Shattered Hearts

3

Carden blocked the way. "I can't let you leave."

"You're giving me whiplash. I can't stay, I can't leave ..." I chuckled, shaking my head. Carden refused to move though, his jaw twitching. "Why do you care, after all these years? Why did you decide to rat mom out now?"

"We didn't rat her out," Carden said, shaking his head. "The FBI have been onto her for a while, but they needed more evidence and we needed more time. Maci, I know this is overwhelming but-"

I scoffed, looking away. "That's an understatement." I felt the initial anger in me fizzle out, the overwhelming anxious feeling that eroded my mind most days taking over. I swallowed hard. "Look, I understand you want to help me but honestly? I have no problem the way things are ... mom might not win the mother of the year award, but she was there for me. She didn't bail on me when things got tough." Because she's the person who made things tough.

Carden ran a hand through his hair, frustration flickering in his eyes. "You really think she was there for you, Maci? She wasn't protecting you—she was using you. We didn't bail on you; we were trying to get you out. But she wouldn't let us near you anyway." His voice softened, but there was an edge of desperation. "We didn't give up on you, she just made you believe we did."

"Forgive me if I don't believe you," I muttered, spinning around, attempting to go back the spare bedroom, when Lennox rushed to stand in front of me.

"Okay, I completely acknowledge we didn't handle things the way we should have, but please, hear what we have to say." He paused and glanced over my head, no doubt looking at Carden, before meeting my gaze again. "Let Carden and I take you for breakfast, just the two of us. We can talk ... and if you truly don't want to stay with Carden and Rowan ... we can figure something else out."

They weren't going to back down.

"Okay."

+++

"You should eat more of that," Lennox said, gesturing to my plate with a huge Belgium waffle with blueberries and raspberries, whipped cream on top.
I ignored him, pushing my plate farther away. Carden decided we would eat at Sally's, a diner a few miles from his apartment.

Lennox and Carden tried to make small talk but I shut that down quick with an emotionless "yes" or "no." I endured five minutes of them before sighing. "Why didn't you talk to me for months? I mean, you never really talked to me, but it's been absolute silence. I eventually learned that you didn't care or you wouldn't have let ..." I trailed off, biting my tongue.

"Wouldn't have let what?" Lennox asked, leaning forward.

"Nothing. It doesn't matter now anyway."

"That's not true... We didn't contact you for the last few months because our lawyers advised against it," Carden said. "We have always cared and always will."

I glared at the waffle, then back at Carden. "Right." My voice was sharp, cutting through the tension in the room. "Why were you talking to lawyers in the first place?"

"I told them what happened, Maci." I whipped around to see Carter, my youngest older brother. He watched me closely, his dark brown eyes analyzing me. My heart pounded like a drum, each beat echoing through my ribcage, rattling my chest with a relentless thrum.

"No, no, you didn't," I said, shaking my head. "No."

Carter stepped forward. "I'm sorry, Maci. I had to tell them ... you could've gotten killed." I shook my head again and I tried to stand but Carter pushed me back down and blocked my way. I shoved him, but he gripped my wrists.