Becoming A Vincent (The Wild Ones Book 1)(25)

Why is he smiling? Does he not realize this thing is loaded? I know it  looks small, but it's pump action-Vincent style. It hurts like a bitch  the more times I pump.

"Easy. I'm just here to talk," he says, still grinning.

"The last girl who dated Benson that you talked to announced she was  pregnant with your baby," I remind him, feeling defensive of the bastard  even as I hate him a little.

That turns his smile into a grimace. "Which is why I'm here on behalf of my brother now, to do the right thing for once."

"Tell me why you screwed his fiancée, and I'll consider not shooting you."

"Are all the women here like you?" he muses.

"Some are crazier," I say with a shrug, now feeling defensive of myself  as I stand a little taller, pushing my shoulders back as though that  somehow helps me look saner.

His grin spreads again, but it falls when he exhales harshly. "Fine. To  be fair, they weren't engaged the first time I was with her. I wanted  Sadie before my brother. We were sixteen-"

"Who's we?" I interrupt.

"All of us. Sadie, me, and Benson."

I lower the gun a little, keeping it pointed at his groin now. Which he  subtly tries to cover. Guess he witnessed Benson's pain. That makes me  feel a little better.

Wait? All of them were the same age? That means-

"You and Benson are twins?" I ask, that part of the puzzle suddenly snapping together.

"Fraternal twins," he says, frowning. "He didn't tell you that?"

"In case you haven't noticed, I wasn't told a huge chunk of family history."

He nods in understanding. "Right. Well, Sadie and I had been talking,  but she ended up choosing my brother. I never told him I was into her,  and I expected my feelings to go away. I mean, I was sixteen, so how  tough could that be? But they didn't go away, since it became a game of  wanting what I couldn't have-forbidden fruit and all that. Then one  night they had a nasty fight, broke up, and she came to me."

He groans like he hates thinking back to it.

"I was almost seventeen at the time. She came to me, and I was an idiot  kid who thought the girl of his dreams was finally choosing him. I  wanted to talk to Benson first, but … did I mention I was seventeen? She  came to me in lingerie, and I was a goner. So I did the unthinkable,  certain they were over and I wasn't hurting anyone."

I lower the Daisy another inch.

"The next day, she went back to him, and I was wracked with guilt when  he came to confide in me about how he was worried he almost lost her. I  said nothing. And the next time they fought, I said nothing when she  came to me. Or the next time. Or the next time. It wasn't until she  pulled that stunt by claiming me as the father just to hurt Benson, that  I realized she never cared about me at all. In fact, I was just a tool  she used against him. Funny thing is, neither of us really loved her. We  were just young and stupid, unaware that love isn't real unless it's  reciprocated. We both just wanted the unobtainable."

I keep aiming the gun at him, but my finger is no longer on the trigger.

"She and Benson had been dating for a few months when Mom and John  announced they were engaged. They'd only met because John insisted on  meeting Sadie's boyfriend's parents. And since our Dad left us when we  were younger, it was just Mom for him to meet. John's wife died when  Sadie was two, and he'd been alone since then. Mom had been alone …  In  short, our family history got really complicated really fast."

"Benson said it was complicated," I mumble, looking down at the ground.  "But that doesn't change the fact he didn't want me over there this  week, and all along, the woman he gave a ring to was in his house,  freshly divorced."

Yeah, I certainly didn't forget that tidbit that Benson shared. Talk about acid on an already burning wound.                       
       
           



       

"Sadie is the type of woman to never love a guy. She's always going to  want them on the hook though. Benson and I are both older and wiser to  her game nowadays. I can assure you that he never intended for anything  at all to happen between them," he tells me.

I eye him like I'm suspicious of him, and he shrugs.

"Why'd he send you? Of all people?"

"No one else was brave enough to deal with your brothers, apparently."

I almost laugh. Almost.

"And I really want to make amends with my brother. It's been nine years. I miss him," he adds.

I couldn't imagine going nine years without my brothers. They'd kill  someone if I was out of their lives for more than a few weeks. They had  to visit me almost every other weekend when I was living in Seattle.

I think half the establishments there still have a poster of their faces to warn employees to never let them in again.

"What's your last name?" I ask.

"Calbert," he says reflexively, then slaps a hand over his mouth as though he didn't mean to say that.

I grin, knowing Benson must have told him not to tell me.

"Shit," he groans. "Don't tell him I told you. Does that mean you're  considering forgiving him? Because really, this is all just one massive,  slightly confusing, certainly understandable, misunderstanding."

I hear the sound of a Jeep pulling up behind my house, and a small smirk forms on my lips.

"I'll consider it. But he's probably going to have to work harder than  this. I mean, it's not very manly to send his brother over because he's  scared of my brothers."

He rolls his eyes.

"He's not scared of them; he just knew they'd make it impossible to  speak to you. He knew they'd be keeping an eye on him. So he went into  town, and then got your friend to draw them out. She's under the  impression you're denying your feelings."

I don't tell him how much I already miss my best friend/boyfriend. His  groveling game needs to be a little stronger than this if he really  wants me back.

My smirk grows. "He's right. My brothers never would have left if he'd  been right across the lake. But the problem now is that they just got  back. And they're being really quiet. That's never good."

He looks around, seemingly unconcerned.

"I'm not really scared of two guys. I mean, I did see them wailing in pain after you finished with them."

It's positively adorable how clueless he is.

"No one has explained the four corners of the Wild Ones, have they?" I ask, amused.

He shakes his head slowly.

"The what?" he asks.

"First rule of family: brothers don't hit sisters. They take their  beatings, because sisters only beat them when they deserve it."

I start backing up, closing the door in the process. "Good luck, Deacon.  You're going to need it. You're about to learn what the Wild Ones  really are."

He snorts, still unconcerned, and I listen for the first-

"Motherfucker!" I hear him roar, seconds before a series of loud pops ring out.

Then the whistle of a firework sounds as a scream pierces the air. I  glance out the window to see Deacon running with his ass on fire,  leaping into the lake on purpose as more fireworks shoot off in his  direction.

I laugh to myself, knowing he deserves at least that much, even though I should probably thank him.

I guess Benson forgot to warn him my brother's don't always fight fair.

Eh. What the hell.

He'll survive.





Chapter 21



Wild Ones Tip #100

Don't try to understand why we are the way we are.

You'll just get a headache and no answers.





BENSON



"Explain the Wild Ones to me," my brother says, hissing out a breath as he slides on a pair of pants.

I have to give it to him; he still wants to help me even after the  brothers shot fireworks at him and lit his ass on fire with a homemade  blow torch. He had to jump in that cold water to keep from getting  seriously injured. As it is, it just left him with a little burn no  worse than sunburn.

"At a metaphorical four corners of the lake, you have a different family  representing a Wild family. Wild Ones are not allowed to date each  other. They're not allowed to all be in one place at one time. At most,  only two Wild One families can be in the same place at the same time.  Never more. With the exception of certain circumstances."

His eyebrows are at his hairline.

"And this is normal to you?" he asks dubiously.

I smirk. "You grow used to it. The Vincents-Lilah included-are part of  the Wild Ones. This is their corner. The Vincent brothers, as you've  learned, can be ruthless. Usually they're harmless and only destructive  to inanimate objects. Unless you piss them off."                       
       
           



       

"And the cops do nothing?"

"There's one cop. There're a lot of Wild Ones. Unless someone presses  charges, there's no reason for police. And no one is stupid enough to  press charges against anyone, because all the Wild Ones will come after  you until they drive you out of town. The Vincents were the youngest  addition. Lilah's father and mother made their name notorious, and the  brothers and Lilah expanded on that."