Two Kinds Of Truth(66)

“Hey, bro. Have you seen Maddie? Only her bed hasn’t been—”

Callum stops dead in the doorway. His eyes switch from his brother, to stare at the me, lying in his bed.

“What the—”

My heart pounds at the sight of him, but Jamie tries to push him out of the room. Callum, though, pushes back.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me!” he cries.

“Get out,” I scream, lifting the bedsheet to hide my face. Although I’m angry with him, I’m also ashamed at being caught in Jamie’s bed.

“You’ve got no room to talk,” says Jamie, “not after what ye done.”

Callum’s jaw drops. “You conniving sonofabitch.”

The sheet’s ripped from my clutches and I scream as I try to claw it back. Callum pounces on Jamie, his arm drawn back. He throws a punch, but Jamie ducks and Callum hits the door, instead.

“Argh!” he cries, shaking his fist, and Jamie lifts his hands in surrender.

“We dinnae have to do this,” he says, breathlessly. “Just do the right thing and leave.”

Callum’s mouth twists with spite. “Oh, you think you can just take my wife without a fight, eh?”

“I’m not taking anyone,” Jamie says, his eyes angry. “Just do us all a favour and get out before things turn ugly.”

Callum lets out an unexpected peel of laughter. “Oh, you think you can get rid of me that easily? Well, I’ve got news for you.”

I take a deep breath. “Don’t make this any harder than it needs to be,” I say, and his head snaps back towards me. I suffer a shiver of unease, for Callum’s eyes are bulging and it scares me. He points an accusing finger in Jamie’s direction.

“So, you think he’s sweet and innocent, do you? Well, let me tell you—”

Jamie’s taken a sharp intake of breath. “That’s enough,” he yells. “Now, get out!”

Callum shakes his head as a dark cloud crosses his face. “No. Not until Maddie learns the truth of what you did to her.”

“I dinnae do anything,” Jamie says and turns to me, his eyes now pleading.

“Lies. All lies,” Callum shouts, and my gaze switches to Jamie.

“No,” he says, shaking his head. “Please, Callum; dinnae do this.”

“What’s he talking about?” I whimper.

Callum stands tall, his eyes wide, triumphant.

“We had a pact, Jamie and I.”

“A pact? What do you mean?”

Jamie moves closer to the bed and kneels beside me. “Dinnae listen to him,” he begs, “he just wants to tear us apart.”

My eyes flick back to Callum, standing there all smug.

“Go on,” I say.

“It was the night of the pub quiz. We made sure you had a few drinks too many. We planned on getting you drunk.”

I feel my brows furrow. “Why would you want to do that?”

Jamie’s hand creeps up and tries to take mine, but I pull away.

“Please, ye have to believe me: I dinnae go through with it.”

I focus my attention back on Callum.

“What did he do?” I ask, a chill creeping up my spine.

Callum takes a step closer to the bed.

“I asked him to sleep with you, if he’d be willing to take my place, and he agreed.”

I pull the covers closer, suddenly feeling violated. Bile is rising in my throat and I find it impossible to swallow.

“Why the hell would you do such a thing?” I rasp.

“Because I knew you were desperate to have a child. I could think of no other way for us. Jamie’s the perfect candidate. If you fell pregnant, you would never have known the difference, and the child could easily have passed for mine.”

Tears sting my eyes as I turn to look at Jamie. “Is this true?”

Jamie hangs his head. “He asked me and I agreed, but when it came to the crunch, I couldnae go through with it. I wanted ye so badly, but if it was to ever happen, I wanted it for the right reasons.”

I start to shake. I can’t believe what he’s telling me.

“You were willing to take advantage of me?” I cry.

“No. That’s just it: I wasnae,” and he lifts his head and pushes his fingers through his red hair. “I’d ne’er do such a terrible thing,” he cries, and now he’s staring straight at me. “Aye, I admit I thought seriously about it. Stood at the end of yir bed and almost went through with it. But at the last second my heart stopped me. I’ve wanted ye for so long that it killed me to contemplate doing something so despicable to ye. I guess I just wanted ye to love me.”

I pull away from him, wrapping the sheet around me as I do. As I climb off the bed, he stands back, and I scurry past, relieved that neither Callum nor Jamie try to stop me leaving. I hear the bedroom door bang shut as I hurry away, my feet silent on the stairs. I open the front door but then hear a loud crash and hesitate, looking back over my shoulder, a sob escaping my throat when Jamie staggers into view, Callum’s fingers tight around his throat.

“Stop it, both of you,” I cry, and Callum spins towards me, his face white, ashen. He lowers his hands and stares at me, and a shiver creeps down my spine. His chest heaves, his eyes round and wild. When I flick my gaze to Jamie, his arms have fallen to his side, his head bowed low. I turn away, pull the front door towards me and fill my lungs with the day’s cold air, then I step out into the freezing snow, the shock on my bare feet making my teeth chatter. I follow the path to the garden house, rush upstairs and throw off the sheet as soon as I’m in my bedroom. I’m trembling now and draw a shaky breath, scurrying naked into the bathroom. I hit the shower, its burst of hot water erupting against my skin as I run a hand over my wet hair and allow a river of salty tears to pour down my face.