All the Way (Romancing Manhattan 1)

I blink at him, not responding.

“I set the fire,” he says with pride. “I set the perfect fire, one that looked like a tragic accident, to kill all of you. If you’d have died, I would have inherited everything and be walking on easy street right now.

“But no, you didn’t die, did you? Fucking little bitch, you always did screw everything up for me.”

“Wait.” I shake my head. “You killed our parents? For money?”

“Look who’s catching up. You’re not exactly the smartest girl in the room, are you, honey? Yes. I. Killed. Our. Parents. And I was supposed to kill you too. Who knew you’d be brave and jump out of that fucking window?”

I want to kill him. I want to run at him and tear him apart with my bare hands. But I don’t. I stay where I am and listen, because he’s going down for all of this if it’s the last thing I do.

“You looked completely stoned in Finn’s office that day.”

“I’d been awake for days, pissed off that you lived. And then when he told me that those two assholes left everything to you, I flipped the fuck out.”

“Why didn’t you just say that you’re sober? All it would take is one blood test to confirm, and the money is yours, Kyle.”

“Because I shouldn’t have to prove dick!” he yells back at me. “It’s mine. All of it. You have your own goddamn money, you don’t need it. And what do you do after the will reading? You go to Martha’s Vineyard to live the life of luxury in your fancy house.”

“That was our house,” I remind him, but he just glares at me.

“It’s your house now because you stole what was rightfully mine. Do you think I haven’t been following you? Watching? How do you think I got the stupid bunny? You thought it was the storm that fucked up your stupid playhouse, but it wasn’t. It was me. I screwed with the battery in the car. I’ve been following you.”

“I knew I saw you.”

“Yeah, I got a little sloppy the last few weeks because I wanted you to see me and get scared.”

“You don’t scare me.”

He smirks and pulls a gun out of the back of his pants and points it at me. “I should scare you.”

“You wouldn’t hurt me.” This can’t be real.

“Are you fucking deaf? Haven’t you been listening to me? I tried to kill you, you idiot.”

“I don’t believe it.” I shake my head, just as my phone rings.

“Throw it to me.”

I pull it out of my clutch and see Finn’s name on the display.

“I said throw it to me,” Kyle says, and I do. “Hello, London can’t come to the phone right now. Who am I? Not that it’s any of your fucking business, but this is her brother. She’s with me. No, I’m not going to let you talk to her.”

“Just let me talk to him.”

“Nope, not telling you where we are either.” He turns away from me, enjoying the way he’s taunting Finn over the phone. He’s more mentally disturbed than I ever thought. I ease my way to the end table by the couch, which has a pair of scissors sitting on it, and grab them, then inch my way toward Kyle, who’s still talking smack to Finn. “I don’t know what you want with my bitch of a sister. She’s a know-it-all, and she’s not that talented. Maybe she’s fun in bed? I don’t know. It doesn’t matter, because I’m about to fucking kill her.”

He turns, surprised to see me standing so close to him, and drops the phone.

I punch him in the nose, satisfied with the loud crunch of it breaking, and stick the scissors next to his neck. “Don’t fucking move. Finn! Call the cops!”

I can barely hear his voice from the floor. “Quinn did. On our way.”

“You’re not going to fucking stab me.”

“Oh yeah, I am. Just try me.”

“You broke my nose.”

“Good.”

He bends over, pushing his hands against his nose, and when I move to let him, he reaches out to take me down.

But I move quickly, not inhibited by blurry eyes and a bloody nose, and land my elbow against his face again, sending him to the floor, unconscious.

Seconds later, there’s pounding on my door, and cops come flooding inside.

“London Watson?”

“Yes. This is Kyle Watson, and I’m pressing charges for breaking and entering, assault, and the murder of my parents.”

The lead detective stops and stares at me.

“You heard me correctly. I’ll explain it all.”

“He needs an ambulance,” another man says. I stand back, leaning on my kitchen counter, blood still rushing through my head.

I just beat the shit out of my murdering brother.

He wakes up as they’re putting him on a gurney, and Finn comes running inside along with Quinn. His eyes search the room for me, and he immediately comes racing to me, pulling me into his arms.