The Havoc We Wreak - Becca Steele Page 0,6

waiting to hear from someone, and before the pizza comes, I’m going to make a start on it.” She jumped up and headed out of the room.

Weston stood, stretching. “Guess I’ll go and see if Mercury has sent me the stuff on Andromeda.” He followed Lena out, leaving me and Cassius.

Cassius sat back in his chair with a heavy sigh, closing his eyes.

“Cass? What’s up?” I scooted over to the end of the sofa so I was next to him.

“Trying to get my head around my sister being possibly—no, definitely—involved in some shady shit. I’m gonna have to get Mum and Dad involved if she’s putting herself in danger.”

“Lena can handle herself. You have to let her make her own decisions. Her own mistakes.” I put my hand on his arm. “I know you’re her brother, and you want to protect her and look out for her, but if you’re not careful, you’ll end up pushing her away.”

“Yeah, I guess,” he muttered.

“Give her time. You want to tell me your code name ideas while we’re waiting?” I suggested.

His expression brightened. “I have a list.”

“Let me see.”

THREE

Fuck. Everything was moving too fast. I’d been blindsided by the bombshell about Allan, my girlfriend had put herself in danger, again, and the whole haze of anger followed by Winter telling me she loved me… My head was spinning.

I grabbed a beer from the fridge, popping the top, then opened the sliding doors that led out onto the deck. After flipping on the outdoor lights, I sank into one of the outdoor chairs. Balancing my beer bottle on the arm of the chair, I sat, thinking.

What the fuck were we supposed to do? How could we talk to Allan without Christine getting wind of it?

I clenched and unclenched my fists. I fucking hated being out of control, and right from the start, this whole situation had been a total loss of control.

The door opened and I looked up to see my brother staring at me hesitantly. “Uh, you got a minute? Mercury’s sending me some stuff, but I wanted to talk to you while I was waiting.”

I inclined my head towards the chair next to me, and he sank into it, his own beer bottle in hand. Taking a swig, he paused for a moment before he spoke, both of us facing forwards.

“This whole thing is so fucked up, huh?”

“Yeah. You could say that.” I glanced over at my brother.

“Do you think Dad’s involved?” He bit his lip.

“Honestly? I don’t know what to think. I feel…fucking…betrayed by Allan, and it’s blindsided me. Before tonight I wouldn’t have thought him capable of being against us, so at this point? If Dad is, then that’s just one more betrayal.”

“He’s been different lately, though, hasn’t he?”

“Yeah.”

“I can’t help hoping he’ll be on our side once we can pin evidence on Christine. Allan, though?” He let out a pained groan. “I can’t get my head around it. He’s always been the one to watch out for us when Dad was working all the time. I trusted him. I don’t know what to do or think.”

“You and me both.”

We lapsed into silence, finishing up our beers.

“I’m proud of you, bro,” Weston suddenly said.

A weird sensation filled me. The ever-present guilt was there, but now there was something else, too. Something I didn’t want to examine too closely. I had enough emotional shit to deal with right now.

“I know you take on a lot of responsibility, but you know you don’t need to, right?” His voice was soft. “I know you see me as someone you need to look out for and protect, and I appreciate that, but you need to share the burden. It’s not all your responsibility. You scared me, when Mum died. You closed up, and for a while I felt like I’d lost my brother.”

Shit.

This was the most honest conversation we’d ever had.

He continued. “I think that’s why I grew so close to Cass, y’know? You were my best friend, the one person I looked up to more than anyone. But you pushed me away, and I felt like I didn’t have anyone to talk to.”

“Fuck…West.” I took a deep breath, the words pouring out of me without censorship. The most honest words I’d ever said to him. “That wasn’t my plan. I’ve always looked out for you, even when I was pushing you away. I did it because I didn’t want you to be hurt anymore. We’d just lost our mum, Dad was off fucking