Page 88 of The Retaliation You Deliver

My lips part, all the truths ready to tumble out, but I manage to catch them before they spill out around me.

“What is it? You can trust me, you know? Whatever it is.”

Can I? Can I lay here with her in my arms and tell her everything I’ve done, everything I planned to do without her freaking out?

Sucking in a breath, I start at the beginning to see how it goes. But I can’t deny my need to finally let out what happened with my father is becoming more and more impossible to deny. And for some fucked up reason, I want to trust her with it because I think there’s a slim chance that she won’t be totally horrified by it.

“My little brother,” I start, holding her eyes so she can see just how hard it is to talk about all of this. “His mom is… his mom is Peyton’s sister.”

“P-Peyton’s sis— and your… dad?”

I nod, letting her connect the dots.

“And he’s five, right? How old is she?”

“Twenty-three.”

“Holy shit,” she gasps.

“Luca and Peyton have been the world’s most perfect couple since they first looked each other in the eyes in kindergarten. It turns out that dear old dad decided that she was going to be a threat to his golden child’s football success so in his fucked up mind, he went after Libby thinking it would end their relationship.”

“Jesus Christ. But she was a child.”

“Seventeen. She was pretty wild, had daddy issues, so when he told her all the things she was desperate to hear, she was putty in his hands.

“Well, he got her pregnant. Libby told her mom, Peyton overheard what Brett had done and told Luca.” Macie’s eyes are wide as saucers as she soaks up every one of my words. “He refused to believe our father would groom his girlfriend’s sister and turned his back on Peyton. Their mom made them leave town not long after everything went down and we all lost touch. We had no idea there was a baby, Dad had no idea there was a baby, or at least we didn’t think he did.”

“How did you find all this out? When did Peyton come back?”

“Libby lost control after Kayden was born, she turned to drugs and after a while she just left.”

“Oh God.”

“Peyton and her mom raised Libby’s son. But then Peyton’s mom and Kayden were in a car accident, her mom didn’t make it and Kayden was seriously injured.”

Macie’s eyes fill with tears.

“Peyton moved them back here to be with their aunt. She enrolled at MKU and she and Luca collided again.”

“I bet that went well,” she mutters.

“Well, put it this way, I had to rescue her after he abducted her and locked her up in the Kappa’s pool house.”

Her eyes widen in shock before her brow lifts.

“What?” I ask.

“Abduction and locking up. You two have a lot in common, huh?”

“Well, we are twins,” I say with a shrug and a wicked smile.

“I guess so.

“So your dad groomed Peyton’s sister and had a baby with her. Libby turned to drugs, and now he’s dead in a hotel room. I feel like I’m missing something.”

“Peyton got a job at a bar downtown. The Locker Room,” I say, studying her reaction to see if she’d heard of it. When there’s no sign of recognition, I continue. “It’s an exclusive sports bar. Only members are allowed inside, it’s seedy, it’s got waitresses that twilight as… hookers,” I confess.

“Peyton?” Macie gasps in horror.