Lessons in Corruption (The Fallen Men 1)

He used one of those hands to cup my cheek for just a second before he dropped them back between his spread thighs. It was his way of telling me that he didn’t have any regrets.

“How much do you need?” I asked, still soft because I didn’t want to ask King to leave but I didn’t want him around for this particular conversation either.

Lysander had been my secret, my responsibility and my cross to bear for so long that I almost wasn’t ready to share him with anyone else.

“No,” King’s voice cracked across the floor between us harsher than the flick of a whip. “You are not givin’ him any of your hard-earned fuckin’ money, babe. You barely have any as it is.”

“King,” I hissed, because Lysander didn’t know that.

“The fuck?” my brother asked, his injured hands coming out to grab my waist when I tried to pull away from him.

“Get your hands off her,” King growled.

“Okay, okay, let’s lower the testosterone in the room for a second,” I suggested brightly, my nerves translating strangely into faux confidence.

“What is he talking about, princess?” Lysander asked me.

It occurred to me that I no longer liked the nickname that, ironically given their differences and estrangement, both my father and brother used on me. Queen and Queenie sounded so much better.

“William took my name off our joint accounts so I was left with nothing when I asked him for a divorce. It was why I had to ask you for the loan,” I admitted.

“You told me that situation was temporary,” Lysander accused, getting to his feet but swaying when he reached his full height.

“You’re sayin’ you care? From what I understand, seein’ you here right now askin’ for money, you’re just as bad as her scumbag ex,” King snarled.

I pushed him firmly back into the seat and held out a hand to an advancing King. “Stop it, both of you! King, go to the counter and lean on your freaking hands. I do not need you punching my brother when he’s clearly already received his beating for the day. Sander, calm down, you’re probably concussed and I don’t need to be dragging your heavy ass to the emergency room before I go to school. Which, by the way, King and I have to be at in forty-five minutes so we need to wrap this up because he also has a present for me, and no way am I missing out on that because you can’t cheat at cards!”

They both blinked at me and when a glared at each of them in turn they finally did as they were told.

“William has turned out to be, unfortunately, more than just a total bore, he’s a complete asshole,” I told my brother but quickly looked at King to see him smiling at my choice of curse word. “I was really lucky to have my job at Entrance Bay Academy already because, honestly, dad got it for me through his connections. It’s enough to live on but I wanted a place for myself and I wasn’t sure if I’d ever get any money from William so, I asked you for the loan. I’m sorry if it put you out. You told me you were doing well and I believed you.”

I had. Lysander had started to be the one to treat me to dinners, to pay for my ticket to the movies and he’d even got me a really cool necklace with grim reaper etched on a silver medallion. I’d never worn it because it didn’t really suit me but the thought was lovely.

It was stupid of me though. I should have known by now, looks could be deceiving and just because he’d seemed to have more money, nicer things, didn’t mean he actually had the money.

I wondered where it had come from but that wasn’t the point of this conversation and was better delved into when King wasn’t there to witness it.

“I offered you the money,” Sander grumbled. “You couldn’t have known. I was working’ down on Vancouver Island for a bit but I wanted to move back here when you left William.” My heart ached with love for him as he shrugged like a grumpy bear. “Harder to find work than I thought it would be.”

“That’s why you asked for a job at Hephaestus Auto,” I concluded.

He nodded. “Heard about it through the grapevine. They aren’t afraid to hire ex-cons there and I’m good with my hands.”

“Honey,” I said moving forward to hug the only man who had ever really loved me. “You could have told me that.”

“Yeah,” he admitted gruffly. “Cause too many problems for you as it is.”

“I caused the worst one,” I retorted.

“Shut up, Cress.”

“Okay, Sander.”

We hugged it out for a long minute, our hearts beating in tandem the way they always did. We were two completely different people who came from a set of parents who were in turn completely different from us, but we loved each other despite of or maybe because of those divergences.