Pretty in the Dark (Dark and Wild #2)

Chapter 18

18

JUNIPER

I watched without really seeing as green peas rolled around my plate, playing a sick game of dodge-the-fork that I was only half-heartedly invested in. If the pea didn’t want to sacrifice itself to the end of the steel prong and prolong its slow, rotting death at the bottom of the compost pile instead, who was I to complain? It’s not like I would taste it, anyway. I made to stab at the pile once more, watching as one bounced, hoping to make its escape, and instead landed in a pile of steaming mashed potatoes that were drowning in gravy. Poor little guy just couldn’t catch a break.

“I’m not a fan of peas, either.” A smooth voice interrupted my wild fantasy of peas forming a pea-chain to save their drowning comrade from the potato avalanche and I blushed, embarrassed I’d been caught day-dreaming. I was being rude.

I raised my gaze to meet the black-eyed stare of my brother, who was sitting across from me at the table in my formal dining room. A soft smile that seemed contradictory to the hard, angular planes of his jaw played about his lips. I returned it half-heartedly. This dinner had been my idea. After a night of restless sleep, I’d woken up to a message from Kage letting me know his office hadn’t heard anything yet from Stacy and, on a whim, I’d invited him over for dinner. At the time, I had told myself that it was because I wanted to get to know him better. Despite his reputation and the rumors that swirled around about him, he was my brother. In a different life, we might have even grown up together. But in reality, it was just a distraction from the overwhelming thoughts of watching a hazel-eyed biker walk out of my life and destroy the little bit of hope I’d had for us.

“Yeah, they’ve never been my go-to vegetable.” I wrinkled my nose. “Or mushrooms, for that matter.” Maybe I needed to give up on a well-balanced diet and stick to pizza. “When I was little, my mom would tell me that my peas were laughing at me to get me to eat them.” With a shake of my head, I reached for my glass of wine. Kage had brought it with him, some expensive brand that I couldn’t even pronounce the name of, but it had a rich, smoky flavor with just a hint of pepper as it hit my tongue. I liked it and I wasn’t even a wine drinker. Maybe I had more in common with my brother than I initially thought.

“I remember her.” He murmured, his dark brows furrowed in a frown as he stared down at his plate.

“I—,” My throat threatened to cut off the words. “…didn't realize you’d ever met her.”

He nodded and pushed away from the table to come and refill my glass. “It’s more of an impression of her than anything else. I was too young at the time to understand who she was, or her importance to him.” Something glinted in the dark depths of his eyes. “But I remember he smiled a lot when he was with her.”

Cocking my head, I watched as he sat back down, all elegance and grace in a black, long-sleeved button-up and designer jeans. It was at odds with what I knew lurked underneath. He’d come dressed much less formally than the designer suit and tie I was used to seeing him conduct his business in. Yet, it still screamed wealth, power and intimidation. Without realizing it, I’d sat Kage at the head of the table where Edmund used to sit, and I couldn’t help but draw the comparison.

Both men were powerful, dangerous and well connected.

Both men wanted something from me.

What would happen once Kage got it, though? He didn’t seem the type of man who put a lot of stock into family, especially after what he’d said about our grandfather.

“You say that like your dad didn’t smile a lot before he met my mother.” I took another sip of my wine, careful to not overindulge. The last thing I needed was to let my guard down completely around a man who was a known gangster and suspected killer. Brother or not.

“ Our dad.” He corrected, and my gut clenched. “And no, he didn’t. Ours wasn’t the type of family that spent the holidays making postcard memories.” He reached for a bread roll and tore off a chunk. “He tried to shield me from it the best he could. I think dad wanted something different for me. But once he died, our grandfather stepped in and picked up where our father had slacked-off in training.”

“Training? You make it sound like you were raised in a military compound.” I’d stopped pretending to eat and sat back, observing everything my brother did. From the way he moved, to the way his mouth formed words, trying to get a sense of the man who fathered us both by watching the near spitting image of him sitting across from me.

White teeth glinted in the dim lighting, predatory and feral. “We are Diovolos, Juniper. Life as a Diovolo is a life of war. You are either prepared for it, or you die.”

“You say that like I’m a Diovolo, too.” My pulse spiked. I’d been raised my entire life to be a Wild. To be the legacy that came with that name. The idea that I could be something more, something different, sent a shockwave through me.

He shrugged, casually graceful in a way I wasn’t sure I could ever be. “That is entirely up to you. I won’t make demands of you.” Something passed between us in the look that he gave me from across the table. Something that said he understood all too well what it was like to be forced into a life you didn’t choose for yourself. It was the same feeling I got whenever I looked at Dean. Not for the first time, I wondered what it would have been like to grow up with Kage as the big brother and I, the little sister.

“What if,” I cleared my throat, suddenly nervous and yet driven by the desire, the need to know. “...what if I wanted to find out? What if I wanted a chance to make that choice?”

He cocked his head, studying me and I wondered if he hadn’t been preparing for me to ask that question all along. “You’re asking me to let you see behind the curtain. This isn’t Oz, Juniper. I’m not a wizard. Stepping into my world will be nothing like what you’ve seen so far, even when you were still Edmund Wild’s daughter. And quite frankly, I'm not sure our father, or Cade for that matter, would have wanted you to even sniff at it.” He leaned forward and I was met with the full force and intensity of Kage Diovolo, my brother's gaze. “But I’m not our father.”

Kage’s words sunk in. He wasn’t our father. He was the man his grandfather, our grandfather, had raised. Raised to kill him and then succeed in his place. I snorted. No, Cade certainly wouldn’t approve of me peeking behind the curtain into my brother’s world. A world Cade was somehow a part of, but still hid from me. As if I needed to be protected from the dark like a babe needed a night light. “No, you’re not. And neither is Cade. He doesn’t have a say in what I do with my life.”

A dark brow arched as a glimmer of amusement flashed in his eyes. “Trouble in paradise?” He purred, reaching for his wine glass, the gold rings on his fingers flashing, and my gaze was drawn to the skulls that grinned tauntingly at me. Skulls that looked eerily similar to the ones that graced Cade’s arms and hands.

“There’s no paradise for us. There never was.” I shook my head and stared pointedly at his tattoos. “You and Cade have known each other for a long time. How did you meet?”

“What makes you think we’ve known each other for a long time?” Kage’s smile was all pointed teeth as it stretched across his face.

“Your tattoos, for one,” I rolled my eyes, annoyed at the way he so obviously tried to dodge my question. “They’re almost identical. I’d even dare to say ritualistic. And two, the fact that he protects you like his life depends on it.”

“Family isn’t always born of blood. You could say that we grew up together, however, if Cade hasn’t revealed our history then I’m sure he has his reasons for doing so.” I started to interrupt, frustrated at being stonewalled once again from finding out more about Cade’s past, but Kage held up a finger continuing on. “…but, since you want to know so badly about our family and what it means to be a Diovolo, maybe I can shed a little bit of light on that without revealing too many of Cade’s secrets.” He stood up from the table and came around to where I was sitting, pulling me out of my chair. “Get your coat,” He commanded.

“Where are we going?” I blinked in confusion, as he opened up his phone and shot off a quick text message.

There was a devilish gleam in his eyes that sent goosebumps along my spine. “I have something for you, sister dear. Consider it a gift.”

“A gift?” I squeaked out.

“Yes. One I think you’ll find most…satisfying.” The way he drew out the word and the cruel twist of his lips made my stomach drop.

I felt like I was caught in some twisted game of cat and mouse. And there was no doubt about it, I was most definitely the mouse.