Tiny Dark Deeds: Chapter 21

Sloane

It was an emotional day, an emotional night. Ramses and Brielle gave Bru and me a tour of their home, and that was nice without Ares’s partygoers. They had a beautiful home, and after, we all sat down to dinner with the Prinzes. I got to hear my birth story there and how I’d been sick at the hospital. I’d been underweight and hadn’t adjusted as well as Ares had when we’d been born. He’d been underweight too, but his organs had been more developed. Because of my issues, I’d required more care. I’d spent a lot more time away from them, and during that period, I’d been taken.

And that was it really.

It was such a simple story, but so complex for all those involved. Godfrey and Marilyn had ruined my life, and now, I carried their namesake. I mean, I went by Sloane. It was all so fucked, and that was when things kind of got emotional. It was hard for Ramses and Brielle to tell the story, and eventually, that was when the Prinzes would sway the conversation. They were a good buffer, kept things light, and Dorian was so much like his parents. His dad carried a strong air about him that made you just want to respect and listen to him, and his mom, well…

She was lovely.

He was like the perfect mashup of them both, and it was nice to have him there too. He talked to Ares mostly, but cut in when he saw the empty spaces in the conversation. The ones where Bru and I couldn’t speak when we were asked about anything related to our parents.

His parents.

My brain was going to have to do a lot of reprogramming, and gratefully, I didn’t have to say a whole lot. The adults in the room just seemed content to have me and my brother there, and I did get to talk to Brielle’s parents, as well as Ramses’s. The couples called in separately via FaceTime, and I got to find out that I was Syrian on Ramses’s side, Mexican and Puerto Rican on Brielle’s, and European on both. It was wild to find that out, and emotional too. Ramses’s mom was crying while talking to me, and that was hard. It was all hard, and this was day one.

Maybe tomorrow would be easier.

The adults got Bru and me set up in rooms near Ares’s, and we did eventually say goodbye to Royal and December. December ended up giving me her line just in case I needed it, and both offered to be around if my brother or I needed anything at all. I got that a lot from everyone today. If I needed something, they were all there for me.

I guess I did have a lot of support.

I was told I’d get to meet the other Legacy parents too at some point, but at this point, I was exhausted. I said goodnight to Bru, and after, I attempted to find my room, but there were so many rooms in this house. So many, in fact, I missed mine. I ended up reaching for the door to a bathroom as someone else was opening it.

The dark prince was shirtless.

A muscled torso and broad physique swallowed up the door frame that surrounded it. He was coming out and had a thick terry cloth towel bunched and tucked under his bicep. His feet bare, we just about collided, nothing but a pair of low-riding jeans sitting on Dorian’s defined hips.

“Sorry,” he edged out. Out of the bathroom and in front of me, he loomed large above. He blinked. “My bathroom is out of towels so…”

He tugged the one from under his arm, lifting it, and my mouth parted. He was staying here?

“You’re, um,” I paused, backing away a little. He was too close. “You’re staying here.”

I hadn’t been told this.

His nod firm, he tucked the rolled towel back under his arm. “Uh, yeah.” He tugged the door closed, then pointed back. “Did you need in there? I assumed your room had a bathroom.”

It did.

If I could find it.

“I’m kind of lost,” I admitted. I scratched my ankle with bare toes. “Big house.”

It was a big house.

But I guess not big enough.

It wasn’t enough to avoid him, or how much space he did take up. He stepped forward. “I can take you there. You’re just down the hall from Ares, right?”

Down the hall was like a mile in this place. “I’m okay. It’s good for me to get to know the house anyway.”

His mouth came together, but even after another firm nod, he didn’t move. He tapped the air with his towel. “I’m just here for Ares and, I guess, Bru.” His jaw shifted. “The parents thought it’d be a good idea, and Thatcher and Wells are somewhere around here too. Probably with your brother and Wolf.”

I hadn’t asked, and he could come and go as he pleased.

“Not sure how long I’ll be here, and Wells and Thatcher are only staying the night. Or, I guess, just Wells is.” He braced the towel. “My god dad, Knight, really gave it to Thatch for everything. The secrets and all that, so he’s going to be heading out soon.”

I cursed internally. His secret was actually mine.

“He’s grounded for basically eternity.” Dorian cuffed his arm, and I shook my head.

“I didn’t mean to get him in trouble.” I hadn’t and hated that I had. Things had just gotten so messed up.

So much pain. So much… madness.

There was so much, and I was at the heart of it. All of this me.

Chaos.

I blinked away, overwhelmed again, and it took me a second to notice Dorian had closed a little space. It was enough for me to notice how his hands wringing that towel roved his shoulder muscles, a flush over his tan skin. “You shouldn’t feel bad about that, and I get why he did it.” He wet his lips. “I didn’t at first, but I did once I thought about it. He did that for you, and you trusted him, and I’m sure you felt not a lot of that was going around.”

I hadn’t. In fact, I’d trusted no one and definitely not Dorian himself.

“I know I would have done the same. If you gave me a secret, I mean.” An edge to his voice, he glanced away before looking at me. “I guess, we have a lot to talk about. You and me.”

My heart raced, pumping, clenching. A door opened down the hallway, and I noticed we both did something.

We stepped apart.

The pair of us had gotten dangerously close, but Ramses entering the hallway took all that away. He came down it in a dark sweater, his hands together. “Everything okay?”

We both nodded, as Ramses joined us both. He had his hands in his pockets at this point and took a second to glance between myself and the dark prince. He eyed him. “This isn’t going to be a problem with you being down the hall from each other, right?”

The question was one hundred percent directed at Dorian and something totally a parent would say.

A dad.

A flutter touched my chest, and though I hadn’t gotten to talk to Ramses one on one, I wanted to. He seemed so nice. Both of them.

Dorian worked his fingers through his hair. “No, sir. I was actually just saying goodnight to Noa.”

Noa…

Only he called me that, the muscle inside my rib cage squeezing again. Especially when that dark gaze fell on me. “Goodnight, Noa.”

“Goodnight.”

And with that, Dorian left us both. Shaking his head, he muttered something to himself. I couldn’t hear it, but he seemed to be chastising himself about something. He’d said we had a lot to talk about, and we did.

“Irony is something else.” Ramses had his hands tucked under his arms, his smile on Dorian. “I was pretty much in love with his mother in high school.”

I had to do a double-take, thinking I didn’t hear him right, and Ramses chuckled.

“The universe obviously had other plans,” he said, his smile on me now. “It’s a good thing too. Otherwise, I would have missed out on meeting the love of my life.”

It was hard not to see that today, the amount of love and affection he gave Brielle. It matched the amount of thought and attentiveness he gave her, but she hadn’t been the only one to receive it. He’d said we’d all get through the chaos of this situation, and he’d extended that to my brother. He’d made sure to look out for him, and I hadn’t even asked.

He’d just done it.

“Thank you for what you did today,” I said, his head tilting. “For what you said to Bru and including him.” He had done that, all day he’d done that. There wasn’t a moment where Bru hadn’t been invited to be a part of the conversation, and Ramses had stayed at the helm of that. He included him. No questions asked, and he wasn’t even his own.

Ramses pocketed his hands. “You both are so important to this family. Important to Brielle and me.” His voice thickened, and it was hard to watch him struggle. He seemed to be the peacemaker in the craziness today, the one with the reassurances, but he had his own battles. I mean, how couldn’t he?

He’d lost a child too.

“I want you both to feel welcome,” he said. “Things are difficult for you both, and it’s important you two feel safe.”

I swallowed, nodding. “Thank you.”

“No ask is too big, all right?” he continued. “If you or Bru need anything at all, you let Brielle or me know. We’ll get you anything you need. Do anything you need.”

He really was nice, kind and so quick to make sure others were feeling good. He did, and to the point where it felt like he was ignoring even himself and what he was no doubt going through like the rest of us.

“But I feel like you’re a lot like your dad.”

The dark prince’s words struck me in that moment, and I shook my head before I did something stupid. Something like cry or worse, and I’d been doing so good today. I’d managed not to cry at all in front of strangers.

I’d managed not to cry in front of him too.

Dorian being there today had done so much for me, and my emotional reserves only worsened in front of Ramses. Ramses rubbed his hands after what he said. Like he didn’t know what to do with them, and I wanted to thank him for something else. He and Brielle had had so much patience with me today. They’d give me space, and there were moments like this where I noticed it. Moments where it looked like it took every fiber of their beings to resist and give me that space.

When all they really wanted to do was something else.

I felt like some of that was in me too. Like there was a compulsion within me to run to these strangers and cry my eyes out, both for them and with them. Unlike myself, they actually remembered me…

Where I’d been fortunate enough to be spared.

I eventually did find my bedroom that night, and because I hadn’t expected anyone to be there, I know I had tears in my eyes.

She saw them.

Bow Reed was sitting on my bed, beaming, but she stopped when she saw me. She stood. “Sloane?”

I suppose she’d been asked to be here like the other Legacy boys. I could assume anyway.

God, they all really do care.

“It was supposed to be a surprise,” she said, looking around. She put her hands together. “I asked if I could stay the night. Is that okay?”

It was more than okay, but I couldn’t seem to find the words. I just wanted to cry, finally cry, and she came over.

She didn’t say a word, and when she saw my tears, she hugged me, her little body just holding me, which probably looked hilarious. I was so much taller than her.

“It’s okay,” she said, letting me sob into her hair. She touched mine. “Is there anything I can do?”

She was already doing it.

She just didn’t know it.