Page 108 of Isolation

It’s like when someone takes a hacksaw and cuts your whole body into two pieces, that’s what it feels like.

I lost half of my soul, and the other half is being crushed under a giant boot. This pain is insurmountable, but a soft touch on my shoulder cuts through my pain.

I feel Milo’s hand before I hear his voice. “Rave, what are you doing here?”

I am at my old house, the brownstone a few doors down from the Sinclairs.

After Dad and I moved out, the owners started doing Airbnb. Reid and I used to come here on the days the owners were unable to rent it out.

I still had a key, and they never changed the locks. This place holds memories to a lot of our shenanigans. It seemed fitting to sit here for hours to mourn him.

I don’t bother asking how he found me. From my peripheral vision I watch Milo pick up the phone I dropped and sit on the patio steps with me.

“Do you want to talk about it?” his tone is softer, which means that he read the text.

Comforting strokes run through my hair, and we both stare into the dark backyard.

“Is there anything I can do?”

I don’t provide him with an answer. I didn’t come here to talk. I came here to forget.

“Do you want to hit me?” Milo asks.

“Yes,” I respond before he forms the entire question.

I hear his husky laugh. “Okay, just not the face. It’s my moneymaker.”

I crack a sad smile. Before we even discuss Reid, there is a more pressing matter to deal with.

“Mia knows.” It’s a straightforward statement. I assume he will know what it means.

“I figured.” I turn my face in surprise. “I went to your room, only to find Mia instead of you,” Milo explains. “Mia was angry, and she rarely ever cries.”

“I didn’t tell her,” I offer quickly.

“I know. She is too smart for her own good.”

“She wants me to tell everyone what you did.”

Milo turns his head to glance at me briefly and gives me an understanding nod.

“I am proud of her. All those years I thought she was tuning out my lectures. Mia has a good head on her shoulders.”

I scowl at just the image of Milo behind bars. Is that what he wants?

“Why do all of you fucking Sinclairs think alike?”

“We have to take responsibility for our actions. Isn’t that what I taught all of you?”

“Or you can just control your behavior,” I snap. I can’t hide the sourness in my voice. “Then, there are no bad actions to take responsibility for.”

Milo stares at me instead of responding.

“You are upset because of Reid,” he says it as if the other news should not even be a point of conversation.

“Aren’t you?” I ask. “He is your brother and he might never speak to you again either.”

Milo sighs. “I assumed that risk.”