Forgiven: a bully romance (An Academy Twin Rivalry Series Book 3)

by Taylor Blaine

  Jaxon hadn’t been there that morning when I’d crawled out of bed and checked on him. I’d tried not to be upset or worried or even to text him to find out where he was. I didn’t want to be that girlfriend, even if our situation could be considered extenuating circumstances.

  “Damn it, Olivia. Where is he?” Braddox’s face was pale. His hands were clenched and he stared at me like I was close to dying at his hands.

  I studied him closer. “Why is it so important?” My distrust skyrocketed as I clenched my fingers tightly in my lap.

  Braddox slammed his hands on the steering wheel. “Damn you. You don’t have to be a stubborn bitch all the time. You know that? You have no idea what you’re dealing with.” Spittle flew from his lips and he looked out the window to his left.

  “Tell me. What is going on?” He was freaking me out. Normally unflappable, Braddox’s loss of his calm exterior scared me more than if he were laughing at me with a gun to my head.

  A fine sheen of perspiration covered his forehead and cheeks. Braddox shut his eyes and leaned forward, resting his forehead on the upper curve of the steering wheel. He didn’t say anything for a moment while he breathed deeply in and out.

  After a minute, Braddox lifted his head and turned his face toward me.

  The pain in his eyes slammed me in my gut. I shook my head and pressed my lips together. “What did you do? Damn you, Braddox. What the hell did you do?” I was yelling. I couldn’t help it. The look on his face told me more than I could have gotten from a discourse about his actions.

  He’d done something horrendous.

  Braddox licked his lips, flinching at my words. “Look, I had my reasons, okay? I’m not proud of them, but they were mine.”

  “I don’t care why you did anything. I want to know what you did.” My cell creaked in my hand and I glanced down at it, making myself loosen my grip. I was squeezing the phone too tightly. I was about to break it or at least damage it.

  He took a deep breath and avoided my gaze as he stared toward the back window. “Look, they’re after him.” His cryptic words didn’t do anything except ratchet up the number of questions I had.

  I blinked and furrowed my brow. “Who? Who is after him?” Braddox had to give me more than vague comments filled with dread. None of them helped me figure out what the problem was and what to do. If he was going to take so damn long, I’d start my own investigation. I pulled my phone in front of me and brought up a text thread with Jaxon.

  Me: Hey, you doing okay? I haven’t heard from you all day. You’ll never believe what happened at the meeting!

  I stared at the screen as if I might miss any messages or calls with the phone right in my hands. I lifted my gaze to Braddox. I set my jaw to the side. “Answer me. Who is after him?”

  “The same guys who killed Stephanie.” He sighed and shook his head. He licked his lips and wiped his hands on his thighs.

  “What? Why? Jaxon wasn’t there. He had nothing to do with what Stephanie and I did. Nothing. Why would they be after him?” I could tell that wasn’t the entire truth. I had no idea what Braddox could have done to make that situation worse. I blinked rapidly at Braddox as my adrenaline over the last two hours was slowly starting to abate, leaving me shaken and chilled.

  I leaned to the side, turning up the heat in his old car and rubbing my hands together. I wasn’t going to cry. I could stop myself. I wasn’t a pussy. But the very real fact was Jaxon was in danger and I had no idea where he was or how to protect him.

  “They put two and two together. You’re living with us now. The Vigils have multiple accounts open all along Shores and the highways out to the county borders. They were setting things in place and using your dad’s connections for years. Now…” Braddox shook his head, his voice choked. “I just found out that Dad, I mean my dad has been closing people’s accounts, paying them off so they weren’t indebted to do the things the Vigils wanted. Essentially, my dad undid everything your dad set up.” He looked at me, blame heavy in his eyes but it didn’t feel like any of it was directed my way.

  “Okay, so what? They’re after Jaxon because?” I wanted to reach out and shake Braddox. Yell at him to tell me what it was he’d done. Why Jaxon and why me?

  “Because Dad had a bundle of cash he asked me to deliver, to take care of another account. I took the money and rather than pay off the account, I opened up my own.” He clenched his jaw, the sides of his face moving as he stared at me.

  I blinked in confusion. “I don’t understand. You opened an account? For what? Drugs?” What was an account even for? And what did it have to do with Jaxon?

  “I opened up an account of my own to order a hit. I paid with the cash I took from my dad.” He waited for that to sink in before he continued speaking, even as my expression turned from confused to horrified. “I ordered a hit on Jaxon, Olivia. The same guys I ordered to hit up Norman. It was… easier than I thought it would be to order something out on Jaxon.”

  Easier on Braddox? Or easier in general? I tried speaking in a normal volume, but instead I found myself screaming at him. “Cancel it. Turn it down. Pay them to stop. Make it stop, Braddox.” The bastard. I couldn’t even look at him, but at the same time, I couldn’t look away. I had to stare at him until he said he could do it, until he said he would cancel the hit.

  Instead, Braddox held up his hands, his eyes bloodshot as he shook his head slowly. “No. You don’t understand. I can’t cancel this job. Once you send them the details and pay, you can’t go back. They will follow through until the job is completed. Completed, Olivia. They’re very good at what they do.” He licked his lips again and dropped his hands to his lap, leaning his head back.

  Pure fury flooded through me. I wanted to kill him. I wanted to stab him in the throat with a pencil to see how long he would last. Anything that would destroy him like he’d destroyed me.

  My own pain dried my mouth and tightened my throat as I continued to stare at Braddox. “How could you?” I swallowed but it didn’t help. Even my inevitable tears helped nothing as they streamed down my cheeks.

  Braddox stared at me, self-hate strong in the lines of his face. “I know. I… I don’t know what to do. I don’t know what came over me. I… I’m sorry. I don’t have any excuse.”

  “He can’t die, Braddox. Get me home. Now.” I turned and folded my arms over my chest. No matter what happened to me, Jaxon couldn’t die. He was the only good thing left in that shitty town. I would even venture to say the whole world.

  And his own brother had signed his death warrant.

  Chapter 19

  Jaxon

  I didn’t want to answer the phone. I should be talking to Olivia. I wasn’t even mad at her; I was just strung out on the things that had happened over the last few weeks.

  She shouldn’t have to deal with the shit in my life. I was just going to drag her down to the negative levels that I’d been dropped to. I was more harm than good for her. I cared too much to shackle her to my shit. She deserved so much more than what I was offering her.

  The more I thought about the way Braddox had screwed me out of a family and a brother, the sicker I became. Why didn’t I let Olivia tell my dad? What was holding me back from seeking revenge? There were so many possibilities on why Braddox would do the things he’d done. I couldn’t define his intentions without defining Braddox and I couldn’t do that without really knowing my brother.

  What did I know about him? Other than the fact that he was brutal, narcissistic, and selfish?

  He was brilliant and ruthless. That had to be good things as well as bad. He had set our mother up to fail. He’d set our entire family up for failure and I wasn’t sure how to absorb that information.

  I’d never thought anyone could be that cruel. My own brother was. The reality was harsh and hard to face. Over the last six years, I’d imagined all the things Braddox and I could do together once we were back in each other’s lives. I had all these plans and believed that the only thing keeping us apart was
the addiction ravaging my mother’s body and brain.

  But it all came back to Braddox. He’d gotten our mom started. He’d blocked her attempts at reconciling with our father. He’d done everything he could to get in the way of our family being together and me finding some piece of happiness.

  He’d done everything he could to make my life a living hell. And I was protecting him. I was protecting him. Why was I trying to protect him? None of it made sense. I should hate him like he hated me. I should want to kill him. And yet… all I came back to time and again was the soul-searing question - Why did Braddox hate me so damn much?

  I stood from my bed. I hadn’t really left that whole day, but when I’d heard Olivia moving around in her room, I’d locked myself in my bathroom. I didn’t want to talk to her. How did I explain the fact that I was having issues with the way I thought of my brother? How did I tell her I could see her with Braddox and I hated it?

  The reality of it was, I felt like I’d done a heavy trip of acid and I hadn’t come out of it yet.

  I swung my arms in front and behind me, trying to loosen up the knots in my back. The stress from the last few weeks was definitely getting to me. I dropped to the floor and pounded out some pushups to try to burn off some anxiety and adrenaline. What I really needed to do was go for a run.

  Pulling on my shoes and some shorts, I yanked a hoodie over my tank and pulled out my ear pieces to listen to some music while I ran. I didn’t even know where I was going. I just had to go.

  As soon as I got outside the front door, my feet hit the pavement in a satisfying rhythm I could feel with my heart beat. Just a steady thump, thump, thump, thump.

  The pace drowned out the stress around my brother and me, my father and me, even Olivia and me. Nothing mattered except the next placement of my foot on the asphalt.

  Thump, thump, thump, thump.

  I let my feet take me wherever I needed to go. I had nowhere specific in mind. Everyone I cared about was dead, dying, or betrayed because of me. Crenshaw… I had no hope of finding out what happened to him. That money he’d had in that envelope hadn’t been designated for any one thing that I could tell. Was it ethically okay of me to use it?

  Not until I’d tried everything I could to get ahold of Mrs. Crenshaw.

  With my phone in the arm strap I wore when I ran, I continued running toward the cemetery, unaware that was my destination until I found myself standing in front of my mother’s plain block.

  The mound of dirt, while wet, hadn’t sunk down much in the short time since they’d filled the hole around my mom’s casket. The dark brown rectangle stood out against the lush green grass all around.

  I came to a stop, and just stared at the spot where my mother’s life had been relegated to some numbers and dashes. No one knew that she’d once been an amazing mother. She’d once made me feel like I was the most important person in the world, even while I knew she loved Braddox just as much.

  Olivia reminded me of the woman Mom had been before the drugs and before Norman. Olivia with her kind eyes that hid more sassiness than was good for her. Olivia with her ability to make you feel like you were the only person in the room, even in a sea of people.

  I knew why Braddox wanted her. It was the same reason I wanted her. Olivia was addicting to be around. She made you feel special and there wasn’t a drug in the world that could replace that feeling. No matter who you slept with or what you did, you couldn’t replicate that sensation of being cared for.

  My phone buzzed on my arm and I pulled it off, wiping at the sweat on my forehead with the sleeve of my shirt.

  A text from Donnie. Why was Donnie messaging me? I narrowed my eyes.

  I knew what he was capable of. I knew what he could do. I had no doubt he was the bastard who’d left notes for Olivia or had someone leave them for him. The guy was well-connected and knew the lowest of the low both in town and around in the connecting counties.

  I shifted on the balls of my feet to stay warm, but stilled as the truth rushed around me. Donnie. He had all the capabilities that Braddox would want. How invested in Donnie was Braddox really? Of course, I had no doubt they were friends, but would Braddox be friends with Donnie, if he knew Donnie had tried raping Olivia? Even though Braddox had essentially done exactly that, he wouldn’t think of his own actions that way. But he would think that way about Donnie.

  If Braddox knew Donnie had tried to screw with who Braddox believed to be his girl, then wouldn’t Braddox consider that worth calling out?

  Was it possible Donnie knew who would have killed Stephanie and why? What games were the Stablers playing and what role did Braddox have in it? Maybe I could get that information out of Donnie. If he wanted to play nice, I could play along.

  I swiped my phone screen, my breathing slowing as I rested from the run a little bit longer.

  D: I need to talk to you.

  D: It’s about Ryan.

  I didn’t trust Donnie with a bottle of water I wanted to drink later. There was nothing ethical about him. Not to mention, he was severely delusional, if he thought I cared one crumb about Ryan or what happened to him. I didn’t. Ryan was worth less than Donnie. And that was saying something.

  Me: I can’t talk right now.

  He answered almost immediately.

  D: I think we should talk about a few things. Not just Ryan, but about what you were doing with us that night as well as what I have video of you doing other nights.

  With my head clear after my run, I chuckled as my thumb flew over the digital QWERTY keyboard on my smart phone.

  Me: Maybe you should be worried about what video I have of you that night. You and the pool house aren’t exactly a good mix.

  D: Are you threatening me?

  Me: As much as you’re threatening me. I don’ scare easily, Donnie. Keep that in mind.

  He didn’t reply and I didn’t care. I got my digs in and I refused to back down. No one was going to make me do anything I didn’t want to.

  Not anymore.

  ~~~

  I didn’t see Olivia when I got back home. I returned to my room, took a shower and got dressed all while wondering over what happened earlier for Maria and Olivia at the business meeting as well as where Braddox’s car was at.

  The persistent thought that I should try one more time to give the money back to Mrs. Crenshaw wouldn’t leave me alone. She would need the cash, if she wanted to get out of Shores. Maybe she’d already escaped and she needed the money wherever she was at.

  From all the time I’d spent with the family, I remembered that the house line had been Mrs. Crenshaw’s cellphone. I picked up my phone and dialed her number, waiting for it to ring. And ring. And ring. Finally, on the fourth ring it was picked up. But no one said anything.

  I sat there in silence for two seconds and then ventured to speak. “Hello? Mrs. Crenshaw?”

  “Who is this?” The man’s voice was rough and raspy with a slight accent I couldn’t place. A sense of foreboding warred inside me. I had to hang up. Why wasn’t I hanging up?

  A hard knock hit my door. I hung up the phone without answering and turned toward the panel as if I could see through the thick wood.

  On edge, I set the phone down. Striding across the room with a towel draped over my still-bare shoulders, I rubbed my damp hair with an end of the terry cloth and swung the door open.

  Braddox leaned against the doorjamb, his eyes narrowed as he took in my state of half-dress. I wore jeans, but no shirt or socks. I would have preferred to see Olivia standing there. Then I would have taken off my jeans and seen what we could do about my general energy surplus.

  “What do you want, Braddox?” I sighed and turned around, leaving the door open as I went back to my dresser and looked for a shirt to wear. I pulled out a black long-sleeve tee with a dark gray arrow on the back. I wasn’t sure of the brand but I loved the material, the way it fit, and gave under my movements.

  I turned at his lack of an answer and folded my arms across my chest. Leanin
g my hip back, I rested my ass on the dresser behind me and watched my brother, my twin, and yet he was my complete opposite in most everything but looks.

  Braddox blinked at me and slowly stepped into my room as if it might be a trap, dropping his hands to his sides. He walked slowly but with a halting stutter to his step. “You think you’re funny, don’t you.” It wasn’t a question, and the slight slur to his words confirmed he’d been drinking before dinner.

  “Isn’t it a little early to be wasted, Braddox?” I didn’t move and I wasn’t laughing.

  “Don’t act all innocent. You know.” Braddox got closer, thrusting his finger toward my chest. “I know you know. And now you know, I know, that you know.” He widened his eyes and he reared back. “Shit, I sound like a cartoon.”

  “You sound drunk. What do I know?” I was getting irritated. I didn’t want to deal with a drunk Braddox or a sadistic Donnie. I didn’t want to deal with anyone that was going to be causing more problems for me than I needed.

  “Don’t act stupid. You know and it makes you hate me more for it. Admit it. Just admit it so we can move on.” Braddox waved his hand toward me and wheeled around, pacing through my room like a panther trapped in a cage.

  “Are you talking about the crap you pulled with Mom?” Of course, he was. Unless he was also talking about Donnie and the other things I’d seen on that video. My brother’s list of activities that had hurt people grew every moment.

  “That.” Braddox stopped moving and his shoulders slumped forward. The space in the room seemed to turn to a viscous liquid that held the moment suspended as Braddox turned toward me in slow motion. His expression was broken, torn apart like nothing could ever put him back together. “Mom was…” He shook his head. “You hate me for that. For all of it. Now you hate me more. You can say I gave you a reason.” He tossed his hand up and let it fall to his side. “I gave you a lot of reasons.”