Page 100 of Wicked Scorn
“Don’t give me that,” I snap, stepping closer until I can smell the faint scent of sweat clinging to him. “Two years, Royce. You disappeared without a trace, and you expect me to ignore that? Do you have any idea what that did to me?”
“To you?” he scoffs, eyes narrowing. “You think this is about you? You chose Jeremiah over me. Remember?” His eyes flicker with something dark, something that makes my skin prickle with unease.
“Dammit, Royce!” I hit his chest with my fists, frustration boiling over. “I deserve to know!”
“Deserve? I owe you nothing, Oakley,” he sneers, grabbingmy wrists and holding them tight. “Do you have any idea what it’s like to be betrayed by your own sister?”
“Like hell you don’t, and let go of me,” I say through gritted teeth, trying to wrench free. But his grip only tightens, his eyes flashing with anger and pain. “Royce, please,” I beg, tears now streaming down my face. “I need you to let go.”
“Fine,” he says, releasing me abruptly. I stumble back, my heart aching with the weight of his words. “ I guess some scars never heal.”
“You think you’re the only one with scars?” I ask, my voice shaking. “Don’t be so obtuse or conceited. You left, but life goes on and bad shit happens to people every day. The world doesn’t revolve around you.”
“It doesn’t matter now anyway,” he admits, his eyes softening for a split second before hardening again.
“Royce, enough,” I snap, my voice sharp and unwavering. The weight of the past couple of years presses down on me and it feels like a boulder is sitting on my chest, but I channel that pain into resolve. “You don’t get to waltz back into my life and stir up chaos. Are you here for Jeremiah? He didn’t do what you thought he did. I don’t know why you could never believe that.”
“Chaos?” Royce scoffs, his eyes flashing with anger and hurt, maybe. “You think I’m the one bringing chaos? Look around you, Oakley. You’ve got Jeremiah wrapped around your finger while you’re still trying to play peacekeeper. It’s pathetic, and no matter how much I have on him it seems like he still got his hooks in you.”
“Pathetic?” My laugh is bitter, and I can feel my tears of sadness drying up. “What’s pathetic is disappearing without a word and then expecting everything to be just as you left it. I’ve dealt with enough pain in your absence, Royce. You haveno idea. You don’t get to judge me, not after everything. I was in pieces, big brother, and I picked them up. Without you.”
“Pain?” He steps closer, invading my space, his breath against my face.
“Just leave, Royce.” I harden my gaze, drawing on every ounce of determination I have left. “I can’t deal with your unpredictable presence anymore. I have no room for it in my life. I would have given anything to have you back months ago, hell a year ago would have been even better. But now you just remind me of how decayed our relationship is. How broken our entire family is. Say what you want about the Blackwoods, but you can’t deny that not a single one of them leaves another behind, regardless of what may or may not have happened.”
“Oakley, you’re—” His retort is cut off by the sudden eruption of noise from the crowd. The final play of the Championship game has everyone on their feet, cheers filling the air, drowning out our confrontation. For a moment, we’re both distracted, caught in the fervor of the crowd. I fucking missed it and now I’m pissed about that.
Royce mutters, his expression darkening. “I want to talk to Jeremiah, and I need you to stay out of it. This isn’t your business and I would have preferred you stay the hell away from everything Blackwood.”
“Yes, it is. Jeremiah is my business,” I reply firmly, turning away from him, my heart pounding in my chest. As the crowd’s excitement gets louder, all I can think about is getting away from him and getting back to the field. I know Jeremiah has noticed I’ve been gone too long by now and any minute he’s going to burst off the field, murder in his eyes.
“Oakley!”
Jeremiah’s voice cuts though just like clockwork. I glanceover my shoulder just in time to see him striding toward us, his eyes displaying with anger and protectiveness. He reaches my side, placing himself between me and Royce, a human shield made of muscle and determination. It helps he’s still got his uniform on, but no helmet.
“Get gone, Ashford. Stay away from her,” he growls, his voice low and dangerous. “You’ve done enough damage to last a lifetime.”
Royce’s lips curl into a bitter smile. “Oh, look who decided to play knight in shining armor. Just another pretty boy, always swooping in at the last second. Might want to check your facts.”
“Shut up, Royce,” Jeremiah snaps. “Or I’ll shut you up. And you’re just as much of a pretty boy as I am. Lest you forget we used to be fucking brothers.”
Royce chuckles darkly, a sound that sends shivers down my spine. “That’s funny coming from you. Almost as if I heard those words from a Blackwood before.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Jeremiah’s fists clench at his sides, ready for a fight.
“It means,” Royce says, his voice dripping with bitterness, “that I know the truth now. Jeremiah, you didn’t fuck around with Penny. It’s your father who is a piece of shit.”
The revelation hits like a punch to the gut. My mind races, trying to process what is actually happening right now. Royce steps closer, his gaze locked onto Jeremiah’s. I have no idea what he’s talking about, and I honestly don’t want to know if it has anything to do with Mr. Blackwood. Knowing shit about him is dangerous.
“He wanted to break us apart, you and me. And it worked, he succeeded. I don’t know why, but again I don’t understandshit about you Blackwoods and how you operate.” My brother spews out and my head spins.
“You’re lying,” Jeremiah snaps, though doubt flickers across his face. “Why the hell would he do that?”
“I don’t have a fucking reason to lie. It doesn’t change the fact that things can never be the same between us,” Royce continues with a shrug, with what sounds like regret lacing his words. “Our friendship is beyond repair, and I know that. I made sure of it when I forced you to stay the fuck away from my sister.”
“Yep,” Jeremiah replies, his voice quieter now but no less firm. “You know Blackwoods never forgive blackmail, unless we’re the ones doing it. But that doesn’t mean you have to drag Oakley through your personal hell.”
“Drag her?” Royce’s eyes flash with pain. “I came back to set the record straight with you. She chose which side she was on a long time ago. I’m not the villain in this story.”
