“Ready?” He clears his throat.
“Yep.” I nod and close the door behind me. Kashton left early this morning. He said he had somewhere to be and that he’d meet me back here after my lunch with Haidyn. I’ve been too nervous to worry about where he went.
We get into the elevator just as the door at the other end of the hall opens, and I get a glimpse of Ashtyn stepping out of her and Saint’s room, giving me ago-to-helllook before the elevator door closes.
I follow him to the garage, and he opens the door for me to get into his black Lamborghini. As we pull out of the gates of Carnage, he says, “What type of music do you like to listen to?”
Is he like me? Does he have to have noise too? I know for most, it’s just habit to get in the car and turn the radio on. “Anything. Doesn’t matter.”
He fiddles with the controls for a moment, and then “Hate Me” by Blue October starts to play through the speakers. He keeps it low enough that we could have a conversation if we had something to talk about, but instead, we choose silence.
Carnage sits out in the middle of nowhere by itself, so it takes a good thirty minutes to get anywhere when you’re not speeding. The particular restaurant we go to takes us forty-five minutes.
He opens the door for me to enter, and I thank him before he tells the hostess his name. We’re taken to our table and sit across from one another. It makes me wonder if he chose this place or if Charlotte did. Either way, I like the fact that they took the time to get reservations at a nice, quiet restaurant.
We each order a water, and I rub my sweaty hands on my jean-clad thighs. I don’t know why I wanted to do this. I should have begged Charlotte to join us. At least then we’d have a buffer. It’s not that I didn’t want her to join us. I think she would have insisted we go alone. She wants Haidyn and me to have this time together.
Picking up the menu, I cover my face and try to calm my racing heart.
“I guess congratulations are in order,” he finally says.
Setting down the menu, I see he’s staring at my wedding ring. “Yeah. Thank you.”
“You wanted to elope?” He frowns as if that’s hard for him to believe.
“I didn’t think anyone would want to be there,” I say truthfully. He stares at me intently, and it makes me shift in my seat. “Not like I’d expected you to give me away or anything.” I give a nervous laugh.
“I would have,” he answers, and my stomach knots. He pulls his cell from his pocket, and after unlocking it, he shows it to me.
It’s a group text. I arch a brow at the name. “My bitches?” I ask with a smirk.
“Sin named the group.” He rolls his eyes.
I laugh softly and look over the picture that Sin sent to him and Saint. It’s of Sin, me, and Kashton. The one he took with our champagne flutes on Hooke’s yacht. I sit back and sigh. “We didn’t know he was coming. We used his jet, and he just showed up right before takeoff.”
I don’t want Haidyn to think that I purposely left him out. It wasn’t like that at all.
He locks his cell and puts it away. “Why…” He pauses. “Why didn’t you come to me?” His eyes drop to the table before glancing back at mine. “Why didn’t you want to know me?”
I hate that I am the way I am. That I prefer to be by myself. I’ve become my father. I’ve made others feel less than because of my actions. “It wasn’t you. I’ve always been a no one, and I think it was hard for me to admit that you were my brother.”
He frowns.
I weave my fingers together on the table as I speak. “I was at the cathedral the night Bill was telling you about the breeders and what Charlotte’s future looked like.” I sigh. “Bill was already with Isabella when he saved me, and I stayed clear of her. For good reason. So when I found out you were with Charlotte, I had to remain staying away from you.”
“I haven’t been with Charlotte for very long.” He calls my bluff, sitting back in the seat and crossing his tatted arms over his chest. “You’ve been my sister your entire life.”
Looking away, I answer, “I couldn’t go back to Carnage.” Dropping my eyes, I add, “I fought too hard for too long to get away from there.”
“You went back for Kashton,” he reminds me.
Fuck. I want to crawl under the table and hide. “Rejection was also a factor.”
“Rejection?”
I knew he was nothing like our father, but that didn’t mean he’d accept who I am. “What if I tried to speak to you and you wanted nothing to do with me? Or what if you didn’t believe me? I’d feel like a fool. I’ve done just fine on my own, and I didn’t need anyone else.”
“Look”—he runs a hand over his hair—“I want to get to know you, but I’m not going to force a brother-sister relationship. Just know that I’m here if you need me.”
