"Lex..." Alex hadn't expected his sister to show up, not this way, but then he knew she wouldn't stay away. He had been gone for too long, and his sister missed him. Even then, seeing her here made him feel like, finally, he could be vulnerable.
Finally, he could cry out.
Sure, he had Lia's shoulder to cry on, but no one was a good comforter, no one understood him the way his sister did, and hopefully, she would let him after she kicked his ass because that was one certain aspect of their bond that she wouldn't pass up.
"oh, hey there, Amelia, it's been a while since we were trapped with vest bombs on us, but hey, you're still alive, and I have been fucking mourning you and my crackhead of a brother for the past two years.
Now someone please explain to me what the fuck is happening here and why the fuck the media and the world got to see my fucking brother before me?" Alexandra was pissed and disappointed in Lia.
Even though she still had questions about who she really was, especially after the night she had turned their bedroom into a whole trash village, she still wanted to understand why reaching out was so hard for this pair of humans.
Did they really hate their family that much?
"Lexi..." Alex tried again in the hope that his sister would calm down, but the family was riddled with anger issues, so calming down was a far cry from what this would ever turn out, but it seemed like Lexi was so close to going in.
Just a few more minutes, and she would be calm enough for them to talk it all out, right?
"yes, I know my name now; you two kids better start talking, and what the fuck is the media doing here?" She knew what the media were doing there.
Still, she wanted to know why her brother had decided to reach out to the media before reaching the family, not to mention her voice that was dripping with dry sarcasm was sacring the fuck out of people there because she was loud when angry and frustrated.
Right now, she was both happy and excited o see the people she loved were alive and not dead, but that didn't stop her from looking at them like she would spank their asses if they so much as tried lying to her.
Alex knew they were in deep shit, Lia knew Lexi would never harm her brother, and as for Lia, well, she could try, and they both would see who was the best with knives and combat.
"Lex, stop…I can explain."
"then fucking explain to me, baby bro, because I'm so close to kicking someone's ass right now…could you tell the fucking media to leave?" Even Lia felt, so the media were annoying, but she saw one of the second-decade representatives.
She was safe either way.
"The conference is over. You guys can leave now," Alex said, but they were hesitant. They knew Alex would tell his sister more than he told them, and they just wanted to stay just in case they could hear more.
The desperation in their actions was evident, but so was the desperation of Alex to take them all out himself. This family was married to anger issues, and right now, the only person who could help was Lia…well, that was before Lexi opened her beautiful mouth out of spite.
"go on now; you heard my beautiful sister in law…leave!!!" Alexandra Garner had had enough with the nosey media. Their time was over, but they still were lurking around like some information-hungry zombies, which they honestly were, but that didn't make it any better.
"Alexander, are you married."
"Is she your wife?
"is she your fiancé?"
"what does she mean sister in law?" Great, now they had more to add to their rumors. Alex got up, carefully taking Lia's hand in his as he took her inside their home. The media could go fuck itself if they would. But he was done with them, absolutely done.
"get the fuck outta here. It would be best if you were smart enough to know this is a personal matter. And mind you, I can fucking sue you for harassing my baby brother. The freedom of the press is over now; leave before you receive letters!" A frustrated Alex not so politely responded to the vultures around them.
He wondered how long he would have to endure this. Was it so much for him to ask for peace of mind? Anyway, as the last of the media left, he turned pleadingly to his sister.
He knew she felt betrayed, he knew she needed answers, and he knew that no matter what happened, she was getting them. Maybe if she told him, she wouldn't be so mad, and he could finally get the hug he had been yearning for months and years.
"Lex…"
"what...huh? Alexander, what? Tell me, brother, why me? Why us? Why the fuck couldn't you even call to check on mama, she's been going crazy thinking of you. You know very well it was always us against the world, but you ditched me.
You probably watched me blow that fucker's brain off. You watched me become a mess when you could have done something…y'know, something like fucking showing up!
Where the fuck were you, and don't give me some bullshit about running to Russia because you can't lie to me, brother…not anymore, because I can tell when I'm being lied to."
She wasn't shouting, and that scared even Lia.
They had expected her to be a loud mess, but right now, she was like a robot practicing how to raise their tone in anger carefully, and that was not something anyone would ever wish to face any time of day.
A loud Lexi was harmless, but a calm and almost quiet Lexi was hell dealing with.
"Lex…I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, but I had to leave; I couldn't just watch them run our family. I was protecting you. I was trying to keep our family safe…" Alex apologized, but deep inside, he wished he would get over the apology phase soon because he wanted to share his fears with her openly.
He wanted to talk to his sister without being worried she would say something she didn't mean.
"at the cost of your life? Giving up family? Are you fucking stupid, or did you grow stupid in the past two years because my brother wouldn't have left in the middle of a crisis? My baby brother would have stepped up and said it to everyone.
My brother wouldn't have let the world ridicule me because I couldn't be the Garner they wanted. I was the Garner no one trusted, and I was the Garner no one cared about. Not even our parents. I was the outcast, and it was all your fault, brother."
Lexi looked at her brother with the same calm face and controlled voice. But anyone could hear her voice crack. She was so close to tears, but she wasn't going to show that. Maybe that's why she had remained calm.
This was the kind of pain Alex didn't know how to deal with, and he was worried.
Not just for himself but also his sister.
His betrayal had cut deep.
How was he supposed to come out from this?
Where would he even start from?