22 Listen to your heart

***POV - Melaena

For a while everybody just sits silently, processing what we heard. Hayley got up and disappeared into the kitchen. I’m leaning back against Damion’s chest, his one hand absentmindedly stroking my arm. My nails are digging into the upholstery of the couch.

“Did our father kill our mom?” Jackson asks and he looks so cool and calm like he’s been doing the SF Chronicle sudoku. How can he be this unaffected? I close my eyes … I don’t want to hear anymore … especially not this answer if it’s a ‘yes’. I can still remember bits and pieces of my parents, but I would never have thought for a million years that they were gang leaders. Well, I was only 10 when mom died, but still.

“No, your dad has his flaws, but he truly loved your mother and you more than anything. We’re not sure who killed her, but they suspect that Harry did it out as retaliation. Additionally, it’s also conjectured that he was behind the car-bombing … but there’s no proof. Personally, I think