Total pages in book: 104
Estimated words: 102929 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 515(@200wpm)___ 412(@250wpm)___ 343(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 102929 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 515(@200wpm)___ 412(@250wpm)___ 343(@300wpm)
She grimaced, another quick expression, but I saw it. His harshness hurt her, and it tore into my disbelief.
“I can see it in your eyes, Kraven. I’m not an idiot. What did you do?”
He didn’t cower down. If anything, he stood taller. “What, Big Brother? You want to play the hero again because you love that I’m the fuckup, and you can just swoop right in and be the smart one, the good one, the golden boy…?” He scoffed, his glare flickering with equal parts bitterness and rage. “That’s what you are, right? That’s what she always called you? Her golden boy…” he taunted.
“Kraven,” I warned, ready to snap and lay into him for once.
I was tired of hearing him run his mouth and not appreciate a damn thing I did for him.
“Yeah? Well, where was the golden boy when I was helping Mom out of bed after she passed out in her own vomit? Huh? Where were you then? Because Pops didn’t give a shit.”
“Kraven,” I stressed, “I mean it.”
I never shared any of this with Isla, and I hated that she was finding out this way.
He didn’t think twice about it, ranting, “How about all the times I thought she drank herself to death because she wouldn’t move, passing out everywhere and anywhere? All the times we had to drag her ass out of the bars! Or how about all the drugs they had all over the house at any point in time?”
“Krav—”
“The group homes! The foster placements! The fucking emergency rooms! Dad fucking around on Mom! Mom fucking around on him right back! Where was the hero then?!”
“That’s enough,” I ordered through a clenched jaw, fists at my sides.
“What?” He got in my face. “Truth hurts, doesn’t it, Julius? But I’m just getting started.”
I shoved him. “Get the fuck out of my face!”
For the first time, I wanted to hit him. It was this knee-jerk reaction because he was provoking me. He wanted me to hit him, and soon enough, I’d learn why. Letting out all the years of pent-up resentment toward me, he didn’t let up.
“You want me out of your face?” He body checked me. “Then you’re just going to have to make me.”
I did, pushing him harder that time, and he didn’t wait to return the sentiment.
“Come on, Julius!” He hunted as if I were his prey. “Prove to me you’d actually do something for her!” His expression turned vicious as he snarled. “Or do you want me to show you how little you mean to her!”
In a single step, my fist collided with his jaw. The sharp sound cut through the air like a whip. Kraven’s head whooshed back with blood trailing his lower lip.
I barely had a second to catch my bearings before Isla screamed, “Stop it!” Getting right between us with her palms flat on our chests, only further pissing me off that she wasn’t facing me.
Instead, her body was turned so that she could look at us both.
Truly placing her in the middle of us.
I was hurt.
Betrayed.
Seeing red.
After the initial shock wore off, I comprehended the severity of the situation. I was stuck with the sound of her voice. Kraven didn’t have to punch me back since the fact that she finally spoke did.
Her concerned stare flew to him as she pleaded, “Kraven, please…”
Now that made me stumble back.
It wasn’t my name out of her mouth that I heard first. It was my brother’s, and that was a slow death on its own. It cut deep into my flesh, right through my bones, and lodged itself into my heart.
That was when it hit me.
That was when I understood.
It wasn’t just his name. It was her first words that belonged to him.
I stepped away from both of them and took a deep breath.
This wasn’t a surrender. It was a refusal.
“Julius,” she whispered, knowing I figured it out.
Is this why her face is filled with guilt?
It wasn’t my brother doing something wrong.
It was her.
Is this why he said he’s going to show me how little I mean to her?
My glare slid to Kraven, who stood there frozen with blood on his lip and hands at his sides, shoulders squared but not defensive. He wasn’t gloating. He didn’t have to.
“It’s not what you think, Julius,” Isla coaxed.
Kraven simply added, “I already told him that, but maybe he’ll believe you, Kitty.”
I winced.
The nickname wasn’t a blade. It was a bullet, and my brother was holding the gun.
“It’s exactly what I think, but not because of him.” I pointed at Kraven and then gestured to her. “You spoke, and it wasn’t to me first. After all of these months, it takes my brother one day to get you to use words. What the fuck?”
“I… I… I…”
“You can’t even form a sentence for me?” I shook my head in pure disappointment, the room caving in on me. It just kept getting worse.