Page 81 of Fragile Facade

He tilts his head at me, wondering why I’m asking, but the whole town knows about the threat, so I’m not giving myself away. “Yeah, and I’m gonna go to some of those training sessions in Janie’s Woods. To hell with anyone who tries to take Moros.”

I grin at that. “Night.”

“Night.” Just like the Moros local he is, he walks down Death Row while the Ravens watch his back.

After another five minutes of the drizzle soaking through my jacket, my brother comes out. “Hey.” He locks the door and smiles at me. “How was your smoothie last night?” He grins.

Fuck him. “Good.”

“What flavour was it?”

“Strawberry.”

Remi laughs, and we start walking towards the house we grew up in. “Killian liked it?”

“Just fuck off about it, Remi.”

“Okay.” He holds his hands up. “Someone came to the shop today to ask if I’d sell my… house. Or, uh, the property it sat on.”

The ravens join our walk. “Who?”

“I don’t know. Some rich guy. Not local.”

“So, you said no?”

“Yeah, I said no. But he gave me a bad vibe.” He pulls his phone from his pocket and shows me the screen. “I snapped this. Recognize him?”

I take his phone. “Yeah, I do. Send that to me so I can show Director. Or send it to Kr-Keegan.”

Remi looks around like I’m speaking dark secrets out in the open. “Who is he?”

A slimy fucking billionaire. “Benton Wentworth.”

As he texts it to both me and Krypt, his sleeves slide up, showing a peek of his burns. Still hate them. Still think they’re stupid. Still think Krypt is a fucking possessive maniac. Kind of love the reason he marked my brother’s body, though.

“You love him?” I ask, startling myself. Love isn’t a topic we chat about. Sure, their relationship a bit, but never love.

Remi’s blue eyes meet mine without any shame or judgement. “Yeah.”

“How do you know? Don’t you just feel like he owns you?”

“In the beginning, yeah. He did own me. It’s different now, and I’m different from you.”

“How?”

He pockets his phone as we turn down the side street. “You want to control everything, be the man in charge, and never let anyone see your vulnerabilities. I didn’t have that choice. Keegan saw all my vulnerabilities without me even wanting to show them to him. I got comfortable being exposed to him, and I don’t crave the same kind of control you do. I give him power because I want him to have it, but that doesn’t make me powerless. Think about it, Soren.” He shrugs. “I have the power to love him, even though he doesn’t know how to be loved.”

Do I know how to be loved? Does anyone love me? I want to ask Remi, but I can’t make myself sacrifice the pride it will take to voice the question.

“Loving someone doesn’t make you weak. You know that, right?”

“Maybe not, but it’s one morepointof weakness. Someone could use him against you, and you’d do anything to save him.”

“Like Killian gave up his life to save you?”

I walk faster, resisting the urge to disappear into our surroundings and give Remi the slip. “Why the fuck did I bring him a smoothie, Remi?!”

“Welcome to giving a shit,” Remi says with a laugh.