Page 151 of The Crowned Garza

“Where. Is. Guy?” Trent demands.

“Dead.” I cross my arms. “That’s what you wanted, right?”

“Oh, my bad, where’sDon Luciani?”

“It doesn’t matter where he is. He’s done with you all.”

The two exchange glances. “What do you mean he’s done?”

“Exactly what it sounds like.” Irritated, I snatch up a throw pillow and pelt it at him. “Now get outta my house!” I grab another and smack True in the face. “Out.Now!”

“Tillie…” Trent’s tone is almost pleading now. “Stop pissing around and tell us where Guy is. Red Cage needs him. Desperately.”

The audacity of these dickheads. “I don’t understand. Honestly, I don’t get it.” I shake my head. “Why would you hang the functionality of the entire company ononeperson, then turn around and beat that person to within an inch of their life? That person you so ‘desperately’ depend on? Please, make it make sense.”

“Anger makes you do crazy things,” Trent replies. “When that rage takes over, you don’t really think. It’s just...” He trails off. “We fucked up, all right?”

“Yeah, you did. Big time.”

“It’s the betrayal, you know?” True chimes in. “He’s Guy.OurGuy. One of us. If he’d just come to us and said straight up, ‘hey, I’m feeling T,’ we maybe would’ve pushed back a little bit, sure, but at the end of the day, he’sGuy. Of course we would’ve been fine with it. But he hid it.”

“He also hidhimself,”Trent adds. “Been living a double life this entire time. That kind of betrayal stings, T. Guy’s like a brother. Trusted him. Don’t know how to explain to you how it feels to think you know someone on that level and...turns out you don’t know them at all. It’s a shitty feeling.”

“You think I don’t know what betrayal feels like?” An incredulous laugh escapes me. “I literally just went through this with Tripp and Sunny. My best friend and my brother. Yeah, it stings, it hurts, it feels shitty. But at no point in time, not even for a second, did I ever think aboutharmingthose two people I love with my whole heart. Because you don’t harm people you love. You don’t harm people you care about. You protect them. You try to understand them. You forgive them. Youneverhurt them.

“So forgive me if I’m finding it difficult to believe you care even an iota for that man. Because I’ve seen the aftermath of your actions. And that’s the kind of shit you do to someone youhate. While you were calling for him to come save your company, he could barely function. I—” My voice catches, and I take a second to calm the roiling sensation under my skin. “I love that man with every cell in my body, and it ripped me to shreds to see him like that. And what hurts me even more now is that not once have you asked if he’s okay. Not once. So no, I don’t give two shits about your feelings or Red Cage. Now, please,get outof my house.”

My brothers are a stubborn bunch. Contrition is a rare emotion for them. But now, it’s all over their faces. Remorse.

“What can we do to make it right?” True asks.

Rolling my lips, I wait several seconds before saying, “The most irritating thing is, Guy isn’t even mad. Believe me, you were able to hurt him only because heallowedit to happen. It’s me who’s mad at you. Unless I say he can, Guy won’t be going back to Red Cage.”

“Of course…” Trent mutters, rubbing the back of his neck. “You’re the girl he talked about on the boat.”

“The pussy-whipped nutsack girl,” True adds with anahaexpression and a finger snap.

Huh?“What?”

“Nothing,” Trent replies. “What do you want us to do?”

“I don’t know yet. Gimme some time to think about it.” Feeling a migraine coming on, I rub my forehead. “For now, just get the hell out of my house.”

“And gowhere? Lyra won’t let us in either. And Mom banned us from Barefoot Runaway.”

“Do I look like I give a damn?” I snap. “Go live with the rats for all I care. Just get out!”

Trent throws his hands up and storms off, muttering a string of curses.

Sluggishly, True straightens up from the couch, scratching his chest. “Oh, you should know, Tripp’s crashing in the log house out back. Sunny booted him, too.”

“Way to rat me out, brother!” Tripp’s voice booms from the direction of the back patio.

Unbelievable.

Evidently, he’s been out there eavesdropping this entire time, hiding his sniveling face.

“If I can’t stay, you can’t either!” True shouts back.