have you…” He turned around and noticed that my bedroom door was closed.
Shit.
Anna connected the dots quickly, shooting me an alarmed expression.
Damien slowly turned back to me, his eyes livid, no longer sympathetic whatsoever. “I thought you weren’t seeing him anymore.” He clenched his jaw tightly, his green eyes hostile. There was nothing that made him angrier than Heath’s existence. He turned into a psychopath anytime he was mentioned.
“I wasn’t, but—”
“Then why the fuck is he here?” he immediately yelled, going from zero to sixty in a second. “You don’t need him to take care of you. You’ve got me. You’ve got Annabella. Dad.” He marched to the bedroom door.
“Damien!” I couldn’t chase after him, not in my state.
Anna covered her eyes. “Oh god…”
Damien pushed the door open.
Heath must have anticipated it because he’d put on jeans and a shirt. He stood there with his arms by his sides, giving Damien an impassive expression, like he didn’t feel anything as he looked at him.
“Get the fuck out.” Damien shoved him in the chest.
“Damien!” I couldn’t believe my brother was acting this way. I moved my crutches as fast as I could to get to him.
“It’s fine.” Heath held up his hand to me, not wanting me to slip and fall. “I’ll go.” He moved around Damien and walked past me to the door.
I couldn’t let him walk out of there, being treated like shit by Damien, when he was the one who was there for me. “Wait.”
Heath kept walking.
“Heath.” I raised my voice so he would be forced to listen.
He stared at the door for a few seconds before he turned to me, unable to hide his annoyance.
I turned back to Damien, who was seething. “He’s the one who’s been taking care of me, Damien. He was there when I broke my ankle. He was in the audience, and I had no idea. He took me to the hospital, and he’s been busting his ass around here to take care of me—”
“I don’t give a shit—”
“Shut your fucking mouth right now!”
Damien’s eyebrow shot up in astonishment.
“You’re going to listen to every goddamn word I have to say.” I felt weak on the crutches, but my voice was stronger than ever. “I ended things with him after our last conversation, but I’ve been so fucking miserable, Damien.” Tears came to my eyes, bubbled like boiling water, and then streaked down my cheeks. “I can’t do this. I can’t live without this man. It’s not because he’s taken care of me, not because he’s been submissive to you even though you treat him like shit. It’s because I love him.”
He shook his head. “I’m not going to change my mind—”
“I don’t need you to change your mind, Damien.”
His expression hardened.
“Because I’m going to be with him anyway. He’s my fucking soul mate, and if you don’t love me enough to even try, then that’s just sad. I know you love me enough to look past this, but you just choose not to because you’re selfish. If you want to ostracize me because you don’t accept who I love, that’s fine. But I hope you change your mind someday—for your sake.”
Damien didn’t move or react, as if he couldn’t believe I’d just said all of that.
“Don’t tell him to leave because he has every right to be here. You’re the one who’s unwelcome, Damien. So, get the fuck out of my apartment.” I breathed hard because of the exertion my speech had caused. It was a catharsis of emotions, both freeing and damning.
When he spoke again, he was calm. “Dad will never—”
“He deserves a lot more credit than you give him. Because I see the way he loves me, and he would put aside whatever reservations he has about Heath if I asked him to, if I told him this was the man I wanted to spend my life with. And that’s a hell of a lot more than I can say for you.” My body shook because I was so angry, my tears rivers down my cheeks. “Now go, Damien. Take your approval and shove it up your fucking ass.”
Eleven
Heath
I stepped out of the way of the door since I was blocking it.
But I could barely think—because I couldn’t believe that had just happened.
Anna opened the door first and walked out without looking at me.
Damien stared at his sister, in just as much shock as I was. He breathed hard and fast, like he wanted to make his own speech, but he