Running for my life

The talk

Chapter Five

Jonathan’s POV

I had never been particularly fond of my family. Truthfully, I had never been close to any of them except for my twin brother, Jake. As kids, we did everything together. We were inseparable, two halves of the same whole. But that changed as we grew older. Life pulled us in different directions, and the bond that once defined us began to fray.

Now, sitting across from him in my office, the silence between us felt heavier than ever. Jake’s eyes were fixed on me, sharp and unreadable, while I stared back, wondering how we had ended up here. I knew something had to change. I couldn’t keep living this life their life. If I truly wanted to keep Rochelle in mine, I had to walk away from all of it: my family, my brother, everything that tied me to this world.

But first, I had to get her out. Away from this place. Away from the chaos that surrounded both our families. The question was where could I take her that they wouldn’t find us? And how could I protect her from the madness of her own bloodline?

Jake looked up from the stack of paperwork on my desk, catching me lost in thought. His lips curved into a smile dark, cold, and unfamiliar. It wasn’t the smile of the brother I once knew. It was the kind of smile that made people cross the street to avoid him. Years under our father’s shadow had twisted him into something else, something dangerous. Maybe things would have been different if our father had been a good man. But he wasn’t. He never was.

I still didn’t understand why Jake had called me to my office tonight. The work he claimed we needed to finish had already been done hours ago. Yet here we were, sitting in the dim light, the air thick with unspoken tension. He knew I hated this life the deals, the lies, the constant threat of violence. And still, he kept me here.

The clock on the wall ticked louder with every passing second. Finally, I exhaled, the weight of the moment pressing down on me. Enough was enough.

“Jake,” I said quietly, breaking the silence. “What’s really going on here?”

He didn’t answer right away. Instead, he leaned back in his chair, studying me with that same unsettling smile.

“You’ve changed, brother,” he said finally. “You’ve been distracted. Ever since her.”

Rochelle. Even hearing her name in his voice made my stomach tighten.

“What are you talking about?” I asked, though I already knew.

Jake’s eyes glinted with something between amusement and warning. “You think you can just walk away? From us? From him?”

Our father. The man who controlled everything. The man who would never let me go.

I clenched my fists under the desk. “I’m done, Jake. I mean it this time.”

He laughed softly, shaking his head. “You don’t get to be done, Jonathan. Not in this family.”

The words hung in the air like a sentence. I realized then that leaving wouldn’t be as simple as walking away. If I wanted to save Rochelle—and myself—I’d have to do more than leave. I’d have to fight.

And for the first time in my life, I was ready to.