Total pages in book: 98
Estimated words: 91423 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 457(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91423 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 457(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
I never imagined Teddy would go first, though maybe I should have. He was always the sweetest of us, the most innocent. He never wanted to be involved in any of our dealings. He wanted to live a simple, easy life. We indulged him. We allowed him to stray from the family business, to strike out on his own and to enjoy himself.
He was the one the bastards went for. He didn’t protect himself because he didn’t think he had to.
I look around at our little familial grouping. Once upon a time there were six of us. Now there are only three. Fate and bad men have taken half of us. Luke is right; the response to that really shouldn’t be standing around dressed in stiff clothing listening to even stiffer words.
Aiden and I are in black suits, black ties. White shirts. The simple attire of mourning. It’s also the attire of dining, and of business. There’s probably something to that. Luke is wearing an emulation of our attire. Black jeans. Leather jacket. Black t-shirt with a design on it that would probably be inappropriate if I could be bothered looking at it properly.
To a casual observer, we might not even look all that much like brothers save for the fact we are all tall. Other than that, the three of us threw to different parts of our heritage. Aiden is lithe, with a natural elegance. He can be underestimated at times, if he chooses to hide his charisma. Aiden’s eyes are a reddish brown, and his dark hair curls riotously if it is left to grow. He mostly slicks it to the side to give the semblance of orderliness. Today it is slicked down hard all the way.
Luke is built like a bull. His face is chiseled. When he takes care of himself, he looks not unlike Captain America. Luke is the one most likely to be mistaken for being wholesome, though I think he struggles with his demons the most. He is blond, and his hair currently looks like he was dragged out of a bar after a hard night. Which is accurate. Today isn’t a day to police Luke’s fashion, or force him to brush his hair. It’s a day to mourn Teddy, though I think we all know we are going to mourn him forever.
I am somewhere in the middle in terms of appearance. Somewhat elegant, but built powerfully. A dancer’s body, I’ve heard it called. My features have some refinement, but are strong. I am the second eldest of the three of us, and I have very specific recreational tastes that make me useful to Aiden and that will make me exceptionally useful in the avenging of Theodore’s death.
The priest starts the crank that lowers the coffin into the ground, and the three of us watch Teddy’s last journey.
“He deserved better than this,” Aiden says, breaking his silence.
I know he is blaming himself. He’s the eldest, and he has been taking responsibility for the rest of us pretty much since the day he was born. Our parents were both killed when Teddy was just a few months old. It was an assassin who took our parents, and it is another who has taken Teddy, we can be sure of that.
At the time of our parents’ death, other extended family members and various business partners seemed to be poised to take over the family’s businesses. It was likely to be a complete seizure of all our family had achieved and attained. But Aiden got himself emancipated at the age of sixteen, and used our funds to engage lawyers. He was just a boy, but he fought with skill and documents and legal prowess. To this day, there is nothing that man cannot do with a contract.
Aiden ensured we all got to grow up in the same house together. He is the reason we are who we are, and have what we have. At the time our parents died, I was just twelve years old. Luke was four, and Teddy was less than a year old.
It was challenging, but we made do. We had a nursemaid for Teddy, and a butler to run the house, but even as a teenager, Aiden was firmly in control and he had no qualms about enforcing his will. He made it clear to anybody who underestimated him because of his age that it was a mistake to do so.
Because of Aiden, the four of us were a family for the last twenty years. Teddy had only just turned twenty-one when he was killed. He had his whole life ahead of him. He was innocent.
Aiden is thirty-six now, and I am thirty-two. Luke is twenty-four. The difference in age also contributes to how we can seem almost unrelated at times. The gap between Aiden and Teddy was especially stark. I think Aiden related more to Theodore as a son than brother.