Chapter 4

I could hear laughter from inside the house before I even reached the door. The moment I walked in, though, the conversation died.

Jasmine sat in the middle of the couch with everyone gathered around her, the center of attention in my own home. She looked up and gave me a sweet, welcoming smile.

"Quinn, you're back."

For one disorienting second, I felt like the guest.

Then something at her throat caught the light.

I stopped cold.

Grandma's pendant.

On the day she died, she'd placed it around my neck with shaking hands and told me it was all she had to leave me.

"I don't have money or property to give you, sweetheart. But I've worn this my whole life. You keep it now. When I'm gone, let it watch over you for me."

I crossed the room before anyone could stop me and ripped it from Jasmine's neck.

"This belongs to me. Who gave you the right to wear it?"

Her startled cry had barely left her mouth when Yuri dragged me back, and tears immediately welled in her eyes.

"For God's sake, Quinn, enough! I've told you this will all be over once she has the baby. Why can't you leave her alone until then?"

Ethan followed closely, raised his hand, and slapped me.

"Apologize!

"That pendant is supposed to have a calming effect and protect the pregnancy. I gave it to Jasmine to help keep the baby safe!"

I glared at my brother as rage burned through the shock.

"Grandma left this to me. It was the last thing she gave me, and you stole it so you could suck up to this bitch?"

His second slap split the corner of my mouth.

"I said apologize."

I tasted blood and smiled.

"Go to hell."

His face hardened. Before I could brace myself, he wrenched my arms behind my back and kicked my knees out from under me. I hit the floor hard.

"Fine. If you won't apologize, I'll make you beg for her forgiveness."

He grabbed the back of my head.

I fought him, but after the surgery and the blood loss, there was almost nothing left in my body to fight with. Ethan kept me pinned there at Jasmine's feet, forcing me lower no matter how hard I fought.

Through my tears, I saw Xander gently blowing on Jasmine's forehead.

"Mommy Jasmine, I'll blow on it. Then it won't hurt anymore."

I looked toward Yuri. For a fleeting moment, something like pain crossed his face, but he made no move to help me.

Ethan still wouldn't let me up.

That was finally too much for Diane.

"Ethan, enough! She's your sister!"

He released me with a disgusted shove, leaving me crumpled on the floor.

"I don't have a sister that vicious. Jasmine's pregnant, and she still attacked her. What if she loses this baby too?"

Hair hanging across my face, forehead swollen and throbbing, I suddenly remembered a six-year-old girl crying because someone had stolen her bracelet.

Ethan had come home bruised from fighting the kid who took it, bracelet triumphantly clutched in his hand.

"Anyone who messes with my sister, they answer to me."

When I got my first love letter, he'd cornered the boy outside his classroom and scared him half to death. On my wedding day, he'd carried me out himself and warned Yuri that if he ever hurt me, he'd have Ethan to answer to.

Years later, while I was giving birth to Xander, that same brother had paced outside the delivery room, crying from sheer worry.

I'd spent my entire life believing that if everyone else turned against me, Ethan never would.

Now he was the one who had forced me to my knees.

I closed my hand around Grandma's pendant until its edges dug into my palm.

A broken laugh escaped me.

Yuri apparently took that for surrender.

"Are you done now? If you've learned your lesson, go make dinner. Jasmine's picky while she's pregnant, so make sure she doesn't have to eat the same thing twice."

Something inside me went utterly still.

I got up.

Ethan gave a derisive snort as I stumbled toward the kitchen. "See? Was that so hard?"

I didn't answer.

Once the kitchen door was between us, I turned on the faucet and let the water drown out my sobs. Then I carefully put Grandma's pendant back where it belonged, around my own neck.

"Grandma, I miss you."

The tears started again, but this time I wiped them away.

I washed my face.

Then I took out a kitchen knife, laid it on a tray, covered it, and went back to the living room.

Jasmine's smug little smile returned the moment she saw me.

"Quinn, I want something sour. You know what they say, sour cravings mean a boy. The doctor says that's what I'm having."

I pulled the cover off the tray and went for her.

Her scream ripped through the room.

The knife never reached her.

Yuri caught the blade in his bare hand.

Blood streamed between his fingers, but he didn't let go. He stared at me as if I were a stranger, fury twisting his face.

"Quinn Xavier, are you insane?"

A laugh tore out of me, and soon my whole body was shaking with it.

"Yes, I'm crazy! You all drove me insane!"

I jerked the knife free.

Then, before he realized what I was doing, I buried it in his stomach.

Yuri's anger vanished. He looked down at the knife in disbelief.

I was already backing away.

The windowsill struck my hip. Cold night air rushed in behind me, whipping at my clothes.

I climbed up and jumped.