The Deal
WESTLEY
“JOIN ME over tonight.” I held his hands and squeezed them while I looked at him in awe-he grew up pretty fast into a handsome man, and I couldn’t believe he finished college on his own. He inspired me.
Austen shook his head slowly. “No, Harry. I don’t want you to get into trouble. The last time you came to see me, your father grounded you for a week. I can’t let that happen again.”
“That was years ago, silly.” I rolled my eyes. “He won’t do that again. Besides, we’re not gonna have dinner with him. He’s out of town until the end of this week.”
“So, it’s with Mr. Linton then?” His brow arched suggestively.
“Just for clarification, we are not sleeping together.” I was surprised to see Clyve’s reaction-he froze in his seat for a couple of seconds when Austen told him he was in love with me, but he neither confirmed nor denied it.
“Let me rephrase, you were sleeping together.”
I looked down at our hands and nodded as a shot of fear of judgment twisted in my gut. “He didn’t know that I am married-”
“What the fuck?” he roared. His expression twisted into anger. “You’re fucking married? To whom? Then you slept with another man?”
“Language, young man. You are completely off the base.”
“Is that why you disappeared?” he continued throwing questions. “Because your daddy dearest didn’t approve your groom, then you flew to Vegas and married the man you barely knew, right? Like in dark twisted romance novels!”
“I married Keene for some reason.”
“Keene? Your best friend?” he scoffed and pulled his hands away. “What the fu-hell? What is this, Harry? This…” Then he threw in the air out of frustration. “… this kind of life you have. You are capable of so much more, yet look at you.”
“I said I have reasons,” I asserted.
“Well, there must be so fucking huge reasons on your sleeves, Harry. You may be a lot of things, but cheating with someone is not one of them.” He shifted in the passenger seat and stared blankly outside the windshield while his jaw clenched tight. He was going to hate me for this.
It took a few seconds for me to gather my thoughts. I didn’t want another shocking moment between us and I wanted him to know directly from me. He needed to know.
“I-I have something to tell you.” I blinked up the tears that threatened to fall and squeezed his hand again.
“I don’t think I can let it all sink in at one time. Give me a break, Harry. I think that’s enough for today.”
My chest clenched painfully. “I was supposed to come to you, but I didn’t want to drag you into my mess, and you were so young, Austen. You were doing good in college.”
“I get it, sis. I can’t help you that much while I was staying at the frat house, and who would want to stay with a bastard son?”
“Don’t you ever say that again? You didn’t choose that life, Austen-our mother did!”
“Well, you know she can’t take that back now, can she?” He shrugged.
I hated my mother for choosing him, but when I met Austen for the first time, I thought I found comfort and a real sibling in him until my father took that privilege away from me. Austen didn’t exist in my life, literally.
“I don’t want you to be like our mother.”
“Too late. I am already like her.”
“Do you love Keene?” His words were almost a whisper, and there was hesitation in his question.
“Romantically?” I shook my head. “No.”
* * *
“GOOD MORNING!”
Keene turned his head from the breakfast table at the visiting lounge. My father made a deal just to make me stay with him for a while, and I took his bait-if I could give Keene a better treatment and had some privileges for us, so be it. And I got an Amex card-to compensate for the years I missed. Not bad at all.
“Morning.” He smiled. “What a lovely smile you have in there, sunshine.”
“Sunshine? How about my smile before? Was it like a storm? A twister? Or maybe a hurricane.”
He chuckled. “I think I fell asleep early last night. I didn’t know what time you came home.”
“I actually came back pretty early. I was in the neighborhood when I received a call from Clyve-”
His eyes lit up. “Clyve? That’s great! So how did it go?”
I sat across the table. Allona, one of my father’s staff poured coffee into the cup and offered it to me.
“Thanks.” I smiled at her. She was around forty. Her hair was always tied neatly in a bun.
I didn’t know why Dad chose older employees, but probably his way to suppress his temptation. Dad was still Dad. I bet, he had already a mistress somewhere.
“He didn’t wanna know,” I forced the words out because honestly, it hurt. He chose to be kept in the dark about my marriage to Keene than to know the truth.
“I’m sorry, Westley.” He was still calling me by that name, and it only reminded me of how I met Clyve, but it somehow helped me saved the happiest moments I had back at that town.
“We’re over with that sorry, Keene. I will still make the same choice I had years ago over again. Enough of that. The morning is so bright to be ruined by his ego. Anyway, did you take your meds?” I sipped my coffee.
He pointed at the bottles aligned in the tray. “It’s not about his ego, Westley. It’s his feelings. And I have a private nurse, remember? Thanks to your persuasive father.”
“That’s part of the deal.”
“Don’t ever sell your soul to the devil again for my sake.”
“Oh, for you?” I stood up and grinned. “In a freaking heartbeat.”
“Going somewhere?”
“Yep, to make another deal.”
His gaze followed my moves. I didn’t also miss the amusement. “Good luck then!”
“We’re not gonna be alone, so there’s no chance to push the issue. Austen will be there too.”
“Wait, what did I miss?” His brows squished together. “Austen? The Austen Powers?” Keene knew about him, and he named him Austen Powers to hide my brother’s identity.
“Yes. He’s the reason why Clyve called me yesterday.”
“How’s he?”
“He’s tall and grown-up-”
“Not Austen.”
“Oh.” I paused. I didn’t want Keene to feel bad, but he saw it anyway.
He leaned back against the chair and let out a deep breath. “We need to-”
“Not now.” I grabbed my tote bag. “I’ll be home late. You don’t have to wait for me, okay? Take care of yourself. I love you.” I kissed his cheek and walked away.