The Truth About Unspeakable Things by Emily Myers (novel24 txt) 📕

donating to charities that support survivors of sexual violence,” he says. “I, uh, I realize what I’ve done can never be erased nor forgotten, especially not within the minds of the women I hurt, but . . . I’m trying, Emma. And at the end of the day, isn’t that all we can do?”

I don’t answer, because I’m honestly not sure how I feel. Instead, I ask, “And who showed you empathy?”

Mason looks at me then as if I should already know. “Julian,” he says.

“What the hell is this?” Julian says, storming through my bedroom door.

“Julian,” I say, jumping to a standing position. He moves past me and goes straight for Mason.

“What did you do? Did you touch her?” He yells.

Julian lifts Mason, despite his size, to a standing position and slams him against my bedroom wall.

“No,” Mason says, but Julian isn’t hearing it.

“I swear to God I’ll kill you,” Julian growls. He presses his brother harder against the wall. Mason squirms under his force.

Mason wasn’t lying when he said Julian isn’t doing well. His eyes look like he hasn’t slept in days. His cheeks are hollow, and his hair is messier than ever.

“Julian!” I yell. “Nothing happened. We were just talking. I would never do that to you. Just, come here,” I beg, tugging on his arm.

“No,” Julian says, forcing me to take a step back.

“Was this your plan?” he asks Mason. “You read Emma’s article and realized I’m actually doing good and decided to come mess everything up as payback for telling Mom the truth about Dad?” Julian asks. “You pretended you and I were good just so I’d invite you to stay and help me with the Lucid renovation. All the while, you were scoping Emma out, waiting for your moment to pounce,” Julian growls.

“Julian, stop,” Mason says. “This isn’t revenge for you telling Mom the truth. I know I blamed you for what happened to her and Dad. The car crash and everything, but I was wrong. I told you that,” Mason assures Julian through gritted teeth. He struggles under Julian’s grasp.

“Yeah, right,” Julian says. “You warned me. You warned me in LA that you’d make me pay for Mom and Dad’s death. You blamed me. You blamed me for their car accident the second I admitted I told Mom the truth about Dad’s lying, cheating ass. Never mind the fact that he was scum. You blamed me. After everything you’ve done, everything I’ve forgiven, you blamed me,” Julian says. “And now, you expect me to believe that you and Emma were just talking, that you’re some kind of fast friends. Highly unlikely. But you know what, shame on me. I should’ve known better than to expose the girl I love to you, for multiple reasons . . .”

Julian continues, but all I hear is the word love over and over again. Love. This is in no way how I wanted to first hear him say it, but it still feels exactly how I imagined it would. It fills me with hope and warmth and . . . a greater responsibility to protect him.

“Julian, I wouldn’t . . .” Mason starts.

“Stop lying to him,” I say.

“What?” Both Mason and Julian look to me at the same time. If I thought I broke Julian’s heart before, what I’m about to say next will surely break the rest of him and me along with him. But I have no choice. My article will be published in three days and he’ll be the first person Beaux comes after when it does.

“We can’t keep hiding this connection, Mason,” I say. The light leaves Julian’s eyes as I speak. His grip loosens on Mason’s shirt until he’s barely standing himself. “After all, it’s why I ended things with your brother in the first place.”

“Emma,” Julian says, taking a step back. “What? What are you trying to say? What’s going on here?” he asks.

I drop my eyes to my bare feet and lift my hand to my chest as my heart aches beneath my skin.

“Julian, I’m with Mason now. I . . . I have been since he got to town,” I lie.

“You’re lying,” Julian says. “I don’t know why he’s here, but I know it can’t be that.”

His face contorts as if begging for it not to be true. Unable to hold his gaze any longer, I look to Mason, who clearly isn’t happy with me, but plays along despite this.

“It’s true, Jules,” Mason says. “You took everything from me when you told Mom the truth about Dad,” he continues. “Any hope of us being a family again was gone the second she found out about the cheating. And you and I both know the driver didn’t just lose control,” Mason tells his brother. “Mom and Dad were fighting, fighting because you couldn’t keep your mouth shut, and they distracted the driver,” Mason says, taking a pause. “You’re the reason they’re dead and now, so is your chance at happiness,” Mason says, moving to place his arm around me.

I do my best to conceal the tension in my bones and keep the truth from spilling out. The same can’t be said for the tears that run down my face.

Julian stands tall in light of his brother’s remarks. After a brief hesitation, he walks out without saying a word to either us. I wait until he slams the front door closed to move from underneath Mason’s arm.

My legs grow numb, and I stumble to the edge of my mattress.

“What did I just do?” I choke.

Mason looks at me. Tears fill his dark brown eyes.

“Something I hope you can fix, but . . . something I doubt my brother will ever forgive.”

Chapter 22

“Beaux, where are we going?” I ask.

Mosquitoes buzz around me as Beaux leads me, blindfolded, along the sidewalk. I’ve nearly tripped three times.

“We’re almost there,” he tells me.

Today marks our being together for two years. We had a fabulous dinner at Emeril’s, where Beaux surprised me with a pair of diamond stud earrings. Afterwards, we took a romantic stroll through the French Quarter. I can’t remember the last time