Page 23 of CurVy Forever
My stomach gnaws at that dubious thought. I don't want Dexter to be guilty because it will destroy Tyler. I don’t care about him at all, not at all. There are clearly issues between the twins and their older brother, but they both seem steadfast in his innocence.
The affection is missing.
But the loyalty stayed true.
Tyler’s gaze on me prickles my skin like a tangible caress, and I nod at him with the best smile I can offer under the weight of my hesitation and adrenaline. “Will you show me around your home, Tyler Baby?”
CHAPTER 10
VALLIE
Feeling completely insane, I follow Tyler into the house while all my luggage and belongings are carried in by men wearing three-piece suits. Literally something out of a Mafia Romance, and I. Am. Here for it.
As we step inside, I am struck by the sight of old oil paintings adorning the walls—fox hunts and castles. The house screams old money.
The lighting overhead, while modern and set into the ceiling, casts warm colours that add to the classic feel of the space. It’s clean, freshly clean, with the scent of floor wax and citrus fruits misting the air.
“Well, this is… nice,” I offer dumbly, shaking my head and feeling as though I need to lie down or… wake the hell up.
Pinch me…
Tyler guides me forward with confident steps but his hand on my back trembles. “I’ll show you our room, Baby.”
Why is he nervous?
“How long since you have been home?”
He looks around, as though searching for the answer. “I haven’t been home since I was first institutionalised at fifteen. I was in and out of hospital and specialist housing. And with Donnie or Quinn, our friend. I was always somewhere else… It’s been thirteen years.”
“Fuck. What about we sleep in Donnie’s old room?” I suggest, not knowing why I want to, but I imagine it smells like cigarettes and aftershave and him.
As we wander, the watchful eyes from images on the walls follow us, businessmen and women, the playful smiles of young boys that must be the Vaughn brothers. There are holes in the elaborate collection. The perfect rectangular gaps where frames have been taken down; the voids never filled.
I wonder who they took down…
“I miss Donnie,” Tyler whispers.
“I know,” I say, accepting my affection for him in this moment alone with Tyler. “Me, too.”
He half-grins. “To miss someone is to care about them.”
“Don’t get all pompous-highly-educated-trust-fund-boy on me, now, Tyler.” I cock my eyebrow at him as we enter Donnie’s bedroom. A large, carpeted room with a king-sized bed pushed against the wall, a very single-man’s style.
“You arrived safely.” I hear Dexter’s voice seconds before I see him standing in the doorway, eyes roaming my figure before stopping at my upper arm. I’m wearing a long-sleeve red dress so he can’t see the small bruise left from where Tyler cut out the implant.
Though, it feels as if he can.
I’m surprised I didn’t sense him the moment I walked through the front door; this man leaves an impression like an embossing machine. He imprints. Dark hair, blue gaze, with the perfect fucking wrinkles beside each eye. Stupidly handsome. In a suit and tie that is crease-free and figure-forming.
Ugh.
“Where is your dog?” he taunts with amusement dripping from his deep timbre and a provocative tick to his mouth. If I could bite that smirk, I would. I might.
“I think we both know—” I’m suddenly rendered mute as a man carries the large cage inside the room, placing it down in one corner. I didn’t grab it. They must have.
A curtain covering the large window strokes the metal bars. And I wonder why it looks more appealing than the bed at this moment. I look back to find Dexter’s eyes drilling into me. “I think we both know that I don’t have a dog.”
“Dex,” Tyler acknowledges his brother with one cold word.