Page 32 of Damaged Prince
My eyes widen, the breath in my lungs stilling. I blink a few times, trying to process if I heard her right. My lips part, close, then part again. “W-what do you mean?”
Mom looks over her shoulder to where Owen and Elijah are stepping out of the house. The two of them are laughing, pushing at one another in a playful way as they drag their bags out of the house. A fond smile passes over Mom’s face before she looks back over at me.
“I think you know what I mean.”
I’m rendered speechless. I’m really afraid to say something right now because I might end up putting my foot in my mouth and fuck this all up before going on this trip.
Mom laughs softly. “I can’t believe it took me so long to see it.” She sighs, shaking her head, still smiling. “All the signs were there. I was just hoping that you all were developing this amazing sibling bond.” Her nose scrunches up. “But it was so much more than that, wasn’t it?
Oh, fuck. She knows. She knows. She fucking knows. Don’t freak out, Laney. You say nothing. You admit nothing first. Let her talk. You could be so, so wrong right now.
“I don’t know what you mean,” I say like an idiot.God, Laney, shut up.
Her lip twitches in amusement. “So, you're telling me you don’t have feelings for anyone else other than Kai?” she asks, crossing her arms, raising a brow as she waits for me to deny it.
“No...” I reply, not at all convincingly. Good thing acting is not a career I wanted to pursue because I don’t think anyone is buying what I’m selling right now.
“Laney, baby, it’s okay.” She reaches out and rubs my arms in a comforting way. “I’m not mad.”
“Mad about what?” I continue to play dumb. Because that's exactly how I feel right now. Listen, I’m trying not to freak the fuck out right now because I’m pretty sure my mother is telling me she knows how I feel about my stepbrothers. It also seems like she might be okay with it? But I’m not going to jump the gun on this one, just in case I’m reading this all very wrong right now.
“It’s okay,” she laughs. “I won’t force you to talk about it right now. It’s a lot. I just wanted you to know before you left that I want you to have fun, to be happy. Take something for yourself for once, Laney. You’re always putting other people before yourself, and that makes you one hell of a woman. But it’s time you putyoufirst. And if that means falling in love with people the world might not approve of or see as unconventional, that’s okay. Because you don’t need to live for anyone else but yourself. What others think doesn’t matter. As long as you’re happy, and you’re treating each other well, that’s what matters.”
I close my eyes, shaking my head because I really can’t stand not knowing for sure.
“And by people, you mean?”Please stop beating around the bush and outright tell me you know because lying to you is fucking killing me.
“Your stepbrothers.”Thank. Fuck.
And no words come out.Oh god, she really was talking about them. She knows.
“Laney, breathe.” She cups my face, her eyes flicking between mine, filled with worry. “It’s okay.”
“You know?” I whisper. Of course, she knows. But how much does she know?
“Like I said, it took me a while to see it. But after everything with Benny and Logan, how could I not? You love those two so much. Much more than a friend or a sister would. You love Benny like he’s your own, not your nephew. You love Logan like he’s the love of your life, not like a stepbrother. I see it now. And the more I let myself look back on things, the more I’ve noticed, like how Owen and Elijah are with you, too. The way you all are with one another. You were good at hiding it,” she laughs. “But now that I know, I can see it clear as day.”
“And you don’t hate me?” I despise how small and vulnerable I sound right now. All I’ve ever wanted was to make my mom proud, to do good by her. She sacrificed so much of her life to take care of me, to be the best damn single mom out there. I never wanted for anything, and I’ve wanted to show her that her sacrifices didn’t go unappreciated.
“Oh, Laney, baby.” The crack in her voice is my breaking point. Tears spill down my cheeks as she cups my face again. “I couldneverhate you. You are my daughter, and I’m going to love you no matter what.”
“But in the limo, when my aunties were making jokes about the guys and saying, how because they were my stepbrothers, dating them would be inappropriate. Or when we talked about Kai being the guy’s stepcousin, you said it’s not like he was my stepbrother.”
She looks at me with a guilty, hurt expression. “I know,” she whispers. “And I’m so sorry, Laney. I really didn’t mean anything by it. I’m not mad. I don’t hate you. And I don’t think you being with the guys is a bad thing. And I’m so, so sorry if what I’ve said upset you. I didn’t mean it to. I’ll be honest, when I first thought about it, I was worried. But then I had aconversation with James, and he showed me that it really wasn’t a big deal.”
“James knows?” My eyes widen in horror.
“I guess so,” she laughs, wiping at her eyes.
“Do the guys know he knows?”
“I don’t think so.” She shakes her head. “He said he will wait until they come to him.”
“And he’s just... okay with this?” This is way too good to be true. This is some sort of fucked up joke, it has to be.
“He loves his sons more than anything else in this world. And he’s only ever wanted them happy and healthy. They’re not like most people in this town, you know that.” I do. The guys have made it known more than once. And I’ve seen it with my own two eyes. “James doesn’t care what people think about him or his family. And I guess that goes for who his sons decide to love.”
“Love?” I squeak. “I wouldn’t go that far.”
