Zach.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The thundering sounds of shots being fired echo in my ear. It’s almost enough to make me deaf, though I prefer it that way. I came to the firing range almost every day for the last year. I would do anything to drown out the sounds, to forget the world around me. In fact, I would very much welcome it if the skies came crumbling to the ground. Earth could swallow me whole for all I care.
I was trying everything that I can to forget what I did… what must be done to save her life… even if that meant she was going to leave that life without me.
It had been a year ago since I last spoke to her. A year ago, before I made the toughest decision of my life. And I hadn’t been the same ever since. I felt like a huge part of me died when I agreed to the terms of her father, just so he would live.
As soon as the doctors declared that her life is no longer in danger, I went home and packed my bags. Mom and Dad tried to stop me. They said that Ewan Gibson was being unreasonable. He couldn’t demand that Blaire cut ties with her past.
Well, he wasn’t asking Blaire to cut ties with her past. Just with me.
I heaved a deep sigh and continued shooting at the target.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Bullseye as always.
“Whoo! You’re on fire, cuz!” a familiar voice said behind me.
I put down the gun and removed my earmuffs. I turned to see my cousin, Ben, smiling encouragingly at me.
“Ben,” I sighed. “What’s up?”
“Nothing,” he said, smiling. “Do I need a reason to see my most favorite cousin, my most efficient wingman?”
I scoffed. “Huh! What happened to the girl you met at the bar the other day?”
Ben was easy on the eyes but lacked the confidence to talk to women. I have been living with him and his folks for the past year since I left my adoptive parents’ house. No one knew where I went. Ben never told anyone either, not even my adoptive father, who was desperate to make me return home. Somehow, even though I wasn’t related to Ben by blood, his family welcomed me as if I was their own. Not that I would crowd them. They have a ten-bedroom mansion, after all.
Turned out, Ben knew what was going on between me and Blaire even before shit hit the fan.
“That… that didn’t work out,” Ben replied shyly. “She was too vain. All just a pretty face. No brains.”
“Huh!” I stared at him, raising a brow. “And the girl before that you said, too nerdy, not quite pretty.”
“Uh-huh!”
“Come on, man. What do you really want? You barely make it to three dates, and you change your mind again.”
I gathered the guns and my gear and walked to return them to the counter. Ben trailed behind me.
“Can’t I be picky with my choices?” he asked. “I mean, this girl could be my future wife, the mother of my children!”
“Don’t be overly dramatic!” I groaned. “Just give it a chance. Who knows, some of these girls just may grow on you.”
“But that’s not what I want. I want love that will hit me hard, make me go mindless, make me defy reason and even the rules of society…”
I raised a hostile brow at him. “You mean like what I did? That my desires were just too fucking strong I didn’t care that the girl I was banging was my sister?”
Ben was taken aback, realizing what he just said. “I didn’t mean it like that. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be,” I said under my breath. “You’re right anyway. I didn’t care what anybody would think. Hell, I didn’t even think what this would do to her. I didn’t care what people call me or brand me as.” I sighed heavily. “But I should have thought about what they would think of her.”
Ben smiled at me apologetically. But thankfully, he said nothing more.
We were quiet the rest of the way to the bar, where Ben liked to hang out in. Me? I would hang out anywhere that would make me forget about Blaire. Not that it did anything anyway. She was still in my thoughts every fucking waking hour!
“For all it’s worth, no one is calling her anything,” Ben said, interrupting my thoughts. I turned to him raising a brow. “Blaire. No one is calling her a brother-fucker, if that’s what you’re worried about. In fact, I don’t think everybody knew about it. I knew about it because I saw you two checked in to that motel room, looking like you couldn’t wait to get into the room. I didn’t tell anyone. I doubt Damien told anyone, too. So, maybe you’ve got nothing to worry about.”
I looked out the window, trying to absorb what he was saying.
“I told you before,” Ben continued. “We treat you like our cousin because we have gotten used to it. And besides, you’re just so damn likeable, it’s impossible for any of us not to like you. But dude… if any of our girl cousins would wanna jump your bones, we’d always remember that you’re not related to us in any way. Maybe it will feel weird for a while, but it won’t feel ‘eekie’ at all because we all know you’re not related to us. By blood… nor by any legal document.”
I scoffed. “Damien didn’t think that way.”
Ben fell silent for a while. I noticed how tightly he gripped the stirring wheel.
Yeah. I forgot, Ben and Damien were pretty close, too.
We arrived at the Symphony, the bar where Ben thought he would meet his destine bride-to-be.
As soon as we got inside, Ben suddenly started acting nervous.
“Why? Did you spot another pretty girl you want me to wing you to?” I joked, chuckling.
“Not really.” He stared back at me nervously, lightly scratching the back of his head. “You see… it’s been a year, man. Turned out, Blaire is not our cousin by blood, too. It’s time we put all this behind us.”
I just shrugged. To be honest, I really don’t care anymore.
“No one had the right to accuse you are Blaire of anything. No one should judge you.” Ben heaved a deep sigh. “Not even her biological father.”
“Right!” I scoffed. “He didn’t think of it that way. It’s a hard bargain. He saved his daughter’s life and it return he asked me to stay the fuck away from her, like he had some claim on her all of a sudden.”
“Well, he does. He is sort of his father.”
“I know. But ten minutes before he asked me that, he had no idea he has a daughter at all!” I muttered. “Such a hypocrite!”
Ben swallowed hard at my comment. “Do you… do you really mean that?”
“Hell yeah! And if he’s right here, I’d say that to his face!”
“Good, because now’s your chance!”
I raise my brow at him, not quite getting what he said. “Are you stoned or something?”
“I’m perfectly sober.” He signed and looked at you with a hard expression on her face. “Last week, someone came up to me and begged me to set up a meeting with you.”
Who could be desperate enough to see me that they had to go through Ben first. There are only a few things I cared about now. I have few friends, and much fewer enemies. So, I don’t understand why Ben is acting all nervous all of a sudden.
“Who is it?”
Instead of replying, I pointed at the secluded corner of the bar.
And there I see, Ewan Gibson staring back at me.