Total pages in book: 137
Estimated words: 126060 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 630(@200wpm)___ 504(@250wpm)___ 420(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 126060 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 630(@200wpm)___ 504(@250wpm)___ 420(@300wpm)
Amaranthe rubbed her palm soothingly along his thigh with one hand while she continued to eat as if she weren’t aware he was in any way agitated. He knew he didn’t appear so on the outside. He’d cultivated that calm look even when he raged inside. The mere mention of his parents could make him rage.
“They changed radically, became cold and distant. They wanted nothing at all to do with us. They went from loving parents to strangers overnight. If I didn’t know better, I’d think aliens took over their bodies.” He glanced at Salvatore, for the first time looking uncomfortable. “As time went by, I accepted that they weren’t coming back to us, but I resented the way they treated Lucca and Salvatore. Salvatore is the youngest, and he didn’t give up the way I did. Lucca had backed off as well, but Salvatore would seek them out. They made it clear they didn’t want him around.”
He didn’t try to hide the grim loathing he felt for his parents. It was there in his voice. He’d disassociated from them. They’d hurt his brothers. That cut deep and wasn’t something he could repair no matter how hard he’d tried.
“I went to them and told them as head of the family if they ever spoke to Salvatore or Lucca in such a manner again, if they hurt them like that, I would banish them. I meant it, too. I let them see I meant it, that my feelings for them were gone. I just turned and walked out. I didn’t want their explanations even if they were going to give them to me, although I knew they wouldn’t.”
He didn’t look at his brothers. He couldn’t. He dropped one hand under the table to thread his fingers through Amaranthe’s. He’d just confessed one of his gravest sins. He’d turned on his own parents. Now they were dead. Murdered. He’d move heaven and earth to find their killers and get justice for them, but he wasn’t certain he could ever forgive them.
Salvatore cleared his throat. “I knew you threatened them.”
Geno’s gaze jumped to his brother’s face. “You did not.”
Salvatore nodded slowly. “I did. Geno, I followed you everywhere. I was terrified of losing you. We both were. And you were so pissed that day. I shadowed you to their suite. You didn’t even knock. You just walked right in, and you didn’t close the door.”
He lifted his head and grinned at his cousins. “Geno seriously pissed is a thing of beauty. Scary as hell but still beautiful, especially when he’s standing up for you. I realized for the first time that I may have lost my parents, but I had Geno and Lucca. Geno was going to be there for me no matter what. He didn’t care if he had to go up against an adult. He took on our instructors and he took on our parents. I think that was the first day I began to feel I might be safe again.”
Geno’s gut clenched hard. He thought Salvatore would be angry at him. Salvatore, as a boy, had been very sensitive. He had wanted his parents to love him. He’d needed that even more than Lucca and Geno. Both Geno and Lucca had been very protective of him, especially when their parents had been unbelievably cruel in the things they’d said to turn him away from them. The way his parents had deserted his brothers had only made Geno even more determined to watch over them and to create loyalty that would never be broken among the three of them.
“I suppose you knew as well, Lucca.” He made it a statement, keeping his voice low, pretending he might be annoyed, when really, he was overwhelmed with emotion.
I blame you, he told Amaranthe.
She rubbed her head against his arm like a little cat, satisfaction sliding into his mind.
“Naturally.” Lucca sounded smug. “Salvatore and I had to stick together in those days to figure out what the hell was going on. Those Archambault trainers were mean. The parents were zombies, and you were scary as hell. You didn’t tell us what was going on.”
“Because I didn’t know.”
“Yeah, we weren’t aware you were as clueless as we were until we heard you talking to the parents.”
Do they always refer to your mother and father as “the parents”? Because that’s an odd way to put it. Amaranthe indicated the grilled vegetables. “Please pass the vegetables. If I don’t take some now, Lucca’s going to eat them all.”
Her voice was very soft and tranquil in the midst of the overwhelming emotion. Lucca and Salvatore might be trying to make everyone laugh, but the reality was, it was a painful time. Their parents had slammed the door hard on them, rejecting them, and not one of them knew why.