Even though the sun’s shining through the windows, our folks are screaming at each other. Thankfully, Finn’s still asleep, and Cassian’s in his bedroom. I don’t want them to see this. I don’t want them to witness the fight. Glass crashes from the living room, but I can’t see what’s happening.
“I’m done with this, Bradford,” my mother’s voice filters up to me, “I can’t love you anymore. It hurts far too much.”
“If you can’t love me, then love the boys.”
“I’ve met someone,” she says suddenly, and another crash sounds up toward me, causing me to jump. My stomach is in knots. “I love him.”
“You are not capable of love if you can leave your sons like this. You’re nothing but a fucking whore running around and opening your legs for every man you see.” My father’s words are vile, filled with anger, and I realize he’s trying to hurt her. I’ve never heard him speak to my mother like this.
“If that’s what you believe, so be it.”
“If you walk out of this house, you’re not coming back. You will never have contact with the boys. They won’t know you.”
“They already know me. They also know what an evil bastard you are.” More venom is spat between them. “They will always be my boys.”
“Like fuck they will. Don’t you ever try to return. Our love is broken, there’s nothing that can bring it back. You’ve annihilated the trust between us. If you try to contact them at any point, I’ll end you.”
My mother laughs, shock lacing the sound. “You don’t have it in you to kill me, Bradford, you love me too much.”
“The love I had for you is gone. I always knew that it was a wasted emotion, even when you begged and pleaded for me to say it to you.”
My lungs struggle to pull in air. They always seemed so happy. They played the part well because I would never have believed they never loved each other.
“Love is nothing more than a fool’s errand. Get out of my house if you want to leave, but remember, they’re my sons, not yours.”
My mother walked out that night. She didn’t return, and she never once tried to contact us. Not even when I hit eighteen and became an adult. I never tried to find her either. She was the reason our father turned into a tyrant, and I didn’t want to allow her the decency of knowing me.
Cassian and Finn broke down the next morning, finding our mother gone, but I didn’t. I knew what she did to our dad, and as much as I can’t stand the asshole, I know his heart broke when she left.
Hence the fact that love is off the cards for me. It’s a stupid fucking emotion that only gets you broken.
“I need to take a piss,” Finn says from the back.
“Be careful what you say, we have a lady in the car,” Cass admonishes him, but Finn’s chuckle tells me that he doesn’t give a shit if the Queen of England was sitting beside him, our youngest brother will say anything he likes.
“She’ll need to get used to it,” Finn responds. “Right, little sis?”
“Don’t mind me.” Nesrin’s tone seems amused, but I can’t see her face, and deep down, I realize I’m dying to look at her. To study her features and take in those golden eyes.
“See,” Finn says full of confidence. “Three guys and one girl. I like the odds.” Something in his tone sets my body tight with tension. The games we’ve played with girls in the past spark in my mind, and I can’t stop the images that play on a loop.
Perhaps we can introduce our sister to the game we like to play. And she’ll become the rose amongst the Thornes.
Now that will be something to see in the dark.
8
Damien
It’s been a long, painful drive.
Too many people in my fucking car.
By the time we pull up to the house, I’m out of the vehicle and sauntering toward it. Leaving Finn and Cass to deal with our new stepsister is my plan, but even as I push open the front door, I know I’m already hooked. Like a fucking teenager, wanting to know more about the girl he’s intrigued by.
But that’s not me, so I ignore Cass calling to me to help with her suitcases. Even though the rest of her belongings are arriving on the truck in a couple of days, I don’t feel the need to be a bag boy for her.
I’m angry.
I’m frustrated.
And I’m hungry.
Heading straight for the kitchen, I find Joy at the stove. The older woman who’s worked for my father, far longer than I can remember, smiles at me when I saunter in.
“There’s my boy,” she says, turning to me with a wooden spoon held up. “Taste this.” The scent of tomatoes, spices, and something else fill the air. It’s been a long nineteen hours on the road. Thankfully, with three of us driving, we didn’t have to stay over anywhere. That wouldn’t have gone down well.