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“This is Alayna,” Caden says lazily and strokes Alayna’s hair. “My girlfriend.”
Melissa does not reply.
“That’s Melissa, Carter’s ex, right, Carter? Did I miss something, bro?” Caden looks at me with interest.
When he says her name, she winces.
“Hi!” Alayna greets her reluctantly. Melissa casts a glance in her direction that should probably warn Alayna that she is sitting next to the devil himself. Disbelievingly, she looks at Caden and Alayna’s hands, which are laced together on the table. Alayna also lifts Caden’s arm from her back and pulls it over her shoulders.
My brother smiles blandly. “So? Have I missed something? Are you two happily together again? Have you left everything behind you? I mean everything? Well, that’s admirable.”
Naturally, neither of us answers and I am certainly not thinking about everything that went on between the three of us or about how narrowly Melissa escaped it all.
“Melissa,” Caden repeats gently when she does not answer. Melissa swallows and stiffens, her eyes searching mine for help. I sigh heavily. No matter how happy my brother is, he will never change. He has too much fun with his games. “Bring me a glass of water,” he asks Melissa in order to demonstrate how much power he still has over her and her mind. Melissa actually wants to jump up and do it immediately because Caden’s manipulation and her fear of him still works.
A
I grab Melissa by the arm so she doesn’t try to bring him water.
“I’ll take you home now,” I say emphatically and take her hand because I know how much it costs her. I do not want her to feel alone.
Caden claps his hands sarcastically. “Congratulations,” he calls to Melissa, who flinches as he claps. Guaranteed, she remembers when he always counted to three and every count accompanied a smack to her ass. When she ran, he chased her, only to catch her again.
“Let’s go. Now!” Melissa begs frantically because the psycho-bro I have has conditioned her so that the clapping encourages her to run away. So, she can hardly sit still anymore.
Alayna glances back and forth between the three of us, totally disturbed. In her bright sunshine world, she has no idea what is going on here.
“It’s good to have you back, Melissa,” Caden whispers as I grab her and rise. “Don’t run too fast or you’ll stumble,” he yells after her, but I pull her onward. I know I don’t have to be afraid of Caden, but the victims he seeks must.