My eyes bulge, refusing to blink.
“I’ve b-been b-busy.” Light-headedness takes hold and I can feel my body starting to sway. I need to snap out of it before I’m lying on the ground for him to do anything with.
“Haven’t we all. Actually, I believe you saw me occupying my time the other night in the hospital room. Pity.” Placing his legs on the floor, his black, lethal eyes never leave me.
My brains telling me to run but my body goes into full-body tremors, my skin’s clammy and my throat is dry. “A-are you going to s-shoot me?”
An evil leer widens, and my insides collapse. Seeing that look for years, I know what’s about to happen. My feet start to inch back ever so slowly.
“No, dear sister. I don’t need to shoot you, but I am going to finish what we started a long time ago. I’m not drunk or high on drugs today. By the time I’m finished with you, you will be praying for me to put a bullet in your brain.”
“C-Colton, you d-don’t have to d-do this.”
“That’s where you’re wrong. You left us. Like our mother, you deserted Dad and me. We tried to find you but somehow you made it impossible.” Stepping one foot in front of the other, he walks casually toward me. So much hate radiating through his eyes, directed at me. There’s no point running, trying to stay true to myself, I show one last stance of strength. I know this is my fate. My throat constricts, my lungs burn from lack of oxygen before he has even put one finger on me.
“I’ve never stopped looking for you.” Wrapping his powerful arm around my back, the other one pushes back on my forehead lining our eyes up.
An ear-piercing scream tears from deep within before his hand clasps over it.
“This time it’s only you and me.” My teeth press into my gums and the taste of metallic seeps to my taste buds. Small amounts of air filter through my nose while I stand still, not putting in any fight at all. I know from previous encounters with my brother, Colton loves the struggle, he thrives for it. I won’t play into his hands.
“Take your hands off her.” Haunting and commanding, Ocean’s voice booms and my blood starts to flow again.
Closing my eyelids, I draw in some oxygen. Opening my lashes and releasing my breath at the same time, I plead silently with Ocean to be careful. This isn’t his fight.
The manic glare in Ocean’s eyes rivals Colton’s.
A wild beast has been unleashed, his teeth bared and his hands ready to shred him apart.
“This is family business. Not yours.” His grip tightens on my body and mouth.
Swinging his head between myself and my brother, a look of confusion clouds Ocean’s facial features, his jaw tics and neck muscles pulse rapidly under his flesh. Within a second, his body is rigid, and Ocean’s assessed the situation.
“You scum bag fucker. I should have killed you and your pathetic father that day.”
Colton moves us back a little, making my ankle twist again, shooting a stabbing pain up the back of my calf muscle. “What the fuck are you talking about?”
“I know who you are.” Advancing forward with a psychotic look in his eyes, my brother moves us back. My focus stays on Ocean comprehending what he just said.
Ocean is my teenage savior, my first crush and lifeline.
How did I doubt myself? I knew there was a bond. Deep down, I knew the familiarity was more than a coincidence.
It’s now clear to him as well.
“Don’t come any closer, I’ll snap her neck in an instant.” He needs me out of the picture, it would be the easy choice.
“That’s where you’re wrong. I know you need cash, a lot of it to get you out of a mess you have with some acquaintances of mine. If you let Phoebe go peacefully, you will have your life back by tonight.”
A jolt of surprise stabs me in my chest. With everything surreal happening, how does he remember my real name?
“And why would you do that for me?” Heavy under my vicious brother’s hand, my body shakes uncontrollably. Is it because Ocean knows my true name, he knows who I am and thinks he owes me something?
“’Cause I need the best florist in LA.” There’s no hint of humor, only menace and authority.
This is the right time, twisting my body and trying to flap my arms, I struggle against my brother’s body. I manage to open my mouth and bite hard down on his finger. The hand jerks off and I heave in a giant breath of air as I fall onto the floor on my already sore shoulder.
“You bitch.”
An explosion wracks through my ribs as a boot lands into my body. Air rushes from my mouth and I try to shield the next blow with my arms. But the next blow doesn’t come, instead grunts and banging echo through the room.
“That will be the last time you touch your sister. I will make sure of it.” Curling into a ball, pain radiates harder again from my shoulder and water leaks from my eyes but the sound of fists slamming into a body is clear. It’s a sound I will never forget.
Liquid hits my bare arms and I open my eyes a crack. There’s blood flying everywhere. Both guys groan and yell. Bangs echo from bodies hitting furniture and the walls, sending shudders through me. I tighten my hold on my knees.
A crash rings out and heavy footfalls thud away from where I’m frozen.
Silence falls but my blood still throbs in my ears.
Lifting my head, I fear what I’m going to see.
A sliver of ice runs up my spine wondering if Ocean is dead, killed by my brother.
Laying on the ground surrounded by glass from my full-length mirror is Ocean, and Colton’s nowhere to be seen.
“Ocean? Can you hear me?” My voice is small.
I get to my knees and crawl over to where the glass starts. His legs and arms start to move. “Don’t move, there’s glass everywhere.” Ocean sounds groggy.
Raising his torso and head, he scans the room until his eyes meet mine. “Why didn’t you tell me your name was Phoebe when I asked?” He’s talking and that’s the first thing he asks me?
He remembers my name, after thirteen years he still knows it.
“I changed it to B-Bluebell so no one could trace my whereabouts.”
“You mean, so your brother and father couldn’t find you?” Getting up to his feet, the glass crunches under his steps. He seems as unaffected now.
“Yes. B-but I needed a fresh start. I wanted to be free from Phoebe’s past. There wasn’t anything worth remembering about my life b-before I left.” Sitting on my ass, I raise my chin to look up at the most handsome face. One I obsessed over for years. The boy who I waited for every day, just so I could feel a tiny piece of goodness inside me. The teenager who was older and more experienced yet took the time to joke and talk to only me when we had a minute on my walks back to the family house. A shadow I couldn’t get rid of some days and secretly I wished he stayed around at night to take on my family again so I wouldn’t end up battered and bruised. But he was only a kid like me. But he left me. Without a word.
I never blamed him for walking away. I was no one to him but at the same time a huge problem that could blow back on him. I understood why he left, devastated but relieved he didn’t have the threat of my father and brother anymore. He was worth the beatings and humiliation.
Blinking my eyes, I fix my gaze on his.