Don’t say anything. You’ll ruin it.
“What the hell are you two doing?” Zeke asks and puts his hands up in defense. He’s acting like he’s being held up in the middle of the bank, and while his life may not be in danger, his manhood certainly is. Serena starts to slowly dance her way over to them, and like he knows what’s coming, Zeke takes a step back towards the door.
“We’re making Ash and the baby happy!” Ser yells in a half-excited, half-demanding tone. Both men snarl, and Zeke groans disapprovingly.
“I don’t remember signing up for that,” Zeke retorts teasingly.
“It’s a Femininomenon, bitches!” Serena runs up to Zeke and grabs both of his hands before pulling him deeper into the kitchen. For a moment, I think he may actually try to shove her away. Instead, he rolls his eyes and looks over at me, but when I just shrug back at him, he starts to sway. It shocks me so much that I almost stop moving. “Damn, Zeke. I didn’t know you could move like that.” Serena takes a step back and playfully checks Zeke out from head to toe.
And that’s when Carter inserts himself.
He steps over and grabs Ser’s hand before yanking her over to him. She yelps just a little, but she doesn’t fight him as he pulls her close to his chest. I’m surprised when he doesn’t waste a moment to start dancing with her, but when I see that tiny, bratty, victorious grin creep onto her lips, I can’t help but smile.
She knew damn good and well what she was doing.
Zeke just shakes his head and dances his way over to me.
“I’m going to burn dinner,” I warn him as he takes his spot a few feet away from me. He shrugs lazily and looks over at Carter and Ser.
“Who gives a shit. We all had to live through Serena’s cooking.” He grins right after the words leave his mouth, knowing that she could hear him.
“Fuck you, Zeke!” she yells over her shoulder.
“Is that an invitation, blondie?” When Ser tries to look back at him, Carter grips her chin and forces her to look back at him. She giggles away and he looks like he’s going to cuff her to the staircase. His eyes cut to Zeke, like he’s daring him to try and make a move, but we all know better than that. I lightly shake myhead at him, warning him not to do anything drastic, when my brother grabs my attention again.
“They need to get over themselves,” he whispers to me.
“Oh, definitely. They’ll snap out of it eventually. I’m trying not to get involved, but I know if they would both just swallow their pride, that they would make each other happy.”
“Well, we could always call Richard in. I feel like he’d set them both straight.”
I laugh at that.
“Please. Richard is the type of dad that would stare at Carter while holding a shotgun for two hours. That’s why we haven’t really kept them in the loop.”
It was hard for Richard to accept our life after bringing them to the Attic. He was upset that I lied to him. Which, I didn’tactually. I just kept it from him. But what was I going to do? Walk up to him and say ‘hey, Dad. I know you just met my stalker boyfriend, but don’t worry. Not only is he my stalker, but he’s also a vigilante!’ Yeah, I don’t think that would’ve gone over very well.
“I can see that from him,” he agrees. We continue dancing, but I can’t help but look up at my brother. I’m apparently extremely emotional today, because I can’t help but appreciate him as well. He hasn’t left my side since Damien was taken. Even before that, he stayed by my side to protect me. I was such a bitch to him, and he still stuck around. He’s done everything a brother should do and more, and now, he’s dancing in the kitchen because my best friend said I was too sad? Zeke doesn’t justdance. “He’ll come around, though. He’s a good dad.”
“You’re a good brother,” I blurt out. He scrunches his face just a little, like he’s confused, and thinks I didn’t actually say it. But then his face relaxes and he smiles crookedly.
“Aw, how sentimental.” He puts his hand on top of my head and tussles my hair. “Don’t get sappy on me now. You’ll just start crying, and then Serena will make us do the ‘Macarena.’”
I just laugh and swat his hand away. He looks around the house, like he has to avoid looking at me for a moment. Instead of taking it as a bad thing, I just look around with him. Serena and Carter are still dancing and enraptured with each other. Daisy is still looking at us like we’re crazy, but at least her tongue is hanging out now, and she looks happy about it. I start to turn around when I eye the sink, and something so ridiculous shouldn’t make me so upset.
The last time I danced in this kitchen, it was with Damien. His arms were wrapped around me so tenderly that it made my knees weak. He was so happy. His smile spread across his entire face and his eyes were so bright. We were still in our perfect little bubble then. Nothing was going to hurt us at that moment—nothing was going to tear us apart. We had no idea what tragedies awaited us just a few weeks later, and now that perfect moment seems so long ago.
Serena’s happy song fades away, and for just a moment, it all comes back. I have to discreetly wipe a tear away, knowing that Zeke is right, and if Ser sees me crying, she’ll make us do more unreasonable things. The pain is still there. There’s no magical song or special dance that could take it away. This moment would only be perfect with Damien’s arms around me, and that can’t happen. I blink a few times and turn back around anyway, slowly feeling myself crumble inside without him, but I’m trying like hell to hide it. The others seem to be happy, and even if it’s for just a moment, maybe they’ll feel whole again when I can’t.
Chapter 25
Damien
Four Days Later
‘Fragile Minds’ – Silent Theory
“It’s time to play,feccia.” DeLuca’s voice awakens me, and then I’m shoved onto the cold floor. My face hits it hard, and even though I try to move my hands forward, they scream out in pain. A sharp pinch shoves into my back, and when I finally open my eyes, I see that she’s standing over me with her heeled foot on my spine. “The next step of your training starts today.”
