Forsaking All Others Read online

  “Can I talk to Evan?”

  “Sure.”

  Julianna got up from the bed and handed the phone to Evan, who had been silently standing there, listening to the conversation. The surprise on his face was clear as he took the phone and answered.

  “Hello?”

  He paused as he listened to what Danicah had to say, his brow furrowing in deep concentration. After a short while, he responded, his voice soft.

  “Of course, Danicah. I will. Stay safe.”

  He quietly ended the call and set the phone on the dresser.

  “What did she say to you?”

  “She made me promise to keep you safe. And I will.”

  “I know.”

  More hot tears rolled down her cheeks and her shoulders heaved with each sob that was released from her throat. She wasn’t sure how any of this had happened, but it was…too much. Her heart was breaking at just how wrong she had been about Devon. Never would she have thought he could’ve done the things he had done. And for what? A marriage that no longer existed.

  Evan came to kneel in front of her. He tilted her face up to his but remained silent as tears continued to roll down her cheeks. Finally, he embraced her, and she leaned into him, drawing from his strength. He stroked her back until her sobs lessened and eventually subsided.

  Julianna reluctantly pulled away and wiped her eyes. Then, she walked off to the bathroom. Unsure of what to do, she stood awkwardly in the middle of the bathroom and began to remove her clothes.

  “Towels?”

  Evan’s eyes watched her as she undressed, sweeping over her skin as if he was reacquainting himself with every detail of her body. He pointed to a closet in the corner of the bathroom before he returned his gaze to her. Despite her exhaustion, a small smile curved along her lips and she gently tugged on his arm.

  “Shower with me?”

  There was no need to say anything else as he swiftly tugged his shirt over his head and stepped out of his pants. He allowed himself to be led into the shower where Julianna wrapped her arms around him and placed her head against his chest. She welcomed the feel of the warm water on her skin as he ran his hands along the curves of her body, now slippery with soap. She moaned softly as his hands cupped her breasts, and she ran her hands along his firm abdomen down to his dick, which she gripped firmly and began to massage.

  “Fuck.”

  The low curse fell from his lips as he closed his eyes, enjoying the pressure of her hand as she stroked him, taking her time to rub her fingers over the sensitive head. He opened his eyes and eased one of her legs high up onto the seat in the shower, and entered her slowly, grinning from the sharp gasp that burst from her lips as he moved slowly inside her. Goose bumps rose on her skin despite the warmth of the water, and she moaned loudly as he drove himself deeper, gripping her hips as he did so.

  She kept her eyes closed as her body trembled, her muscles quaking in response to his thrusts. She cried out again, gripping him tightly as pleasure pooled at her center. He finally relented to his own release a short while after, keeping her close to him, the water from the rainfall shower beating down around them, surrounding them in its moist warmth and steam.

  When they finally exited the shower, Julianna dressed quietly in a pair of his sweats and T-shirt before they made their way downstairs in search of Hudson. He was sitting around the kitchen table, deep in concentration, a mug of coffee in hand, his focus on something on his computer. He raised his head from his computer screen when they entered the kitchen, and the corner of his mouth lifted briefly when he registered his brother’s wet hair and their change of clothes.

  “While the two of you were busy,” he paused, another nearly imperceptible grin crossing his face, “I did some research.”

  Julianna leaned against the kitchen countertop and watched the exchange between Evan and his brother as he stood next to Hudson, his brow now furrowed as he focused on the information before him. Evan whistled softly under his breath and glanced at Hudson, who nodded his head slowly in response. Their bond was beautiful; it was clear just how close the two of them were and the level of trust they had in each other.

  “Julianna, what did you know of Devon before the two of you dated?”

  She paused; that had to be the most that Hudson had spoken to her since she’d known him. At her shock, Evan chuckled softly as he slapped his brother on the back.

  “Yes, he speaks. He even smiles sometimes too.”

  He shrugged at his brother’s glare as he continued.

  “I think he’s smiled about twice in my whole lifetime. I think it hurts him to do it, honestly.”

  He continued to ignore Hudson’s glare as he straightened, his expression now somber.

  “But seriously, Julianna. What do you know?”

  A knot formed in her gut as she slowly shook her head. To be honest, all that she knew about him was that he had spent a lot of his time advancing his career, but as for anything beyond that, she didn’t know. It wasn’t as if she hadn’t tried. He got irritated whenever she would ask. Once again, Julianna sighed softly at her naivety before she shook her head.

  “Not much. Why?”

  Hudson reclined in his seat and cracked his knuckles.

  “It took some time—the bastard is clever, but beyond the usual boring stuff, I found a few interesting things.” He paused as he took a sip of his coffee, “Like the disappearance of Alicia Hairston.”

  Her stomach turned.

  “Disappearance?”

  Evan nodded his head slowly as he read the information that his brother had pulled up.

  “Yes. It looks like from the files here that she’s never been found. They interrogated him about it, but nothing ever came of it. Turns out that someone really thought he had something to do with it.”

  Evan had now poured himself a cup of coffee as he sat down next to his brother, now typing furiously on the computer. He squinted at the computer for a while before he nodded his head.

  “No one would have known about their connection, but it turns out she had a friend who told the police they’d dated. That friend—Melanie Darkins, it says here, was convinced he had something to do with it.”

  “Did you see the psych eval?”

  Evan clicked a few more items on the screen in front of him before he nodded.

  “Huh.”

  Evan now sat next to his brother, and he reclined in his seat as he read the information before him. His eyes went to Hudson’s, who raised his eyebrows in surprise. However, he didn’t say more.

  “Psych eval?”

  It seemed as if someone was squeezing the air out of her throat as she waited, nerves on edge, as the two of them continued to work.

  “Yeah, there was a psychiatrist who evaluated him during questioning.”

  “And?”

  Julianna was now wringing her hands, her heart beating furiously in her chest.

  “The sheer lack of emotion showed by Mr. Winton was very unsettling and classic for sociopathy. He responded exactly as he perceived he should, but when prodded, it is evident that his feelings are not genuine. I question if he even possesses the ability to experience any feeling at all.”

  After finishing, Evan looked up at her. Her legs immediately became unstable as she gripped the countertop in front of her.

  “Where was this?!”

  “Texas.”

  Hudson took another sip of his coffee as he responded.

  Immediately, Julianna remembered a conversation with Devon early in their relationship.

  “Yeah, I used to live in Texas briefly, but moved when I realized there was nothing for me there.”

  Was it possible that this was what he had been running from?

  “We couldn’t get this stuff before, but it was only a matter of time before we got around it. Just takes a little ingenuity.”

  Julianna stilled, folding her arms across her chest before she stared at the two men sitting across from her.

  Who the hell were t
hey, and how did they know how to do any of this stuff?

  “How much of this is legal?”

  Hudson snickered, but remained silent.

  Evan ran his fingers through his hair and grinned. “You really want to know, love?”

  Julianna sighed softly and shook her head.

  “How do you know how to do all of this stuff?” She glanced around them, all of her questions bursting forth, despite her better judgement. She had only noticed it in small spurts, but after seeing him the night before, it was hard not to miss the skilled, calculated way Evan had defended them, hinting at some sort of formal training. Nobody was that good without some sort of training.

  And now this.

  The two brothers locked eyes with each other before Evan slowly shook his head. Hudson responded with a brief nod before he returned his attention to the laptop in front of him.

  “We work in security.”

  “Bullshit, Evan.” Julianna retorted.

  He sighed and shook his head.

  “Does this have anything to do with Austweitz?” she asked.

  Both him and Hudson stalled, a tense silence forming in the space. Although the two of them remained silent, she noticed Hudson glance over at his brother. There was a silent exchange between them before Evan blew out a sigh.

  Hudson glanced over at her before he abruptly rose from his seat, taking his laptop with him. “I’ll continue my work on the porch. You two have some things to discuss.”

  “Hudson—”

  “—like I said, the two of you have some things to discuss.”

  He disappeared around the corner without another word.

  When he left them in the kitchen, Julianna nervously bit her lip and waited in the silence.

  “I know there are things you don’t want to discuss, but I have more questions than answers. Just give me something—anything to let me know what’s going on here.”

  He sighed and stared off into space for a few moments. Time seemed to stand still as he did so, and her heart rate increased with each passing second. His anxiety was nearly palpable as he leaned forward on the kitchen table, in deep thought.

  “Austweitz isn’t a place or a thing. He was a person.”

  Julianna slowly moved forward, waiting for him to continue.

  “He was the man who killed by parents, and then I killed him.”

  Evan raked his fingers through his hair and stared up at Julianna, trying to gauge her reaction. Although her eyes had gone wide, she still stood there in front of him waiting for him to continue. Finally, she pulled out the seat next to him with a nod.

  “Okay. That’s a start. Tell me what happened.”

  Surprised, Evan raised his eyebrows, unsure of how to proceed. He had replayed the events countless times in his head, at some points nearly driving him to madness, but never had he verbalized the events of his past. He’d never had to. He’d always had Hudson. And now, he wasn’t even certain if he even knew how.

  Guess I should start at the beginning.

  He took a deep breath and shrugged his shoulders. Anxiety was causing the muscles in his neck to tighten, but he instead focused on Julianna’s eyes and nowhere else.

  “As I told you before, I was born in Norway. Growing up, it was just the four of us—my mum, dad, Hudson, and me.”

  He paused, feeling the familiar hum of pain—deep, boring, all-encompassing, wash over his body to settle in the middle of his chest. He shook his head with a sigh before he continued.

  “We had a good life. My mother was a teacher and my father an engineer at the university. We were happy.”

  He fell silent again, his gaze now directed to a point to the left of Julianna’s head. His eyes, although not focused on anything, were filled with images of his childhood that played like reels of film through his head. A sad smile crossed his face as he recalled one of his favorites; it was around Christmas time when he had been eight and Hudson eleven. They had secretly snuck out of their rooms one night and had eaten countless amounts of the cookies that his father had painstakingly baked for the holiday. They had run into their mother during one of their trips to the kitchen and had found her with a couple of treats. She’d leveled with them and had promised not to tell if they didn’t tell on her. Their dad had been upset when no one took the blame, but they’d had fun remaking a fresh batch with him.

  That was two years before they were killed.

  A searing pain cut through Evan’s chest, immediately snapping him back to reality. He refocused his gaze on Julianna, who had been silently watching him and waiting for him to continue.

  “Well, my father was the kind of man who had lots of vision. A man truly before his time. He was brilliant. Could figure out anything. He left his job at the university to start a business with a close friend, and business really took off.”

  He shifted uncomfortably in his seat, his anxiety precluding his words. He shook his head.

  “His friend wasn’t who he said he was, and got my father mixed into stuff that he really hadn’t wanted to be a part of. He tried to cut all ties with his business partner, but it was too late.”

  His voice was barely above a whisper.

  “I remember overhearing conversations between my parents when my father would always say one thing- how ‘frightened he was for the family.’ My mom tried to reassure him that nothing would happen, but it turns out she was wrong.”

  His hands balled into fists and his muscles tightened. He blew out another sigh as he remembered one of the worst parts. The memory of when his father had taken both him and Hudson into the living room and told them they would have to run, and that the home they had grown up in—their sense of security, was no longer safe.

  “I remember my father sitting in the dining room, eating breakfast, when he got a call. He immediately went white and started shaking. Apparently, his friend had been killed, and someone was coming for him...for us. Before we had a chance to leave, I heard two loud pops come through the window, and my mum, she…well she collapsed on the floor.”

  Evan cleared his throat as his anxiety continued to mount. At first, he hadn’t understood what had happened, but after hearing Hudson’s screams, he’d finally understood. His mum had been shot. Mama was hurt. He felt the familiar sting of tears behind his eyes but continued on. He’d cried enough over the years.

  “My father ran to my mom, but she screamed for him to take us and run. He didn’t want to, but she kept insisting. He kissed her goodbye before we left her, and that was when he took us to a closet in our basement—no one knew about it but us, and it was frequently a hiding place for Hudson and I.”

  His shoulders slumped forward. He could still picture his father’s face as he’d made them get into the closet, his face illuminated in the dark basement. Papa had pulled Hudson close and had whispered something which had caused his brother to cry. His father had begged Hudson to promise something, to which Hudson had finally relented, nodding his head as tears had streamed down his face. Panic had gripped him as his father had backed away, motioning for Hudson to close the doors. He’d wailed and beg his father to stay with them, to which his father, Papa, as they’d called him, had sadly shaken his head and begged him to stay quiet.

  “Papa can’t be here this time, Evan. I love you. I love you both.”

  He’d closed the doors fully, with a finger to his lips as a final warning. The sound of Papa’s retreating footsteps was deafening. Fear, confusion, and grief had consumed Evan. Hudson had pulled him close as he cried, and had done his best to comfort Evan, being only a child himself. They’d sat there, huddled together in the closet, hearing what he would later understand to be gunshots ring out throughout the home. Fear had gripped him when they’d heard footsteps entering the basement. At first, they’d hoped that their Papa had returned, but there was something about sound of the steps—heavy boots, the steps unsure, that had caused them to remain in hiding. Through a small crack in the door, they’d been able to see a young man, dressed in al
l black, combat boots on his feet, cautiously moving through the space. In his hands was a gun, an assault rifle type, the metal gleaming in the dim light coming through the basement window. Hudson had pulled him even closer and had motioned for him to step away from the crack and stay down. The man had carefully stalked the open space, kicking over storage boxes and opening cabinets before angrily shooting into the open space of the basement and uttering a string out loud curses. He then talked into a small radio.

  “They’re gone. They got them out.”

  Afterwards, they realized that the man, who had later been identified as Austweitz, had been referring to them. The plan had been to eradicate the whole family, and he had failed. Turned out, it had been the only mission Austweitz hadn’t seen to completion, and it would later cost him his life. After what seemed like an eternity, Hudson had motioned for them to leave the closet. The house was eerily quiet, and they had ascended the stairs as quietly as they could. When they’d made it to the living room, there was their father, facedown, surrounded by a pool of blood. Hudson had run over to him while Evan had run in search of their mother in the dining room. He’d followed a trail of smeared blood on the floor which ended in the kitchen where she lay on her side, eyes wide open, but body cold and unmoving.

  Mama was dead.

  He ran back to Hudson, who was kneeling over his father, a grim expression on his face.

  “Papa?” he had asked.

  Hudson shook his head.

  Tears had welled up in Evan’s eyes once again.

  “Mama?”

  Hudson’s voice, which had recently begun to deepen a few months before, was now small and childlike as he stared up at his brother.

  Evan hung his head, which caused his older brother to cry. Hudson had firmly taken his hand, a new sense of urgency in his stride as he peered out of the window. It was only then that Evan had registered the disarray of their usually spotless home, and the blood splattered on the walls, the red out of place against the white walls and splattered over their smiling faces in family portraits hanging along the walls.