“Hi.” I tried to sound casual like I was fine, and like I had no feelings seeing her.
Truth be told, my spirit never took to her. It was that thing where she always tried to get me to notice her even though she knew I was with her sister.
I’d be damned if I could do that to Luc.
We’d never been interested in the same woman, but if that day came, being the older brother, I would just step back. Simple, no questions, no comments. That’s what I would do.
Marissa though… damn
“You look terrible.” She smiled. “The single life doesn’t seem to agree with you.” Light laughter escaped her sultry red lips.
Unlike my Ava, Marissa wore either bright or very dark colors. Both looked striking against that platinum blond hair.
She ran her fingers over my shoulder, tracing down to my elbow, lingering there with a cunning smile on her face.
“You want something, Marissa?” I wasn’t in the mood for this shit.
“Claudius, let’s not pretend. You know I want you. Imagine the fun. We’re so much alike. I can’t imagine what the fuck you could have seen in my boring sister. Her with her cookies and stupid fluffy cardigans.Cardigans. Jesus.”
I’d never heard her talk so crass, so blunt and harsh. And about Ava.
I placed my hand over hers, and she must have thought I was going to give in. Triumph suffused her beautiful face, then defeat as I moved her hand away from me.
“Don’t you ever dare…” I was drunk, but I could manage to put her in her damn place. “Don’t you fucking dare speak about Ava like that again. And don’t try to seduce me. I want her, my Angel Doll. Not you. Stay away from me.”
I didn’t bother to take note of the hurt in her eyes. Hurt mixed with anger. Hot, vile anger of a woman scorned.
I didn’t care. I just grabbed the bottle of Jack D I’d previously ordered and walked away from her.
I started drinking even before I walked out of the bar. Someone was calling me, sounded like that new guy, Dante, but I didn’t stop.
I didn’t want to talk to anyone. Everyone could just fuck off as far as I was concerned.
Once again, I fell asleep. This time, I ended up on a park bench.
A phone call woke me up.
It was Luc, and he was sobbing. He was actually sobbing.
“What the hell’s wrong, man?” Something twisted in my soul. Luc was not the kind of man who cried.
I didn’t think I’d ever seen him cry, much less heard him. I thought he would have cried when Mom left, but he didn’t. Whatever the fuck had happened must have been bad to reduce this guy to tears.
“It’s Henry.” Luc could barely get the words out of his mouth. “He’s dead.”
A stone dropped in the pit of my stomach. “No, what? What are you saying to me?” I bolted upright.
“Henry, Lydia, and the babies. The kids, Claudius. They’re all dead.” Luc sobbed. “My kids, my babies. They always felt like mine.”
There was a cold silence at the end of the line that gripped me, making me feel worse. I shook my head and tried to steady my heart as it threatened to jump out of my chest.
“What happened, Luc?”
“Victor. Victor Pertrinkov.”
Enough said. That animal was a fucking psycho. A fucking psycho who you didn’t want to cross paths with.
“Where are you?”
