I furrowed my brow. “What? What happened to you being Team Deon?”
“I am!” Avery said. “I am Team Deon, and I think you guys should be together, but right now, you need to get some rest. Spend some time apart for right now, and you can link up with him later or tomorrow.”
“All we’ve done is spend time apart.” For some reason, tears were crawling into my eyes. “I don’t want to be apart from him anymore. I want to be with him.”
“I just…” Avery said. “Not right now.”
“Avery, what’s going on?” Alistair asked.
Avery looked at me, then Alistair, then me, and then sighed. “Deon’s still at the park. I told Nathan that’s where Deon was, and Deon’s gonna get the jump on him.”
My jaw dropped. “Avery!”
“He deserves whatever he has coming to him for what he did to you!” she squealed back.
“I’m not worried about Nathan. I’m worried about Deon! Best case scenario, Deon beats him within an inch of his life and goes back to prison forever. Worst case, Nathan shoots Deon and kills him!”
“Avery, what were you thinking?” Alistair scolded.
“I was thinking that it’s been a long time coming. Nathan needs to get his ass kicked!” Avery said. “He needs to know he can’t hurt you anymore.”
I couldn’t even comprehend Avery’s logic, so instead, I clamored up between the front seats and grabbed Alistair’s arm. “You need to take me back to the park.”
“That’s not safe,” Alistair replied. “We don’t know what’s going to happen.”
“I don’t care!” My heart was pounding so hard I was surprised my whole body wasn’t jumping with it. “I’m the queen! Take me back to the park, right now!”
Alistair kept his eyes on the road, but I could tell he was conflicted. Finally, he nodded and turned on his blinker. Despite Avery’s begging for him not to, Alistair made his way back toward the park. When we arrived, Nathan’s car was in the parking lot, and I felt like I was going to throw up. Alistair parked his car, and I jumped out, running around, looking every direction I could for Nathan and Deon. Finally, I heard some scuffling and ran in the direction of it, but when I got to where it was, things had already excelled past a point I could control.
Nathan was there, bloodied and bruised. He was out of breath, and his shirt was torn. Trickles of blood were falling from his head, mouth, and eye. Still, he had his gun at his hand and had it outstretched toward Deon, who didn’t look nearly as banged up, nor did he seem phased by Nathan’s gun.
“You’ve got about thirty seconds to shoot me before you’ll regret not shooting me, Nathan,” Deon hissed.
“Shut up!” Nathan screamed.
All I could think to do was get between them, so I rushed out, in spite of Alistair and Avery calling me back, and stood in between Deon and Nathan, facing Nathan. “Move!”
“No,” I responded. “You’re gonna have to shoot me too.”
“Cherri,” Deon growled behind me. “I got this.”
“No! I’m done with all of this shit!” I barked. “Put your gun down or shoot me. Those are your options.” Nathan glared at me and then took a step forward. I could hear Deon stepping forward behind me, but I took my own step toward Nathan, bringing my face closer to his gun. “What’s it gonna be?”
“Nathan will be shooting no one.” We all looked over, and Connor Loche was approaching, looking wholly unbothered by the situation. “Drop your gun,” he ordered.
Nathan listened immediately, pulling his gun out of my face, but keeping it in his hand.
“You,” Connor said to Alistair. “Take these young women and leave.”
I looked over at Connor with a leer of my own. “I’m not going anywhere.”
“Yes, you are,” Connor responded. “This is a matter between me and my children.”
Sounds and color bled away from me. Children? I looked at Nathan, who’s expression went sullen, and then I turned around and looked at Deon. I tried to catch his gaze, but he was avoiding looking me in the eyes, and it was clear at that moment that it was true.
Nathan and Deon were…brothers.
Years of knowing Nathan. Years of knowing Deon. All of it came to a head in a single moment. They’d both been lying to me. Questions raced through my brain at a pace too quick to track. Did Nathan actually care about me at all? Did Deon? How did I end up in the crosshairs between them? What else had they been lying to me about? Did anyone else know they were brothers? Was I just an idiot, staring down the obvious?
I looked at Nathan, but the fact that he’d lied to me meant nothing. When I looked at Deon, however, my heart broke. I loved him so much. What else was he hiding from me?
“I can’t believe this,” I said finally.
I stormed away from Deon and Nathan to where Alistair and Avery were standing.
“I swear we didn’t know,” Avery said quickly.
I nodded. “Okay. You were right, Avery. We shouldn’t have come here.” I looked pleadingly at Alistair. “Can you take me home?”
“Of course,” he responded, and I didn’t wait. I immediately walked off back toward Alistair’s car.
I’d been betrayed enough for one day. I just wanted to crawl in bed and never come out.
28
Deon
“Nathan, this is your brother, Deon.”
He was a little scrawny, I thought, but his brown eyes were warm and welcoming, and he seemed truly happy to see me.
“H-hi,” he greeted, holding out his hand toward me. “I’m Nathan.”
A handshake? We were only ten. What kind of ten-year-olds shake hands?
“Go on, Deon,” Connor said. “Shake his hand. It’s the manly thing to do.”
I reached out, took his hand, and shook it, and he smiled back at me. “I can’t believe I have a brother. I’ve always wanted a brother.”
I’d always wanted one too. All of the kids in my neighborhood had siblings, and I was always jealous of them. They
