Page 138 of Scarred Crown

“There’s a death train that’s chugging toward us, and you don’t want to face that without her,” Brice says. “Trust me.”

“She lied to me.”

“Did she? Really? Dad asked her to keep his secret. She works for Dad. You know who you should be mad at? You know who I’m pissed at? Dad.” He takes a deep breath. “And Alex, but that’s like any day ending in Y.”

I shake my head and take another shot. I resisted getting drunk last night, but I’m not strong enough to resist tonight. This day has been the longest of my life.

“Fuck the cards.” Brice tosses the deck on the table, and they scatter everywhere. “You’re not mad she lied to you. You’re smart enough to understand the conflict she faced. So what are you really mad about?” He tries to catch my gaze. “Is it because you think she knew, and Alex knew, and therefore in your simpleton brain, they hid the truth from you together?”

“Wouldn’t be the first time,” I mutter.

“She only found out Alex knew the other day.”

“How do you know?” I cock my head and pass him a shot. If we’re having a heart-to-heart, he’s not allowed to be sober for it either.

“Because, unlike you, I actually talk to Alex. We speak quite often.” Brice takes the shot and smacks his lips. “God, I love the taste of truth and tequila.”

“You believe him?”

“He’s got no reason to lie to me. It’s just the two of you who are constantly engaged in a giant pissing match. Been like that since we were kids. Never understood it.” He leans forward and slaps my knee. “Would you want Alex’s life?”

“Not a chance.” The answer is automatic, but I might have enjoyed the attention and praise he received so often when we were kids. Alex could never do anything wrong. Maybe I would have gotten over my insecurity earlier, but his insistence on rubbing his relationship with Julia in my face didn’t make it easy to let go of my animosity.

“I’m not sure how much Alex wants it half the time. Gonna throw this out there—but maybe cut him just a tiny bit of slack?” Brice sighs. “Anyway, enough about him. My point is, you’ve been in love with Jules since your dick was capable of getting hard. Right? So forgive her. Go back to being happy. She forgave you for being a fool as a teenager.”

He has a point—a very good point—about Julia’s ability to forgive. She hasn’t held any of my past behavior against me. A lot of it was likely very hurtful. I’m not sure I could be so gracious if the situation was reversed. She’s always been better at forgiveness than me.

“What about the referendum?” I stare into my empty shot glass.

“What about it?”

“You agree with it?” I peer at him.

Brice takes a deep breath and pours himself another shot. “Either way, we’re going to watch our dad die. I don’t want to lose him a day earlier than I have to, but that’s not how this disease works, Nick. It’s going to be fucking painful, but I think he deserves to dictate when enough is enough.”

“What if he dies and there’s a breakthrough?” I slide my glass onto the coffee table.

“Sure, that’s a risk. But here’s what I know. Breakthroughs for something like this aren’t often a cure. More time. A delay. It’s not a stay of execution.”

I run my hands through my hair in frustration. “In summary, you think I’m wrong about everything.”

“Pretty much,” he says.

“I can forgive Jules for not telling me. I’m mad, but I also understand her position.” I glance at him. “I don’t know how I get over my obsession with her and Alex.”

Brice slouches into his chair. “Time, man. You need time. You spent fourteen years thinking the two of them engaged in some hot, illicit affair, and that’s so far from the truth. It was a couple weeks one summer when we were young. It’s nothing. A blip. She dated other people way longer than that, and you’re not losing your shit over those.”

Right now. I lost my mind over those as they were happening. If I had to face one of her ex-boyfriends day in and day out, I might lose a whole lot of something over that too.

“It’s just hard ’cause she works here, and he’s our brother,” Brice says. “That feeling in you will fade. Give it time.”

“He still carries a torch for her.”

“Does he? He’s so hard to read. He’s never told me that. Either way, she doesn’t carry one for him. If he does love her, you should feel sorry for the bastard. You’ve been on the other side of that. You and Jules are so into each other, it’s actually gross. Vomit inducing. Like I want to throw up every time I see the two of you together.”

I reach across the coffee table and punch him in the shoulder.

“Ow,” he says, rubbing his bicep. “Ease off on the violence. I’m calling it like I see it. And I see a lot of it. All over the freaking palace on the daily.”