Brightly Burning Bridges by Ivy Wild
Present
Skyler seemed particularlynervous for this morning’s meeting, which was strange. A part of me wanted to believe it was because she cared about whether I was going to get my ass thrown in prison for tax evasion, but another part of me reminded me that she hated me and was probably more likely to be sad about not being able to collect a paycheck should that happen.
But as much as she claimed she hated me, I could see the remains of our ruined relationship under the pile of ash. Every time I walked by her, every time I looked at her, every time I touched her, I cleared a little more black soot off her heart. Unlike mine, hers was still there, beating, feeling, loving.
She couldn’t hide it from me.
She never was able to keep things from me.
Especiallyher heart.
Still, her anxiety as we stood outside the odd building was at an all-time high and I reached down and squeezed her hand to try and reassure her. I was acutely aware of the hole in my chest when she squeezed me back and didn’t pull away.
I loved the feeling of her fingers wrapped around mine and I didn’t let go of her the entire time we walked into the house. Even just that small touch calmed me, warmed me, comforted me. It had always been this way with her.
With her standing next to me, I didn’t even feel all that nervous about whatever the fuck this meeting was. I’ll admit, it was a little odd to be holding an interview in Anacostia. More so in a fucking row house, but whatever. I’d dealt with enough bullshit government enquiries in my day to know that there were shitty side offices all over the city.
We walked up the stairs and a voice called out to us from the front room. Skyler’s eyes widened frantically upon hearing it and I gave her another squeeze of my hand before pulling her towards the room. The faster we got this over with, the faster I could get her back to her place and see how far I could push her this time.
I could tell she was ready to crack and when she did, I wanted to be there to catch all of her fucking pieces.
We walked into the small makeshift office and I got a good look at the man sitting at the desk. My blood began to boil as I pieced everything together. He was the same as he’d always been, a smug bastard with too much righteous indignation all over his fucking face.
“Vartan Santos,” I spat, not letting go of Skyler. “What the fuck is this all about?”
A sly smile lifted his lips and if it weren’t for the fact that Skyler had a death grip on my hand, I would have gone over there and punched it off his stupid face.
“Silas Jenkins. It’s been a long time. I’ve got to tell you, I’ve waited for this moment for too long. And then, I hit the jackpot. Because, you bring my long lost fiancé with you.”
What the actual fuck?
I turned to look at Skyler and even under her layer of makeup, she was as pale as her normal complexion. She was almost shaking as she looked up at me. Her eyes delivered the blow that was more crushing than a kick to the nuts with steel-toed boots. My hand dropped hers and she looked at me with a mix of fear and sadness. It was the same look she’d given me that day we stood against the entire school and I sold out.
Except this time, she was the one that sold out.
The silence stretched between us and she finally broke eye contact and looked at Vartan with hate in her eyes. “Ex-fiancé,” she spat.
“Oh right, right. Ex-fiancé,” he said with a laugh. “It was so good while it lasted, my love, but I told you, you would regret it if you left.”
Hearing him call her his love, saying it was good, fuck, I couldn’t think straight.
The one person I hated as much, if not more, than my father in the world and Skyler had to, not only apparently fuck him, but agree to marry him? I started to question everything. Was this entire thing a set up by her and Vartan? It didn’t make sense for it to be, right? Because I was the one that asked her to come and work for me. But, what if she’d known I would do that? Placed herself somewhere she knew I would see her?
My mind reeled as it tried to make sense of the situation.
“What do you want from us, Vartan?” she asked, her voice uneven.
I took a step away from her. As far as I was concerned, there was no fucking us at the moment.
“I want everything you promised me I would get, Skyler. I want to stand here and watch Silas decide between everything he has and everything he loves. I want to watch you watch him decide whether you are worth it. I can’t wait to see how this entire show plays out.”
Skyler looked at me helplessly, but I wasn’t having any of it. I crossed my arms over my chest, my brain finally recovering from the shock of the situation.
“What’s your game, Vartan? Tell me why you dragged me here and let’s get this over with.”
“I wonder, did Percy ever tell you about me?” The smirk on his face was really starting to grate on me and now that my hands were free, I really was thinking about going over there and wiping it off his face.
“Why would my father even know you existed?” I drawled.
Vartan let out a bitter laugh and I gave him a disinterested look.
“Just like the Jenkins,” he said. “Only concerned with themselves. Can’t look past their own luxurious lifestyle to understand what’s really going on.”
“Do you have a point to all this nonsense?” I spat.
“I do, brother,” he replied and my eyes widened. “So you really didn’t know? Didn’t suspect that your old man was running around on dear old mom while her brain was melting in the hospital?” My fists clenched at my sides and he laughed. “Don’t feel bad. I doubt I’m the only one of his bastard children. Just one that was smart enough to leverage his position to a better life.
“Well, since my love Skyler never shared this with you, I’ll go ahead and do the honors. Your father fraudulently funneled money to my mother and I while we were living in Brazil under the guise of one of his companies, just so he could treat his second family as a tax write off. It’s a shame, because now you’re the one that has to carry that burden and all the implications that go along with it.
“Agree to my terms and you’ll walk out of here a free man. Don’t,” he chuckled darkly, “and I’ll make sure you go to prison for a long time.” He looked over at Skyler. “And considering that you’ve pulled the cream to our Oreo into this mess, I’m fairly certain I could get accessory charges brought against her, as well.”
I kept my mask firmly in place. I wasn’t going to play games with this guy and let him win. He had another thing coming if he thought he could corner me. I didn’t know what the fuck happened between him and Sky, but it looked like he got the one up on her pretty badly. He was an idiot if he thought I was going to be so naïve.
“Just spill your little plan and let’s get this over with. In case you hadn’t realized, I spent the entire weekend sorting through documents thinking I was preparing for a legitimate interview. This is sort of a letdown.”
Vartan tisked and the sound had me grinding my teeth. “Silas, Silas. Always so quick with the comebacks. Alright, here’s the deal: You agree to fork over half your inheritance—it’s what should have gone to me in the first place, and I’ll agree not to spill the beans on your company’s fraud and alleged support of Brazilian gangs. Don’t agree and I’ll see you both in prison or at the very least, drag your names through so much mud you’ll never be able to wash the stench off your bodies.” He paused and gave me a menacing smile. “And one more thing, you and Skyler never speak to one another again.”
“Alright,” I said, uncrossing my arms and looking entirely unfazed by the situation. “I’m not opposed to giving you a cut of the inheritance, or the whole thing if that’s what it takes to move past this situation. If it’s true that you were Percy’s son, then you deserve it as much as I do. And as for Skyler, well, I just hired her on a whim. We went the last decade not speaking to one another. Shouldn’t be too difficult to make it a permanent situation. Give me a week to give you an answer. I’ll need to get my affairs in order to see if it’s even possible to do what you’re asking.”
Vartan fixed me with a bit of a surprised look. I think he thought I was going to resist, struggle, cause a scene. He clearly didn’t know his prey and when you’re trying to be a hunter, that was a recipe for starvation.
“Friday,” he said back. “I’m not going to give you enough time to mount some sort of half-assed defense, if that’s what you think is going to happen.”
I shrugged my shoulders. “Friday it is. Like I said, I just need some time to look into things to tell you if it’s feasible.”
Skyler looked between us. Tears were glistening in her eyes but, at the moment, I seriously didn’t care. She had a shit ton of explaining to do and it was going to happen the moment we were out of earshot of fucking Vartan and my driver.
Trust fucking no one.
“If there’s nothing else?” I asked casually. Vartan pressed his lips together. I could tell he thought this situation was entirely too easy. And he was right. Too bad he was too much of an idiot not to see what was going to happen.
I shuffled a mostly frozen from shock Skyler down the stairs and into the car waiting outside, barked at the driver to take us back to Georgetown and stewed in silence at the absolute fuckery that was my life.
By the timewe made it back to her apartment, Skyler’s eyes were mostly dry. Instead of crying, she shivered and curled into herself, just like she used to do in high school. I hated it now as much as I hated it then. No, I hated it more.
We rode the elevator in silence and I held my anger in check the entire ride up. The bell chimed and I broke the moment we stepped into her apartment.
“What the fuck, Skyler?” I roared at her.
Her lavender eyes went large and it seemed to shake her out of her personal pity party.
“Did you know we were walking into a fucking ambush? You were fucking engaged to Vartan? When the fuck were you going to tell me this?” I knew I was screaming and I knew my overuse of the word “fuck” was cringeworthy, but I just didn’t have the brain power for creative swearing at the moment.
“I didn’t know,” she said in that small voice of hers. She took a few steps away from me, putting the kitchen island between me and her.
I gripped the side of the quartz countertop and seethed. “You didn’t know? How could you not know you were engaged to a person I absolutely loath? How could you not know he was my half-brother? He fucking told you and you didn’t think to tell me?”
“Stop yelling at me!” she screamed back. “I can’t think straight when you’re yelling at me!”
A dark chuckle left my lips. “Oh, we are so past that, Skyler. You deserve to be yelled at. Because this shit is ass backwards and I need some fucking answers right. The fuck. Now.”
Her timid nature broke and the girl I knew existed beneath her quiet façade finally came out to play.
“I didn’t tell you because you never fucking tried to contact me for TEN FUCKING YEARS after you lit my bridge on fire and watched it burn like a maniac, Silas! Do you know what I’ve been through this past decade for you? No, you have no clue! Because Vartan was right. You can only see what affects you! You don’t think about anybody else.”
I strode over to her and she backed into the corner of the kitchen. I could see the hint of fear in her eyes, but I didn’t care. My hand came up to grip her chin and I lifted it so she was staring directly at me.
“Why did you agree to marry him?” The question was a mere whisper but full of intense, jealous rage.
She looked at me defiantly. “You wouldn’t care anyways.”
My fingers increased the pressure on her chin and her eyes widened. “You see,” I breathed out. “That’s where you’re wrong. I do care. A lot. Because I told you, the moment you broke that fucking vase, you were mine.”
“You should have claimed me when you had the chance,” she spat back.
My teeth clenched as my anger reached its peak. “Did you fuck him?”
“Fuck you, Silas,” she hissed.
“Answer the question, Skyler,” I said in a menacing tone.
Her eyes flashed with something I couldn’t catch. “Yes.”
My mask broke and it broke clean down the middle. Jealousy, rage, lust, love, all of it poured out of me, each thing tumbling over the other, driven by the pressure they were under for my entire life at being held at bay.
I moved forward and captured Skyler’s lips. Her hands came up to my chest, but she didn’t stop me. No, her fingers fisted into my dress shirt and she ended up pulling me flush against her body.
The thought of Vartan touching her—the thought of her letting him—had me pulling her lower lip into my mouth and biting down on it hard. She gasped and pushed back against me and I scowled at her.
“You weren’t for him,” I seethed.
“Then erase him out of my memory, Silas,” she breathed back, her lower lip puffy and swollen. “You say I belong to you, then show me.”
