Karina
It was as awful as could be. We walked into the living room of the townhouse and there sat our families, grim looks on their faces. My mom Mary was waiting, as well as the twins’ dad Harold, their brothers Jake and Matt, and my older sisters, Jenna and Tina. Thank god my younger sister Callie couldn’t make it. There were small blessings to be grateful for.
As usual, Jenna, the bitch, started up with no introduction.
“How could this happen?” she screeched. “Was that Rolling Stone story about you? Were you the one raped?”
I shook my head, exasperatedly. “No Jenna, it wasn’t me, I’m totally fine,” I reassured everyone.
But she wasn’t done yet. “Then why is Sterling a part of this? If you guys are innocent,” she spat, turning to include Caden and Caleb, “why has the family company been dragged into this mess?”
My mom intervened smoothly. “Jenna, before we start, let’s take this one step at a time, shall we? Harold and I haven’t gotten married yet, so the Sterlings haven’t technically merged with the Walshes.”
That shut my sister up. I knew she was a social climber, how badly she wanted to be associated with the wealthy Sterling brothers. But I could tell Jake and Matt were disgusted by her. Jake, because he’d dated her casually before marrying Tina, and Matt because he was Matt. He was never going to like harpies like Jenna, no matter how skinny and blonde they were.
But Caden and Caleb could handle themselves.
“Hey everyone, we appreciate your input,” said Cade casually. “It’s been a shock, but we called this gathering to be a little more open about everything. Especially since marriage certificates are about to be signed and all that,” he added, nodding reassuringly to my mom. I was grateful for that gesture. My mom and Harold deserved to move forward with their plans regardless of what happened.
“Yeah,” added Caleb. “We want to be open and honest and establish a base of trust so that anyone can come forward with their secrets.”
“You mean you’re not actually undergrads at NYU?” asked Jenna sarcastically. “Wow, could have fooled me.”
“No, we’re legitimate returning students,” said Cade slowly. “It’s more our … other hobbies, if you will.”
Harold Sterling looked troubled. “What other hobbies?” he asked, his frown intensifying. “Why haven’t I heard of this? I thought you guys worked for the company.”
“Lighten up Dad,” said Cade. “It’s not that bad. Caleb and I were getting bored at Sterling Pharma, so we decided to take on a second job dancing at clubs in Vegas.”
The shock was immediate, silence descending on the room. “You’re go-go dancers?” cawed Jenna. “Unbelievable! Billionaire boys dancing for dollars,” she jeered.
This time, Jake couldn’t hold back. I knew he hated my sister with a vengeance, but wasn’t aware of how deep that antipathy lay. Snarling, he turned on her. “Shut the fuck up, you know nothing.”
Matt then stepped in, clapping a hand on his brother’s shoulder.
“Hey lighten up, everyone’s overreacting,” he said smoothly, although his gaze was as cold as ice in my sister’s direction. “Let’s just hear what the twins have to say.”
“Sterling was getting boring,” said Caden simply, with a shrug. “You know how that is,” he said with a nod at his brother. “Matt, you went on leave to run for mayor and now have a new career as a politician. For me and Caleb, it was the same. We were getting fed up with twenty-hour days, seeing nothing but the inside of our cubes.”
“Dancing gave us an out,” said Caleb. “Something to do on the side that would let us channel our energies in another direction.”
“Why couldn’t you take up snowboarding or something?” whined Jenna. “Do something normal, like other techies in Silicon Valley?”
But she was roundly ignored by everyone.
“Is there proof?” asked my sister Tina, the one who was married to Jake. “Is there videotape of the dancing, do you guys get pay stubs, that kind of thing? Do people know this about you?”
This was the hard part.
“I think there is some video footage,” I said softly. “I heard some girls talking about it at school and there are rumors circulating that Caden and Caleb are strippers.”
“Oh no,” replied my sister. “Is there any way to destroy the tapes or even buy them? Are you being blackmailed?”
“We looked into that,” said her husband grimly. “The tapes are out there and we’ve made an offer, but the damage may already be done. Fact is, Caden and Caleb are on film dancing at Lucky Paradise Two.”
This made Jenna snort again. “Lucky Paradise Two? Are you shitting me?” she drilled, her voice pure nails on chalkboard. “That doesn’t even sound like a high-end place.”
I shot to the defensive, unable to control my anger. “For your information, LP II is legit, we were there for my friend’s bachelorette, it’s totally fine,” I spat. “Mind your own business.”
“Your business is my business,” said Jenna darkly. “At least in this respect.”
“Anyways,” said Cade, “We wanted to apprise you of our affairs, come out into the open and reassure you that we’re not dancing anymore. That’s in our past and we’ve decided to leave it behind.”
“But,” added Caleb, “we wanted to inform you of another development. And that’s … I’m asking Karina to marry me.”
My cheeks flushed, my mouth dropping open. What? This gorgeous man was proposing now? In front of our families?
But the reaction was immediate.
“Oh honey, that’s wonderful,” gushed my mom. “It’ll only strengthen the ties between us, with you married to Caleb and Tina married to Matt. Perfect!”
“I love it,” nodded my sister Tina. “You’re wonderful together, I can see how much you’ve supported each other through this rape scandal. I know Sandy was your friend, Karina, but it’s great how you stood up for your brothers, closing ranks to maintain solidarity. That’s the definition of a true partnership,” she said, grabbing her husband’s hand and squeezing fondly.
I was shocked. I hadn’t even said yes yet, and yet everyone was cooing, congratulating us, acting like it was a done deal.
“Wait a minute,” I said slowly. “This is all news to me … I haven’t decided yet.”
And the twins turned to look at me, their expressions forbidding, unforgiving looks on their faces.