Maelstrom (Inferno 5)

“You’ll do,” Daddy states with a nod. “Drop that bullshit last name you were given. You’re a fucking Greene, and you’ve got work to do.”

I shake my head fondly as Daddy turns his back and starts to walk toward the parking lot, before I look back at Dalton.

“He approves!”

My little brother grips his diploma in both hands and scuffs the grass with the tip of his shoe, completely stoic and probably unsure of what to say.

But that’s okay.

He is a Greene.

He took care of Kalen just like Daddy would have. He and I spent the rest of that night digging a hole in the backyard. Once it was deep enough, we brought Hailey down and dumped her body into it, then Kalen on top of her.

I’m pretty sure he never knew what happened since Dalton knocked him around his bedroom so severely, I’d bet just about anything that he was unconscious.

And if he did figure it out, there’s not much he would have been able to do about it anyway.

Disobedient Greene children never last long in this family.

Which is why I know that our children will have to be perfect.

“Come on, Dalton,” I say, looping an arm proudly through his. “Let’s go home.”