Page 23 of Betrayed In Crimson
“I didn’t hurt her.” I pause. “I would never hurt a woman,” I murmur, walking over to my black leather couch. I sit, my face set to stone. Lucian stays standing, a figure of authority; a leader. I rub my temple and sigh. “I’m sorry, I was pissed, but I didn’t hurt her,” I clarify.
“I know that,” he states.
“Then why are you here?” I ask, confused.
“Because I know you better than you know yourself. Because I saw Lilith on the roof with Cain,” he counters.
My eyes flick to his, his astute amber eyes seeing right through my bullshit. “I know what you’re going to say.”
“Decades, I’ve had to put up with your moody bullshit. Your brother hasn’t been here. You’ve had your chance to come clean, to tell her everything. But instead, you let it fester, and when she seeks comfort in another brother, you implode. You made the decision not to tell her. I respected that. We helped her, we took her under our wing at your request. You made this decision,” he reminds me.
“Because she believed him, without question. Even after everything, there’s still a part of her that believes it was out of Morbius’s control. That I’ve been covering for him all this time,” I grit my teeth. “I will take the hate, I will take the excruciating pain in my chest at seeing her with someone else, if it means she’s happy.”
“She believes him because she was never given the truth!” Lucian barks.
“If she knew the truth, she would still hate me,” I snap back.
Lucian sighs, running his palm over his face. “She blames herself for what happened,” Lucian argues. “She’s fucking miserable and lonely. Why else would she be cuddled up to Cain? She is not happy.”
I lean my head back and look up at the dark stone ceiling. “Just fucking leave it. At least this way she can try to find happiness with him.”
I look back at Lucian. “Fine,” he relents. “But control your demons. I don’t have time to be clearing up your mess.” He turns and leaves, closing the door behind him.
I don’t leave my room until the next evening, not wanting any part of the party.
It’s quiet, brothers still deep in slumber as I step into the kitchen. Or so I thought. I pause briefly. Cain is sitting there, his feet resting on the kitchen table. His red eyes follow me as I walk to the fridge and pull out a pouch of blood. Piercing it, I pour it into a mug. “Well, fucking good morning to you,” he provokes.
I ignore him and chuck the empty pouch into the trash before turning to leave. “What the fuck crawled up your ass this evening?”
I halt, every muscle in my body tensing. “Just leave me be,” I warn through gritted teeth.
“Leave you be, what’s the matter? Didn’t get your dick sucked?” he chuckles. My restraint snaps, and I whirl around, hurling my mug full of blood at him. He lifts his arm, blocking it. The mug shatters on impact, spraying deep claret everywhere.
His furious, searing red gaze was glaring at me. “I said leave me the fuck alone,” I growl. My fists clenched so tight at my sides, I’m surprised the bones aren’t cracking.
Cain’s top lip curls. “You saw Lilith and me,” he says, realizing where my anger is coming from. A low, deep, menacing chuckle radiates from him. “Really, you’re going to get pissed at every guy that fucks her?”
There it is; the confirmation. Uncontrollable, molten rage courses through me. I can’t contain it. Launching myself across the table, my fist reared back, Cain isn’t quick enough to dodge my blow this time as my fist collides with his face. We landon the ground, Cain fighting back as he brings his booted foot slamming into my gut, sending me flying back. I smash into the table, splintering it into pieces beneath me. With a roar ripping from me, I get to my feet and run at him full speed just as he rights himself, slamming him into the stone wall, causing it to crack and debris to crumble.
My hand wraps around his throat, squeezing. He laughs. “What are you trying to do? You can’t fucking strangle me. I’m already fucking dead.” Before I can answer him, I’m being torn off him and shoved back as Lucian stands between us. His amber eyes were bleeding with a furious wrath.
“I told you to sort your fucking demons,” he growls, pointing his index finger at me before turning to Cain. “You didn’t fuck her, so stop provoking him!” he barks. I blink and look at Cain, who has a sadistic grin on his lips. “Clear this shit up, both of you. Fuck!” he orders.
“If you care about her enough to kill another brother, why not confess?” Evelynn says gently beside me. I look down at her, her eyes sad and filled with pity. “Keeping it locked in could kill you or make you do something you regret,” she warns, her gaze flickering to Cain. Lucian stalks towards her, his furious glare pinning me in my place.
“Don’t waste your energy trying to convince him,” Lucian sighs as he takes Evelynn’s hand in his, leading her out of the kitchen. “Leave the children to clean up,” he mutters.
I look back at Cain, who is picking up broken bits of the table. I close my eyes and start to help him. “Sorry,” I mutter.
Cain stops what he’s doing and looks at me. “We kissed,” he states, and that molten rage begins to rise again. “But…” he interjects, holding up his palms in surrender. “Before you fucking explode, it was nothing. Like kissing my sister,” he adds. “She’s lonely, I’m fucking lonely. We merely kept each other company as friends; nothing more.”
“What if the kiss didn’t feel like you were kissing your sister?” I press.
His grin widens. “Then I would have fucked her.” The piece of wood in my hand snaps from my vice-like grip. “Don’t. She’s a single woman; you haven’t claimed her. If the moment were right, I would have, just like the rest of the coven would have. She isn’t going to stay alone forever,” Cain reminds me.
“I know that,” I bite back.
“Then either man up and make your play—tell her everything—or continue to wallow while some other lucky son of a bitch makes her his.”
