Page 59 of Burning for You
Levi
Jesse goes into his room and lingers there. He’s probably going to get high again. He hadn’t taken out those photos since the day police released them—why he refused to get rid of them, I don’t know.
Not wanting Jesse to do what our dad did, I unload his gun, a custom-built Les Baer 1911, and then lock it in the cupboard.
Back in my room, I gather the photos into a box, along with the bloodied foreclosure notice. The ‘box of pain,’ I call it in my head. Afterward, I secure it inside a drawer in Dad’s study. Seeing those again reminds me why Carolyn Meyer is here. Shutting up my twisted yearning for her, I’m now determined to make Carolyn pay for what she’s done.
I go back to my captive, clipping another folder while my gun is pointed at her.
“Don’t wash your hands of this,” I berate. “You may think I’m the kind one, but I won’t hesitate to hurt you to defend our rights.”
My throat clenches, wrenched by realization of how much I actually miss my old man. He survived the death of his only daughter, and then he barely made it when we lost Mom. But disgustingly, the greed of Rupert Teller, Joshua Bright, and Carolyn Meyer brought him down.
I say to Carolyn, “You saw those photos. We both loved our dad. I know you and Brilliance want the whole Random Valley. What’s the life of a man worth to you, huh? In the scheme of things, probably nothing.”
“I wouldn’t wash my hands of anything, if I was responsible!”
“You might’ve only seen the HPI logo on the plans I just showed you, but I can assure you, I have more and you won’t be able to deny your involvement.” I wave the folder in my hand. “I liked you, Carolyn, so I’m giving you a chance to come clean on your own.”
“I’ll right this wrong, but I swear, I don’t know anything about the seizure of this land.”
I point my gun right at her neck, just like my brother did. “The CEO of a retail empire and majority shareholder of a billion-dollar company like Brilliance is never innocent.”
“I’m telling you again, I don’t know anything!”
“I won’t kill you, you already know that.” I pull up a chair and sit face-to-face, very close to her. “But I can torture you, starting right here.” I dig the barrel at her knee. “There’s a reason we kidnapped you.”
“Come on! You might as well take that prop away. You look stupid with it.”
Stupid? I cock the gun. “I’m not afraid of spilling blood, even a girl’s blood.”
“Just tell me what you want.”
I toss the folder on her lap.
She gapes when she sees the contents. “These plans are Brilliance’s! Where did you find them?”
“Do I sense a relationship breakdown? You two are getting married, yet you’re not talking, are you?”
“You got these from Josh?”
I shrug.
“I can’t believe this!”
While she seems genuinely gob-smacked trying to make sense of everything, I hear a thump coming from Jesse’s room.
I turn my head slightly toward the direction of the noise while my gun is still firmly pointing at Miss Meyer’s knee. “Jesse!” I call.
No answer.
“Jesse?”
Nervous tingles crawl all over me. I run to my brother’s room, where he’s down on the floor, choking on his own vomit.
“Fuck, Jesse!” I turn him sideways. He throws up again. Then he sits up, and I get the brunt of his vomiting.
I quickly ditch my shirt and cradle my brother in my lap. I wonder where we all went wrong, how we got into this situation—not just this mess with Carolyn Meyer, Rupert Teller and Josh Bright, but everything! He fought hard to win back Mom’s love, to no avail. Dad was always by his side—Jesse was his favorite—and now without the only man who would tell him everything would be okay, my brother crumbles.