Evil.
I refuse to let him see that he still affects me. Even after years of solitude and loneliness the man still couldn’t muster an attitude that made anyone want to stick around him long. Nothing could ever change him if his permanent stint behind bars didn’t do the trick.
I was grateful he didn’t have the possibility for parole because if they ever considered letting this man out of prison I would kill him myself.
“Me neither.” I answer honestly, cutting to the chase. We never had much small talk before. No point in trying to drum any up now. I just wanted to get some answers and get the fuck out of here. “Who’s Ava?”
“No clue.” His expression grows curious and I can tell he isn’t bullshitting me for once.
“Ava Davis.” I add, throwing him a clue. Still nothing but a blank expression. “What about Linda Marks. You remember her?”
And that’s it. A light switches on in his eyes at the mention of her name and I feel my stomach tighten in confirmation. From the look on his face, Ava’s story that he had an affair with her mother and never returned her calls after finding out she was pregnant were all true.
Ava was my sister.
My half sister that grew up less than twenty miles from us without anyone ever realizing she existed. Except her mother of course, who had kept it a secret even when she was on her deathbed to keep her daughter safe from the world Max and I knew.
Smart woman.
I had asked Ava her mother’s name the day she accosted me on the street. We got dinner together with Natalie a few days later and she told me everything she knew about our family connection.
I had never heard of her mother. Never heard Dad utter her name once and hoped like hell maybe this was all a case of mistaken identity.
Dark hair and hazel eyes were common traits. That wasn’t enough to convince me we were siblings. Sorry but I needed more than that before I just embraced the idea and welcomed her into the family with open arms.
Talking to Max the next day hadn’t been easy. He was just as shocked as I was with the news. The name Linda Marks hadn’t rang a bell with him either. We were both clueless and lost as to what this all meant.
When my brother refused to come ask Dad in person what the fuck was going on I volunteered.
One of us had to do it. He was the only person alive that would know for sure. We needed answers and I was willing to take one for the team to obtain them.
“Oh I remember Linda.”
“Well you got her pregnant when you were cheating on my mother with her.” I bite out.
Not that it surprises me. He fucking killed her so why would cheating be off the table. It still sends fury rocking through my bones.
Noticing my body language makes him smirk and I hate that it feels like looking in the mirror.
I grind my molars and hope like hell I don’t grind them to dust. It’s all I can do to keep from punching this glass. I know that won’t do any good and I would probably get dragged out of here without hearing the rest.
Was that one of the many reasons Mom tried to leave him the last day of her life? I would never know for sure and the unknown hurts.
“Someone got her pregnant. What the hell makes you think it was me?”
“She looks just like us.” I argue, balling my hands in fists as if I was getting ready to punch him dead in the face. Believe it or not it helps me maintain my composure.
He shrugs impatiently, looking unimpressed by my testimony that he did in fact have another kid. “What’s your point, Christopher?”
“You got somewhere better to be?” Mere minutes back in his presence and I’m already tired of his shit. “Someone special waiting for you back in your cell?”
His sharp hazel eyes glare at me and even though there’s three inches of plexiglass separating us a chill rushes down my spine. It makes the hairs on my arms stand at attention.
He doesn’t respond and doesn’t have to. I’m toeing the line and I know it. He might be behind bars for the rest of his natural life but he could still make my life a living hell through the connections he has outside these concrete walls.
I need to tread lightly.
“Look…I just came here to see if it was true. I think I deserve to know if I have a sister.”
“Well,” He drums his fingers on the glass slowly, his empty eyes making my blood cool. “Now you know.”
“Now I know.”
I take a deep breath and focus my gaze on his forehead to avoid looking in his evil stare. There was a time I foolishly idolized this man. How I could have been so blind? I wasn’t sure.
Max had always been right. This man in front of me now was soulless and didn’t deserve an ounce of our love or time. Didn’t deserve an ounce of hope or faith that maybe someday he could change and be better.
I didn’t realize I was still holding onto that boyish delusion until just now as it drains away. I brave one more look at his face, his eyes, and see nothing.
No remorse.
No love.
No soul.
There’s no point in any empty goodbyes. I hang up the phone on the hook and walk away from the visitation window as he calmly sits there watching me go.
☠ ☠ ☠ ☠ ☠
When I leave the prison I head straight to Max’s apartment. It wasn’t my plan. I was emotionally spent and was headed home to decompress but when I pulled into the parking lot my feet carried me up another floor and to his door without conscious thought.
He lets me inside after I bang on the door.
Lacey is in class so it’s just me and my brother. As much as I love her I’m grateful that she’s not here now and that we’re alone. I can’t process my thoughts and emotions with anyone but Max at this point.
He knows where I’ve been all day and I’m anxious to tell him what I learned.
“It’s just so fucking crazy. And she showed up out of nowhere.” Max says as he sets up his videogame console and tosses me a controller. “I don’t know how to feel about it or what to think.”
“I know, bro. How do you think I feel? She just ran up on me out of nowhere and within a couple days I learn all this shit.” I sigh, turning on my controller and waiting for him to settle into the recliner across the room.
“I want to meet her.” He admits. “What’s she like?”
“I don’t really know.”
And it’s true, I don’t. She’s impulsive and her social skills are lacking a bit judging by the way she introduced herself to me. Other than that who the hell knows.
We met one time for fuck sake. How do you describe a sister you only met once? There are so many things I don’t know about her.
Everything I did know came from Natalie who apparently had spoken to her a hell of a lot more than I had. Her grandparents on her mother’s side were wealthy ensuring their granddaughter grew up a spoiled brat, hidden away from our sadistic father and his violent clutches.
Until she decided to seek us out after seeing his trial on TV a year or so earlier. Seeing us testifying. She remembered us from that news coverage and wanted to meet us. To see what we were like.
Having siblings must have been a novelty to her after she grew up an only child with no clue who her father could be other than a last name.
Is it fucked up that I’m jealous of her in a way? Max and I had it rough growing up. Meanwhile she was living the good life and didn’t even know such a world existed.
Ava told Natalie that her mother refused to tell her the name of her father. She only knew his last name because it was on her birth certificate. Her mother assured her he was a dangerous man and she was better off not knowing him.
That was a damn understatement.
I wonder what she told her about us. Was she better off not knowing us too? Or maybe her mom didn’t even know about us until the trial publicized us in the worst of ways.
What about that trial and seeing our accounts of life in the Davis home made her want to reach out and find us
was beyond me. We hadn’t sounded much better than our father after being grilled by defense attorneys who were trying to destroy our character to make him look better.
“You saw Dad today.” Max states, prompting me to talk about how it went without him coming out and asking.
“Yeah. Lovely guy. We had a great father-son moment.” I quip, sarcasm dripping from my tone.
“Shut up, asshole.” He snorts out a laugh. “What did he say?”
“Said he nailed Linda Marks. So…” I trail off and let the meaning of that sink in.
Max blows out a breath and shakes his head. “Figures.”
“What are we gonna do?”
“We have to get to know her.” He says as if that’s the obvious solution to this issue. “She’s our sister. We have to…include her.”
I nod. “I guess you’re right. This is just so fucking weird.”
“I know. I’m going to invite her over for a family dinner. The girls will be here too so if it gets awkward they can help smooth things over. They’re good at that.”
A part of me wanted to just pretend like she didn’t exist and keep going on the way things were before. Just focus on my relationship with Natalie, my relationship with Max, and forget I had a sister.
But I couldn’t do that and I knew it. Nothing could erase what I had already learned. She was family. Blood. That meant something to me and Max after having only each other for all these years.
So I agree to dinner at Max’s this weekend and leave it up to him and the girls to plan the get together. I would just show up and do my best to navigate this strange new territory.
At least I had my brother to experience this with. Ava had no one. We were her only living family left according to Natalie and all her digging.
A part of me was still envious of Ava for living a safe and sheltered life, never knowing our father. I knew I should just be happy my sister was safe and that we didn’t have another sibling besides each other to worry about all those years. She was safely sheltered by her grandparents, her mother and their wealth.
I was happy for that.
It wasn’t her fault we weren’t granted the same reprieve and I shouldn’t blame her for it. I had to keep reminding myself of that.
This. Wasn’t. Her. Fault.
☠ Chapter Twenty-Nine ☠
Natalie
Girls Night this week is much needed. Chris has been stressing the hell out lately and that in turn stressed me the hell out. At work. At home. He was just on edge and short with everyone.
He was overreacting a bit to the whole having-a-secret-sister thing. I understood it was a shock but Ava seemed like a sweet girl and we all needed to give her a chance.
It wasn’t her fault her mother had lied to her, for her own good I might add.
“How is Max handling being a big brother?” I ask. “Hopefully better than Chris.”
“It’s a big adjustment but he seems happy about it. I don’t know. We’re having a family dinner Sunday and inviting her. I want to ask her to be a bridesmaid.”
At least Max seemed to open his arms to his sister and planned a family dinner Sunday to get to know her. Making her part of their wedding was a wonderful gesture, including her in the festivities as an equal member of their family.
I beam. “That’s a great idea.”
“I hope she says yes. I think it’ll make her feel included. Show her we want her to be part of the family.” She voices my exact thoughts.
“She will say yes.” I assure her. “She’s going to be so excited. We have to go get her a dress and make sure it’s altered in time. I can’t believe there’s only two months left.”
“Girl, you and me both.” She takes a sip of her drink. “Wedding planning is so stressful.”
“I’ve been a shitty maid of honor. I need to help you more.”
“No, you’ve been amazing! I’ll need to make an extra bridesmaid bouquet for Ava if she agrees. But most of what’s stressful is just making sure all the small details are lined up.”
Dancing and having a few drinks is just what’s in order.
We talk and laugh all night, letting our worries melt away for the time being and take an Uber home at the end of the night. Chris is asleep in his own bed by the time I get back home. Once I shower off the smell of tequila and brush my teeth I creep down the hallway to his room and let myself in.
I quietly climb in bed, careful not to wake him up. I just want to be close to him and I’ve grown used to our nightly sleepovers. Suddenly my legs are grabbed and I scream as I’m pulled down to the mattress and flipped to my back.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Chris asks amused, stalking over me until our bodies are aligned perfectly.
“Trying to get some sleep.” I answer innocently. “I didn’t want to wake you.”
“I was already awake.” He leans down for a quick kiss. “I couldn’t sleep until you got back safe.”
My heart melts at his words and I tell him, “Enough talking. Kiss me.”
He does that and much more, keeping us both up half the night.
☠ ☠ ☠ ☠ ☠
The first official Sunday family dinner at Lacey and Max’s place, which was organized specifically for Ava, starts off a bit rough. There are a lot of awkward silences at first, no one quite knowing what to say. But it doesn’t take long for everyone to get comfortable and ease into our dynamic.
A semi-heated debate between Max and Chris about what the best series on Netflix was breaks the ice. Ava giggles at their rivalry as it plays out across the dinner table, providing us all with entertainment better than actually watching either of the shows they’re praising.
Lacey and I just shake our heads and stuff more Chicken Alfredo in our hungry mouths, choosing to stay out of this one when the guys try to get us to weigh in.
Ava surprises me by chiming in.
“You’re both wrong.”
All eyes go to her and Lacey’s widen in surprise. Her expression matches the one I imagine is painted across my own face. Ava had been mostly silent since she got here, careful not to say the wrong thing. She wanted so badly for all of us to like her, especially her two brothers.
“It’s Orange is the New Black.” She states once she has our undivided attention. She then takes another bite of her food, daring anyone to object.
A switch had flipped, drawing her into the battle like a true Davis. Chris smiles in response, his eyes lighting up at her sassy remark with what looks like pride. That’s all it takes for everyone to warm up to her and include her in the dispute.
“Bullshit.” Chris says good-naturedly, a signature smirk still twitching at his lips. “No way it’s better than Sons of Anarchy.”
“Yeah.” Max sides with his brother this time. “It can’t be. Although Dexter is still better than both of them.”
After a few more minutes of empty banter Max turns on the pilot episode of Orange is the New Black in the hopes of proving it’s a stupid show. Only a few episodes into the first season everyone in the room has been sucked into the drama.
The guys still refuse to admit defeat but Chris whispers to Ava, “this is pretty good” and I know that’s the closest he’s going to come to telling her she wins.
Between episodes Max makes an offhand comment about the sordid past between us and I cringe. It wasn’t said in a malicious way but I can see the curiosity on Ava’s face as the wheels turn in her mind, trying to process the statement and what it means.
“Wait.” She holds up a hand, looking at each one of us around the room. “You dated Max too?”
Max says “no” at the same time I say “not dated” and I can see that he regrets bringing this shit up. But it’s too late. It’s out there now.
“You mean...?” Ava trails off, eyes widening and I realize my choice of words had just made things ten times worse. My cheeks heat.
“Come on Natalie, Jesus Christ.” Max sighs, running a hand through his hair and looking appropriatel
y horrified at his little sister being roped into the real life drama we had finally managed to put to rest. “She doesn’t need to know about that.”
“Really Max? I thought you wanted everyone to know what a slut I was.” I know I shouldn’t say it but I can’t help myself. His attitude had taken a complete one eighty in the last few months but it was hard to forget how passionately he bashed me before that.
“Not anymore.” He mumbles, fumbling with the controller to pause the show. It was being completely ignored at this point anyways.
“Since when?” I ask, genuinely wanting to know.
He sighs and looks down in his lap for a brief moment. When he answers he meets my gaze across the room and I can read the apology in them before he even speaks.
“Since I realized you and my brother are in love.”
Before I get a chance to respond, to make official amends, Ava chimes in again shocking us all with her next words.
“I’m not a baby you guys. If you fucked, you fucked. You don’t have to hide it from me.”
Lacey spews out the water she was attempting to drink, drenching the carpet. Not wanting to hear more of this shit, Chris finally pipes up. “Whoa. Okay. Let’s not get into all this. Can we just get back to the show?”
Ava nods. “I knew you were getting into it!”
“Am not.” He smirked, giving away his lie.
Max presses play on the controller, ending the unexpected conversation and getting us all back on normal ground watching scripted drama unfold. I was much more prepared for that.
We watch for so long I lose track of time. When Ava looks at her phone she announces that she needs to get back home. She has an early morning shift at the diner and needs to call it a night.
Lacey offers to walk her downstairs to her car and I know she plans on asking her to be a bridesmaid in the same way she asked me to be her maid of honor. She’s already pocketed a small box with a blue ring pop in her hoodie pocket like the one she presented to me.
Flying High (Davis Brothers Book 2) Page 18