Execution (Off Balance 2)

"Why is he calling you, Adrianna?" His tone went from tender and understanding to brisk and demanding.

"Probably to make sure I'm keeping up with my cardio. Yesterday Madeline called to make sure I'm seeing my physical therapist. They're always on me for something, especially since it's meet season."

I didn't do cardio. I didn't do therapy. Not while I was home, anyway.

"You're lying."

"I'm not."

His head angled toward me but I refused to make eye contact. "Yes, you are. I can see it in your face."

"Drop it, Xavier."

"If I find out he put more than a friendly coach whatever-the-fuck you want to call it hand on you, he won't live to see the next day. I'm not kidding, Adrianna. I will fucking kill him."

I was a liar just like them. Possibly the dirtiest with the most shameful secrets. The sight of Xavier's balled-up fists and strained forearms spoke louder than his labored breathing. His appearance had changed drastically in the course of a year. He shifted from healthy and charismatic to lean but gaunt. His eyes were sunken in, bruises—both new and old—peppered his body, and there were often scabbed up cuts on his lip. His attitude was dismal at times. And while I hadn't been around him much aside from holidays, my brother was obsessed with social media. He uploaded and posted about every waking minute of his life for the world to see. Tracking his change had been too easy. I didn't know what caused it, and I never inquired. Not while I was presently swimming in a black sea of depravity with something that could taint the family. That would be a dead giveaway. Playing naive was a better alternative.

With my eyes still cast on the floor, I walked back over to my bed and slung my duffle bag over my shoulder.

"So, you're leaving early," Xavier stated, breaking the silence.

I nodded, then turned around. The truth in our eyes collided in a flash—we both knew there was more going on behind the scenes than either of us were willing to let on.

"I need to be back at World Cup…it's my home now. I need to center my focus again."

He bobbed his head and rolled his lips between his teeth, unsatisfied with my response.

"I'm always here if you need me, sis," he said as I stepped past him.

Sis.

The word lodge in my throat and I had to squeeze my eyes shut to stop the tears from climbing. I wanted to shout at him he wasn't really my brother, that he was actually my half-brother. But I didn't. There was too much confusion and chaos in my life now to react unjust toward someone who truly didn't deserve it. Not after he put his emotions and feelings into the one word that held so much weight for me about how he truly felt.

Chapter Fifty-Seven

I didn't bother saying goodbye to my parents, not while they were having a screaming match in their bedroom that was based on the foundation around my birth.

Instead, I left a note on the table in the foyer, and made sure Xavier told them I was gone. I didn't think they'd have a problem, it was a blessing in disguise, really.

I hit the highway with my phone facedown on silent, headed back to Cape Coral. I turned up the music, lowered the windows, and for the next few hours, I drove in peace with nothing but miles of black asphalt in front of me as the wind carried my worries away.

It was sheer bliss until I pulled into my complex and parked my Escalade.

I'd missed fourteen calls from my dad, and a slew of text messages from Kova and Avery that I didn't bother opening. A stream of anxiety rushed through my veins with thoughts of a death. I was instantly overwhelmed with dread.

No one called that many times unless it was an emergency.

Before I got out of my truck, I called my father back. Kova could wait. Fourteen missed calls was extremely nerve-racking.

The phone rang for a split second before he picked it up.

"Hey, Dad," I said.

"Ana? Are you okay? Where are you?" He was frantic.

"Yeah… I'm totally fine. Why? Is everything okay with you? Why did you call so many times?"

"You left without saying goodbye, before I could explain things to you."