Afterlight ✔️

chapter fifteen

— Chloe Romano

"She's from California and she has been living with me for a few days." Justin told his older brother.

The man standing in front of me looked at me. He looked exactly like an older version of Justin and when I looked at him, it was like looking into Justin's eyes, except that those pair of eyes looked at me with pure disgust, now. Damien soaked the information in, standing over me with a sly smirk on his face. Just a few seconds before, he was gazing at me in rage, but now he looked calm, like he was plotting something. I didn't know what to do, so I just stood there with Justin's right arm around my shoulder.

"Hi." I greeted him nervously, not knowing much else to do about the whole situation. I stared straight into his eyes, trying to read through him, but there was no hope.

"Don't be so shy, give me a hug." He motioned for me to go over and hug him. I did what was suggested, giving him a tiny hug. He ended up hugging me back, his breath against my neck. It was the most terrifying feeling, hugging the person who wanted to kill you. One wrong move, and I was dead.

"Welcome to Stratford." He greeted me, letting slowly go of me, but still holding me close. "Chloe." He added with a whisper, and I started to breathe rapidly, having no idea what to do. He whispered my name, my real name, only for me to hear.

Damien stood over me with a grimace on my face while holding my arm, handing me my drivers license which I tried to hide from Justin and slowly returned to stand next to Justin as protection, although I knew he wouldn't protect me for long. I had no idea what was going to happen next, but I knew I had fucked with wrong set of siblings. They're family, they're going to have each other's backs.

He knew, and he was going to kill me.

"Are you done, yet? You're starting to scare her off." Justin said, obviously clueless to the whole situation.

"Congratulations, little brother. You did something not even an idiot could have done." Damien spat.

"What are you talking about?" Justin questioned in pure disorientation, squinting his eyes at the both of us. For the first time ever, he looked like the victim.

I was the instigator.

"You really got played by a Romano, you piece of shit." Damien's jaw clenched, looking back and forth between us. My knees started to buckle under his intense stare.

"What the fuck did you smoke?" Justin asked his older brother, almost amused. With my mouth wide open, I glanced over at Justin, then to Damien, having no idea what to say. It wasn't even life or death, at that point. Death was my only option.

"Are you really that stupid? Her name isn't Julia." Damien shouted, making me wince.

"What the fuck are you saying? Her name is Julia. You can't just come into my house and make false accusations." I closed my eyes as Justin defended me, I wanted to stop him from doing, but I couldn't.

"Come on, Julia, don't you want to be truthful with my brother?" Damien questioned with his arms crossed on his chest. I bit the insides of my cheeks, hesitating to reply. I had nothing in me, I couldn't cover anything up this time. He knew the truth, and with the truth came receipts.