Page 57 of Dark, Forbidden, & Taboo

Oops.

“What?” I ask my brother sheepishly and he shakes his head as he lets out a laugh.

“I was saying that Angie is going to have the best life possible. Better than either of us had—even after all of the money that fell into our laps.”

I nod in agreement as I take a dainty bite from the slice, “I hope so.”

Rock casts a curious glance in my direction, “What makes you think she wouldn’t?”

“I don’t know,” I reply quietly. “Did you ever get the feeling that there’s a storm coming?”

“Sure, lots of times, Daveigh. And you know what I do when I feel that way?” he asks, as he leans forward and turns a dial on the stove. Rock opens the oven door, bends down, and slides a large tray in before he stands up, wiping his hands against each other. I wait patiently with an eyebrow raised, hoping that he has the answer to every bad feeling that I’m having. “I hop into a boat and ride out to meet it head on.”

Of course,I muse with a small smile.

I learned my fearlessness from watching him as children. Mimicking his attitude and always doing my best to maintain a straight head on my shoulders and a fire burning in my belly. Unfortunately, years under the Parker roof managed to smolder the first, though I did rekindle a small spark when I was forced to survive on the streets. Even more so when Angie was born because that was when I knew that I wouldn’t have time to feel sorry for myself anymore. I couldn’t risk the rage I felt, the sleepless nights worrying that Daddy Julius would come for me.

I had to become the feral animal that Josephine obviously took me for.

“It’s better than waiting at shore for it to come bearing down on you,” he continues with a shrug. “And sometimes, it’s the most fun I have in a while.”

“So, what have you been up to?” I ask in attempt to change the subject.

“What do you mean?”

“Since I last saw you.”

Crunch.

Rock stares at me as I start chewing on the apple slice again. Since he doesn’t seem to have much to say in regard to such a simple question, all I can hear is the sound of my own masticating.

Crunch.

“How did you meet the Parker Princess?” I press, desperate for him to say anything at this point.

A smirk starts to slowly spread across his lips, “Do you really wanna know?”

“I asked, didn’t I?”

“Well,” he begins conversationally as he scratches the back of his head, then leans against the counter, “growing up with everything you could ever want and more gets boring fast. Dad and Julius have always had some kind of rivalry going; I think it goes back to high school, but I could be wrong. I wasn’t paying attention when Dad was telling me.” Rock pauses a moment to purse his lips, then chuckles as he shakes his head, “Anyway, they used us to try and topple the other one. Emily and me, I mean. Think of it like spies trying to gather intelligence information about the opposing team and trying not to fall prey to espionage. I never really did care for Emily, though. She’s always been too much of a self-righteous bitch for my taste, but doing the intelligence tango with her was fun. Hell, I’d still do it now if I could.”

“Have you and Emily ever … um …”

“No way,” he replies emphatically, shaking his head. “She’s never been my type, Daveigh. Besides, I’m pretty sure she’s eaten about as much pussy as I have,” he finishes with a dry laugh.

I turn red as I set the last bit of the apple slice down and Rock comes over to pull out the stool across from me. “That’s different. That’s revenge, not pleasure.”

I smile up at him sheepishly and he arches an eyebrow, “Unless there’s something you need to tell me?”

“Would it matter?” I ask, wrinkling my nose.

“Nope! Just the cat in me dying from curiosity,” he states with a grin.

“Look,” I begin as patiently as I can, tucking my hair behind my ears, “sometimes the only way to get money for things is todothings. Whether it happened to be a guy or a gal, I didn’t care so long as they had money and I would be able to get Angie a new pair of underwear, or take her to the zoo, oranythingthat could make her life a little easier. Did I ever enjoy it? Sometimes I did and sometimes I didn’t, but when you’re dumped on the street like garbage, Rock, you figure out what you’re good at quickly and exploit it to survive.”

“For sure,” he agrees in a semi-bored tone. “But none of that is why I asked.”

“Then why did you?” I asked him evenly.

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