Blackbird (A Stepbrother Romance #1)(42)

“What makes you think I should hear you out?”

My eyes snap up to look at him. The words are like a dagger in my chest.

“I thought…”

“I gave you everything, Eve, and the first time we were tested, you believed the worst about me and wouldn’t let me defend myself.”

“Your reputation preceded you.”

His teeth pull back in a sneer and his fists clench. “That ended with you, Eve. I never touched another girl since I met you.”

“She said-“

“She lied,” he snaps, and pounds his fist on his thigh.

I flinch and his expression softens.

“I didn’t mean to scare you, but God damn it, Eve. It makes me mad. I’m angry with you.”

“Do you hate me?”

“No. Not you. Never you.”

“I’ll hear you out, if you want to talk to me.”

He gets up and walks to the window. “Why’d you come here?”

“We were always happy here.”

“We never stayed at this motel.”

I roll my eyes. “I don’t mean here, here. I mean at the beach. I still remember that first trip. I was like a little kid. Nobody ever did anything like that for me before, ever.”

“It was always fascinating to watch,” he says, watching the rain streak the window. “Everything was new to you. Little things brought you such joy. Cotton candy and stuffed animals and the silly little rides at that park.”

“Funland,” I correct.

“Funland.”

“I know now why Father wouldn’t let me see you.”

“Wouldn’t let you?”

“He kept me away at first. After a while he didn’t have to. I stayed away on my own. When I saw you what, yesterday? It was…”

“You said you’d hear me out.”

“Yes.”

“So stop talking, and hear me.”

I slide back up the bed to sit against the wall. Victor continues to stare out the window.

“I was never happier than when I was with you. You know, I became a real son of a bitch after I lost my father. The way only a twelve year old can be. I was a little shit to my mother. I hurt a lot of girls. Emotionally, I mean. Not physically. Then when you were around it didn’t hurt anymore. Not like it used to. It wasn’t so bad, and the more you were around the better I felt. I started to think I could have a future with you. The other shit never really mattered to me. I guess I didn’t know how well off I had it. The money and the house and all didn’t matter to me. It was just there.”

I look at his reflection. His eyes are distant, locked on nothing.

“Five years,” he said. “Five years with nothing but time. I could have survived that, if I thought you’d be waiting for me. I thought I’d lost you permanently. I thought you’d been poisoned against me. I thought he won. Nothing was worse than that.”

“I’m sorry,” I say, dully.

“If you’d believed me,” he sighs. “No, it doesn’t matter. I was going down no matter what. I was so stupid. He set me up. Your father. It was a trap and I fell for it, hard. Completely. He beat me.”

“Tell me what happened. The truth. All of it.”

He turns from the window and falls into a side chair. His hair is still wet when he slides his hand through it. In short sleeves, the feathery tattoos on his arms shiver. I remember being wrapped in those arms, tracing my fingernails over those designs. My touch excited him. Would it excite him now, or disgust him? When he sees me biting my lip his nostrils flare and his whole posture changes. A little quiver of fear flutters through me, flavored with excitement. He looks away, his jaw set.

“You want the truth?” he says, and his voice never wavers. “I love you. That’s the truth.”

“What about the girl?”

Brittany. Her name is Brittany. I won’t say it, I won’t give it voice.

“She was lying.”

“About the sex, or all of it?”

“All of it. I should have seen it coming. I was set up.”

“You said. Set up how?”

“Your father played me,” he says, coldly. “Played on my one weakness, too. He was very smart about it.”

“What weakness?” I’m about to say redheads but I bite my tongue.

“The possibility of freeing you from him forever. I thought I had a shot at taking him down. This is what happened.”





Chapter Fourteen





Victor





I never knew what happiness was until I woke up with Evelyn in my arms. When she slept she would curl up in a ball and press against me, the tip of her nose pressed into my chest, the soft feathery touch of her breath on my skin. She always tucked her arms under mine and half the time she’d throw a leg over me, too, like she was trying to wrap me up so I couldn’t get away. It was our third year together. Soon I would be graduating from college. She had another year if she chose to continue her studies. I was pushing her to declare a new major. She could do whatever she wanted and I’d pay for it. She didn’t need her father’s approval, and she didn’t need him. I had her, I would take care of her. This was the best day of my life. The school year would end soon. We’d decided that after sneaking around for the last two summers we’d be open this year. Eve was ready to confront her father.