“Are you a housewife, Aviva, is that what this is all about?” Sam asked in a mocking tone.
“For a moment there, I’d move half a notch up from kicking your ass to not giving a shit about you. That’s gone now and I’m only going to warn you once, be careful how you speak to my wife,” Jason warned.
“That’s enough, all of you,” Jackson broke in.
Lux didn’t know if she could sit through hours of this unfolding story. Sam obviously had something he wanted to say, and she finally wanted to hear it. But there were too many people in the room.
It seemed that Jackson was of the same mind. “I don’t think this is getting us anywhere. Why don’t we leave Lux and her side of the family to conduct this conversation alone?”
Nobody said a word but the twins jumped to their feet almost before Jackson finished speaking. Grabbing hold of their wives hands they exited the room so quickly, Lux couldn’t understand why they hadn’t left before.
Jackson was a lot more dignified in his leave-taking as he took the time to offer her a smile. It was then she recalled the words that accompanied his suggestion. Her side of the family. Lux felt a spark inside, this was the first time the older man had acknowledged her as family.
“Why did they stay?” Lux asked Josh when only the four of them remained.
“In case we needed them.”
“We, don’t you mean you.”
“No, I mean, we. You’re my wife so that means you have two more brothers and two additional sisters-in-law.”
“They don’t even like me!” Lux scoffed.
“They like you well enough. But even if they didn’t, it wouldn’t matter; my father and brothers would protect you with their lives.”
Lux thought his choice of words a little peculiar and called him on it. “Are they going to have to protect me, Josh?”
“Umm, probably not,” Josh stuttered. “But who can say what the future holds.” He finished with a lame smile.
The snort that came from across the room pulled her attention. Her brother was now sitting back in his seat as though with the exit of the others, he was much more at ease.
“What was that for,” Lux asked.
“You have a lot to learn about your husband.”
“Leave it, Sam,” Rachel warned.
“Not a chance, he threw that out there and I want him to back it up!” Lux demanded.
“Ask your husband, not me.”
“I should toss you out on your ass,” Josh threatened.
“Accuse me of whatever you like, but I don’t want to hear you taunting my husband again!”
When she looked at Josh, he looked so pleased she felt as though she’d missed something. “What?”
“Nothing,” he assured with a smirk and a wave of his hand. “You’re doing really well, please continue.”
Now she just wanted to pop him in the nose to get rid of the smug look on his damn face.
“What else do you want to say to me, Sam and why now?”
At his wife’s urging, he looked back at her and Lux knew she was about to get confirmation of what before now were only speculation and hearsay.
“After today, we may never see each other again, Lux.”
The moment his words registered, her heart gave such a powerful thud and she gasped in a breath. Lux felt like a complete fake. Now that he was the one making the decision to leave her life, she was stunned and afraid.
“What does he mean, Josh?” Lux asked her husband unable to risk a response she might not want to hear from her brother.
“I don’t know, baby. Why don’t we let him finish.”
Clutching on to Josh’s hand, Lux gave thought to what Sam was about to say. That was when she knew the prospect of forever was too final and something she was unwilling to contemplate.
Chapter 26
“After Dad died, I know I went off the tracks, and with hindsight, I would do it all differently. I made my mistakes Lux, and I stand behind them. I hope in some small way that I’ve made amends for some of the things I’ve done.”
“Don’t speak in circles, Sam. I don’t know what you’re talking about and I really want to. I want to be able to forgive my brother for the things I’ve been told he’s done over the years.”
“Told by who, Lux?”
“That doesn’t matter. I want to hear what you have to say.”
“Who Lux?” Sam reiterated with a steeliness behind his demand for an answer.
Knowing her continued refusal to reveal her sources served no purpose, she told him. “First off it was by one of the kids in our old neighborhood. Raymond Harris was his name. He took great pleasure in taunting me about what you got up to. I didn’t believe him at first, but I watched and listened. I even followed you a couple of times and I saw what he said was true.