Page 67 of King of My Heart

She tenses, and I know she’s scared of me. I hear it in her voice. “Wh-why? Why did you shoot him?”

“Because he was getting in the way of my freedom. And I will always eliminate anyone who gets in the way of my freedom.”

I’m ready to hear, ‘but he’s your brother’ or ‘there must have been another way’. She surprises me, instead.

“How did it happen?”

Fuck, I really hate going down memory lane. But I do it for her.

“Jake and I kept complaining about Bianco, but he had a lot of care workers in his pocket. One of them took pity on us and did as much as she could. She put our file forward to a family. It was the Murrays. They insisted on taking us in, but Bianco threatened the case worker. He told her to not allow any transfer if it wasn’t the three kids. It was all of us or nothing.”

Rachel relaxes against me as I feel her back heavier on my chest. My legs are splayed out, so she is sitting in between them.

“Bianco knew Nate would never agree to leave. The moment Jake and I knew the Murrays wanted us, we fought Nate every day to try and convince him. One of our arguments got heated. He was always against us. Always getting in the way. I learned too late in life why he was doing it. Back then, I had a hatred against him I couldn’t describe.”

I bring a hand to Rachel’s hair, playing with some strands to stay grounded and not fall into the darkness.

“Nate beat up Jake real bad that day. Bianco sided with him, two on one.”

I still remember Bianco’s laugh and my twin’s grunts of pain.

“Bianco’s gun was on the table. Nate was the first one to notice I’d grabbed it. Probably because I was pointing it at him.”

His voice is loud in my head.

“Ozy, what the fuck are you doing. Have you gone insane? Put the gun down.”

Bianco follows. At least they left Jake alone. “Princess, give me the gun. You’ll regret it if you don’t.”

I don’t. My hands are shaking, my heartbeat painful, but I hold on to the gun like I’ve been taught so meticulously.

“Rose.” Bianco’s voice fills my stomach with dread. “If you don’t give me this gun, I’ll show you that you’ve never truly known pain.”

I lower the gun. Bianco doesn’t even take it from me when he walks away and leaves the room. Like this conversation is over. It’s only my wish for freedom, it isn’t serious to him. He knows I’m not a threat. I’m just his princess. Weak, pliable.

Nate’s smug smile breaks my heart. Does he really not care?

“You’re not leaving. Do you understand? None of us is getting out of here. Not until I say so.”

“That did it,” I tell Rachel. “His conviction that none of this was my choice. That it’d never be. So I shot him.”

Blood.

Lots and lots of blood.

I don’t know how long I’ve been silent for, when Rachel nudges me. “What happened after?”

“Bianco had no explanations to give to the case workers. So he pretended Nate ran away. No more Nate, no more three-kid deal. We were free.”

“But he didn’t die.”

“No,” I chuckle sadly. “I missed the vital organs. And we didn’t know until Bianco sent Sam and Nate after us during our senior year. Three years of blissful, ignorant freedom.”

I’m glad my brother didn’t die. He’s the one who sent Bianco to prison, after all.

I told Rachel I’d tell the whole truth. So I do even if she’s going to hate herself for it.

“When Bianco found us again during our senior year,” I explain. “He picked up exactly where he left off.”

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