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I sat down beside him and we stared at the lake wordlessly.
He offered me a flask. “Want a sip?”
I smiled, taking it from him. I took a gulp, and the alcohol burned my throat. I handed it back to him.
“I should have tried harder to help him,” Castle told me.
I placed my hand over his. “He was beyond help. You can’t feel guilty about this.”
He nodded, taking another sip. “How’s Chandler holding up?”
“He cried.”
“That’s good. He shouldn’t bottle up his feelings. He likes to act tough.”
“He was worried you’d send him to boarding school, said that Devin used to tell him about it all the time.”
“Well, you should have told him he won’t be attending a boarding school. He’ll be going to a military school instead.”
I stared at him in horror. He looked back at me and we burst out laughing. After he recovered, he said, “Devin liked to threaten him with things like that to keep him in line, and I don’t think that’s a very effective method of disciplining a child. Things are going to be different from now on because I’ll be in charge.”
“I know he was your brother, but I’m not sorry about what happened. You almost died!”
He didn’t answer, and we sat in companionable silence.
“She came to me that evening.”
I looked at him in question.
“Dayana.” He said, “She told me Devin wouldn’t make a move unless I give my word that there would be a truce. And you know what? I told her yes. I told Dayana that I didn’t want violence and I was ready to let it all go if they moved out of the family house to another one. We co-exist no matter what, so I gave her an ultimatum, and she agreed.”
“Then what happened?”
“Instinct, I guess. I knew Devin was hell-bent on killing me.” He closed his eyes for a moment, as if he was trying to find the courage to speak. “I knew what Dayana was wearing. I gave you that night-gown on purpose.” He turned his gaze on me. “I got my sister killed. Isn’t that fucked up?”
I closed my hand around his. “You did what you had to do.”
He picked up our linked hands and kissed my knuckles, tears streaked his face. “I promise you, Millie. I won’t fail you again. I will love you like you deserve to be.”
I inched closer to him and put my head on his shoulder. “I’m glad it’s over.”
“Yeah, me too. This is going to be a new beginning.” He smiled warmly, “You’ve tolerated a lot of shit on behalf of my fucked-up family and I’m going to make up to you for the rest of my life.” He sneaked a glance around to make sure no one was looking and then brought his lips down on mine.
It’s as if he could read my mind.
EPILOGUE
CASTLE
It’s beena long time since my half-brother and sister died, and since then I’ve recollected most of my memories.
Saying that it was a wild ride would be an understatement of the century.
Right now, I have everything that I worked hard for: wealth, the family name, and most importantly, my beautiful wife and our one-year-old son, James. He sat on my lap, staring at me with golden brown eyes identical to my own, a mischievous smile playing on his lips.
To achieve all of this, I’ve made some sacrifices in life, gotten my hands dirty, but I guess that’s part of it. If you want something badly, you couldn’t let values, the right, and the wrong, come in the way.
You needed to own that shit, and that’s what I fucking did.