“What can I say?” His voice filters into the room. “I grow on people.”
“That’s not true at all.” I turn to him with a snort.
He looks a lot better today. His eyes look clear and his voice is back to its normal pitch.
“I see you scrutinizing me. I took the meds.” He grins and comes into the room.
“I can tell.” I nod.
“Tell me. When do the others plan on storming the place?” Him and Caine always did think alike.
“I told them you wouldn’t want them inside so they promised to watch from outside.”
“I figured.” He taps his fingers on his arm. When he’s on his meds, his worry manifests differently. He taps his fingers when he’s nervous, without the meds he’d be doing something violent. “You can’t let them do that, they’re a weak point for me and Oliver will use that to his advantage.”
“Okay, I can tell them that. I’ll also need to give them a plan, Bro. If I don’t, they’ll gladly come here and die for you.”
“Give me two days.” He says. “I got some shit to finish up.” He’s looking at Kailey and I get the feeling he’s gearing up to say goodbye.
“The bruising is looking a little better.” I point at her throat. The purple and dark blue are lightening up.
“Brody has been giving me ice for it.” She smiles at me.
“The guys sent me with a few gifts.” I point at the bags. “There’s something from each of us.”
“I wasn’t able to get you guys anything.” She glares at Brody and he shrugs.
“They already have enough trinkets from girls over the years.” He chuckles and I punch his arm.
“I’ll get you guys something as soon as I can.” She smiles at me.
I grab the bags by the door and bring them over to the bed. I reach inside the first one and bring out a horribly wrapped gift from Cooper.
“I don’t know what to say.” I hand it to her and she giggles.
“Cooper?” She holds what’s obviously something made from fabric.
“What gave it away?” I roll my eyes.
She giggles as she rips open the paper and holds up a purple cashmere sweater. It’s the same color as the Wisteria tree in her backyard and she gasps as she holds it to her chest.
“Interesting.” Brody mumbles as he continues to tap his fingers
“So soft.” Her voice is muffled from her face being buried into the sweater.
“Next.” I pull out a red gift bag with green tissue sticking out of the top.
“Caine?” She asks.
“Um no.” I shake my head. “That was found in your room, presumably left by Oliver.”
“Oh!” She rips the paper off the top and looks into the bag. Her head pops back up quickly and a bright red stains her cheeks.
“The suspense is killing me.” Brody drawls and I snicker.
“I can’t.” She shakes her head.
Brody leans forward and snatches the bag, quickly looking inside.
“Wow.” He whistles. “Red, huh?”
He pulls out a red corset and thong set, something Kailey would look amazing in. Now I’m hard, in track pants, without anything to hide it.
“I wore something like that to Georgina’s party.”
“And he obviously saw you in it.” Brody teases and throws the bag back on the bed.
“Next.” I clear my throat as I try to think of anything else to deflate my pulsing dick.
I hand her a meticulously wrapped gift with a matching bow and ribbon.
“Caine.” She grins wide as she begins to open it.
Inside is a very expensive bottle of red wine. I don’t see any connection and it’s actually a very impersonal gift. She gasps nonetheless and holds it to her cheek.
“I have ten others like it in the cellar, relax.” Brody rolls his eyes.
“Of course you wouldn’t know what this is.” She snaps at him.
“Should I?”
“It was the bottle used at Caine’s house for spin the bottle.” When neither of us respond she growls in frustration. “The first night Caine and I kissed.”
“Huh.” Brody grunts.
I can’t believe either of them remembered the fucking bottle we were spinning that night.
“Here’s mine.” I hand her the small rectangular gift. “It’s nowhere near as special as these other ones.”
“I’ll determine that, thank you.” She huffs as she takes the gift.
She rips it open and squeals with excitement.
“No way!” She jumps up on the bed waving the object in the air.
“Is that a controller?” Brody asks as he tries to get a good look at what’s in her hand.
“It’s the Nintendo Switch controller!” She begins to jump on the bed.
“The console is hooked up at your house waiting for when you get home.” I tell her.
“This is the best Christmas ever!” She squeals one more time and falls back onto the bed.
That says a lot considering she killed her father and is being held here against her will.
My brothers are clearly in love with Kailey, including Zeke. I guess you can throw the Teacher into the mix, as well. I can see the time and care they put into her gifts to make it personal. I had never planned to let her go, in fact, I wanted to kill her when I was through but for some reason, I want to see her home and playing with that fucking game console she was so excited about.
To hear her say this was her best Christmas made me want to resurrect her father and kill him myself. I know we had Christmas with her mother but Sara wasn't much for the holiday because she wasn't raised with it. Charlie had been dropping the ball with his daughter for many years.
I open my current journal and review all the notes I have gathered thus far on Kailey. Since having her in my house, I have filled nearly a whole booklet on timelines and theories. Mind you, this shit is hard to read given I wrote some of them in explosive rages.
One particular timeline has been bothering me since I first heard it. Georgina manipulated my brother and Kailey, ultimately ending with him violating her. All the clues add up and I can't ignore that my brother certainly did have something to do with Kailey's extreme change before high school. So did Georgina, she paid for her deceit yes, but I could've made it so much worse if only I knew the full extent. As for Justin, it's hard to pull apart the love I feel for him as my brother from the betrayal I feel for what he did to Kailey.
He of all people knew what she represented for me and he knew what the fucking consequences would be for defiling her. She was so young and it makes my insides quake whenever I think about what she went through, at both of their hands.
After all this time, I'm finally understanding what Cooper and Caine did and I am trying to let go of the love I have for Justin. It's hard because love doesn't come easy for me and I had only ever loved two people. After today, I will love no one.