My shoulders fall in defeat. “You and your brother are something else, you know that?”
“Of course we do. Our momma told us every day. Besides, I have to stay. Serenity would want me to be here for Mila.”
If her actions toward my sister were true, he’s absolutely correct. She would want him here.
“Fine. Take the guest room. If we get any unexpected visitors from the courts, we’ll tell them Serenity is visiting family and you’re here helping me with Mila.”
He salutes me and then goes back to tend to my sister and her insatiable appetite for pancakes.
I sit down on the bed, staring at the music box across the room. Even it whispers to me how wrong I’ve been.
“It reminded me of my brother. I always thought we’d stick together, but then he fell further and further into … I don’t even know what to call it. The madness, the life of a hustler. He was just like my mom but each were hustling for different things. Her for love and he for money. Both became addicted to it, but neither were willing to be patient and wait for it tocome naturally. They jumped at anything that moved, ignoring all the signs from the universe they were going in the wrong direction. They don’t see the patterns and the loop they’ve created for themselves.”
“What have you been hustling for?”
“Peace.”
Peace.
Last night brought her anything but peace, and I allowed it to happen.
My heart sank as everyone besides Cole and Carson raised their hand, voting to let Carver go in and interrogate her. We all know what he’s capable of. He wouldn’t have killed her, but he went further than I was willing to stand by and watch.
The minute I saw her blood … no, it was before that. It was when I saw the fucking look of betrayal on her face. I felt it with her. I’ve lived disloyalty like that.
The sharpness of the knife my mother stuck in my back when she chose to believe Mila’s father over me. It was the night I ran away from home and never looked back. At least not until I learned my mother was pregnant with his baby.
It’s one thing to know there are awful human beings in this world, it’s another when they turn out to be someone you love. Someone who was supposed to love you.
Maybe that’s why it hurt so much to think Serenity might be lying to me.
“You know, she loved this little duck. Maybe you should give it to her.”
“You think she will like it?”
“She’ll love it.”
“But it’s yours.”
“It’s okay. She needs it more than I do.”
“But it reminded you of your brother.”
“Someday maybe it will remind her of hers.”
I shower on autopilot, playing every conversation I had with her in my mind. The more I do, the more I realize there is no way she was lying to me. But how does she explain that Savage is her brother?
Maybe I’d know if I would have asked.
After I’m dressed, I pick up the music box and head to the kitchen. Mila is staring out the patio door with the saddest look I’ve ever seen.
“Mila, I have something for you.”
I sit down at the table and pat the seat beside me. She stays where she is, nervously twirling a strand of hair around her finger. She watches as I wind the object in my hands. When I set it on the table, I push it toward her. “It’s a music box.”
Mila rises to her toes for a better look. Her face lights up and she hurries forward, climbing up on the chair next to me. “My ducky,” she says, clapping her hands.
“Mommy wanted me to make sure I gave this to you,” I tell her.