My Darling Mayhem
: Chapter 22

The small town of Rake Forge, where my brother lived in North Carolina, was a few hours from Atlas. We had to stop and switch drivers by hour four because I was falling asleep. By morning, the boys were hungry and ready to stretch their legs. We ate, we walked, and then we got back into the car. All while we drove, not once did my mother speak of the twins.

She didn’t speak negatively of their behavior or try to justify it. She kept a stern hold on the wheel while she remained focused on the road, but she didn’t bring up what had happened or how much she’d seen or heard.

My nervous system needed the quiet and the peaceful drive to process what had happened. My heart throbbed with pain from that look in my brother’s eyes when I mentioned that his sons were nothing to me.

Why did I feel torn regarding those boys?

They’d come into my home, where my son lived, and threatened the man I loved. They even said they didn’t exactly care for me…

But they looked so much like Juan.

I wondered what mischief they must have gotten into when they were kids. Were they terrors, or were they peaceful children? Juan was calm for my mother from what I remembered, but he was five years older, so I missed his toddler years and had no idea what he was like before then.

A phone call came in for my mother, distracting my thoughts. I saw that it was Juan and reached for her device.

“Can I answer it?”

She nodded and refocused on the road. We were getting closer, based on the signs we had passed, and my nerves were starting to fray. What if Juan’s wife hated me? What if there were more members of his family that would be hostile toward my boys?

My boys? When did that thought slip in, and why did it feel so right?

“Hello?” I answered, desperately trying not to think about all the things clouding my head.

Juan’s voice was crisp as he answered. “I just wanted to thank you for leaving. Mamá was worried about you.”

I glanced over at my mom, seeing her tired eyes, and felt my heart soften. “Just mom?”

My brother paused, then chuckled. “Not just mom. I was worried, too. I’ve been worried about you for half my life, Sis. I hate myself for being so cruel to you and not trying to fix it. Back then…”

I didn’t want this apology over a phone call, but I didn’t want him to stop talking.

“It was a stressful time, which caused my priorities not to align perfectly. I wasn’t thinking what my silence would do to you. By the time things settled, you were gone.”

How did I articulate why I had to go and how deep his rejection had gone? There wasn’t a way to explain it, so I remained silent.

“Anyway, I just…I wanted you to know that I will do everything possible to keep Archer safe and get him back to you. He told me he plans to marry you and knock you up, so—” he laughed, but suddenly I sat up straight, my eyes wide and my heart in my throat.

Oh my god.

“Wren?” I heard him, but my mind was pulling out dates and plugging in numbers.

Shit, what day was it? When was the last time I took my birth control?

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

I had a plan. I wanted to get an IUD for when Archer and I started having sex, but I ran out of my pills, and since my appointment was set up for next week, I figured it would be okay if I held off. Mostly because Archer kept pushing sex off the table every single time we did anything. I assumed he’d continue doing that for at least a week longer.

How could I be this careless? Archer had finished in me last night, twice.

Shit.

I put the phone back to my ear. “Sorry, dropped the phone.”

“No shit. Look…when you get to my house, you should know a few things.”

“You have even more kids who wield knives and want to murder me?”

Juan didn’t laugh, and my mother sighed in disapproval, making me feel guilty for joking about it. I had no idea how hard it must be for him to have his sons act like that.

“Sorry—”

“Actually, yes…it’s not your typical family scene. We did our best to raise them, but with Taylor’s family ties and Ky …never mind, you’ll meet him eventually, but our kids were raised differently. Taylor and my daughter, Alex will make sure you and the kids are okay. You can trust them; just don’t be alarmed by what you see.”

I had no idea what that meant and how he knew I had two kids with me. Peeking over my shoulder, I saw that both boys were munching on snacks while watching a movie from the headrest, a pair of headphones over each little head—one dark, one light. I returned forward, feeling a strange fire burn in my lungs as I gripped the phone.

“I heard you adopted Taylor’s daughter when you married her. Surely you can appreciate that I will fight as hard for Kane as I would for Cruz. They’re mine, with or without Archer, they’re mine. If anything happens⁠—”

“Nothing will happen, Renny. I promise you. I’ll guard them with my life as I would guard you.”

“Even if—” I couldn’t say it. What if his sons murdered Kane’s brother? What if they wanted to come back and finish off Kane so he wouldn’t grow up wanting revenge?

Juan was quiet as he replied, “I’m getting him back to you safe and sound, even if it means my own sons shoot me.”

I rolled my eyes because that sounded absurd, but it also seemed to give me the slightest bit of hope that Archer would be okay. My mind flashed briefly with an image of me in a wedding dress, standing outside under a pergola covered in ivy and white flowers. Our family surrounding us while Archer stood in a suit, smiling at me. Our sons standing next to us.

The rightness of the feeling settled into my heart like one of my postcards pinned to the fridge. Cruz was mine, and so was Kane.

“Thank you, Juan.” My voice was thick, and my brother went silent.

Until he added, “I’d like to have another chance to be your brother, Renny. I’m sorry I haven’t tried before this. I’m sorry I waited. I’m so—” His voice cut off with a choke.

“It’s okay if you need time, but I love you. I want to be in your life and see your son and have you meet mine the right way. I wish I was going to be there when you meet my wife and my daughter. They’re the best, and you’re going to love them.”

That made me smile. I wanted to meet them and try again with him. I wanted Cruz and Kane to have cousins and an uncle.

With a shuddery breath, I replied, “I’d like that too.”

Mom had wound her way up a glen with overhanging trees and a narrow road. I wasn’t sure how long we’d traveled on this secluded lane, but it felt like forever. Just as I spoke up, she suddenly turned onto a private drive.

White gravel ran along the path, with fruit trees lining the road for nearly half a mile until it stopped at a large gate. Beyond the entrance was a massive house that resembled a mansion.

I leaned forward, my mouth dropping open. ‘Juan is rich—rich.’

My mother’s face remained impassive. ‘This is their safe house…or it was once upon a time. It was supposed to be temporary, but they kept returning, so they made it their home.’

The gate opened as I looked over at my mother. ‘They?’

‘Yes, Henrietta. Your brother created a family of his own, and it’s made up of people who do not share his blood. While others live here, you will replace more than enough space for you and the boys. Don’t worry.’

I was worried, though. I didn’t want to expose the kids to strangers. We drove forward; the gravel had transitioned to black asphalt that was smooth under the tires. Another half mile took us up the driveway that spilled into a massive courtyard. A myriad of vehicles were parked, each one looking durable and extremely expensive. Past the courtyard were acres and acres of green grass, and along the edge of the property was a dense forest.

My mom pulled up to a free spot near a small entry gate that led to the front door.

‘Where are we?’ Cruz asked, taking his headphones off. I wasn’t even sure what to say. I had no clue where we were or what we were about to encounter, which was visible in how my hands shook.

‘We’re on an adventure. Doesn’t this look fun?’ I said, all smiles, as both boys smiled back at me.

My mother exited the car and grabbed Cruz while I pulled Kane up and carried him against my hip. Tipping my head back to take in the mansion, I noticed a man appear in one of the upper windows. He had a solemn expression on his face like he was pissed that I had arrived. It seemed to sour the air as I followed my mother up the steps to the massive home.

An oak door with a wreath made of baby’s breath awaited us, with an oversized brass handle in the middle of the wood.

‘That’s funny, like in The Hobbit,’ Kane said, giggling.

How did he know about The Hobbit at five? I held him closer as my mother pushed through the door.

A woman appeared, her hair flying behind her as she stopped before us. Her eyes were blue, which matched Gio’s, and her pink lips spread wide in a smile I could feel all the way to my toes. This was my brother’s wife.

‘Wren?’ she asked, as if she knew my fake name all this time and had been in my life, seeing my personal details, and was all caught up. Unlike me, who had no idea about her other than I resented her…or I used to.

She walked over and hugged both me and Kane, then Cruz and my mother.

Another woman appeared behind her. She looked just like Taylor but much younger—probably in her early twenties. She wore black leggings and a tight yoga top. Her feet were bare, and her hair was braided back.

‘This is Alex, my daughter.’ Taylor pulled the woman to her side. Alex.

Alexandra. I had heard that was what Juan had named her from one of my mother’s lectures years and years ago. She never mentioned the boys, though. Not once.

‘It’s so nice to meet you.’ I smiled, feeling a little less nervous at how friendly they were.

Alex stepped closer and hugged me. ‘You look just like my dad.’

Taylor had tears in her eyes. ‘Right? I know there’s an age difference, but you could be twins.’

The mention of twins had my stomach souring. I wanted to comment on them. I wanted to share what horrors they’d done, but then I pictured her doing the same thing to me, talking about Cruz, and I couldn’t stomach speaking poorly of her kids to her.

‘Well, come inside, Juan called and told me you’d be staying for a bit. I have two rooms for you, ready to go. The boys are in one together, but you’ll be right next to them.’ Taylor led the way down a long hallway.

Off to the side were two sets of staircases that led to a separate part of the house. Through the middle was a large area strewn with chairs, couches, and a relatively long table. We just kept walking until we went down a set of steps. The floors were some kind of marble, waxed so nicely I could see my reflection on them. The drop from the stairs led to a platform that transitioned into a living space.

Thick rugs were laid out. A large sectional sofa faced a rather vast entertainment system. Matching armchairs were off to the side, framing a circular coffee table with glass candle holders and melted white tapers inside. Pictures were scattered all along the walls.

I tried to catch what I could as we walked. Alex was in several of them; she was next to a girl with reddish brown hair, bright green eyes, and a happy smile. She seemed a few years younger than Alex, but the two seemed to appear together in nearly every picture.

I moved over to the images where Alex was with two younger brothers. She held each one in her arms and smiled down at them. Taylor and Juan held the boys while Alex sat between them, smiling like she was the luckiest girl on the planet. The boys in diapers.

My eyes watered. I had missed so much of his life, of their lives.

Now, it seemed I had been wrong about Juan. The sorrow cut deep into my heart, making guilt flare.

I kept walking, taking in all I could of these lives I had missed, only to pause in front of a particular image. The picture was recent; Alex was the age she is now, and Gio and Kingston looked the same. Next to Gio was that girl with reddish brown hair, but Gio’s eyes and Kingston’s were on another girl. One with dark hair braided into a crown on top of her head. She had bruises on her face and on her hands like a fighter would. Her smile was infectious as she leaned into the girl with reddish hair, but the boys… were transfixed by her. I was curious why they’d hang this photo when it clearly would have been one of the outtakes, one that would cause you to take another, so everyone would be looking at the camera.

Assuming Taylor was nearby, I asked, ‘Who is this?’

There was something about the photo that was hauntingly painful. An ache seemed trapped in the photo, begging to be released.

I startled when I heard a male voice speak up behind me. ‘That’s Presley.’

The man I had seen in the window stood behind me, and I realized I’d lost Taylor, Alex, and my mother. Cruz and Kane had followed along with them as I hung back by the pictures.

My finger traced over my nephews’ faces, their eyes glued to this girl.

Then I whispered the only thing that kept circling my mind. ‘They both love her.’

The man moved closer. ‘Took you two seconds to realize something that took them nineteen years to figure out.’

Nineteen years.

That’s how old my nephews were.

I suddenly felt like I was stepping into pain that was none of my business. Something had obviously happened to Gio and Kingston. Something that transformed them from the happy teenage boys in these photos to the monsters that appeared in my living room.

‘Is she…’ I didn’t know how to ask because what if something had happened?

The man seemed to know what I was asking. ‘Is she alive?’

My feet shifted until I was facing him. It seemed too painful to keep watching something that looked so intimate.

The man’s features were sharp and angular. He had green eyes, similar to the girl I’d seen in the photo, with reddish brown hair. Thin brown hair was messily styled on top of a balding head. His clothes were dark, nondescript, and plain. There was nothing notable about this man other than something that felt like a thrum of danger that seemed to radiate from him. His intense gaze remained on the photo as he replied.

“The twins’ mother chose that photo. She wanted it hung where they’d always be able to see what they did to this family. Taylor speaks in ways that require no words. The boys spoke back by leaving the house shortly after she hung it.”

I noticed he wasn’t answering me if the girl was alive or not.

‘Something happened to them?’

The man glanced at me; his scrutiny felt like someone had placed me in the sights of a sniper. ‘You met them.’

I nodded. ‘They’re why I had to leave.’

‘You left alive?’

The fact that my nephews left me intact shocked him, making fear surge in my chest.

This close I could see this man was older than me by several years. Closer to his fifties or so, but it also spoke of a life lived in the shadows. He felt dangerous, and perhaps I should walk away instead of standing here talking about a photo and two nephews I didn’t know. Instead, I answered him.

‘My mother is the only reason they stopped.’

His stare remained on the photo. ‘Nice to see they do have some hard limits. I was beginning to wonder.’

‘Do they⁠—’

‘Scotty, I wasn’t aware you were done training,’ Taylor said firmly, coming into view, her lips pursed like she wasn’t happy the man was speaking to me.

The man, Scotty, turned toward my sister-in-law. ‘I wasn’t aware you were breaking protocol by bringing in strangers.’

Taylor’s arm came around my shoulder protectively. ‘Wren is no stranger. She’s family.’

Scotty glared at her almost like he wanted to say something else, but instead he walked back toward the steps that led to this part of the house.

‘Come on, Wren. I’ll show you your room.’ She pulled me toward the stairs I had watched her use before getting distracted by the images.

‘Who was that?’ I asked.

Taylor’s hold on my shoulders went slack as she let out a sigh.

“That was Scotty. He’s…well, it’s a little complicated if you haven’t met everyone, but once you do, you’ll understand.”

“Is he dangerous?” I asked, searching the walls for more photos as we walked.

Taylor’s grip tightened on my arm. “Very…never underestimate him. He’s loyal to exactly three people, and only them.”

I lifted my head, taking more steps as we continued to climb step after step. “Who?”

“Well, for starters…Kyle, but you probably have no idea who that is. Just don’t blindly trust him, okay?”

I followed Taylor, feeling like there was so much more I would have discovered if I’d been allowed to stay and talk with the man who stared at that photo as if he was looking at a ghost.