Page 48 of Broken Crown

My words seem to echo around me as Rory gapes at me, face contorted in disbelief and surprise.

“You…” She swallows hard.“You’re moving out?”Her voice rises in pitch at the end as she pulls her bottom lip between her teeth.

This is why I’ve avoided this conversation.I’m more than aware of Rory’s abandonment issues.After growing up in the foster care system and essentially being moved from home to home, she never had much stability in her life.So when she finds security, she clings to it.

It’s why she clung to me so hard after Adam’s death.Unfortunately, I let her do it.

I can’t keep letting her do it.

I need her to let go of me.For her own good.

And mine.

I draw in a deep breath, willing my voice to sound soothing.“It’s time, Rory.It was time years ago.I just kept putting it off.”

“But what about the promise you made your brother?”She throws her hands up in exasperation.“You swore you’d always be here for AJ.For me.You’re just going to go back on your word?”

Truthfully, that promise has been one of the reasons I’ve avoided this for so long.Like my mum told me on Christmas, Adam would have never asked me to make that promise if he knew I’d sacrifice my happiness in order to fulfill it.I doubt he anticipated I’d take my promise to the lengths I have.I allowed the remorse I felt after his death to cloud my rationale.To guilt me into making wrong decision after wrong decision.

No more.

“Adam wouldn’t have wanted this life for me.Or for you and AJ.He would have wanted you to be happy.To live a full life.To finally move on.”

“Move on?”she shrieks, her face reddening, the veins in her neck pulsing as she clenches her jaw.

“Yes, Rory,” I reply, keeping my tone even despite the growing irritation and desperation in her own.“We all deserve to move on.It’s been ten years.It’s time.”

“Maybe I don’t want to move on, Creed.Did you ever stop to think about that?Maybe I’m not willing to just forget Adam.”

“I’m not saying you need to forget him.But you can’t stand there and claim this arrangement’s actually been healthy.And I’m not just talking about us living together, but about everything else that’s gone on, too.It’s been so bloody toxic.You’ve got to see that.Hell, up until a few months ago, I let you crawl into bed with me and call me Adam while we fucked.Which we never should have done in the first place.”

She purses her lips and crosses her arms over her chest, the fire in her gaze intensifying.“I never heard any complaints from you.”She leans closer, her voice dropping to an icy whisper.“In fact, it seemed like you enjoyed it, Creed.Quite a bit.”

I squeeze my eyes shut, refusing to play the blame game.It won’t solve anything.

Nor will it change my mind.

Nothing will.

“It still doesn’t make it right.It doesn’t makeusright.”I gesture between our bodies.“After Adam died, I wanted to do right by him.Thought staying here with you was the only way to fulfill the promise I made.But by staying, I kept us trapped in the past.You deserve to have a future.”I point to my chest.“I deserve to have a future.”I gesture toward AJ’s room.“AJdeserves to have a future.Don’t you want that?For your son to be able to live without the ghost of his father constantly hovering over him?Over you?Don’t you—”

Before I can finish my sentence, her hand connects with my cheek, the loud slap reverberating against the walls and ceiling.

I snap my mouth shut, blinking through the sting.But as much as my blood boils, I refuse to reciprocate.

“Fuck you, Creed.”

“Rory…,” I begin, unsure of what I can say to get through to her.Isthere anything I can say to get through to her?

Should I have done more in those initial months following Adam’s death to encourage her to get help?She did go to therapy and even joined a grief group at a local church, but after a while, she stopped going.She’s started again here and there, but she never stuck with it.Maybe if I’d said something, pushed her harder to deal with her issues, she wouldn’t be so dependent on me.On AJ.

And on Adam.

“You want to be rid of us so badly?”She holds her head high, the lines of her face radiating with anger.“Then sleep somewhere else from now on.”

She spins on her heels and storms into her bedroom, slamming the door behind her, causing a photo of AJ and me to fall off the wall and crash onto the floor.

ChapterEighteen

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