AllFreeNovel
Share Us
27
The next morning, I woke up from a restless sleep with vivid dreams where I was walking through a field. It was an open field, with tall grass and hard terrain that was hard to walk. All I knew was that I had to go somewhere. I made it to the end of the field, but it was almost impossible to push forward. The worst part was that I was alone. I kept looking left and right for someone, but there wasn’t anyone there.
Shaking off the odd and overwhelming feeling of loneliness, I prepared myself for the day. I didn’t feel like dressing up since I was basically going to war with my brother, so I picked out a pair of simple white pants that were tight on my body and a black, oversized sweater that hid me well. There was nothing to hide yet, but without my Monster, I felt like I needed some kind of protection.
Taking a deep breath to gather my courage, I stepped into the elevator, punching the button for the third floor. It was already 9AM, and chances were Gino was already up. My only hope was that Muse brought down the hammer last night, and he got his sanity back, but as the last couple of days showed, I was shit out of luck.
The elevator doors opened, and mayhem erupted. Gino was yelling, his voice hitting the walls with the force of a thunderbolt while another voice – mymother – was trying to talk over him. I also heard Roman and Muse trying to say something to Gino, but he didn’t stop his rant. He was talking about a girl who was destroyed. It couldn’t possibly be me, right?
Sick to my stomach after listening to him for thirty seconds, I barged into the room, getting right in my brother’s face.
“Is that how you see me? Destroyed?”
“Ah, look who decided to join us. I hope you packed your bags. I don’t want mother waiting for you.” He was cold as ice, and I heard mom mumbling something behind me, but I ignored it.
“I am not destroyed, Gino. I’m in love!”
He puffed out a breath and threw his hands up in the air, exasperated.
“I don’t know what you think you got yourself into, but it’s not love, Catherinelle. He’s not capable of love.” That struck me in my chest. Gino had no idea what he was talking about. “I trusted Mustafa, and he took advantage of you.”
“He didn’t…” I turned to look back at my mother and felt my cheeks burning up. “If anything, I took advantage of him.”
This made my brother take a step back and laugh.
“I’m sure you did, Cat. He got you all fucked up in the head.”
Mom pulled my hand out of nowhere and stepped between me and Gino.
“Do not talk to your sister like that. Ever.”
“Mother, how aren’t we on the same page with this? She betrayed my trust and ruined herself…”
“She made a mistake!” my mother countered.
Oh, my God, I couldn’t take it anymore.
“It was not a mistake, mom.” I raised my voice, and she turned to me.
“Sweetheart.”
“It wasn’t. I knew exactly what I was doing, and I wanted it. I’m not ruined, for crying out loud.” They had to understand. Over my mom’s shoulder, I pointed to Gino. “You sleep with Muse every night, and you’re not married. Is that how you see her too? A good for nothing, ruined girl?”
“She is a woman; you are a child.”
God almighty!
“No, I’m not, even if you refuse to see it. It’s not Hugo’s fault anyway. He tried to push me away. Gino, whether you like it or not, I’m the one who made that decision, and if you’re going to hold it against Hugo, I will never forgive you.”
Gino launched at me like an arrow, but Muse grabbed his arm and stopped him. I was never afraid of him, no matter how hard we fought, and we did, but this time, I took a step back out of reflex. It didn’t matter because Muse stopped him by grabbing his shirt and pulling him back.
“I can live with that. I don’t care if you don’t say another word to me till the day I die, Catherinelle. I’m your brother. How do you think I could let this pass without protecting your honor?”
My honor? My honor was just fine.
“You can’t push your brother away just because he fell for me.”
“Jesus Christ, listen to yourself. You really think he loves you. He doesn’t, Catherinelle. Hugo doesn’t love; he fucks. He’s fucked many women, but he crossed a line when fucked you.”
