Filed To Story: Secret Shifters Next Door Series PDF Free
My dad looked taken aback. “You guys are neighbors? How’s that going?”
I put the magazine aside and folded my hands in my lap. “Not great. Things haven’t exactly been what you’d call
friendly between us.”
Dad banged a hand on the armrest of his chair. Not hard like he was royally pissed, but enough for me to know he wasn’t happy. “That stupid kid. Does he still blame you for Liam’s death after all these years?”
“Apparently. He thinks I’m the reason Liam worked for you.”
“Damn stupid boy. Liam came to me for a job before he met you. He met you
because he worked for me. Can’t he get that through his head? Christ, if Blayne wants to be mad, he should be mad at me. If anyone got Liam killed, it was me and my plans.”
The guilt was on all sides. Liam’s death had been a turning point not just for Blayne, but for me as well. I’d done my best to make peace with it, and I wished everyone else would do the same. A person could only mourn so much. Liam had been gone for a decade, but the ache and pain still seemed fresh. Especially for Blayne.
“Dad, you can’t blame yourself. That’s as bad as Blayne blaming me. Liam was a grown-ass man who made his own decisions. He was my best friend, the man I loved, but he was blinded by the money.”
My mind drifted to the fight Liam and I had the night he died. The pain in his eyes. I’d hated to see it there, but I had to make it clear to him that I’d never cared about things. He’d been so confused, hadn’t understood. He and Blayne had grown up poor, and he was hard-wired to always reach for more. More money, more cars, bigger houses. I couldn’t pull him back, and he’d died. But I’d be damned if I or anyone else took the heat for that. He’d done what he’d done because
he wanted to do it.
Dad spoke, jerking me out of my memories. “I hope that boy can come to terms with what happened to Liam. That’s too much hate to hold in your heart.”
Hopefully some of what I’d said to Blayne the other night had sunk in. Dad was right. Blayne was holding onto a lot of anger and hate that would eventually eat him alive. No one deserved to live like that. As much as Blayne kept saying he hated me, he was still Liam’s brother. I’d loved Liam, and by association had cared for his brother. Maybe now that the curse was broken, he could get on with his life.
I got Dad home and helped him upstairs. The session had gone better than the previous one. He hadn’t gotten sick until we’d turned into the driveway. I’d rolled the window down and let him do his business. After making sure Dad was settled in his room, I went to leave, but Uncle Mike stopped me.
He stepped out of the office to the right of the entryway. “Hey. How’d things go today?”
I shrugged. “Same as last time.”
Mike looked a little irritated and glanced up the stairs toward Dad’s room. “Well, the thing is, Gio doesn’t like talking about it. So…I have no idea how it went last time, either. Not really. I think since you’re the one taking him, you’ll have to be the one to keep the family updated.”
“Of course.”
Seeing the fatigue on my face, Mike stepped forward and put his hands on my shoulders. “Kiddo? You look like you got run over by a bus. I didn’t mean to put more on you. It’s okay, we’ll try to get the info out of Gio. No problem.”
I waved him off. “No, it’s fine. There’s just been a lot going on. I’ll let you know how things go.”
“You’re in no state to drive right now. Come have lunch with us. Take a load off.”
“I should really get back.”
Mike scoffed. “And do what? Sit in your house doing nothing? Come on, Sam and Luis are in the dining room. So are the boys. You haven’t seen them since you’ve been home.”
The boys were my three cousins: LJ, Kyle, and Chris. They were each a year or two older than me and had always acted like older brothers to me. We’d been really close before I moved away. We still kept in touch on social media, but I hadn’t seen them in a while.
The thought of seeing them lifted my spirits. “Okay.”
“Good,” Mike said and put an arm around me, leading me down the hall to the dining room.
When my uncles and my cousins saw me walk in, they cheered like I was some long-lost war hero. LJ, massive with thick, curly black hair, strode over and lifted me up in a huge bear hug, spinning me around the room.
“God. Easy, LJ. You’re gonna make me puke.”
“Sorry,” he said with a goofy grin. “I haven’t seen you in forever.”
“For real,” Chris said, tossing a french fry at me. I caught it with my teeth, eliciting another surprised cheer.
Uncle Luis draped an arm around my waist and nudged me into a chair. “Sit, my little princess, sit. I’ll have Marissa bring you whatever you want.”
Marissa was the housekeeper-cum-personal chef and had been with our family for as long as I could remember. She made the best burgers in the entire world. Seeing that everyone already had burgers on their plates, my decision was basically made for me.
“A burger and fries? Like you guys?”
“Ha!” Sam said. “Marissa is gonna love you more than she already does. I’ll go tell her.”
“So, what have you been doing, cuz?” Kyle asked before taking a massive bite of his own burger.