Craving The Wrong Brother (Sloane and Knox)

There's no such thing as right or wrong to me. There's only what I want to do and what I don't.

And I absolutely do not want to apologize to Mateo.

I can feel the pressure around me. Eyes heavy on my face. Every breath in this room is paused, waiting on me. Even Sloane hasn't looked away once. I can't bring myself to meet her gaze, not with what she might be silently asking of me.

You know what? A million people owe me apologies. You don't see me holding the world hostage over it. This whole thing has gone too far. I'm done playing along.

"Tell your man to put the gun down, Mateo," I say. "What you have is against me. Let's not involve third parties."

But the man holding the gun to Hunter's head doesn't budge. Instead, I watch him flip the safety off. Sloane's grip on my hand tightens.

And now, someone is crying.

It's Serena.

Her shoulders are shaking, body jerking in the chair. The man crouched beside her—the one who was tending to her leg-pauses. He's almost done with the bandaging. Just a few more strips of gauze over the bullet wound. But her crying throws him off. His hands go still.

No one moves.

Even Mateo, who hasn't stopped breathing heavily into the phone since the call started, goes quiet. That heavy presence of him through the speaker? Gone. He's holding his breath now, just like the rest of us.

And Serena keeps going.

Head down. Shoulders heaving.

Eventually, she quiets down enough to say, "Just let us go. I want to go home. I am having a bad week. A bad month. Hell, even a bad year. And I want nothing more than to be in my bed."

Her face is wet with tears, and her mouth trembles as she forces out the words.

"I can't do that," Mateo says.

"You're the worst villain I've ever seen. An apology? That's what you want? I don't have anything against you, Mateo. Everyone hates me right now too. My mom. My stepfather. My ex. Even my sister, though she pretends she doesn't. I'm certain I'm pregnant, but I won't take any test because confirming the pregnancy would mean having to figure out if the baby's my ex's or my stepfather's—"

"The fuck did she just say?" Jade whispers behind me.

But Serena doesn't stop. She's gone too far into the storm of it.

"I'm convinced that if I pretend I don't notice the missed periods or the nausea, they'll just stop being a problem. I don't have any more misfortune-bearing radar left in me. I'd rather be home, sipping wine I know is bad for me, than be in this chair taking a bullet for someone who can't even say sorry when a gun is pointed at his friend's head."

She's staring into the camera now, or rather, at Mateo.

"If you're going to shoot me," she says, "shoot me right now. If you're not, set me free. I am done with this. Fucking done."noveldrama

The silence that follows feels heavier than before. Nobody moves. Even the guy holding the gun to Hunter's head looks thrown. His eyes find Mateo, waiting for a signal.

The man who was tending Serena's leg finishes up and steps back without a word. Serena's done a good job of pretending she can't feel the pain anymore. Or maybe she's more angry than she's in pain.

"That's an interesting story, pretty," Mateo says. "What did you do to get everyone to hate you? Did you go overseas in the name of serving your country, get captured and tortured, lose an eye, and then come back to everyone you love being uncomfortable you're alive?"

His voice deepens the more he speaks.

"Because my wife moved on. She won't even let my daughter see me, says it'll confuse her. Says she can't explain how her dead father came back to life. You know what I think? I think she's afraid all that life insurance and those hero benefits will have to get sorted out if I'm alive. She doesn't want to lose the money. And the one man who caused all this? He's on the other end of this call, having his happy ever after with a girl he doesn't deserve."

My jaw ticks.

"Tell me if anything about my life sounds like yours," Mateo says. "And then maybe I'll say you're just like me."

Serena's face is pale, but she's trying to act strong.

"I might not have joined the army," she says, "or gotten captured. Or tortured. But I'm lonely, just like you are. And lonely people tend to do stupid things. I had the hots for my mother's husband and took advantage of him when he was drunk. And you know what? I didn't feel guilty until my boyfriend came back home from his Dungeons and Dragons weekend championship or whatever. I can't remember. And I saw his browser history. He was looking up engagement rings."

She swallows.

"He was about to propose to me. And I cheated on him."

"I might have to step out," Jade says. "This chick is pissing me off."

The sound of the door opening behind me is loud. A beat later, it slams shut again. Jade's gone.

Serena's still talking. The more I listen, the more it dawns on me that she's not rambling or falling apart. She's working him. She's saying exactly what she knows might reach him, which might not be a great move for a man like Mateo. If I've picked up on that, Mateo definitely has too. He's not dumb.

"So, what happened?" Mateo asks. "Did he propose?"

"He did," Serena says. "Right in front of my entire family. And I lost it, you know. He deserved better than me if I didn't let him down hard, he'd just try to fix things between us. And I'm not the right person for him. I'm the girl who screws all her exes friends just to get back at them. The girl who has no friends because she always winds up hurting them. The girl who gets herself a decent boyfriend just to try to prove that she can be normal. And then ends up hurting him too."

She takes a shuddering breath.

"Even now that I've ruined my chances with almost everyone who loves me... I know I'm not as sorry as I should be. I'm denying the truth to myself. I need help."

Mateo exhales.

"You're very self-aware, I see," he says.

Serena doesn't miss a beat. "I am. You should be too."

"Maybe I am. Maybe I'm not. One thing is certain though, I'm very aware of the intentions of people around me, which is why I'll need you to shut the hell up right now."

"You don't actually believe Knox ruined your life, do you? You're just lonely, and having power over everyone who has their shit together compared to you is the only way you can think of combating loneliness."

"I said, shut up."

"You'd rather blame someone else for your misfortune," Serena continues, "and plan things like this to fill the void instead of owning up to the fact that you hate your life. Hate not having people around. You're just like me, a lonely degenerate."

The camera shifts.

Mateo's walking stick comes into frame first, the polished wood tapping against the concrete as he moves. Then the rest of him follows. He steps in front of the camera fully now, no longer hiding behind it.

Then he starts toward her, leaning against his cane. That uneven limp is more pronounced with every step. Serena doesn't flinch. She watches him come.

And then, without a word, he raises his hand and strikes her across the face.

The slap echoes off the concrete walls. Serena's head angles to one side as she spits out blood.

"Bloody hell," Finn breathes.

It grabs Hunter's attention too, whose eyes fly open for the first time since that

gun was placed near his head.

Beside me, Sloane says, "Oh, my god. Did he just hit her?"

Mateo's entire concentration is on Serena. He stands there, breathing hard.

"Untie her," he says.

The guy holding the gun to Hunter finally lowers it, puts it away, and hurries over

to Serena. He crouches beside her, working fast to undo the ropes on her wrists

and ankles. She hisses when he accidentally bumps her injured leg.

As soon as she's free, Mateo points at her. "Stand up and leave."

"Like I can walk with my leg this fucked up," she replies with a glare.

"You wanted to leave. So leave."

"Not until you free them all."

Mateo scoffs. "Oh, so you're not a selfish, impulsive, and reckless degenerate anymore? You suddenly care about other people's feelings?"

"I might be a lot of things," she says, "but I am not a monster."

He rips off his glasses, revealing the hollowed, sealed socket where one eye used

to be. "Well, I am. And if you're going to leave, then leave right now. Or shut the

hell up through the rest of my conversation with Knox."

He turns and limps back toward the camera, glasses still clutched in one hand.

His face is fully visible now. Though his eye seems focused, I can tell the rest of him is unsteady. Serena got to him, if only a little.

He doesn't hide behind the lens this time. He stands right there, staring straight

into it.

"I'm done playing nice with you, Knox," he says. "So I'm only going to say this one

more time before it gets ugly. Say the words. Admit you're at fault. Say you're sorry."

My phone vibrates with a notification. As I pull it out of my pocket, I see Aaron's

name. I swipe quickly until I'm staring at a video.

It's there. Visual confirmation.

I raise my head.

"You know how they always talk

about people in glass houses not throwing stones, Mateo?" I ask. "I'm staring at a lovely piece of footage of you ex-wife and daughter right now. They're having a cozy pajama family evening with the man your daughter calls Dad. One call from

me, and it gets real tragic."