Page 112 of Shattered Skull

Everything froze, and the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end.

“What did you just say?” I asked, sure I was hearing things.

He set the picture on my dresser and turned away.

“Yeah, I was fucking her mom’s shriveled pussy, hoping to catch a payday, but her dead husband didn’t leave her anything because she was such a slut.” He chuckled. “Her brother was fucking with the Border Lords before he got pinched, but Everly never did anything but to go school and sit in her room.”

He moved across my room, and I followed him with my eyes as my brain started putting together the pieces.

Conversations with Everly played on a loop in my mind.

“He’s my mother’s boyfriend and the reason she kicked me out. He kept coming on to me, and one night I woke up to find him jerking off next to my bed.”

“When I told her about it the next day, she didn’t believe me, and she kicked me out.”

“No one ever chooses me.”

Things between us had been fine, and then we woke from prom, and Junior came over. I thought she left before she met him, but really she had leftbecauseshe saw him.

Our argument played through my brain, and slowly the things she said began to make sense.

“Because I don’t want to make you choose—especially knowing you won’t choose me!”

“Trust me, Aiken, there’s a choice. You just don’t know it.”

“You can’t fix this, and I refuse to make you choose.”

And lastly.

“Yes, Aiken. There’s someone else.”

There was someone else, but not the way I thought she meant. She saw Junior and ran away before I could find out the truth about my brother—she ran because she thought I wouldn’t believe her, and I would choose him.

“You son of a bitch,” I growled, standing from my bed.

He turned my way with confusion on his face.

“What?” he asked.

“You know what,” I said, feeling my rage bubbling inside of me.

He stared back at me, and I saw the minute he understood what I was talking about. The truth was in his eyes, and he knew better than to lie to me. I could always tell when he was lying. So, he didn’t even try.

He chuckled. “Oh, that. Come on, man, she was begging for it. Trust me; she wanted it. If I hadn’t passed out, she would still be screaming my name.”

I moved toward him, and his eyes grew wide before the room went black around me, and my mind went blank.

The next thing I knew, Crow was pulling me off Junior. I fought against his hold, trying to get back to him. Saint and Joker appeared at my side, helping Crow contain me, but still, I broke out of their hold twice.

When I finally stopped fighting them, I looked down at Junior to see that he was covered in blood and not moving. My feelings were twisted. I was glad to see the fucker who hurt my girl bloody on the floor, but my heart hurt that it was my own flesh and blood.

My brother.

The only family I had in the entire world.

And he was a sick rapist fuck.

“I think you fucking killed him, Skull,” Joker laughed at my side.

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