“Well…” I cursed
. “
That’s not all.”
“I figur
e
d it wasn’t. There
’
s a conspiracy theory out there about us not being blood
-
related anyways. In fact, the
T
witter profile has like five hundred thousand followers.”
“Good to know.” I smirked.
“So?” Demetri shrugged
. “
What else? Lay it on me.”
“You’re Jaymeson
’
s step-brother.”
Demetri’s face fell. I looked away. I couldn’t look him in the eyes. I just
kept
my head down in hopes that the seal would hop out of its cage and maul
me
.
Finally
a
fter a few minutes of utter silence
,
I looked up just in time to see Demetri
’s fist flying
toward
my face.
Demetri
A crack sounded the minute my knuckles met his jaw. He deserved that and more. Though
I didn’t have the whole story
—
it sucked he would keep t
hat little tidbit away from me.
It meant I technically still had family.
And he didn’t.
Which proved his point earlier, he was a jealous bastard, and he deserved a hell of
a p
unch for withholding that shit.
Alec fell to the ground and groaned
.
“I’d feel so much better if you’d just shoot me right now.”
“Too kind
,
” I muttered. “Get up.”
“Shit.” Alec stumbled to his feet and wiped the blood from his lip.
“Tell me everything. Now.”
**
**
I left the aquarium
an hour later
feeling like someone had just shot my favorite dog and then brought it back to life
only to shoot it again in front of me.
April Cartwright? Jaymeson
’
s step-mom? My real mom? The real uncomfortable part was the whole escapade with the
pictures of Alec and her toget
her.
Though, I knew Alec would never intentionally hurt me, and he sure as hell wasn’t
into cougars
—
something didn’t add up. He said April was popping pills the minute he stumbled out
of the room feeling like he’d j
ust been drugged beyond reason.
My mind went back to what Jaymeson had said about April. She’d been drunk but was
spouting off nonsense about being drugged as well, which then just pissed me off more.
I mean, did that mean April was expecting my brother to take the fall for her poor
choices? Ri
diculous.
He also explained about last night. Which meant she was either bat-shit crazy, or
setting him up on purpose. I knew Alec was telling the truth.
And I believed him. It was just unfortunate that the media probably wouldn’t. I mean
,
it wasn’t like we had the squeakiest of clean reputations. But
…
one thing I did know
…
I was going to stand b
y him and help him get answers.
Even if it meant pushing April out of my life for good. Because what woman would willingly
give up her child and then never tell him why? Why would she surround herself with
the same people I did
—
why w
ould she keep it from Jaymeson?
Ugh. My life was a soap opera. The only thing that made sense was April
’
s relati
onship with my adopted parents.
I
t all boiled down to one thing.
I got my selfishness from one person, and I was sure as hell going to make her regret
the
day she chose herself over me. It sucked, because for a brief moment I had hope. I
had hope that I could dream about a mom that still cared for me, that still wanted
me in her life, but she’d been given the chance over and over again and never taken
it. Why? I wasn’t that
bad of an embarrassment was I?
Sighing, I shoved my hands into my pockets and walked into the
B
each
H
ouse. I’d slipped away earlier to talk to Alec
.
N
o doubt
Ruben
would be pissed that I was gone for so long without any cameras or production crew.
I told Jaymeson to whore around a bit so that they’d be too distracted
with
his drama to notice me missing.
I heard yelling as I walked into the house.
And apparently Jaymeson was a genius.
“You can’t just sleep with two girls in my bedroom, Jaymeson!” Angelica’s screech
was so loud my ears were ringing
. “
What the hell is wrong with you? We’re supposed to be dating!”
I walked into the living room to see Jaymeson shirtless, two girls huddled in the
corner of the room looking like they just stepped out of Cosmo
,
and Angelica red in the face. Was that a chunk of hair in her hand?
“We’re over.” Jaymeson said it so calmly and so silent I almost didn’t hear him.
“We are over when I say we’re over!” Angelica stomped he
r foot and lunged for Jaymeson.
I would be a terrible step
-
brother if I didn’t do anything. I stepped in front of him
,
blocking her from either castrating him or cutting off his head with one of her razor
-
sharp nails.
“Angelica, just leave it alone. He doesn’t want you.” I crossed my arms and waited
for her attack.
Her face too
k
on a murderous hue as she slapped me across the face. Great
.
I was probably going to have two bruises
,
one f
ro
m Alec one from her. Have I mentioned how much I ha
te
reality shows?
“
How pathetic.” She sneered
. “
Little
broth
er stepping in to protect big
brother. I’d cry if I
weren’t
so pissed. But wait—
”
She laughed and peered over my shoulder to look at Jaymeson
. “
I guess you didn’t know, did you? He’s your step
-
brother.”
The room fell silent.
I was getting kind of tired of the whole silence thing.
“What?” Jaymeson said from behind me.
I wasn’t really sure if I should say something or just punch myself in
the face so I could black out.
“Jaymeson, you really should pay more attention.” The woman was an evil bitch, but
before I could open my mouth to say anything, she pulled out her cell phone. “Want
to know what’s so great?” She scrolled through her pictures and
held up an incriminating one of Alec and April. Shit. “The power of social media.”
Her finger slid across the screen of the phone. “Sent. Now everyone knows what a dirty
whore your mother is. Like mother like
step
son
.
A
m I right, Jaymeson?
After all, she was the only example you had for ten years.
”
I moved out of the way so Jaymeson could attack her face, but he was immobil
e. His eyes
were
filled with hatred.
Angelica laughed and walked out of the room leaving me with
J
aymeson.
“I just found out—”
“
S
hut up
,
” Jaymeson snapped
. “
I don’t want to hear it. You’ve destroyed
everything
! You and your brother!” He kicked a chair
. “
You guys are
poison
! What the hell is wrong with you?”
Oh
,
so many things.
“Jaymeson,
you don’t know the full story—”
“—Would it really matter? I mean
,
in the end?” Jaymeson swore violently
. “
A picture of my step
-
mom in the same hotel room with Alec just went into the
T
witterverse! There were drugs in that picture, Demetri! What? You her supplier? Her
own flesh and blood.”
And too far. A person can only take so much yelling until they snap and try to kill
someone.
I punched him on the other side of the face, the one part of his skin that wasn’t
already
bruised
by
my fist. I didn’t stop unti
l someone pulled me off of him.
Alec.
He jerked me away from Jaymeson
. “
You don’t want to kill him, Demetri.”
“What the hell
?
” Jaymeson roared
. “
You guys are freaking insane!” He stumbled to the door and flipped us off as
the screen slammed behind him.
My breathing was so heavy I knew I was going to explode. I was shaking and A
lec still wasn’t letting me go.
“Brothers
,
” Alec said
,
voice hoarse
. “
It doesn’t matter if it’s flesh and blood or not, we’re brothers.”
“We stick together
,
” I agreed, as he released me.
It didn’t matter that the cameras caught everything or that our secret was out. All
that mattered was that I knew without a shadow of a doubt that I had one person I
could count on. The one person
who
had protected me my entire life
—
had literally given up his so I could learn from my mistakes. And
he’d been p
aying for his own for too long.
“Alec.”
“What?” He walked to the freezer and pulled out an ice pack.
“There
’
s something else.”
“Dude
,
I don’t know if I can take it.”
I cleared my throat and looked at the camera crew
. “
Give us a minute
,
guys
.
P
retty sure you just got primetime TV right now. You can afford five minutes.”
Ruben
nodded slowly and led t
he crew out the front door.
“What?” Alec placed the ice pack on his face and scowled.
“Nat
’
s—”
“—I’m pregnant
,
”
c
ame Nat’s
watery voice from the hallway.
Th
e ice pack hit the floor first.
And then Alec.
Alec
“What the hell?” I blinked once, twice, and saw Nat, Alyssa, and Demetri standing
over me. Demetri was busy spraying me with something that smelled like rotten cabbage.
“What is that?”
“Hairspray.” He shrugged
. “
It’s Angelica’s
.
I
t makes Jaymeson sneeze
,
so we thought it would either wake you up or cause a seizure.”
“I voted for seizure.” This from Alyssa. Damn protective women sticking t
ogether through thick and thin.
“I bet you did
,
” I grumbled as Demetri helped me to my feet and over to the couch. “Did I pass out?”
“Yup.” Demetri grinned
. “
You hit the floor hard
.
I
t was freaking hilarious.”
I glared.
“Or
,
uh
…
”
H
e cleared his throat
. “
I
t would have been had you not hit your head so hard
.
P.S.
M
ake sure to st
ay awake for at least six hours
,
and try not to crap your pants.
”
He gave me a thumbs up
and put his arm around Alyssa
. “
Right, so we’re going to go…
you guys…
have fun and…” his voice trailed off as he dr
ag
g
ed
Alyssa out of the house
,
leaving me alone with Nat.
I couldn’t wrap my head around it. Nat was pregnant? Forget being excited
.
I
t scared the hell out of me! I couldn’t even take care of Nat
,
let alone a tiny human being. I felt like throwing up. “How far along are you?” My
voice
sounded foreign to my own ears.
“After admitting to using sex to numb your own guilt, after keeping Demetri’s adoption
from him, after leaving me sobbing on the ground last night
—
that’s the first thing you ask?” Nat
’
s voice
rose
in pitch the longer she talked, and the more she said
,
the mor
e I wanted someone to smack me.
Her glare was murderous
,
so I decided that instead of answering right away, I should probably think before
I said anything
else
.
Nat sighed and joined me on the floor. My body and mind waged war against one another.
Part of me needed her closer
,
yet my conscience wouldn’t allow it. Guilt forced me to push away the need I had for
her
—
maybe love wasn’t strong enough to
combat what was wrong with me.
I finally decided on saying the one thing I knew people always said when they did
something stupid. I hated even saying it
,
because by saying it I was being like every other person out there that said it over
and over again but kept repeating the same shitty behavior. “I’m sorry.”
“Are you?” She huffed
. “
Do you even know what you
’
r
e
sorry about?”
“Everything.” I swallowed
. “
Every damn thing.”
“The baby? Are you sorry about that?”
“No! Hell
,
no.” I reached for her hand and held it
,
even though I wanted to tug her into my arms. “Nat, liste
n to me. I’m scared as hell, but I would never take back what we’ve shared.”
Her face fell
.
“Shared?”
I released he
r hand
. “
Nat, you have to know—”
“—
N
o.” She jumped to her feet and turned to glare at me
. “
No, you don’t get to play that part. Get your head out of your ass, Alec Daniels,
or so help me God I’m going to punch you again.”
“What—”
“—No.” Nat licked her lips and pointed her finger in my face
.
“You’re the only person who doesn’t see it, Alec. And I
’
m sick and tired of your
martyr
attitude. You think everyone would be better off without you
,
am I right
? Oh poor me, I make so many mistakes, I need to go sulk in private and fix my shit
before I can even hope to deserve happiness,
blah, blah, blah.”
Holy
shit
.
W
hat the hell kind of crazy person was possessing her
? I jumped to my feet to argue with her. She had it all wrong. I was protecting her!
“Nat
.”
I laughed bitterly
. “
Y
ou don’t understand.”
The crack of her hand hitting my cheek was so loud I could have sworn the earth
shifted beneath my feet
. “Snap. The. Hell. Out. Of. It.” Tears welled in her eyes
. “
For me, for our baby
.
Alec
,
you can’t control this
.
Y
ou can’t fix this
.
Y
ou can’t wish it away
,
and you sure as hell can’t abandon everyone who loves you! Together. We do this together
,
or so help me God
,
I will hunt you down and murder you myself.”
Her chest rose and fell with exertion as tears poured down her face. I pulled her
trembling body i
nto my arms and closed my eyes.
“Shit
,
” Jaymeson said
,
forcing me to open my eyes and glare at him to leave or reap the
consequences
. “
She just made me want to apologize
,
and I
didn’t
even do anything.”
“
Jaymeson
,
this isn’t a good
time
—”
He held up his hand. “Clearly you guys have got issues to deal with
,
and as much as I want to watch her slap you again and then take my own turn
—
you need to see this.”
He held out a cell phone.
Nat stepped back and examined it with me.
Jaymeson sighed
. “
It’s my step
-
mom
’
s cell phone. She drank like all night last night
,
and I went to check on her
a few minutes ago
.
H
er phone was ringin
g
off the hook so finally I went to check her messages.
She was still sleeping or something
,
I don’t know. Her bedroom door was closed.
”
“And?” My heart dropped into my stomach.
“Dude…” Jaymeson shook his head
. “
As much as I hate you right now, she freaking played you like a fiddle.”
“Pardon?”
“Just read the messages.” He placed the phone in my hands and
leaned against the kitchen counter.
I flipped through the first two not seeing anything alarming until I came to a group
of messages from
Ruben
, the producer to the show.
GREAT PERFORMANCE! THANKS AGAIN
.
NICE DOING BUSINESS WITH YOU
.
WILL CUT YOU THE CHECK FRIDAY
.
“What the hell?” I scrolled to the next message.
I WANT THIS EMBARASSMENT OVER
—
DO WHAT YOU HAVE TO DO
.
—C
ARTWRIGHT
“Son of a bitch!” I clenched the phone tightly in my hand and counted to ten to keep
myself from breaking something.
Jaymeson sighed. “Look, I don’t know
what she’s got going on, but—”
His cell phone rang
.
“Hold on.” He rolled
his eyes and answered
. “
Hey, mo
m
.
Y
eah
,
I took your phone, but
—”
Face pale, Jaymeson swore
.
“Stay there, just stay there, okay? I’m calling the ambulance
.
I
t’s going to be fine, okay?”
Jaymeson’s h
ands
were
shaking
as he
ended the call and dialed 911
. “
My mom just overdosed. Her name
’
s April Cartwright
.
S
he’s at
1211 N
. Prom Avenue. Yeah, I don’t know
.
S
he didn’t say what the pills were
.
S
he just said she thinks she took too many and she feels funny.” Ja
ymeson swore
. “
Make it faster!”
He hung up and slammed his phone
against the counter
. “
Damn it!”
Demetri and Alyssa barged into the house. I could tell Demetri was five seconds away
from fighting on my behalf
,
but that was before Jaymeson literally started banging his fist against the countertop.
I moved to stop him but Demetri had his
arm
s around Jaymeson before I had a chance to.
“This is all your fault! All of it!” Jay
me
son jerked against Demetri, but he pin
ned
his arms down.
“Your mom needs you right now
,
” I said
,
calmly walking
toward
him
. “
You need to get your shit together and fast.”
I looked up to see Demetri
’
s confused gaze
. “
April is being taken to the hospital
.
S
he may have overdosed on some pills.”
Demetri swore violently as Jaymeson finally sagged against him and stopped hitting
things. As it was
,
his knuckles were already
starting to bleed
from hi
tting the granite.
“I’ll drive him.” Demetri
sighed and
let go of Jaymeson
,
grabbing
the keys to the SUV
. “
Come on.”
Alyssa put her arm around Jaymeson as they walked out of the
house
,
leaving
Nat and me
in complete shock.
“We need to be there for him.” I didn’t want to change the subject
.
I didn’t even want to go
.
H
ow selfish did that make me? All I wanted was to fix this chasm between
Nat and me
.
She nodded and walked
toward
the stairs
. “
Just let me shower really quick and we can go, I’ll be five minutes.”
Our eyes locked
—
so many things were unspoken
—
so many things needed to be said. I nodded once and opened my mouth but again nothing
came. She sighed heavily and walked up the stairs
,
leaving me
alone with my thoughts and a blood
-
stained counter top
,
wondering how the hell
things had gotten so messed up.