When I hear Asher’s slurry voice, I clench my back teeth under the mask. I knew it wasn’t gonna be long before he started sniffing round his sister. Fern did the right thing years ago, washing her hands of him. I just wish Lilly would do the same.
Leaning my head back against the hallway wall, I try to keep my anger at bay by regulating my breathing. All I want to do is march in there and dispose of him like you would a cockroach.
“Have you got the results from the DNA test?” Lilly says.
“Not yet. I don’t know what’s taking so fucking long. But I believe her, Lil. All the dates add up.”
“Not being funny, but since when were you any good at maths?”
I snigger under the mask. I’m surprised the lad knows what day it is, let alone what or who he was doing twelve months ago.
“I know I’m shit at maths. I’m shit at everything. Most of all, I’m a shit brother. You know I hate asking you for money.”
Any rage I’d suppressed is back tenfold, bubbling in my veins. That piece of shit has been leeching money from her.
My fucking money.
A shadow appears in the kitchen. I keep myself pressed against the hallway wall in the darkness. Her body comes into view through the glass door that leads to her kitchen as she rifles through her purse.
“This is all I have on me. I should have another two grand coming next month.”
Realisation hits that she’s only seeing me for the money. Somewhere along the way, the lines had blurred and our business arrangement had become personal. At least from my perspective. I thought she felt the same way. That this was morethan a business transaction and that she might have developed feelings for me.
I rub the sting in my chest and swallow down the bitter taste in my mouth as anger bubbles over, clouding my mind. Pumped with adrenaline, I pull the mask over my ear and open the kitchen door.
“Who the fuck are you?” Ash shouts, clutching a wad of notes in his hands.
“I’m your worst fucking nightmare, you piece of scum.” I swing for him, my fist collides with his jaw, sending him backwards into Lilly’s dining table.
“Please, he’s my brother,” Lilly cries, clawing at my arm as I pin his throat to the wooden table, but her fingers are nothing more than a whisper against my skin as my biceps bulge with anger.
Ash kicks his legs, his hands grasping at mine to release his tattooed throat. “You know this psycho?” he asks Lilly, before his face contorts as I tighten my grip.
Lilly clutches my arm, pulling at it, pleading with me to let him go. “Please, he’s harmless. Please don’t hurt him.”
I stare down at this poisonous rat. “Do you know what she’s been doing for money?” I bare my teeth under the mask. If he could see me now, he’d see a wild animal ready to tear him to shreds. “I should kill you right now for what you’ve put her through.”
His bulging eyes stare up at me. The mask I’m wearing hides my face, twisting in disgust.
“Please,” Lilly cries, tugging on my arm. “He hasn’t put me through anything I didn’t want to do. Please.” She sniffles. “If it wasn’t for that, we’d never have met.”
My heart stutters. A slither of hope creeps into its cracks. Maybe she does care about us after all. But that doesn’t excuse this scumbag, leeching from her and taking my money. Moneythat was meant for her to make her life more comfortable. Not throw down the drain for some gutter rat.
Just as I’m about to release him, white hot heat spreads through my side.
Lilly screams. “Ash, what have you done?”
I step back, searching her for injuries, her hand covering her mouth as tears pool in her eyes.
The next thing I know, two hands push against my chest, forcing me backwards. I catch the glint of metal covered in red under the kitchen spotlights as Ash pushes past me, dragging his sister with him. “Come on.”
I grab a hold of his hood. “She’s not going anywhere with you.” At the sudden movement, an aching pain cripples my side. I press my hand to my abdomen, wetness seeping through a tear in my top. “Fuck.”
As I look down at my hand slick with blood, I clench my fist and pound it into his face. “You’ve just ruined my fucking night.”
He lets go of Lilly and waves the bloodied knife in front of me. “Come on then, fucker.”
“You think you’re a big man carrying a fucking knife?” I clench my other fist, slick with blood, and land another blow to his face. I slam his hand against her kitchen unit. The knife drops, clattering against the floor.
