Chapter 26

TWENTY-SIX

Bone structure like our father's. Eyes like our mother's.

Traitor to the ones who gave him life.

My brother stands at the bottom of the staircase looking up at me as if I haven't completely cut him out of my life for the past two years for the crimes he not only committed in the eyes of the law, but for the ones he committed against his family.

"Kellan." My voice sounds meek and far quieter than I intend it to. Panic spreads across my chest like a thousand pins being pricked across my skin.

I blink rapidly, wondering if I've stepped into some time portal taking me back to the last time I saw him outside of a courtroom.

He's wearing a dark gray suit, with his hands shoved inside his pockets. The gold watch dangling from his wrist clinks as he lifts his hand to scratch at the stubble lining his jaw. His hair is slicked back away from his aging forehead. He's only six years older than me, but he looks older than thirty-one. Prison must have aged him.

"What are you doing here?" I ask when I reach the bottom of the stairs.

My eyes dart across the foyer, reaching for anyone tangible—anyone I can use as a witness. We're alone. The doors to the courtyard are still propped wide open, but everyone seems to want to stay outside.

I don't know why he's here or even how. He's barely served out the first third of his sentence.

"I heard you got married, baby sister," he says coyly. A sneer plays on his mouth, lighting a spark in his gray eyes. "I believe I owe you a heartfelt congratulations."

"I don't want anything from you," I grind out through clenched teeth.

He pouts. "Oh, come on, Laurel. I wouldn't be a very good big brother if I didn't congratulate you on marrying into the richest family in Boston." He laughs mockingly. "I mean, let's face it, even our family never matched up to their status. You classed up."

Venom slithers up my throat, heat flushing my skin. I shoot him a glare, pinning him with daggers. "Shouldn't you be in prison?"

He laughs, taking a step back as he rubs his fingers on his chin. I can tell I've already gotten under his skin. Good.

His gaze falls back to me. "Didn't our uncle tell you?"

Fresh tears fill my eyes, spilling over. One by one they glide down my cheeks, falling and splashing onto the black and white checkered marble. I shake my head and inhale an unsteady breath.

"I was released early for good behavior." He grins. "Got out just yesterday in fact. Our criminal justice system sometimes rewards you when you least expect it. I guess I was simply one of the few lucky ones."

"Where…" The word gets caught in my throat. I swallow hard. "Where are you staying?"

"With Fred, of course." His once snide, delighted face transforms to one of disgust. Storm clouds fill his eyes. "You know, the only member of our family who hasn't turned their back on me."

"You did it to yourself," I spit back. "Roe and I didn't deserve what you did to us. You're a disgrace to the Branford name. What would Mom and Dad think if they saw you today, knowing what you've done?"

"You know…" He points his finger in my direction, stepping closer. He purses his lips and lowers his voice. "Funnily enough, that isn't much of a concern to either of you now, is it? Since neither of you are no longer Branfords."

"We'll always be Branfords. But you? You're nothing."

He nods, wiping his hand over his mouth. He looks around, leaning back to peer through the open French doors. "Speaking of, where is our sister? I assumed she would be here. You two were always attached at the hip."

My stomach lurches. For a moment, I wonder if he knows about her cancer diagnosis. But then I remember Roe telling me she didn't want Fred to know. Relief washes over me temporarily knowing Fred is the only way Kellan would know.

"I haven't seen her yet." I tell him the truth, but I also don't want her seeing him. Not only because I know Roe hates our brother as much as I do, but I don't know what seeing him would do to her physically. From the glimpse I saw of her before running down here, I don't think she's well.

The invisible string attached to Roe is tugging on my chest, urging me to go find her. But Kellan is blocking the way. He's standing impossibly close. He's all sharp lines, focused on what he came here to say or do, as if he's been planning this for months. Confronting me and exacting revenge.

"Where's that husband of yours?" he asks, still looking around as if he'll find him. "I wouldn't mind seeing Lennon again."

"Again?" I ask, jerking back. I didn't know Lennon and my brother knew each other.

"Oh." He smirks. "He didn't tell you?"

I look at him, wide eyed, terrified of what I'm about to hear. Lennon's kiss still lingers on my mouth, reminding me of the three words he said to me upstairs. Another tear spills when I close my eyes, his feather tattoo at the forefront of my mind.

Cautiously, I open my eyes. Admittedly, I'm shaking with fear. I hate that Kellan is eliciting this kind of reaction out of me, but he's not the same brother I knew growing up. He's changed, and I'm not exactly sure when it happened. It's been a slow, progressive change, one where every crime he committed was expertly executed with slick precision, remaining undetected. Until it wasn't.

He's devious and manipulative, pulling the strings until he gets what he wants.

"When our uncle told me you married Lennon, I couldn't help but sit in my cell wondering why the fuck my sister would agree to marry someone whose reputation precedes one such as his father's. He's the eldest son of the richest man in New England after all, and that man is James fucking Harding." He sneers, venom spewing from the tip of his tongue. "But then with a little more prying from Fred, he told me you didn't marry Lennon for love." He clicks his tongue against his teeth, shaking his head. "He told me Lennon had to marry you in order to inherit his father's company."

My bottom lip quivers as a sob escapes my chest. I press my hand against my heart, feeling it thrash under flesh and bone.

Kellan is standing closer to me now, ensuring I hear every single word.

His eyes form into two small slits as he tilts his head to the side. "Tell me, sister," he whispers. "Did you ever stop to think why James Harding put it in his will for his oldest son to marry a Branford? Did you ever stop and wonder why he'd tried to get you to fuck one of his son's when you met them for dinner at Eclipse over a year ago?"

I swallow the lump in my throat and stare at my brother in disbelief. My heart is racing a mile a minute and my limbs have gone numb.

"That's right," he continues. "Fred tells me everything."

Fucking Frederick and his big fucking mouth. If I never felt betrayed by my uncle before, I certainly do now.

"Why?" I ask, choking out the word. "Why did he tell Lennon to marry a Branford?"

His shoes touch the toes of my heels. He looks down before lifting his hooded eyes, piercing me. My heart shatters when he tells me the truth. "James Harding was looking for retribution. James and I had an understanding for many years. I convinced him to sell me drugs and lend me money years ago, but I could never pay him back. When he realized I was never going to give him what I owed, he tried hitting me where he thought I would hurt the most."

"But that doesn't make sense."

"Of course it does, Laurel." He scoffs, stabbing his finger against his temple. "You're a lawyer. Use that fucking brain of yours. James Harding never did anything without making someone else pay. He planned out the whole dinner at Eclipse that night so that he could set you up for a news story branding you a slut if you slept with one of his sons. He was planning on using you as a bribe to get money from Fred. And when that didn't work, he crafted you into his will. He knew the only way he could get to you was in death. Lennon was set to marry a Branford sister to take our family legacy down from the inside. He figured he'd raised his son to be just like him. He wanted Lennon to take everything you own and everything you claim under our family name and destroy it."

"I don't believe you." I shake my head. I already know I'm lying to myself. I know Lennon didn't have anything to do with his father's scheme at getting my brother back for his debts. Deep in my bones, in every cell, I know Lennon does love me. Because loving him is as easy and as natural as breathing. Then I think back to our terms and conditions. Lennon easily accepted mine, laying out that I wanted to keep all of my assets and my job at my uncle's law firm. He agreed and signed without hesitation.

"I don't believe you," I repeat. "Lennon wouldn't do that."

"For a lawyer, you've always been a terrible fucking liar." He snarls. "He's going to destroy our family. You know that, right? That's all Hardings do. They bleed others dry until there's nothing left."

"No." I shake my head.

"You're nothing but a business transaction, Laurel. You're a piece of trash they'll think nothing more of once they're finished with you."

All my anger and frustration over the past several years boils over. My skin is hot, and my hands curl into tight fists at my sides. My vision turns to red, and all I can think about is back to when we were kids. Kellan taught me how to ride a bike. He beat up the group of bullies who used to follow me home from school every day, taunting and making fun of me. He used to sneak me into parties I was too young for, but he did it so I felt included.

But then all of it changed. He became a darker version of himself, stealing our parent's cars and money. He lied to them left and right. Eventually, his crimes escalated, and the more I saw his deeds go unpunished, the more my hate for him bloomed. And then when I discovered he'd wiped my entire trust fund clean, my hate transformed into something else entirely.

I bite the inside of my cheek, forcing myself to stand my ground and say what's been on my mind since the last time I spoke to my brother.

"Fuck you, Kellan." I curl my lip. "I really don't give a shit what did or didn't happen between you and James fucking Harding. The man was an asshole and deserves to rot in the grave he's been stuffed into for the rest of eternity. But don't act like you're some fucking saint." I raise my chin, suddenly getting a burst of courage and energy. "You stole from everyone. You stole from James. You stole from Mom, Dad, and Roe. And you stole from me!"

I'm yelling, my throat swelling with every word being pushed up and out of it. I press my finger against Kellan's stiff, puffed chest. The veins in his neck have popped, and his face turns beet red with anger. His gray eyes are like two circular pieces of steel, darkening and hardening with every word.

My insults and accusations are daggers being thrown in his direction after the door to my soul has been unlocked and swung open. Every dark thought and every resentment are finally being set free. "Do you want to know why I didn't say a word to you on the day of your sentencing?" I ask him, bitterly. "Why I wouldn't even look in your direction as they handcuffed you and escorted you out of the courtroom?"

I don't bother waiting for his answer.

"Because every word and breath I'd used to defend you up until that day had been a fucking waste. You think you're any different than James? You're the fucking same. You're a disgrace to this family. Honestly, it should have been you climbing that cliff instead of Mom and Dad. We'd all be better off."

The sting against my left cheek doesn't sink in right away. A gasp leaves my chest as my hand instinctively lifts to cover the side of my face from the amount of force used against it. I'm shaking as I look down at the floor. The stinging sensation starts in the middle, feathering out at the edges until it reaches the corner of my eye. Fresh tears fall to the marble floor followed by a drop of blood coming from the corner of my mouth.

"Kellan?"

I snap my head up and see Roe standing at the end of the hallway, leading to the other end of the house, away from the party.

"What are you doing here?" she asks breathily.

Between the stars in my eyes, I take in the way she looks. A black piece of silk is draped around her head elegantly, hiding her hairless scalp. Gaunt eyes and sunken cheeks. She's vastly different even from the last time I saw her.

I'm still holding onto my cheek when I feel a sea of black moving in front of me.

I turn to look at Kellan. I think he's going to still be standing in front of me, but instead, Lennon is between us.

With his hands clenched around Kellan's lapel, he shoves him backward until his back lands against the sandstone wall.

"Lennon!" I yell, but my voice can't be heard over the sound of their grunts of Kellan pushing against Lennon's arm pinning him to the wall.

"Touch my wife again," Lennon spits between clenched teeth. "I fucking dare you, asshole. Touch her again and you're dead. I will slit your throat and bury you next to my father's grave, I swear to God."

"She was my sister before she was your wife," Kellan spews back, lifting his chin. "Tell me, Lennon. How does it feel knowing the only reason your father made you marry her was because of me? Does it make your dick go limp every time you go to fuck her?"

"You fucking piece of shit." Lennon keeps his left arm pressed against Kellan's chest, and he lifts the other, quickly curling his hand into a fist. Without hesitation, and on a single breath, he rears his arm back and delivers a sharp, heavy blow to Kellan's nose. A loud pop followed by the sound of cracking bones make my stomach lurch.

My hands fly to my mouth, muffling my scream. Blood streams from Kellan's nose as he bends forward. Lennon lifts his hand again and punches him once more, not caring about the amount of blood he's spilling. His back is to me, but with the way his shoulders have stiffened and the force behind his punches, I know there must be fire in his eyes.

"Stop." I hear Roe's meek voice. She steps out from the hallway, but steadies herself with her outstretched arm. There's nothing for her to grab onto when she takes another faltering uneasy step.

With panicked, widespread eyes, she looks up at me. And I'm completely gutted.

"Laurel?" Her chin quivers as a tear spills from her half-open eyes. They roll back as she takes another step, her heel never lifting from the floor. I run toward her, but I don't make it before her knees give out. She collapses, and though she tries to catch herself with her hands, the second she does, she immediately falls to her side and onto her back.

"Lennon!" I scream. "Help me!"

I fall to my knees and bend over Roe. Her eyes are shut, and I'm too panicked to see if she's still breathing. My vision is blurry and my head pounds. Stars and dots of black fade in and out as I look down at Roe.

I yell over my shoulder again. "Lennon!"

Panicked, I wrap my hands around the back of her head and rest her in my lap. I gently place my bloodied hand on her cheek. "Roe," I cry. "Please, Roe. Stay with me."

"Here," Lennon says, fear laced in his deep voice. I gently lift her head as Lennon's hands slide beneath mine. I back away, crawling on the marble floor, giving Lennon space. When I'm a good distance away, I stay on my hands and knees, my shoulders racking with sobs.

"Monroe," I beg, willing her to wake up.

Lennon bends over her, placing his fingers to her neck. Then he leans down, bringing his ear to her mouth. He looks up, seeing Ray standing in the doorway.

"Call an ambulance."

Ray nods, scrambling as he pulls his phone from his pocket.

"She's breathing," Lennon tells me. His face is calm, but the panic in his eyes is evident, only solidified by the way his chest rapidly expands and contracts with every breath. "What happened?" he asks me, his eyebrows knitted tightly together.

I cover my mouth, muting my cries. My eyes dart back and forth between my sister and my husband.

Shaking, I lower my hand and finally tell Lennon the one secret remaining between us. The one he knew I was keeping. "She has cancer."