Brightly Burning Bridges by Ivy Wild
The entire dayhad been spent waiting for this moment. I’d watched them leave their lavish penthouse apartments in Georgetown and followed them back to Skyler’s loft in the Northwest section. It was obvious they were having some sort of gathering and I decided to let them all settle in, maybe have a few drinks and lose their composure before I made my appearance.
They made me absolutely sick, the both of them. The resentment I felt towards my half-brother had only increased these last few years since Skyler had broken things off. I’ll admit, my plan wasn’t the most well thought out. I wasn’t some villain. I didn’t know how to run elaborate schemes. I was just a man who had been wronged by his family and wanted to get even the best way he knew how.
I’d lived in poverty with my mother for years before Percy decided to bring us to the States. And even then, I was barely allowed to interact with his “real” family.
I knew the only reason he’d had me go to King’s Academy was because he already had an in with the dean there and this way he wouldn’t have to pay for tuition somewhere else. My father was forever a cheap bastard. The fact that he couldn’t afford the expense of a condom when he raped my mother in a back room of the strip club where she worked was proof enough of that.
A lot of people looking in would probably have told me to be grateful for my situation. If it hadn’t been for Percy, I’d not be alive or also still living in a gang infested neighborhood in Brazil. But, it was obvious to me that he cared about us only enough to keep us quiet. Knocking up a stripper wasn’t a good look for a high profile American business man. Raping a stripper was an even worse look.
I always wondered if Silas knew. He acted like he was so much better than me, I thought he must have. So the fact that he acted like I never existed, like I wasn’t owed any of the inheritance, like I was just some piece of trash that happened to share the same blood, fuck, it made me so angry.
It made me angry enough to do really stupid shit.
Like blackmail Skyler into marrying me.
I thought for sure she was still keeping up with Silas. The two had been the best of friends during high school. I knew I’d caused a bit of a falling out, but high school antics are generally forgotten when people become adults.
So when I saw Skyler back in D.C. that night, I hatched a plan that I thought for sure would rip Silas’ heart out. It shouldn’t have taken long for her to tell him that she was engaged. And I would watch him crumble as I stole something from him, the same way he stole everything from me.
But of course, that didn’t happen. What Skyler said had turned out to be true. She really had lost contact with Silas. That was the only explanation, because for over a year, nothing reached his ears. He carried on like he wasn’t disturbed. I was banking on him calling me and trying to threaten me to break things off with Skyler. I was going to use that as my in to blackmail him into giving up part of the inheritance that was rightfully mine.
But the calls never came and after a year, Skyler told me she’d had enough. I’d let her go, because clearly I needed a different angle.
I thought maybe, maybe, what I put her through would drive her to him. Perhaps it did, but it sure took long enough. It’d been several years before I saw her with Silas. All this time, I’d waited patiently, not knowing whether I’d ever be able to put anything in motion.
Tonight was the culmination of a mountain of mistakes that made up my life.
My mother’s rape.
My birth.
My botched engagement.
My failed attempts to blackmail Silas.
I’d worked my way into the IRS over this last year. I wanted a look behind the scenes at his businesses and his finances and I discovered there was no way I could do that working in private practice. I’d hoped he used a larger accounting firm, but of course, he’d stuck with the same freaking small time accountant his father had used.
Another dead end.
I’d been careless with what I put on paper and that’s what ultimately led me to where I was standing tonight. Silas was up in that loft with Skyler, probably celebrating the fact that he’d managed to gyp me out what was rightfully mine, yet again.
And I was standing down below, in the dark, filled with hate and rage that was boiling over.
I’d gotten the call yesterday. I’d been fired from the Service for cause. It would go on my permanent record and that meant I’d have a hard time getting a job as an accountant anywhere for the rest of my life. He’d taken everything away from me—even the things I’d built for myself.
I had nothing left to lose.
But he did.
He had everything to lose.
And his high and mighty attitude was going to cost him just that.
It’d been over an hour since Silas and Skyler showed up to the loft and it was time to make my move. I let the nearly empty bottle of whisky I’d been using to keep warm fall into the bushes. I made my way up the metal staircase quietly, listening for the perfect moment. When I finally heard them all settle down in the main room, I put my plan in motion.
Unlike the others, I knew this one would work.
This time, the bullet was going to hit its mark.
