Finding Eden(7)

Paul’s father may have been a brilliant soldier before three bullets forced him to retire early, but he was a horrific businessman. If it weren’t for his monthly retirement checks their family would starve to death.

Paul pocketed his keys and opened the truck door. His motions were slow, everything in him wanting to go back to Danny’s place. It wasn’t that the house was more beautiful and lavish, it was Danny being there. Now that Eve was gone, he was the only person in the world who really gave a shit that Paul felt as if his heart had just been ripped from his chest. Somewhere deep down there was a side of Paul that could be hurt and he needed his best friend. It was taking more strength than he knew he had not to run and hide from his life in the haven of Danny’s room.

“You’re fucked, pretty boy.”

Paul closed his eyes, the taunt making the hair on the back of his neck stand on end. He squeezed his keys tightly in his pocket, looking for some sort of strength of will to deal with his family. Usually it rolled off his back, but Eve leaving had allowed him to absorb a little more of Danny’s rebellion than he realized.

As Paul opened his eyes and glared at his brother John, he couldn’t hide the loathing he felt for him. The grim truths of his life became vibrantly clear for the moment. The heartbreak over Eve temporarily removed a frosted filter that had been in place for as long as he could remember. Paul learned when he was very young to psyche himself out, making violent abuse a fun game instead. He normally enjoyed seeing how much he could endure, but there was no mind game currently in existence that would make dealing with John tolerable today.

Always the odd man out, Paul had been a target for both his older brothers probably since the day he’d entered the world. Genetics were strange and Paul was a victim of recessive genes. If it weren’t for his large build that was a mirror to all the men in his family, his blond hair and light eyes would make him seem adopted. If that weren’t bad enough, he had the misfortune of being good-looking on top of it all.

One thing Paul had learned well was nothing infuriated unattractive, malicious teenage boys more than having a younger brother who wasn’t only smarter than them, but also had the gall to be far better-looking. It mattered little that Paul would have given anything to hand over his curse of beauty to both John and Peter, who would never be more than plain at best. But he couldn’t change that any more than he could change anything else about himself that made him an absolute oddity in his family.

“The old man is pissed,” John went on, giving Paul a currish smile, his brown eyes dancing in delight. His brown hair, usually dull and dry, was shaved so close to his scalp it was hard to tell the color anymore. “He’s gonna dent the shit out of that pretty mug of yours.”

“And this is new how?” Paul asked in a voice heavy with disinterest. “What the fuck is he pissed about anyway?”

“AWOL.” John pointed at him with the wrench in his hand. “Everyone knows you’ve been fucking that slut when you were supposed to be here mowing the lawn. It’s Saturday, princess.”

Paul studied his brother, whose beady eyes were dark and calculating as if looking for someone smaller and weaker to assault. He reminded Paul of a vicious pit bull who had been beaten and kicked for so long he lashed out and attacked anyone who got close to him. John would be a feral, extremely dangerous man until the day he died.

“Please don’t get married,” Paul said before he could stop himself. “You should not have kids—ever.”

“What the fuck did you just say to me?” John asked, gaping at Paul in shock, his plain features becoming mottled red in anger, making him look ugly on a soul-deep level.

“I was begging you not to get married, and if you do manage to talk some poor woman into marrying you, please pull out,” Paul said in a slow, condescending manner, raising his eyebrows in hopes of clarifying. “Sterilization should be a legal requirement for pricks like you.”

“What the fuck has gotten into you? You know I gotta kick your ass for a comment like that.” John laughed, looking at Paul in amazement.

Never one to rock the boat, Paul’s confrontational attitude was extremely out of place because he spent most of his life attempting to please others. He was so good at being and doing exactly what others required of him, even their father was running out of excuses to abuse Paul, who was always his favorite target. This was the moment they had all been waiting for, and Paul was a little too tired and defeated to point out it had nothing to do with his family’s constant need to test his limits of endurance for physical and mental abuse. He missed Eve, but his brother wouldn’t understand that. John had absolutely no concept of love.