I sat still, my heart racing a million miles a minute. My brother was someone I was always innately comfortable around, but now he felt like an enemy, felt like someone who made my hair stand on end—and not in a good way. I looked out the window for a few minutes too, just to get acclimated to the hostility before I started to speak.
I turned to him, seeing the side of his face, his hard jawline. He didn’t offer me a drink. He didn’t even offer me his gaze.
This conversation was going to suuuuck.
He finally turned to me, looking at me with such rage he could barely keep it inside.
I took a deep breath, hating that look.
“You haven’t been home in a while. I can only assume that means one thing…”
My eyes narrowed. “He could barely walk, Damien. Yes, I’ve been home with him, taking care of him, because he looked like you used him as a fucking punching bag.”
“Which he deserved…unless you’re going to rewrite history.”
I shook my head. “How can you have so much hatred inside that heart?”
“It’s pretty easy,” he said unapologetically. “When a man tries to kill my father, takes my future wife, lies to my sister…it comes pretty naturally. How can you have so much stupidity in your heart?”
I brushed off the insult even though it was difficult. “Damien, I love him.” I said the words out loud, feeling the same pain I felt the first time I admitted it. “There’s nothing I can do about that. I can’t just turn it off. Trust me, I’ve tried. I need you to let this go. I need you to settle this feud once and for all.”
He clenched his jaw like I’d just asked for a kidney.
“Not for him. But for me.” I placed my hand over my heart. “You beat him to within an inch of his life. He’s been punished enough. You have no idea how weak he is.”
“He’s not weak enough if he’s not in the grave.”
I dropped my hand back to the table. “Damien.”
He looked out the window again.
“Look at me,” I said gently, needing my brother to be himself, not this violent dictator.
He resisted for a while, like he needed a few seconds to calm himself before he turned back to me.
“I’m your sister, and I love you. I love you so much.”
He sighed quietly.
“I wouldn’t ask you to do this for me unless it was important to me. I never ask you for anything, Damien. You offered to buy me a house, and I said no. My love for him doesn’t change my loyalty to you or Dad. I need you to drop this vendetta forever…for me.”
He bowed his head, rubbing his temple like he had a migraine.
“Please…”
He closed his eyes for a few seconds.
“Heath would never hurt you, as he’s proven. So, it’s not even a fair fight. It’s just murder.”
He lifted his chin and looked at me.
“For me. Do this for me.” I would get on my knees and beg if I had to. I didn’t want Heath to ever be in pain again, to ever have to deal with my brother’s wrath when he couldn’t defend himself. “I know it’s a lot to ask, but I know how much you love me too.”
He raised his hand slightly to quiet me, and then he dropped it again. “Alright.”
I couldn’t believe he said yes. “Oh my god… Thank you.” Tears welled in my eyes because I’d finally fixed everything. It would take time for us to move on from this, probably years, but it was a start. We had peace. Finally.
He crossed his arms over his chest as he slouched against the chair. “I won’t come after him. I won’t hurt him. I won’t do anything to him.”
Music to my ears.
“But I want nothing to do with him.”
“Heath isn’t gonna make you start paying—”
“Not what I meant,” he said coldly. “You asked me to drop my vendetta. Fine. But don’t expect me to like him. Don’t expect me to approve of him for you. Because I don’t. And Dad won’t either.”
“He has more of an open mind than you do—”
“Yes. He wouldn’t want to kill anyone. He probably wouldn’t execute Heath, despite what he did. But that doesn’t mean he would want his only daughter to be with the guy who’s responsible for so much turmoil in this family. You think he’d want his daughter to be with the fucking Skull King?” he asked incredulously. “You’re living in an alternate reality if you think that’s going to happen, Catalina.”
All the joy left my body as my gaze dropped.
“I’m never going to shake his hand. I’ll never ask about him. When we’re together, I don’t want you even mentioning him. You can take away my vendetta, but you can never change the way I feel about him. Now, if you love me—” he pointed to his chest “—you won’t be with someone I have this much of a problem with, someone who’s hurt me.”