Hating You (Blackthorn Elite 1)

In all his glory, my brother stands before me with a huge smile on his face, one so similar to mine.

“It’s about time, little brother,” Brett grins, only looking a little different since the last time I saw him. The words have barely left his lips before I’m lunging myself at him. Our chests clash together, his body weight knocking the air out of me.

“Brett, you’re home,” I tell my brother, who I haven’t been able to hug for two years. Every broken piece of my life seems to be mending itself back together. I can breathe without being weighed down by my rage.

“I am, and I’m so fucking happy to see you, brother!” He exclaims, releasing me and moving out of the doorway so that I can come inside. As soon as I’m in the house, I spot my parents sitting in the huge family area. I’ve never seen either of them smiling so big. Next to them are sitting two men in suits. I remember them from the trial, they were Brett’s lawyers.

“Here is my other son,” Dad gets up from the couch and walks over to me. He slaps a hand onto my shoulder, squeezing it tightly. I’m still a little pissy over the way he treated Willow last night, but I let it pass. I don’t want to ruin Brett’s homecoming.

“I heard you’re the reason I’m out…” Brett snickers, “Dad has only said ten thousand times how proud of you he is.”

Proud of me? “I didn’t do anything,” I mumble, not really. Nate squealing to Willow is what saved Brett. Which reminds me, I need to find that fucker and rearrange his face.

“Oh, stop, Parker, you know if it wasn’t for you and your antics with the youngest Bradford girl, that we wouldn’t have gotten your brother out. Your commitment to making that girl understand her place in our world is what saved him.” He chuckles, his attention drifting to my brother.

I can’t believe my ears. Is he insinuating that I made Nate attack Willow? Before I can think more about it, he continues.

“You should have been at the gala. The dress he put her in. I don’t think there was one person in that banquet hall that didn’t assume she was a whore. Your brother made a complete sideshow out of her. It was glorious, and the look on her father’s face when he saw her was even better.”

“You’re with Willow?” My brother asks, his eyebrows puckering together in confusion. I open my mouth to speak, but what the hell do I tell him. Yes? No? I mean, we aren’t official; I really don’t know what we are at all. I don’t know what the hell is going to happen now, but I don’t think I’ll be able to let her walk away, not after everything that’s happened between us. She’s mine.

“Of course, he’s not with her. He was using her; he wouldn’t make a stupid choice like that.” My father speaks for me, and his words sting against my skin. I was using Willow, and she was using me, but now, now we’re even, or at least I hope we are.

Brett’s eyes darken, and I wait for him to give me the whole treat others the way you want to be treated talk, but he doesn’t say anything else.

“Ashton confessed to having had consensual sex with Brett that day. She told the police that it was Nate who raped and beat her after Brett left. They’re currently looking for him. Are you sure that you don’t want to press charges against her? You have a right, son? Two years of your life lost, for something you didn’t do. The lawyers are still here, it’s not too late.”

The air in my lungs stills. Fuck. I promised Willow nothing would happen to her sister. If Brett presses charges… Damnit. This is all a fucked-up mess. I want to tell Brett not to do anything but would understand completely if he did.

Seconds feel like hours as my parents and I stare up at Brett, waiting for his response.

“Enough has happened already. Ashton has been hurt plenty, and while I was wrongfully accused, I’m free now, and that’s all that matters.”

I damn near sag to the floor with relief. It never bothered me before, the thought of hurting Willow. It was a thrill, a funny little game, but now it’s like her heart is an extension of my own, her feelings are mine. If something hurts her, it hurts me.

Dad grits his teeth, his eyes bleeding into Brett’s. I can see how pissed off he is over his choice. He wants to bring the Bradfords down, and that means Willow too. Would I be able to stand by and watch them do that?

“Whatever you want, son,” our father tsks, but something tells me, it will never be whatever we want. It never has been whatever we want, and now that Brett is free, I’ll be forced to make a decision. I have to choose between Willow and my father.