I stiffened in my seat and pulled my hand off the table so Sawyer wouldn’t see the way it curled into a fist.
This asshole.
He really had tried to kill us that night.
I shouldn’t be surprised, but I was. He really was sick and twisted. It wasn’t just an overblown exaggeration from my youthful memories.
I counted to ten and blew out a breath. I tried to school my features into a bland expression, but I could feel angry heat crawling up my neck and I was sure my skin was flushed.
“You’re wrong. It wasn’t you that she saw, Sawyer. It was that damn chair. Her guilt made it impossible for her to look away. It doesn’t matter that it was you. Ollie would’ve dropped everything to be at the beck and call of anyone in your position. She’s a good girl with a huge guilt complex. You aren’t special to her. All you succeeded in doing was making her pity you.”
“I also got rid of you, Huck. That was even more than I could ask for.” Sawyer tossed his head back and laughed. “You always belonged on the streets. You never should’ve been born into my family.”
I gritted my back teeth together and exhaled so hard I was sure my nostrils flared like an angry bull. No one got under my skin the way this lunatic did. Even knowing he had issues that should’ve been addressed long ago, it was still hard to let his words roll off my back. It was like we were back to being kids fighting over every little thing, and I hated how inferior it made me feel.
“I agree. I never belonged in that family, and I honestly owe you big time for forcing me to figure out how to make it on my own. It didn’t take long for me to find a family that suits me much better. The family I have now is unbreakable, and they’ll go to the mat for Ollie even if something happens to me. You got rid of me for a short period, but I came back stronger and better than before. Back then, I was trying to play the hero to your villain. These days, I know the only way to beat a monster is to become one yourself.” I leaned back in my seat and lifted my eyebrows in Sawyer’s direction. He was watching me closely now, all hints of maniacal amusement wiped off his face.
“This facility isn’t so bad. You have your own room. The staff is fairly competent. Even though this is a state institution, it’s the best place you could’ve ended up. If you’re on your best behavior and continue to be docile and obedient, there is a chance you’ll get out before you’re an old man. The same goes for your mother. Right now, there’s a solid chance she’ll just end up on house arrest since she’s never been in any kind of legal trouble before other than rich people stuff like bribery. I can make both of those things go away, though. I can have you transferred to a facility that is over capacity and understaffed. I can make sure you get so lost in the system that there is no hope you’ll ever see the light of day again. Instead of therapy and medication, you’ll end up tied to a bed for twenty-three hours a day. You haven’t seen punishment yet, Sawyer. I can make sure your mom serves time somewhere she won’t have a chance of surviving, regardless of how light her sentence is. Keep in mind, I’m Dad’s favorite now. I’m the only one he wants to carry on his name. Money can make anything happen, and I can be far more ruthless now with it than I ever was without it. Decide to do the right thing and admit that you were the one who caused the accident that night; take Ollie out of the equation all together and I’ll leave you and your mom alone. Do something redeemable for once in your life. Forget about Ollie and put in the work to get your mind straightened out. Take this time to be accountable for all you’ve done and try to heal. If you do what you’re supposed to do, there’s no reason you can’t have a normal life when you get out. Who you were doesn’t have to be who you are forever.”
A heavy silence descended between us as we watched each other like the enemies that we were born to be. I didn’t think he was going to give in. He’s been so hung up on his obsession for so long, asking him to stop fixating on Ollie was like asking him to give up a fundamental part of who he was as a person. There was a good chance Sawyer didn’t know how to be any other way. He needed help long before he’d finally been forced to accept it.
Suddenly he heaved a deep sigh and threw his head back. I could see all the veins under his pale skin on the side of his neck, and even the bony protrusion of his Adam’s apple was a bit freaky in its prominence.
“I don’t suppose I could talk you into letting me see Olivia one last time?” He asked it in such a way that I knew he already knew my answer.
“Not a chance in hell. You’re never getting anywhere near her again as long as I live.”
He laughed again, but this time it sounded slightly less unhinged. “That’s the right answer, as much as I hate to admit it.” He leaned forward in his chair a bit, eyes the exact same color as mine suddenly blazing with emotion. “What about the guy she hooked up with when she went to college? You do know you aren’t her first, right? She may have worshiped you like you were some kind of god, but she threw her first time away on a cheap imitation of me.”
I grunted and pushed out of my chair. The air in the small room felt thick, and I was close to suffocating on all the tension I was trying to swallow down.
“That’s your entire problem, Sawyer. Her first, or her fiftieth, you get no say in who she chooses to be with. Or who she decides to love. She’s her own person, and the choices she makes are hers and hers alone. They don’t belong to you or me. I can only do my very best to be the person she picks as her favorite time and time again. If she ever decides she wants someone else, I’ll let her go.” But not without putting up one hell of a fight. “As for that guy, he’s been taken care of. Not because he was her first, but because he was stupid and thought he could threaten her on my watch.”
Like I said, the only way to win against a monster was to become an even bigger, more vicious one. When it came to protecting Ollie, there was never going to be anyone or anything more dangerous than me.
I left the room without saying goodbye, knowing that it was the last time I would ever have a conversation with my half brother. He didn’t agree or disagree to come clean about his part in the accident, so I was going to have to force his hand. I hoped I changed his mind. I really didn’t want to follow through on my threats.
But I would.
The reality was, Sawyer and I ended up a lot more alike than I think either of us wanted to admit.
We loved the same girl. We were willing to do whatever it took to have her. We both had mothers who only saw us as a means to an end, even if his was slightly more maternal. We both viewed our father as little more than a walking ATM and sperm donor. The biggest difference between the two of us was I had learned I needed to work for what I wanted and knew enough not to take anything for granted. Sawyer was handed everything without question, and that easy entitlement poisoned him.
As I was climbing into my sporty rental car I’d picked up for the weekend, my phone rang. I wasn’t surprised to see that the caller was Ollie.
I told her I was going out of town for the weekend to visit Fisher. I felt bad lying to her, but I didn’t want to fight with her over Sawyer ever again. I wanted the Richmans out of her life once and for all. Just like when we were little, I planned to stand between her and whomever tried to hurt her.