After joining her on the sidewalk, I say in a calm, respectable manner, “I am well aware you’re not a child.” The only reason I’m able to keep my cool is because the accent wasn’t close to being Italian. It dropped the nerves from my stomach quicker than Landon races to the toilet after too much Mexican.
Justine whips around so fast you’d swear I told her I signed her on to become a nun during our last family meeting. Although Saint suggested it, for the most part, he was joking.I think.“No, you don’t!Noneof you do. I’m twenty years old withfiveoverbearing fathers!Five, Maddox! One is bad enough, but I have to put up with quintuple that!”
I hate the angst on her face, but it won’t stop me from saying, “We are only like this because we care about you, J. We don’t want to see you getting hurt.”
I take a step back, emotionally winded when she fires back with words that maim both my heart and my soul. “So your brilliant plan to stop me from getting hurt is tohurtme?” She scoffs, then folds her arms under her chest. “Now I understand why you were single for so long. It wasn’t because you wanted to play the field or sow your oats. It was because you think loving something gives you the right to lie to them, manipulate them, and treat them like brainless idiots!”
“You’re not being fair, J. You have no fucking clue what some people in this town are capable of—”
“Because my brothers won’t give me the chance to experience real life!” Justine interrupts as her eyes dart between Landon, Caidyn, and Saint now watching our interaction from the front lawn instead of the safety of their rooms. “You’re suffocating me like you are suffocating Demi.”
Although her claim is for all the male members of our family, I take it personally. “I’m not suffocating Demi. I amprotectingher.”
Justine locks her eyes with mine. They’re full of tears, but their sheen is barely seen through her annoyance. “From what, Maddox? Me? You?Them?” She thrusts her hand at Landon, Caidyn, and Saint, who are hovering closer. “Who are you protecting her from?”
Ignoring Caidyn’s warning for me to choose my words wisely, I step closer to Justine. “From stuff I can’t tell you right now.” When she blows a hot breath out of her nose, I talk faster. “Not because I don’t want to tell you, J, but because it isn’t my story to tell.”
I’m getting through to her. Our mom often quoted professor Brené Brown during our teen years. ‘We share with people who have earned the right to hear our story’ is one of Justine’s favorite quotes, but Landon fucks it up with his inability to understand the inner-workings of a college student. “We’re not being deceitful to hurt you, Justine. Whether you believe us or not doesn’t alter the facts. We’re doing this for your own good.”
With her attitude at its peak, Justine angles her head to the side before arching a brow. “So you admit you arelyingto me?”
Landon blubbers out a string of indecipherable words, briskly shakes his head, then blurts out, “That wasn’t what I meant.”
“Lying and being deceitful are the same thing, Landon.” When none of her brothers jump in to back up her claims, Justine balls her hands into tiny fists, silently squeals, then she spins on her heels and walks in the opposite direction.
I clear the angst from my voice to ensure I don’t say something I can’t take back before asking, “Where are you going, J?”
Although she cranks her head my way, she continues walking. “Back to school, where I plan to stay until youall start telling the truth.”
“Justine.”
When Landon’s growly warning doesn’t slow her strides, Caidyn gives empathy a try. “I understand your frustration, Justine, but walking away won’t solve anything. We’re family. We stick together.”
She throws open the door of her beat-up Honda like Caidyn never spoke, then slips behind the steering wheel.
Saint gets slapped in the chest by Caidyn, and Landon hits him with a stern finger point when he mutters, “You’re acting like a spoiled brat.”
“Good,” Justine finally responds. “It’s about time one of your annoying traits rubbed off on me.” Her narrowed eyes expose her reply isn’t solely for Saint. We’re all on her shitlist—even me. Her favorite.
“Let her go,” I say to Caidyn when the abrupt closure of Justine’s door replicates a rocket being rammed up his ass. He’s seconds from takeoff. “I’ll talk to her once she has calmed down.”
Even with his concerned gaze focused on Justine, Caidyn’s words are for me. “You said it yourself, Maddox. This isn’t your story to tell.”
“Then I’ll talk to her,” offers a much more feminine voice. After stopping at my side, Demi slips her clammy hand into mine. “She might understand your objectives if it comes directly from the source of your worry.”
“Dem—”
“It’s fine, Maddox.”
I wait for her to tack on the two words that always announce she’s far from fine. When that doesn’t happen, I rub my thumb over the veins pulsating in her hand. “You don’t have to do this. I’d rather wrangle a temperamental sister than force the woman I love to relive her nightmares.”
As her lips curve into a smile, her eyes go misty. “When you say it like that, how could I renege my offer?” Even with my brothers eyeballing our exchange like perverts, the sexual chemistry between us is palpable. “But I would like to talk to her in person. I don’t want to consider what my uncle would do if he hears I shared guarded family secrets. If there’s no evidence, you can’t prosecute, right?”
Her soundless gag when she mentions her uncle hides the panic I see in her eyes. Col has been out of town for almost two months, yet Demi continually peers over her shoulder. It’s a habit I’d give anything to change but fully comprehend. It is easy to tell someone to look ahead when they haven’t faced evil head-on.
“I agree, you should talk in person. Everything is better in the flesh.” I catch her off guard by pulling her toward me with a gentle tug on her wrist before banding an arm around her thighs and tossing her onto my shoulder. “So while we give Justine a couple of minutes to calm down, how about I show you not all secrets are bad?”
When I swat her backside, I hear Demi’s smile in her scorn. “I haven’t brushed my hair or my teeth! I’m still in my pajamas, for crying out loud.” She waits for me to place her into the passenger seat Justine’s backside heated for all of two seconds before she lifts her eyes to mine. “Can I at least get changed?”
