The Rules of Survival (Mercer #1)

RoS Chapter Twenty Three

Chapter Twenty Three

"How long are you going to be mad?"

We'd been driving in strained silence for ten minutes. My eyes were dry, my nose had stopped running, and my voice had gone hoarse with all of the nonsense I'd spewed in my moment of... well, whatever that was back there. Justice hung a left; we were about halfway home.

"I'm not mad," I said, staring out the window. I was curled up as far away from him as I could get.

Justice sighed. "Fine. How long are you going to be like you are?"

"I just found out my brother had a whole other life. So I'm going to be like I am for however long I want to be."

I wasn't lying. I really wasn't mad. What I was experiencing blew that simple term right out of the water. It was like I was being hit over the head by a whole spectrum of emotions ranging from betrayal and hurt to a hefty list of things I couldn't name. I was numb and oversensitive, intolerant and resigned. Confused, yet full of clarity.

The need to lash out was there. I wanted to take everything I was feeling and release it on something, maybe someone. Instead I sat stoically in Justice's SUV, the fingers on my left hand digging into my opposite arm. I thought I was sending out some pretty heavy leave-me-alone vibes. Either Justice was dense or he didn't care, most likely the latter.

"Kalen didn't have a whole other life. Yes, there was part of his life he chose not to share with you, but there's not a lot you can do about it."

I snapped my head around to glare at him accusingly. "That's the whole point. He didn't tell me, period. He spent most of the last year sneaking around and lying to me. It makes me wonder what other secrets he kept."

Justice frowned. "He wasn't keeping anything else from you."

"Of course you would know," I scoffed. "He obviously wasn't going around behind your back."

Cursing, Justice pulled over to the side of the road and cut the engine. He shifted so he was facing me, taking a deep breath for patience. "The only reason I know about Emily is because Kalen came to me for help. And the only reason he didn't tell you anything was to make sure you were safe."

I was ready with another venomous retort about my brother, and had some pretty impressive jibes too. Instead I blinked at Justice in confusion. "What are you talking about? When was I not safe?"

Justice shook his head at me in exasperation. "You just heard Emily say Kalen broke up with her for her own good. That wasn't a line. He really wasn't in a position to keep seeing her. When Diego found out about them he went postal and started plotting against Kalen like you wouldn't believe. And guess who his first target was?"

It took me a second to realize his question wasn't rhetorical. "Uh, Emily?"

"No. You were."

It didn't make any sense. "Why me?"

"Because Diego wasn't about to go and hurt the woman he still loved even though she was off fucking someone else, and he knew if something happened to you it would ruin Kalen."

A pang of understanding hit me. "Kalen broke up with Emily to prevent something from happening to me," I said.

Justice nodded. "The deal was, if Kalen left Emily alone nothing would happen to you. We all knew he was no match for Kalen, and that even if he was there was no way in hell I was going to let him touch you. But your brother wasn't going to take that chance with your safety. Things went back to normal when Kalen and Emily split. Then one day down the track Kalen bumped into her and discovered she was pregnant. By some miracle she'd been out of town for a few months and Diego hadn't figured it out yet."