“I didn’t realize Tilly’s life was ruined,” Dylan said in a cold voice. He gave them all a warning look.
Eli and her father stared back in surprise while Dare just raised his eyebrows. Simon’s gaze grew curious. Asher didn’t appear to be paying attention to any of them.
“Do you consider your life ruined, Tilly?” Dylan asked.
“No,” she whispered. “But I nearly ruined everyone else’s.”
“What do you mean by that, Tilly?” Simon asked with surprise.
She raised her gaze and gazed around at her family with abject misery and guilt.
“I know I made up a lot of excuses about why I couldn’t come home much during the last few years, but the truth is I’ve distanced myself from you all because I’ve been so ashamed,” she admitted. “I brought Javier into our lives. I put you all at risk.”
Her father slammed his fist down on the table, causing all the plates and cutlery to rattle. Everyone turned to stare at him in shock.
“That asswipe is still causing trouble for us, even from the grave.” He ran his fingers through his hair. “You know, you were the one kid I never worried about. You were always so quiet and well-behaved. This lot were always in trouble. Dare came close to getting kicked out of school. Hard to believe he’s now an officer of the law.”
Dare rolled his eyes.
“But not you, Tilly. You never gave me a moment’s worry.”
“Maybe you should have worried about her more,” Dylan interjected, unable to help himself. It seemed to him that Tilly was a bit lost in this family. Oh, they all loved her. That was clear to see. They were extremely protective, which was understandable. But because she wasn’t as loud or assertive as her brothers, he’d bet she was often overlooked.
Her father glared over at him. Then he seemed to think about that, nodding a little. “You could be right. You didn’t always get as much time as the boys, did you, baby girl?”
“I got plenty of time,” she protested. “You were a great father. You are a great father.”
“Really? So why have I hardly seen you in the last two years? If I’m such a great father, you would have talked to me about this already.”
Silence filled the room and Tilly appeared stricken.
“We hated the fact that you were dating him,” Eli told her. “He was too old for you. But we thought you were happy, so we left it alone.”
“Which was a lie,” Dare growled. “We should have known what was going on.”
Tilly sighed. “Dare, you were halfway across the world when I started dating Javier and Simon was at college.”
“But Asher and I were here the whole time,” Eli said. “We were just too wrapped up in our own stuff to realize he was treating you badly.”
“How soon into the relationship did you realize that things weren’t right?” Simon asked.
“Do we have to talk about this?” she asked.
“I think it’s long overdue,” Dare said. “You’re not the only one who feels ashamed. We’re your brothers, it was our job to protect you.”
“And me,” her father added. “You should have come to me as soon as it started.”
“I couldn’t,” she said miserably. “It started off so small. Just a comment here and there. Before I knew it, he had demolished my self-esteem. Javier had me convinced that nobody cared about me like he did. That everything he did was for my own good and that no one would believe me if I spoke out against him. He was so nice to me when anyone else was around, so I believed him. I was young and stupid. But I never knew about the drugs. I swear.”
Her father frowned. “We know you didn’t, baby girl.”
“I’m so sorry I brought him into our lives. I know that I made some foolish decisions. But I wanted to be independent, to be more than just your baby sister. All my life I’ve lived in your shadows. I thought this was me breaking free, only I found myself in this horrid cage and I couldn’t see a way out.”
Everyone seemed shocked at her words, but Dylan was proud of her. She’d done far better than he’d expected.
“God, Tilly,” Simon said, running his hand through his blond hair. “Why didn’t you ever tell us any of that? You weren’t in our shadows. You were the smart one, the one going places.”
“I never thought of it like that. I was always just the King brothers’ baby sister.” She looked over at Dylan helplessly.