Page 9 of Shadows and Whispers

Christian chuckled lightly, shaking his head as he descended the stairs. I waited, arms folded, posture perfectly stiff and expression unwelcoming. I loved my brother, was happy to see him for the most part. Only the circumstance of his current demand lingered with an open ended demand making me feel uneasy.

“Nice to see you too, Cress.” I was forced into a hug and a kiss was dropped on my cheek. I did relax into his embrace momentarily before I pulled away.

“Why am I here? What do you need?”

“Is it too much for you to believe that I simply wanted to see you?”

“Yes, now what do you want?”

“Come.” He turned, heading toward the back of the house down the hallway that led to our father’s office that now belonged to Christian. He was the head of the family which made sense considering our father’s current state. I missed the man my father used to be but was still grateful that at times we had a piece of him. Our mother, however, was an entirely different case. She was counting down the days until she could stop pretending to care about him. I had a feeling that day would be sooner rather than later. There was no doubt she loved him, but she loved the distinguished man who doted on her, provided a lifestyle that allowed her to shine. Not the weak helpless man he had become.

I followed my brother inside the office and while he settled on the corner of the massive oak desk that took up one side of the room, I moved to the shelves of books, grazing the spines with my fingers. I had done this since I was a child but back then my other brother was here. I paused at his framed photo and lifted it into view.

“His birthday was last month.”

We didn’t honor or celebrate Cole which at times made it feel as if our brother had never existed.

“It was.” Christian’s tone was level. Too calm but they always pacified me when it came to our brother.

“I miss him.”

“I do too.”

I cut my eyes toward Christian over my shoulder. “Not like I do. You two never got along.”

Christian sighed. “We got along just fine when Cole wasn’t causing problems.”

“What you mean is when he followed yours and dad’s rules. Cole didn’t cause problems unless he disagreed with the two of your demands.”

“You have no clue what problems Cole created. We kept those things away from you and Jona for a reason, Cress. What you think you know, you don’t.”

“I know he killed someone because of family business.”

“Cole killed a man because he couldn’t control his temper. That had nothing to do with family business.”

“Andtheykilled him. Regardless, we lost our brother,” I gritted through clenched teeth.

“They retaliated, yes.”

“You agree with the outcome?”

“No, but I understand how things work in our world. You don’t. Never have and you never will, which is why I asked you to come.”

“You didn’t ask me anything. You sent a car. I didn’t have a choice.” I turned my back to Christian to place the photo back on the shelf. When I had his eyes again I could see he was struggling with something.

“Just fucking say it. I can tell I’m not going to like whatever it is that you need to get off your chest. I’m tired and ready to go home. The sooner you tell me why I’m here…”

“Jona is going to marry Elias Omari.”

“What did you just say?”

“You heard me,” he clarified, dryly. I had, but I couldn’t believe that I had heard him correctly.

“I did but you have to be high or losing your mind like Dad if I heard you correctly. Jona is not marrying that monster.”

“She is. The details are set.”

“And what does she have to say about all this? I assume you told her or did you just make plans with her life and future like she doesn’t matter.”