Their joint sighs as Xoe straddles him again, lowering herself slowly, are music to my ears. She’s beautiful, the swell of her hips rolling as Richter runs his hands over her, and my girl keeps moving, just like I taught her.
I smile when Richter reaches between them, rubbing Xoe’s clit to give her pleasure, because it gives me hope for him.
Maybe he knows how to show love despite being raised by Luke.
I linger beside the door until I hear Xoe cry out, her back arching, and Richter lifts her. Turning, he lays Xoe out on the bed, and he’s back inside her a moment later. She wraps her legs around his hips, pulling him close, and I slip out the door as quietly as I can and join my family outside.
Everyone is still laughing and shouting, joyous as the snow starts to fall again. Big flakes floating down, making the world feel smaller. Casey sees me and tosses another snowball at one of his sisters before he hikes through the snow toward me.
“Well?” he asks, grinning, and I chuckle.
“Xoe is showing Richter how we share our love, and… I guess your discussion with Skylar went well earlier?”
“It did. She’s shy though. Not like my other sisters. It’s like she doesn’t know if she wants to feel loved or not.”
“Hmm…” I look out at her, finding her in the increasing snowfall with Embry on her hip, pointing up at the snowflakes. “Maybe she needs to know her sister is okay with it.”
“Should I bring Cleo to my bed tonight, Daddy?” he asks, and I shake my head.
“No. If the snow keeps up, neither of them are going anywhere tonight. We’ll let Skylar stay in Cleo’s room, and I think if you visit Skylar there that things might go differently. Cleo and the other girls will encourage her.”
“And if she doesn’t want my love?” Casey looks at me, and I chuckle.
“She wants it, son. She’s just waiting for permission to do what feels right.” I pause, waving at Heather when she calls out to me. “And she’s a smart girl. She’ll know that Richter showed Xoe his love, and that will be all the permission she needs to accept yours.”
Twenty-Two
Richter
I betrayed Skylar.
The thought rings over and over in my head, accusing me of something that Dad would never have approved of. He’s the only one that was ever able to do… things with us, and what I’ve just done with Xoe is something that he wouldn’t forgive.
Fuck.
But how could something that feels so goddamn good be wrong? Isn’t that why Dad did it to Mom so often? And our grandmother too?
I never did get the chance to meet her. Mom did once or twice when she was younger, but I wonder sometimes if she stayed with Dad willingly too.
Not that I think Darby did—I know she just wanted to keep us safe and happy, and that meant doing whatever he wanted her to.
Xoe looks at me expectantly when we’re done, a smile on her face that Skylar’s never given me afterward and I sit up, pulling my knees to my chest.
“Is everything okay?” she asks as she reaches over and lays a hand on my leg.
“Fine,” I reply quietly as I move her hand away and get to my feet. I walk over to the window and glance out to see Skylar happily playing with the children. Maybe she’d be better off here too, with Cleo rather than with me, but then what would happen to the Greene Family legacy?
I promised Dad that I would continue it. It was the last thing I ever said to him before he took his last breath because it seemed to mean so much to him in his final moments.
A good son doesn’t let his father down, and I’m damn determined to be the best son I can be. It’s what he would expect of me.
Xoe’s soft hands make me jump as she rests them on my back, her cheek filling in the small gap they make against my skin and I sigh.
“Listen,” I say when I finally manage to tear my eyes away from Skylar. “That was great; it really was. But you’re not who I’m supposed to be with. Dad didn’t know you and I’m pretty sure if he did, he wouldn’t have cared. The only children that ever mattered to him were the ones that came directly from him. You… you don’t matter. Not under the rules we lived by.”
Her lower lip begins to tremble dangerously as she takes a step back. It seems that this fucked up version of a Stepford Family can feel something besides constant joy after all.
“Why would you say that?” she inquires, her brow furrowing as a tear rolls down her cheek.
I take a deep breath as I square my shoulders, then look her straight in the eye. “You’re no sister of mine. Your father wasn’t Luke Greene—mine was. And Cleo’s and Skylar’s. Maybe if you all weren’t so busy touching each other, you’d understand how the real world works, girl.”
That’s all it takes for her to burst into tears. She runs out of the room, crying, and I feel proud of myself.
For the first time since Dad left us, I finally feel like him more than ever.
After I get cleaned up in the bathroom and dressed again, I make my way outside. I’m greeted by two angry men—a father and son glaring at me like I’ve committed some grave sin by making one of their own cry.
But that’s just the thing they don’t seem to understand. We’re different, Cleo, Skylar, and I, and nothing will ever change that.
We grew up with Luke, whereas his rules were taken in and then regurgitated by Bryden to fit his own fucking needs, and that’s no way to raise a family.
When
