Page 17 of The Other Side of Green
I could actually hear her saying that like she was still in the room with us.
“You mean she was worried about Mom and needed to go and talk it out with the big guy.”
“Or worried about you.” Another swift glance.
Hm. Grams had known I was with Jack, I could just tell, so did that mean she also knew he was my brother? But wouldn’t she have said something if she knew? I was borderline obsessed with him all those years ago… and truthfully, there wasn’t anything borderline about it.
“You know, Luca, we’ve had way too many secrets in this house. Even when we were kids, Grams was cagey as hell, keeping all her cards close. I remember having a conversation right here,” I gestured at the stove I stood by. “I asked her why you and I looked so different. You and Blue—I mean Jack.” My cheeks began to burn. “Had been fighting. But she just brushed it off. She said that if you felt like a brother to me that’s all that mattered.”
Luca stepped closer, his hand clasping my shoulder tighter. “I am your brother.”
“Luca, we need to get to the bottom of all the lies.”
He nodded, his gaze flickering with almost relief. “We will, I promise. But please don’t be mad at me. I made shitty choices, based on even shittier knowledge.”
I tried to force my lips into a smile—they wouldn’t move. “Let’s honor Grams and then deal with the rest later. Luca, it’s just me and you now.”
“Mom will be back.”
I almost threw the dish cloth at his head. “Really! Really, still?”
“Lyra, she’s not all bad.”
“She’s a liar, Luca. An addict. She hasn’t ever been honest with us about a damn thing, and I’ll bet everything I have we won’t see her again now. Not now she can’t steal from Gram.”
Oh God. A thunderous thought hit me. “What are we going to do with the house? You’ve got your own place...?”
Everything on his face told me he’d already thought of that.
“I can’t afford to run it by myself. Hell, I can’t afford to run a bicycle,” I mused, glancing around and wondering what the bills would be like.
“Lyra, you are going back to college.”
I poked him in the chest. “And I already told you I can’t.”
“Why?”
“Because they don’t let you back when you’ve fucked your lecturer.”
There. I’d said it.
Luca paled, his skin tinging with green. I wanted to laugh.
Which of us was naive now?
“Jack?”
I snorted a laugh. “Bet you wish you hadn’t kept secrets now, huh?”
I spun on my heel and stalked away, leaving the devastating truth behind me in the kitchen.
Chapter Five
Jack ~ Present
Three hours after walking through the precinct’s doors, I stepped back out into the late afternoon sunshine. Free.
Hell, if I’d known it was going to be that easy…
