“Enough with the sass, Mouse. Keep going.”
She narrowed her gaze at me. “Joe was horrible, Julius. I’ve had some really shitty things said and done to me, but I’ve never been on the receiving end of someone who is supposed to love me yet hate me so damn much.”
“You should see him when he needs money. He’s much nicer then.”
“You’re making excuses for him?”
“I’m just stating facts.” I paused for a moment. “Kraven has always been an easy target for Joe, which is why I had to take care of him. You see how well that’s turned out for me.”
“He does love you.”
I deviously smiled. “Not as much as he loves you.”
She swallowed hard.
“How about that for irony?”
She changed the subject. “When he wouldn’t stop, Kraven lost it and dragged him out of the house.”
“And then what? Tell me, Isla. Look me in the eyes and tell me how you slept with my brother.”
She grimaced. “Julius… I… I guess I tried to comfort him, but only with a hug… I didn’t… I just don’t want you to think I threw myself at him or vice versa. It just happened.”
I challenged, “Like it just happened with us?”
“No, it was nothing like us… We made love, Julius.”
“So him fucking you is supposed to hurt less?”
“Julius—”
My stomach was in knots when I pushed off the railing. I had to get away from her. Tugging the hair away from my face, I turned my back to her. She immediately wrapped her arms around me from behind, and I let her. It was better than the alternative.
“I’m so sorry, Julius… I didn’t… I wish… Fuck… I’m sorry. I never meant for any of this to happen. Please tell me you at least know that?”
“I don’t know what to think anymore.”
She placed herself in front of me, staring into my eyes. “I love you.”
“And Kraven? Do you love him too?”
“Not in the way I love you… I’m sorry, Julius. I can’t explain it, but I can’t hide from it either. I don’t want to lose either of you. You’re both my family…”
Hearing her say all of this wasn’t a shock. It was reassurance.
But fuck, it burned me nonetheless.
CHAPTER
SIXTEEN
JULIUS
She suddenly looked downat the ground. The shame was obviously eating her alive.
“You have no idea what it was like waking up that morning you left me, searching for you the second my eyes opened. Thinking it was the start of a new day, a new life…” She wavered, clearing her throat.
She might have been physically standing there, but her mind was back in my bed, where I left her behind.
