Page 6 of The Destruction You Desire

My eyes widen in shock at her words.

"What?" she asks innocently as she sets about making tea.

"Nothing. I'm just going to…" I point toward the door and push the chair out.

Today was meant to be about family, and damn it, that's what it's going to be.

I discover that my makeup is totally unsalvageable when I get to the bathroom and after washing my face, I completely redo it. I'm glad I do because when I walk out again, I feel stronger, more able to deal with whatever life is going to throw at me next.

I stop by my room, pulling my cell out of my purse to see if I have any messages. To my surprise, there's a group chat with Ella and Letty that's blown up in my absence about tonight's party.

My heart drops. I can't go out tonight with all this shit.

What I really need to do is man up and go and see Luca. Talk properly, but just the thought of doing that makes my stomach turn over.

There's no way we'll be able to survive through a conversation like adults.

I need to get Leon involved. Now that Luca knows the truth, Lee deserves it as well.

My hand trembles around my cell with the thought of sitting in front of both of them. I think about their mom. Maddie was always the sweetest person. God only knows how she ended up with an ass like Brett. But I know she was one of the many reasons why Mom packed up our stuff and dragged us out of Rosewood after she discovered the truth.

I wasn't meant to hear what I did that morning. They both thought I'd already gone out. I had, only I'd forgotten my cell and snuck back in.

There hasn't been a second of any day that's passed where I wished I’d never stepped foot back in that house. Ignorance is bliss, and I can't help but wonder how things would have played out if I didn't know the truth back then.

My sister was a nightmare at the best of times. She’s two years older than me but listening to the things she got up to, you could easily think she was older than her almost eighteen years when we left. She didn't look her age either which is probably one of the only good things I can think of about the situation with Luca's dad. At least she didn't look underage. Granted she was only a few weeks off her eighteenth. But still. From what I've discovered, it wasn't just a one-time thing. They'd been spending time together for a while. Libby had been seduced by his status, money and power. I'm not surprised in the slightest. I love my sister dearly, but she had stars in her eyes, always wanting bigger and better, and I can only imagine the kinds of things that Brett Dunn promised her.

The thought of what he could have said to her makes me feel sick. He knew how old she was. He knew who she was. Both of us had spent enough time at the Dunn's house for him to be well aware. It makes me wonder just how long he'd been planning something.

Disgust rolls through me once more.

I always knew Brett was a jerk. From as early as I can remember I hated him for the way he treated Luca, for the amount of pressure he put on a young boy's shoulders. But seducing a minor.

I shudder, opening the messages and tapping out something they're not going to want to read.

Peyton: I'm really sorry but I'm going to have to bail on tonight. Some family stuff has come up and I need to be here.

3

Peyton

How do you tell a five-year-old who's already lost his mother and grandmother that the man standing in the yard earlier was his brother? A brother who may or may not want anything to do with him.

How do you even contemplate trying to explain the clusterfuck that is, that man's father is his father?

I lean back against the kitchen counter and just breathe.

I somehow managed to stumble my way through some kind of explanation that Kayden said he understood, but really, I barely understand it myself. How can I expect him to?

But I couldn't lie either. He'd seen Luca with his own eyes. The resemblance is too strong to deny any kind of connection there.

In true innocent kid style, all Kayden really wanted to know was if Luca was coming back.

His eyes light up just talking about him. As if he already knew Luca, and telling him that I didn't know if he was going to come back obliterated my heart.

"What are you doing?" Aunt Fee asks when she walks into the room with my half-eaten birthday cake.

"Sorry, I'll come and help tidy up," I say, feeling bad that I'm hiding away from it all.