Unveiled (Torn #6)(4)

At first, when I had seen it slowly trickle towards the downward bend, I had thought he needed to go through it, and then he’d bounce back and recover like most folks did. Hell, even I had tried to live it up, despite dying inside after I realized the wreckage I had caused. I had expected the same from him, but my instincts had been wrong. It was far off from my own experience. He simply didn’t have any fighting spirit in him. He just let it be, letting it take its toll until he was rotten with it, decaying inside out.

True, at first he had deserved the treatment he received for cheating on her, but the price he had paid was even more dreadful. It saddened me that it all had come about this way. Had I known he’d be this broken, I could’ve at least tried to buffer while it all had taken place. However, I had been too bent on trying to prove to him that he deserved this treatment from Emma; so much so that I had been blinded to the path of no return he was on.

Little did I know he was completely different from me yet very much the same. Hard on the outside, though truly and gullibly unprotected inside. It made me wonder if this all rooted from my mother’s infidelity and her reckless, doomed behavior.

“Lindsey? Are you still with me?” Dimitris interrupted my thoughts, deeply frowning at me.

Blinking as I gazed at him, I knew he’d be disappointed of my decision before even voicing it out. “I’m sorry, but I must stay here,” I regrettably said as I begged him with my eyes. “You’re more than welcome to stay, but if you choose to leave, I won’t hold it against you. I know how important family is to you, and I also happen to know how much they expect from you being the head of the company, as well…, so that’s truly up to you. I hope you understand that this is not easy for me, and that I’d love nothing else than to spend this holiday season with you for the first time. However, my only family needs me.”

Carter was my only sibling, and after our parents had died in a fatal crash, he and I were all we had. I simply couldn’t take the most selfish and easiest route out of this one, walking away from problems like our parents had. That would be too devastating, even if he wouldn’t say so.

Dimitris sighed with utter desolation before he sat right next to me on the edge of the mattress. “I can always stay here …” he started saying, sounding unsure of his thoughts, “I’m sure Pappou and the rest will eventually understand …”

Pappou—the one man on this earth I truly didn’t want to disappoint, but what was I to do? Knowing Carter, he wouldn’t even hear me out before shutting the idea down about spending the holidays in a foreign country. My brother was an all-American man, and he’d tell me I was crazy to even think of spending holidays in a country where I didn’t speak their language.

Besides, he’d barely left the area, knowing Emma was living in her home in Malibu. Much as he despised to admit it, he liked knowing she was easily accessible to him. Peculiar, really, since he’d never go where Bass was, but I was almost one hundred percent sure he’d seen the house.

I was about to ask him if we could go see Carter together, and he could try convincing him since he’d have enough respect not to shut Dimitris down, because he wouldn’t want to be seen as an *. Unfortunately, my phone rang, disrupting our solemn ambiance.

Walking towards the living room area, I plucked my purse off the counter, scouring for my phone before I finally managed to find it. The caller somewhat shocked me a moment.

Brody, it said, flashing incessantly before me.

“Are you going to get that, or do you plan to stare at it a while?” Dimitris called out from the bedroom.

I glanced towards his direction, watching him gaze at me intently, curiously. Biting my lip, I gave him a pained smile. “I—uh—it’s Brody …”

He nodded towards me. “Take the call. I want to know what he’s been up to.”

Was he baiting me?

I glared at him, our eyes battling it out for a moment. After three full seconds, I relented and took the damn call. Damn him and his bright, glow in the dark eyes.

“Hello?” I rasped out, sounding scratchy, as if I hadn’t had water in days. I wasn’t particularly nervous, but sensing how Dimitris was logging every single thing I did definitely made me a little edgy.

Brody cleared his throat, huffing air as if he’d been running for miles. “Hey—it’s me … and please don’t hang up—because you always do—but … uh … There’s an emergency. It’s your brother … I think he has alcohol poisoning …”

“What?” I screeched, frantic. “What do you mean, you think? Where is he right now?” Something was compressing against my chest, making it harder to breathe by the second, as I tried to picture Carter from the last time I had seen him.

“Well, I think he overdosed on alcohol and perfumes …” he reluctantly added, making my eyes almost jumped out of my sockets. I must admit, I was more than a little perplexed.

“Perfumes? Are you f*uking high right now? You better not be, because this isn’t f*uking funny. I’m going to knock you in your face if I find out this is a stupid prank!” My yells were so loud I could barely hear myself properly. My body was shaking as I watched a frowning Dimitris rush towards my side.

“No! f*uk no! This isn’t a prank,” he rushed out, knowing well enough that I was about to go bonkers if he didn’t correct himself. “I found him with empty bottles of Jack and other alcohol … and a few empty bottles of Emma’s perfumes that she left behind.”