𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐒𝐲𝐧┃𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐓𝐰𝐨

108. 𝐵𝑒 𝐶𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑢𝑙

Queen

"Jackson is my brother. He's Abel."

I froze in my seat and my heart dropped to the pit of my stomach. Mia had been dating Jackson for three years and Cain was just NOW telling me?! As if sensing my anger, Syn pulled off to the side of the empty road and turned the car off.

He gave me a quick kiss on the cheek before leaving the car and leaning against it. I knew he could hear whatever we talked about if he wanted to, but I appreciated the privacy even though it wasn't necessary. He was family and this was a family discussion.

"Syn, you can come back in," I said.

He turned to me from outside and shook his head before turning back away. I sighed and waited for Cain to say something, but he seemed like he was expecting me to.

"So you've known all this time?" I asked as I sat back in my seat and looked forward.

"No, I found out a week ago," he said.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Ew," he said. "This is going to be gross."

I played with the hem of my shorts and I heard him sigh from behind me. "My brother and I haven't always had the best relationship. I believed that it used to be his goal to steal everything that made me happy. He took my offering, my mother's love in a way, and he took Mia. I didn't want him taking you so I told him to stay away from you and I kept it a secret."

"Seriously, Cain?"

"I'm sorry," he said.

"You could never lose me, and you were stupid to think that you could."

"I know it was wrong, but it felt right at the time. It honestly still would have if dad didn't tell me the truth about things."

"What truth?" I turned around to face him and he ran a hand down his face in distress.

"Every bad thing that Abel has done to me has been an order from God," he said lowly.

"What?" I questioned. "So we don't hate him?"

"I don't know how I feel," he said. "There's a lot of history, but if he's not an asshole like I thought, then my little brother has been alone for thousands of years."

"Shit," I cursed. "Does Mia know? Does he know about me?"

"No, she doesn't know. As for him knowing about you, he found out, but I told him I'd stop going for Mia if he stayed away from you."

"And he agreed?"

"Well, he didn't know you and he's been with Mia for years. I guess he didn't feel like he was giving up anything."

"Oh," I said. "Then what do we do?"

"Well, I can't visit him without God knowing that I know. And dad can't go because God will know where he is. So there's not much we can do besides pretend we're clueless."

"Well," I started slowly. "What would happen if I went to see him?"

Cain furrowed his brows deep in thought, and a few moments later, he shrugged. "Nothing, I guess. You couldn't tell him that you know what I just told you though."

"Okay," I said with slow nods. "I want to go see him."

"Alright," he said. "Maybe-"

"Right now," I said.

"Queen, it's six in the morning."

"You think he's sleeping?" I asked.

"I don't know," he said with a shrug. "All I know is he's at his job by ten."