Lila's Thunder: The Almeida Brothers, Book One by Trevion Burns Read Free Book Online Page B

before her , and all she could see was the thirteen year old boy in him all over again.  “I could never hate you. Ever.  But this can’t go on.  If Jack decides to go to the administration, I’ll lose my job.”
    Chase’s breathing had become heavy.   “You know Jack, Lila. You know how he is.”  He licked his lips, wondering if he should continue.  His mouth was speaking the words before he could think to stop them. “He’s jealous of us, he always has been, and the only reason he fired you was to separate us so he can have you for himself.”
    Lila’s eyes widened. “Chase. You’re being dramatic.”
    “No.”  He raised his voice.  His mind flashed back to the several times he’d caught Jack gazing longingly at Lila when he thought no one was looking.  The way he argued with her.  Lila didn’t know Jack well, but Chase did, and he knew that Jack would never waste a precious breath arguing with anyone if it wasn’t something that meant a lot to him.  Jack looked for reasons to argue with Lila, he couldn’t wait for her to do something wrong, because that was the only way he knew how to hold on to her.  Chase hadn’t missed any of these things, they’d been obvious to him since he was thirteen years old, and every day that passed he hated it a little more.  “I’m not,” he insisted.
    “Nothing will ever happen with me and Jack.”
    Chase was unconvinced. “He wants you, Lila.  He’s wanted you for years, and it kills him that he can’t have you so now he’s using me to hurt you.  How can you not see it?”
    She didn’t know how to argue his point, so instead she said what she knew to be true. “Your brother loves you.  He works hard to take care of you and keep a roof over your head.”  She wasn’t Jack’s biggest fan by a long shot, but she’d always wished he and Chase were closer for Chase’s sake.   “I think you’re a little too hard on him sometimes.”
    “ Lila, please. He likes to play the card of hard working big brother but the truth is that he chooses to drown himself in his work so he doesn’t have to face up to the fact that our parents are dead and there’s nothing he can do about it, but I’ll be damned if he destroys the only thing I care about because he can’t handle the fucked up shit going on in his own mind.”
    Lila lowered her head, s taring at her shoes.
    His breathing had eased now that he could see she was wavering. “You remember all those nights I was home alone in th e mansion after my parents died, scared out of my mind?  I would call Jack and beg him, Lila, I would beg him to come home.  He never did.”
    She looked up. “I know.”
    “You were the one who was always there when I needed you. And now you’re abandoning me, too…”
    “No.”   She wasn’t sure how much more of this she could take.
    Chase now had his hand over his heart, shaking his head.   “Don’t do this.  This has nothing to do with us, Lila.  It’s all about him.”
    She looked off, thinking about everything Chase was saying, and then took a deep breath.   “Regardless of what Jack’s motives are, he’s still right. If you are going to attend Harvard you have to gain the tools to be independent and I’ve done nothing but stifle you.”
    “You’ve given me the tools I need to move on from the worst time in my life.” He said, encouragingly. “A few tools that my brother could stand to borrow.  I’ll never end up as unhappy as he is and you are the only person I have to thank for that.  You don’t give yourself enough credit for how much you’ve done for me--and all of the other kids, too.  Don’t say negative things about yourself in my presence.”
    A lump formed in her throat as Lila thought about the weekly meetings she had with the grieving kids in school.   She’d spent five years building a safe haven for them and they came in all ages, socioeconomic backgrounds and colors.  Every once in a while a new face would come into the