“God, Richard, do you hear yourself?”
“Yes, you little shit, I do. You know, she wanted to tell you, toward the end. She wanted to tell you the whole story, but dad begged her not to. Said he wanted a few more years with the son of his heart before you hated him for the deception. That’s what he called you when you weren’t around, the son of his heart, like I was nothing, just the result of a busted condom or something.”
Tori was blown away by the depths of this ugliness that Richard was displaying. Sure, she knew he could be cruel, but this was beyond anything she’d ever imagined. Michael was upset, it was clearly on his face, but he was in control now, and that was good since he seemed to be the only clear-headed person for miles.
“I was sworn to secrecy when they realized I was in the room. How fucked up is that? They didn’t even notice their own son, their real son, right in front of them.”
“You’re delusional, Richard, if that’s how you saw the way they treated you. It couldn’t be further from the truth. Our parents were the most loving people I’ve ever known. Things were good, we were a happy family until you started getting into trouble all the time. They were smoothing things over for you repeatedly. Mom justified every little thing you ever did, until you raised a hand to her. That was when things changed, Richard.”
Michael advanced on him, but not in anger so much as disbelief, like he couldn’t comprehend how Richard didn’t understand him or something.
“Shit, Richard, you were the golden child and you relished your place in the sun, until mom and dad stopped making excuses for you and made you answer for your own actions. You just couldn’t handle a little discipline because you’ve never understood restraint. Mom wanted you to learn to control yourself, but when you couldn’t, they had to step in. Don’t you see? It wasn’t me that was favored. It was you. So much so that mom cried herself to sleep at night and couldn’t bear the heartbreak. That’s when she backed off, not because she loved me more, but because of you and it was killing her to do it.”
“Stop calling them our parents, they were mine. MINE! Not yours. You’re just the poor little orphan they brought home when you had no place to go.”
“Are you saying our parents kidnapped me?”
“My parents, and no. They have adoption papers and everything. Your mother died shortly after you were born.”
“What? Why would they claim me if…where is my birth father?” Michael’s composure was slipping, but Tori suspected it was because his sanity was taking some brutal hits. To have one’s entire history dismantled in such a manner would cause anyone to falter, but Tori was impressed at how well he was doing, considering. Her bearings were returning, so she made her way toward Michael.
“The same reason they did everything, for you. You’re not even their blood and they destroyed their reputation to protect you. When they agreed to take on this other woman’s bastard, they gave no thought to how it would affect their real son. Your mother was my mother’s childhood friend or something. She found herself knocked up by a man killed in prison for murder. Apparently, she begged mom and dad to take you because she couldn’t care for you knowing who your father was. They agreed to bring you both home and help her get on her feet but she died in the hospital, so my parents decided to raise you as a Brande instead of the bastard you are. Initially, it was to protect you from the stigma of your father’s crimes, but I think it was so they could replace me.”
Tori made it to Michael’s side and reached for his arm, he seemed shocked that she was there at first, but he interlaced their fingers and gave her hand a squeeze.
Just when Michael thought he couldn’t be more blindsided, Tori reached out to him, offering comfort and support. Falling in love with her would be easy, was easy…had been easy. The feel of her hand in his was healing and the affection in her eyes was salvation.
Richard’s voice pulled Michael from thoughts of Tori. “Oh, isn’t this rich. You steal my parents, now you’re reaching for my leftovers. Well, go ahead, take her, she wasn’t worth the time it took to bed the ice queen.”
Michael took another swing, trying to renew the fight, but Tori held him back. “No, Michael, it’s not worth it. He’s not worth it. He’s just a bitter little man who is scared. Scared his carefully built house of lies and deceptions is falling down around him.”
It was amazing how she could break through to him, even in the worst moments. Michael couldn’t wait to just leave his brother behind and spend some time basking in her glow. “You’re right, he’s not, but you are and so am I.” Michael pulled his attention from Tori to turn it back toward the man he used to call “brother.” He had tried so hard to win Richard over, but now, he was finally noticing for the first time just what a pathetic waste of skin he was.
Michael had always been aware of Richard’s many shortcomings, but even so, he still somehow needed his brother’s love. How twisted is that? He was his big brother, or had been, flaws and all, Michael had desperately tried to love him. Richard just made it so fucking impossible. But he wasn’t his brother anymore. He wasn’t anything anymore. Less than nothing, he was simply Tori’s ex at this point, but there were still unanswered questions, and Michael needed some closure.
“Why didn’t you tell me when you first found out? It’s not like you to miss out on an opportunity to try to stick it to me, so why keep this secret? I get keeping it while dad was alive, and yes, I will call him that. He raised me like a son and I have no reason or desire to diminish that. But why didn’t you rub it in my face at the funeral or even when you brought that stripper to one of my shows? Why Richard?”
A look Michael couldn’t quite pin down graced Richard’s swollen and bloody face. Maybe it was hard to read because of that, or maybe it was because the man had never shown concern of any kind before in his life, but that’s what it seemed like—concern and regret, tinged with a little quick planning.
“Just because, maybe I felt sorry for you.” Turning toward the kitchen area, Richard dismissed them. “Now, take my ex-whore, and get out. I want you gone by morning, both of you. I never want to see either of you again.”
“I’m going to let that slide, but I’m not leaving without an answer. I don’t buy for one fucking minute that you have ever felt anything for me other than the hate you’ve been spewing. Give me the truth and I walk. I’ll even leave the lake before the three months are up so you can sell the cabins and try to fill that gaping hole in your soul with the money. Since women and expensive things haven’t done it yet.”
Before Richard could formulate another lie, which was surely what he was doing, Tori spoke. “Should I tell him or will you?”
Richard stopped dead in his tracks and turned a murderous gaze on Tori. Michael was just confused; what did Tori know? She looked up at him with a soft expression. “Your…Richard, didn’t tell me much, but he liked to drop clues. Clues which I just managed to piece together.”
“She doesn’t know shit. The truth is, I didn’t think you were worth the time, besides, if I pissed you off, I’d have lost access to the beautiful and willing women that follow your band around like fucking puppies, okay? Satisfied? Now leave. And I’ll take your offer to forfeit my father’s property.”
“That sounds more like it, more like you anyway, but I think I want to hear what Tori has to say. Aren’t you even the slightest bit curious? The only reason I can imagine you not caring what she has to add is if you already know what it is.”
“You bitch, you never did know when to shut the fuck up and just be a woman. Look at you. Do you even know how to be a woman? Women aren’t supposed to look like that, it’s like you’re trying to be a man. Lifting weights and shit. Women are supposed to be soft and submissive, two things you will never be. Whatever, the two of you deserve each other. You both have more muscles that brains. God, I can’t believe I ever fucked you.”
Michael felt her hand tighten in his before she let go completely and got right up in Richard’s face. The thought of h
er being within Richard’s grasp again made his blood run cold, but there was some pride there too—pride that she wasn’t taking his shit. Hands on her hips and the air of a warrior Princess, she faced him with her head high.
“That’s a great question Richard, one I’ve wondered about myself. Why were you ever with me? You don’t find me attractive. Everything I do is either wrong or pathetic according to you. I can’t cook, clean, groom myself, make intelligent decisions, my body disgusts you, and we haven’t even had sex in forever, so why stay, besides the money?” Her voice was raspy and rough, but strong.
“Easy, at first, I wanted to break you, make you submit. Melt that ice. Then, well, I stayed for the money. That’s one complaint I never had until recently, you were always free with the gifts. But then, we stopped having sex and shortly after, you got the wild hair up your ass that you were going to open a business with your two idiot friends, and the gifts started drying up. You had to be responsible you said. Once the pussy dried up and the money dried up, well, what motivation could I possibly have to stay? Good thing not-my-brother over there likes my leavings, because you, my dear, will never land a real man. You are unlovable, just like him.”
Michael didn’t need to see her face to know that Richard’s words hit their mark. Even if she expected it, those kinds of words are harsh to hear. He wanted to simultaneously drive a rusty knife into Richard’s heart until his body was cold and dead on the floor and scoop Tori up into the shelter of his embrace and prove every single syllable that bastard spoke was false.
But, he knew she needed to find the strength in herself to rise above this, and she did, with a reverberating slap to Richard’s rapidly bluing cheek. Michael made a move to grasp her by the shoulders and pull her away before Richard retaliated.
“I’m surprised you didn’t slug me like the man you think you are,” Richard sneered. To be honest, for a split second, Michael wondered the same thing.
Regally, Tori brushed her sleeve like she was dusting off snow and offhandedly replied, “Because I would only punch a real man, never a pussy like you. A slap is all you’re worth. But back to the matter at hand, are you going to tell Michael why you kept this secret from him or should I do the honors?”
Fuck it all if I wasn’t half in love with this woman already, I damn sure am now. She fucking rocks.
“Whatever, I don’t give a shit about any of this anymore. It was bad enough I had to put my life on hold for three fucking months to satisfy a pathetic old man’s dying wish for me to bond with someone who isn’t worth my time, but now I have to listen to all this whiney crap too. I just want to be done with you two pathetic people. You are both so damaged you can’t even see it.” If that wasn’t the pot calling the kettle black, Michael didn’t know what was. His used-to-be half-brother approached him defeated and disgusted, if the look in his eyes could be believed.
“The reason why is all around you. Dad planned this whole thing to bring us together so that when you finally found out the truth, you’d have me to lean on. He hoped to bring us close with his mandatory period of forced interaction. He just didn’t count on how determined we would be to steer clear of each other or how much I fucking hate you.”
Michael flinched involuntarily at the amount of venom still left in this man. Shit, any anger he had was dissipated, but it wasn’t the same for Richard. He was holding on to that shit like a fucking life raft. Michael wondered how long before it would poison him completely.
“Dad’s fucking plan was air tight, too. Keep my mouth shut, bond with you out here, and everything would be peachy keen. But if one of us failed to stay for the full time, and the other did, the property reverts to him in full, as you know. Of course, my first thought was to tell you the truth and watch you cry like a little bitch and run away and it would all be mine immediately. But no, dad thought of everything. If I was to tell you the truth about your parentage while we are out here, then I get bupkis. Nothing. You get it all.”
Richard paused as if he was done, but apparently he wasn’t. “Oh, but no walking off into the sunset with everything that was mine just yet. You get it all only after you give up three months of your precious life. Providing you last that long out here knowing the truth. So congratulations, you stole everything after all.”
As Michael stood there digesting all the information just force fed to him, Richard turned on his heels and headed upstairs, speaking as he ascended, “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to tend to my injuries. I’ll leave this place as soon as John returns, but until then, I will not let you run me out of here. So, take your whore and go back to wherever, I don’t care. Just leave. Both of you.”
Tori turned into his arms and wrapped hers around him. They felt more like wings, angel wings, closing him off from the world. Michael held her tight and just existed in the moment. It felt predetermined to be tangled up with her. He was lost to the perfection of it when her bags started flying down the stairs, raining clothes onto the furniture below.
They broke their embrace and gathered her things in silence before walking out into the storm, hand in hand.
It took twice as long as it should have to reach Michael’s cabin. The storm was in full swing. There would be no snowmobiling to town tonight, or tomorrow, or even this week. The snow was already to their knees and it showed no signs of stopping any time soon.
Entering Michael’s cabin was bittersweet. On one hand, it was a place she desperately wished to be. On the other, that wish included much better circumstances than the current ones that had thrust them together.
Placing her belongings on the couch, she began rummaging through them for a change of clothes and her bath items. She needed something to bring her core temperature up at least one degree above a well-digger’s ass.
“I’m going to make the trek to the bathhouse, I should be back shortly. If you don’t mind tossing a few blankets here, I’ll make up the couch when I get back.”
A warm, yet cold, hand to her right bicep stopped her exit. “Tori, you can’t go out there. The snow is driving sideways and you can’t see two inches in front of your face. We’re lucky we made it back in the first place. Besides, we have hot water, no bath, but a shower. It should do the trick.”
Tori remained frozen in place. After everything that was said and done today, she felt embarrassed and uncomfortable, and that made her heart ache. She and Michael had established such a relaxed relationship earlier, except for the blatant sexual tension, that is. But still, it was light and comforting, and she already missed it. Maybe it was all in her head because Michael had now seen and heard things about her that she wished he’d never witnessed. What if Richard was right, and Michael realized the truth of his words? What then? They had five weeks before John was scheduled to return, but that was before the storm. Depending on how long it lasted, and how much more snow it dumped on the mountain, it could be longer than that for all she knew.
Since I have nowhere else to go, poor Michael is stuck with my unlovable, manly ass until then.
“Tori, please look at me.” Was that, insecurity in his voice? Slowly, not trusting herself to camouflage her emotions, she turned toward him.
He cradled her cheek in his now almost-scalding hand. “You’ve got to know it was all bullshit, don’t you?” He dropped his hand to trace a shape on her neck. From the sensitivity of the area, she surmised it was the handprints of the man who tried to kill her. “Fuck it, I could kill him for this alone.”
When he brought his eyes back to hers, she could see a wealth of emotions swirling in their silver depths, and not a single one was disgust or pity or judgment.
“I think you’re perfect, certainly perfect for me. Nothing that bastard said is true. You are beautiful, you are lovable, and you most certainly are not inadequate in any way.”
Tori was uncomfortable with the fact that he could apparently read her mind, and he was making her feel, dang it. Tears were starting to pool, threatening to make a run south.
“How ca
n you know that? We barely know each other. Besides, if I’m so great, why the hell was I with that asshole for so long?”
Now, his hand returned to her cheek, as did the bandaged one. She noticed they were both bruised and swollen, the bandages soaked in blood. They must hurt like hell, but he managed to caress her cheeks gently.
“That’s not so. We do not barely know each other. We may have just met, but we know each other deeper than most. You have to admit, between the time you spent tending me and all the secrets my asshole brother…ex-brother, imparted, we are uniquely acquainted with one other.”
Michael brought his forehead to hers. “As to how I know that…One, I have a fucking brain in my head.” He punctuated that with a slow, closed-mouth kiss. “Two, I’m already halfway in love with you.” He bestowed another slow, yet sensual kiss, using only lips. “Hmm, make that two-thirds of the way. And three, I just know. Besides, this…” Michael removed his bandaged hand from her cheek, grasped her hand, causing her to drop her bath stuff and brought that hand to the front of his jeans, settling it against his impressive erection. “Is happening because of you, and only you.”
Tori couldn’t resist and tested the girth of his erection. She only realized what she’d done when he moaned. He stilled her exploration with the hand still resting on top of hers.
“I appreciate what you’re saying, Michael, I really do, but an erection in a young, healthy man proves nothing but that you function like every other man your age.” Tori didn’t know why she said that or why she chose to focus only on that statement and not the others. It was too much to deal with or simply too much to believe and hope for.
“No, that’s not true. I’m going to tell you something no one else knows, no one. I hadn’t had an erection in my waking hours for over six months until I laid eyes on you in the back of that plane. No matter how much I tried, I couldn’t rise to the occasion. The only time I felt normal, like a real man, was in my dreams. And believe it or not, those were about you, too, even before I met you. My fantasy girl—was you. Is you.”
Brand Me (Imagine Ink Book 2) Page 11