Page 61 of Brandishing Betrayals

My mother chose that moment to leave her bedroom and come out into the living room. Elaine’s disappointment was evident on her face as she tsked softly and shook her head. “You should have come clean. That was the moment. Those boys would have saved you.”

I sobbed harder, knowing in my heart that my mother was right.

Jason

AfterLukewassoundlysleeping in Marcos’s bedroom, Nico and I pace around Marcos’s small living room while the guy sits, staring at the blank wall, lost in thought. “You can’t give him back to her,” I pressured. “If she’s dating Hillcrest, it’s not safe.”

“This isn’t what it looks like.” Nico shook his head and ran his hand through his shoulder length blond hair. “I was with her all weekend. She admitted she still loves me.”

“She a master manipulator,” I shot back, over Nico’s fucking naivety.

“I straight out asked her if Dax Hillcrest was threatening her and she clammed up and wouldn’t answer me. She got fucking scared. I guarantee what you saw, wasn’t what truly happened.” Nico spoke so adamantly, I wanted to believe him.

“You weren’t there, man. She was into the kiss, she pressed against him and moaned and she wasn’t fucking playing around,” I said.

“She was fucking terrified when I brought up Trish and Hillcrest. I straight out asked her if he was threatening her and she immediately started hyperventilating and crying. I’m telling you, she’s not willingly with him!” Nico yelled.

Marcos blinked out of his daze and looked at Nico. “You think he’s threatening her?”

“Yes, and I think he has something over her. And whatever it is, it’s enough for her to think she can’t come to us.” Nico took a deep breath. “You didn’t see her man. She was almost inconsolable; she couldn’t calm down. I’ve never seen her so upset. The way her eyes widened when I said Trish and Hillcrest’s names—I’m telling you man, Hillcrest is up to something.”

I ground my molars as I watched Marcos listen to Nico, looking for all the world like he believed what he was hearing. I didn’t think Nico was lying…I just thought that Maya was a lying whore, and there was no telling what the truth really was.

Marcos sighed and hung his head. “Fuck,” he groaned. “I’m gonna call Kara.” He slowly got to his feet and patted the inside of his cut. He pulled out a joint and his lighter and headed for the front door of the small apartment. “Stay with Luke.”

I ran a hand over my short hair and let out a deep breath as Marcos closed the door behind him.

“You don’t believe me,” Nico immediately turned on me.

I shook my head. “I believe you. I don’t believe her. I think she’s twisting your feelings for her.”

Nico rolled his eyes. “You weren’t there. You didn’t see her, hear her. She’s fucking terrified of someone. Luke even confirmed that with the damn flowers. Why is it so hard for you to believe that maybe Hillcrest fucking threatened her right before you walked in that house, and maybe she was just trying to save herself or her son? Hillcrest could be holding Luke against her, threatening to kill him if she doesn’t cooperate. Don’t you think that Maya would do anything she could to protect her son?”

Nico was making too much sense, and I didn’t like it.

“She admitted she still loves us, man. She said leaving back then wasn’t her choice—she didn’t want to leave us, but she had to. That’s how she worded it.”

I took a seat on Marcos’s couch and sighed heavily. Resting my elbows on my knees, I cradled my head in my hands and thought about what Nico was saying. It made sense…or we were stretching for the truth. “Luke said that Maya never brought a guy around, that she didn’t have time between work, football practice and taking care of her parents.” I admitted.

Nico nodded slowly, “We’re with her at most of those football practices. Three nights a week, she comes straight from work to football. You’ve seen her calendar, how packed it is with doctor appointments and things for her parents.”

“Yeah.”

“Just think about it man. I don’t think this is what it looked like.”

“Did you sleep with her?” I asked, dropping my arms. I raised my head to meet my brother’s gaze.

Nico’s bright blue eyes were dark with worry. He blew out a breath and ran his hand through his messy blond hair. “Yeah.”

I huffed out a laugh and shook my head in disbelief.

“Maya’s not a cheater. She never would have slept with me if she was with someone else.” Nico spoke softly, almost as if he was trying to convince himself as well as me.

“We don’t know her anymore.” I spoke just as softly, not wanting to fight anymore. “It’s been ten years. We never thought she would have left us back then either, but she did. It’s been ten years. People change.”

“Not like that,” Nico said. “She still loves us.”

“She tell you that while you were fucking her?”

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