“You think I didn’t see it?” I continued, my chest heaving now. “The way you look at him? The way you talk about him? Like he’s… like he’s something to be dealt with instead of a person. Instead of your brother, your own flesh and blood.”
“Heissomething to be dealt with.”
I scoffed in disbelief. “Wow.”
He stepped toward me, and I stepped back. Raising his hands in the air in a surrendering gesture, he shared, “Julius was running around with people you don’t understand.” His voice was still controlled, but something was simmering beneath it now. “He was doing things that don’t just go away if you ignore them.”
“And you do?” I defied him. “You’re suddenly the expert on the rules of selling drugs?”
“I know enough,” he stated.
“Clearly,” I said bitterly. “Enough to get him arrested.”
“That’s not how it?—”
“Then how?” I demanded an answer, stepping closer to him until my chest nearly brushed his. “Explain it to me, Kraven. Because from where I’m standing, it looks like you saw an opportunity and snatched it. After everything he’s done for you?”
His eyes darkened. “That’s what you think?”
“What else am I supposed to think?” My voice cracked, but that didn’t stop me. “He didn’t tell me shit. I didn’t know what he was doing, but you did, didn’t you?”
His silence was answer enough, slicing my heart in half.
“I was trying to?—”
“To what?” I cut him off. “Protect me?” My laugh came out strangled, broken. “Please, spare me your theatrics. Your brother is in jail because of you. After everything he’s done for you, this is how you repay him? By betraying him like this? You don’t get to play protector now. Not after this.” I let my wordssink in. “Because this is unforgivable, Kraven. Is that what you wanted? Did you want him to hate you? Did you want me to?”
“No,” he responded sternly. “I was trying to fix it before it got to this point.”
“Well,” I mocked, “you fucking failed. He’s behind bars now.”
The truth hung between us.
Heavy.
Final.
Like a nail in his coffin.
His expression shifted slightly with a flicker of regret behind his stare, though it wasn’t enough.
It’d never be enough.
“I’m working on getting him out.”
“What are you going to do?” I mocked again, my voice dropping, turning colder.
“I’m handling it. The less you know, the better.”
“I’m sick and tired of both of you treating me like a child when I could be the mother of your baby. Do you see the irony in that?”
“You said it. I didn’t.”
I glared at him, then laughed. “You expect me to believe you’re going to get him out?” I shook my head, dumbfounded. “You expect me to believe you’ll fix the bullshit you caused?”
“I didn’t cause this,” he bit. “Julius did with every choice he made.”
“And you just helped it along?”
