“Garik,” he mouthed. In that one word he told her not to worry but to stay on her guard.
Her tiny mouth pressed into a firm line and she bobbed her head an inch.
Thorpe strode towards the door, allowing his feet to step heavily across the floorboards. His brother knew he was home, there was no reason to pretend otherwise now. He brushed a rough, honey-toned hand through his short, straight, black hair and opened the door. His brother stared back at him with a cold smile. Thorpe kept his cool. He was good at that. Better than his elder brother whose emotions flowed through his face like sand through a sieve.
“Hello, little brother,” said Garik in his taunting, deep, nasal voice.
There was a short, icy pause before Thorpe replied, “Hello, big brother.”
Another pause. They locked eyes.
Thorpe observed Garik still had the same hedgehog hairstyle. He held back the urge to laugh. He studied every inch of his brother's square face to spot his intentions before he acted on them. Garik could be read like a book, but his actions tended to be unexpected; on the rare occasion even to Thorpe who knew his brother's capabilities better than anyone else.
“Well?” Garik pushed, “Are you going to invite me in? It's rude to leave a guest hanging on the doorstep.”
Thorpe knew it would be worse if he didn't let him in, so he stepped aside holding out his hand inside the hallway. Garik smiled in a way that Thorpe imagined he was mentally adding a point to the scoreboard under 'Garik'. Thorpe hated that but managed to flash a carefree, charming smile in response. He knew Garik hated that more. One point to me then? he thought facetiously.
Not taking his brother seriously made it easier for Thorpe to chain his dread in a dungeon hidden deep in the back of his mind.
“Nice place you got here,” Garik began in a loud voice.
At the sound of Garik entering the living-room, Eliza walked under the archway to 'greet' him.
He stopped in his tracks and smiled.
She clenched her teeth together.
“Hi, Eliza.”
She gave a nod of her head in response.
“You're looking real good. Tasty as ever.” He smirked.
Thorpe saw her try to conceal the shiver of revulsion as she folded her arms and leant against the archway: a gesture followed by a glare that warned Garik she wasn't above snapping off his you-know-what if he carried on. Garik's smile dropped off his face and he turned away as if the room was more interesting to him.
“Okay, Garik, what do you want?” Thorpe demanded.
Garik raised his thick brows. “I'm just visiting my favourite brother and sister-in-law. Sorry for not giving you any notice of my coming, but you see, you've never invited me to your home before. I'd have been waiting another twenty years at this rate. Didn't know your address until recently,” he said in a high voice that reeked of contempt.
“Don't pretend like you don't know why.”
“Fine, but don't pretend like you aren't interested in knowing the meaning of my little visit.”
“Fine, then why are you here?”
Garik grinned. It was hard and menacing.
Eliza and Thorpe exchanged looks.
He sneered, replying, “You should be more curious as to how I even knew you were here.”
Thorpe raised a brusque brow. “So you have a good private detective, I'm happy for you.” His sarcastic, unfazed tone riled his brother.
Garik's face creased up like a bulldog and he spat, “Your damn hospital records for one!”
Thorpe felt his heart stop at the word 'hospital'. Had Garik connected the dots? Thorpe swore inside his head.
Eliza gazed at her husband. She became the stronger half in the relationship and spoke to give him time to collect himself. “So you found out where I gave birth, and where we live. Congratulations,” she replied mockingly, stepping away from her safety spot by the archway.
Garik focused on her for the second time since he'd walked in. The lust in his eyes was evident.
She held her ground, unflinching.
“I also found something else rather interesting.” Garik paused, heightening the suspense until it blew through the roof.
“What is it?!” Thorpe barked.
“Your daughter.”
Thorpe couldn't control the gape he flashed at his wife.
She stared at Garik and then scowled. “She's dead, can't you leave her be?” she growled.
“Are we referring to Lora, or the one who you claimed was dead and yet, is very much alive?”
They couldn't speak. You could have cut the tension in the air with a knife.
Thorpe had feared this moment but both he and Eliza had known it would happen eventually. Garik was thorough when it came to finding things out. Especially when he suspected he was being lied to.
Thorpe had seen the smugness in his brother's face the moment he'd opened the door. He'd guessed straight away that Garik had something on them. What else could it have been but the proof they'd lied about the death of their twin daughter all these years? The fact he was even here at all was enough to set off alarm bells.