Page 30

Visha

I step outside for a breath of fresh air, far from the drunk teens and loud music. My head is pounding from the constant shouting and music bursting my eardrums.

I thought parties were fun, but it really isn’t as great as I expected.

Staying home with Aoi and watching a movie together would’ve been more fun.

It’s pitch black outside apart from the lights flashing different neon colors from the villa. The further I stroll, the more muffled the noise from the party becomes and the closer to peace I get.

I lean against a wall in a dimly lit alley and turn on my phone to check for a message from Aoi. If he called or texted while I was busy with the others and he can’t find me, he’ll kill me when I get home.

“Are you Visha?”

I turn around to face the owner of the dark male voice. He stands tall and refined in a black suit. His dark brown hair is neatly coiffed as he smokes a cigarette, leaning against a black car.

“Depends. Who’s asking?” I tilt my head, narrowing my eyes at his figure hidden by the shadows of the night.

The whole scene seems highly suspicious and the smart thing to do is to head back to the villa and alert someone of that strange man lurking around town. But the curiosity of a stranger knowing my name glues me to the pavement.

He takes a drag of his cigarette before blowing the smoke out. “Your big brother.”

What the fuck is this psycho talking about? The simple fact that he so confidently utters such nonsense makes me physically recoil.

“Ain’t got a brother. I don’t know what the hell you want but I don’t wanna have shit to do with you,” I snap, pushing myself off the wall. “Get the fuck away from here or I’m calling the cops.”

My eyes wander around the area, hoping to see another pedestrian or someone from the villa, but we’re alone in the empty street.

I don’t like this. It smells fishy.

The man takes another drag of his cigarette and glares at me. “We’ll have to work on your lack of respect for your dear elder brother who came all the way from France to bring you home.”

“Bullshit-”

“Visha, fifteen years old, born on the thirteenth of November. Our biological parents were Amelia and Christian Lacroix. They died in a car accident in Seattle on their work trip during which you were sent to foster homes because I was still too young and broke to adopt you. But I found you and I’m not letting you go again,” he states with such self-assurance that I find it hard to doubt him.

“You’re lying.”

“Need more proof?”

“I don’t believe shit and even if it was true what makes you think I’d leave with you?” I ask, incredulously.

“I’m not giving you a choice, Visha.” He exhales, letting the smoke go up in the sky in a thick cloud. “You’ll come back with me if you wish to keep your sweet benefactor’s life peaceful. What was his name again? Aoi, right? Aoi Holden.”

Blood pumps through my veins. “Stay away from him or I’ll fucking kill you!”

“How dangerous,” he mocks, disinterested. “Your manners are lacking. Perhaps, it’s his fault.” Unintending to let me speak, he clears his voice. “He certainly is quite the attractive man, young and gentle. You’ll tell me all about your encounter on our flight home.”

His knowing information about me doesn’t prove anything. He could be a stalker for all I know. “Fuck you and your crap. I’m not going anywhere with you, you psycho.”

I have to call Olivia and tell her where I am, so she can call the cops. I can’t alert Aoi or else he’ll scold the living hell out of me for sneaking out without permission. He’ll be worried sick and I can’t let that happen.

I switch my phone on and start recording the conversation just in case. “I told you I’m not fucking leaving with you. What proves that you’re really my brother and not some stalker?”

“This should do,” he says boredly, as a man in a black suit appears out of nowhere and hands me a bunch of documents.

I hesitate to grab them but when the man shoves them in my hands, I have no choice but to obey. I read through the content, trying to decipher what it’s about, and my heart drops when I see it.

This is impossible. They must be falsified.

DNA compatibility .

There’s no way and yet these papers prove it. We are related.

“How did you do this? Huh? Who did you pay to create this fake DNA compatibility? You can’t possibly think I’m that stupid?”

“How sweet of you, little brother. Do you really think these documents are fabricated?”

I stare at him and the eyes that look back at me are too familiar to ignore. His face is definitely an older version of mine.

“How did you find me here? Why now ?” I urge through gritted teeth.

None of this makes sense. How can I have a brother? I’d remember if that was the case. Also, what kind of brother threatens their sibling into flying to another continent?

“I spent years working my ass off to acquire the fortune I now own. I couldn’t find you because you were somewhere in Seattle while I was in Montpellier. I was barely a teen when it happened.” He holds out his palm, squeezing his fingers shut as if the thought is hurting him. “I thought you were dead . Until I found out that you survived the crash and had been sent to a foster home.”

“You’re lying! You just want to manipulate me into believing this crap!”

He flicks his fingers for another man in a black suit to start the vehicle. “The tricky part was that you hadn’t been found in the car, no, you wandered off in search of help. No papers, injured, no memories of anything other than your name. I couldn’t find you, no matter how hard I searched. But you’re here now. We can finally be a family how we always should’ve been.”

A family? I already have a family and that’s Aoi. I don’t need a brother when I already own the sun.

“You’re really my brother?” I blurt.

He nods.

“I can’t go with you.”

A sudden ache bolts through my skull, and spots fill my vision. A leaner man than the previous one fists my hair and tugs my head back.

My brother’s arm falls limp to his side, veins bulging on his forearms. “I don’t think you understand. You’re coming home with me, whether you like it or not. I am not losing you again.”

He takes a step forward and his lackey’s grip loosens at his boss’s glare.

“No, you don’t seem to understand,” I raise my voice. “I refuse to leave Aoi. He’s my family. He’s all I have and need; you can’t force me away from him. I’ll never let go of him. You’ll have to drag my dead corpse if you want to have me!”

The man sighs and frustratedly takes another step towards me, looming threateningly over me. “Then let me phrase it differently. If you wish to be obstinate and stay, then I’ll destroy his life. I’ll make sure he never becomes an author, and I’ll get him fired from his job. I’ll tear apart everything he cares about and make him miserable.”

“You can’t do that. You piece of shit, stay the fuck away from him!” Fury makes my hands shake. “I’ll fucking kill you!”

The lackey removes his hands from my hair, and I stumble forward. Unease creeps into me. What if he’s really capable of that? I can’t underestimate him. Aoi’s my world, and I can’t cause his demise.

With as much ease as a black panther snapping a bird’s neck, he grabs my arm and twists it behind my back. “I have the means to get what I want. Come with me willingly and maybe I’ll even make some calls to get him an agent and a publisher. Tell him that you met your brother and that you want to leave. Don’t even think about telling him a word about my threat or I’ll turn it into reality.”

Shudders ripple down my spine. “You fucking piece of shit!”

“Such crude words from such a pretty face,” he says, flicking his cigarette to the ground. “I’m gonna have to teach you some manners. T’en a clairement besoin.”

Fuck, I don’t speak French. What the hell did he even say?

“How can you claim to be my brother when this is the shit you do?! You bastard!” I grunt, struggling against his iron grip.

A dark mocking chuckle escapes his lips. “I couldn’t care less about your resentment. You’re my blood and you belong to my side as the second Lacroix brother.”

“I’ll never forgive you.”

It’s not a threat but a promise. I’ll never forgive him for ripping me from the joy I fought beak and claw to earn.

“Then so be it. Now get in the car, I’m giving you a ride. You have a week to tell him about our departure. My men will take care of your belongings.” He lets go of my arm and I stumble forward, massaging the soreness.

“Fuck no.”

He doesn’t give me the chance to run as the two men in black suits clasp their claws around my arms and drag me to the onyx car. I struggle against them, fighting off their beastly grip.

I scream and cuss, yet my voice gets trapped between the walls of the now locked vehicle. I have to alert someone–anyone–that I’m being kidnapped by my psycho–potentially fake–biological brother. If I don’t get back to the party, Olivia and the others will start asking questions. If they end up contacting Aoi it’ll complicate everything.

“You’re bringing me home, right?” I ask warily.

He starts driving off into the night as two cars follow close behind us. I can’t be sure if we mean the same home and by home, I mean Aoi’s apartment not whatever demon lair he lives in.

The man glances at me sitting in the passenger seat as he drives through the restless night. “You mean your current habitation.”

“Stop playing the asshole and answer my fucking question,” I spit, cheeks flushing with anger.

“Watch your mouth, kid. I’m not your little friend.”

Maybe I should jump out of the moving car and attempt to run? Yeah, right. Who am I? Fucking James Bond?

I mean if and really if I jump, would it kill me or just break a few bones?

Because if it’s survivable then I consider it plan B.

Now that I think of it, I don’t even know his name. It’s uncomfortable having to address him as 'asshole' or 'you', not that he isn’t a total dick.

“What’s your name?”

His hands tighten around the steering wheel. “Bellami.”

“What does it mean?” I ask as Aoi would.

Bellami glances at me as if he doesn’t understand the question. He scoffs and hits the accelerator before replying boredly, “Do you always ask so many questions?”

“Fuck you. I was taught to always question everything.”

“Oh really? Did Aoi teach you that?”

Poisonous mock drips from his words and all I want right now is to punch that smug smile off his lips.

“Don’t utter his name. You’re not worthy of him.”

“Keep your mouth shut or I’ll do it for you.”

On those words the conversation dies, and we spend the rest of the journey in silence as he drives me home.

He lets me leave his car with one last warning. “What happened tonight stays between you and me. Don’t forget. The future of your benefactor depends on you after all.”

I enter the lobby, slip into the elevator and once I reach the apartment door, I lock myself in. Slumping against the door, I hug my legs against my chest as I allow despair to wash over me.