‘Yes you are. I saw Daddy’s script. It had your name on it.’
‘Jonas, you need to be quiet now.’ Everett’s voice boomed out. ‘Your mother’s right, we should say grace.’
‘What script?’ Adam’s voice was dangerously low.
‘Jonas,’ Mia pleaded. ‘Hold Kitty’s hand now.’
Jonas slid his small hand in hers. His lip was trembling. He knew he’d said something wrong, but the poor kid had no idea why.
‘What script?’ Adam asked again. Jonas’s grip on her hand tightened.
Mia took a deep breath. ‘Dear Lord, we thank you for this day —’
‘What. Fucking. Script?’ Adam pushed himself up to standing, his sudden movement making all the dishes on the table rattle. Kitty looked at Everett, who had stood up, too, watching the two brothers as they stared angrily at each other.
‘Sit down,’ Everett barked. ‘We’ll discuss this after dinner.’
‘No.’ Adam shook his head. ‘You need to tell me about this script with my name on, before I shake the truth out of you.’
‘Adam,’ his father barked out. ‘Your mother’s here. Take this outside please.’ Mary Klein was watching her two sons, her hand covering her mouth.
‘Are you still making that movie?’ Adam asked Everett, ignoring his father completely. She’d never seen him look so angry before.
‘It’s only in pre-production,’ Everett protested. ‘I tried to tell you about it. We’re taking it in a whole new direc —’
The next moment Adam’s fist was flying into his brother’s face, and Everett staggered back, his head recoiling at the sudden punch. He lifted his hand to his nose, where a line of blood was already forming. He opened his mouth to say something, but then Adam was in front of him again, his hand curled into a fist.
‘Adam!’ Kitty cried out, scraping her chair as she jumped up. ‘Stop it!’ Jonas started to sob, throwing himself against Kitty. She wrapped her arms around him, stroking his soft hair.
Adam’s hand froze in mid-air as he turned to look at her and Jonas. His eyes widened but the next moment, Eve
rett lurched towards him, tackling his brother around the chest. The movement brought them both down, and as they fell, Everett reached out, trying, and failing, to steady himself on the tablecloth. The cloth slid across the polished table, pulling the dishes and the silverware with it, half of them landing on the floor with a resounding crash.
Kitty’s heart was pounding. She turned to Drake, her expression panicked. ‘Can you take Jonas out of here?’ she asked him. The kid shouldn’t have to see this.
Drake nodded rapidly, looking as though he couldn’t wait to escape. ‘Sure, of course.’
As they left the room, Kitty ran towards the two brothers. Their father reached them at the same time, trying to pull them apart. ‘Adam, please, stop this,’ she begged. ‘It’s not worth it.’ She grabbed his arm, holding tightly onto his bicep. ‘Whatever happened between you, whatever happened in Colombia, it isn’t worth it.’
Adam turned to look at her, the fury still on his face. ‘Did you know about this movie too?’
She felt as though all the breath had been knocked out of her. Everett took advantage of Adam’s inattention to slide out from under him, running to the back wall and putting space between them. Slowly, she released Adam’s arm, allowing him to stand. She opened her mouth to say something.
But the words didn’t come out.
‘I was going to tell you,’ she finally said. ‘Tomorrow, I was going to tell you tomorrow.’
He looked disgusted. ‘How long have you known?’
She bit her lip to swallow her sob. ‘Not long. A few days. I’m so sorry.’
A mixture of confusion and anger formed on Adam’s face. ‘Did you know about this when you were at the cabin the other night?’ he asked her. ‘Did you know about it when you were in my bed? Did you know about it when I held you in my arms?’
‘You’re fucking my brother?’ Everett asked. ‘Jesus Christ, what the hell’s going on around here?’
Everything was still for a moment. Nobody said a word. Kitty could hear the whistle of her blood as it rushed past her ears, her pulse beating a rapid tune. Everybody was looking at her. Adam, Everett, their parents. Even Mia. She turned to see Annie standing in the doorway, her mouth dropped open.
Adam shook his head, still staring at her with a furious look. Then he pushed his way past her, his shoulder moving her out of the way, stalking past Annie and into the hallway without saying a word.