new information.

So Rush was the sole heir of this island? And if his uncle was livid, it means he has a problem with Rafael, doesn’t it?

“Rush is the first born?” I clarify, and Jesse nods, snagging a cookie and biting it. “His father left everything only to one son?” I ask, baffled by all this, because that’s beyond my understanding. “What about Rafael and Lavender?”

“Family tradition,” Lavender pitches in, and my brows rise at the clarity in her voice and stare, a thought nagging my mind, but I can’t quite catch it. “A firstborn child gets everything in the Wright dynasty, especially the island. A second child only gets what the firstborn gives him.”

Dad divided his assets in his will equally between Levi and me. Our trust funds are also the same amount, with Uncle Arson acting as our benefactor.

The same goes for all my uncles—all children are equally loved, and there’s no stupid archaic talk about firstborns.

“I think that’s why their uncle is angry,” Jesse mutters while I continue to eat, concentrating more on listening because somehow all this holds importance. I feel it in my bones. “He loves the island and thought Rush would give it to him.” She chuckles. “I sometimes think the only reason he found him was so he could get it back.” She flips her hair back and rests her chin on her palm. “According to Mom, he was always bitter about being two minutes late.” She must read the confusion on my face, as she elaborates, “Rush’s father, Joaquin, was his twin.”

Everything inside me goes still at this. “A twin?”

“Yep. And they weren’t like Rush and Rafael.” A beat passes as she takes another large bite from her cookie. “Those two were inseparable, very close. Jade was always bitter about Joaquin getting everything.”

The more facts I uncover about the Wright family, the more disturbing it seems. “Joaquin didn’t want to share?”

Jesse shrugs, and then her brows furrow. “Mom used to say her boss was a great guy who always gave good bonuses and adored his wife. Jade inherited their mother’s fortune, but Joaquin refused to give him any part of this island.”

A great guy who beat up his wife to a point he dimmed her light completely?

The familiar throbbing in my head comes back, the ache spreading through my scalp because this doesn’t make sense to me at all and creates more floating puzzles in my mind without a theme or common ground.

Rush’s past is hazy, not giving me any chance to understand what the hell is going on.

The diary, I think. Their mother will be a good source to give clarity for everyone involved.

Although one question still remains. “Why is Lavender afraid of him?” Rush and the likes of him are deeply possessive and obsessive creatures who are very attached to the things and people they consider theirs. If their uncle hurt Lavender in the past, he wouldn’t be allowed inside the castle, so why does she have such an intense reaction to him? And worse, ends up in one of her episodes, needing sedatives?

Our conversation pops into my head.

“How old does she think she is?”

“Five or six.”

“And how old is she in real life?”

“Twenty-nine.”

What happened for her to decide to hide in that age and block reality completely?

At this rate, I could write a whole dissertation on the psychological issues of the Wright family and would probably get an award for it too.

Jesse opens her mouth to reply, when a stern voice makes her jump up, clutching her apron.

“Jesse, stop gossiping and help the cook in the kitchen.”

She nods at George and sends me an apologetic look, hightailing her ass from the dining room.

“If you aren’t careful, you’ll get that girl fired,” he warns me, placing his hands on his hips while probably going for the stern grandpa pose, but all it does is earn a laugh from me.

“That’s okay. She can come and work for me along with her fiancé once I’m back home.”

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