Page 177 of Twisted Needs

“I asked you to stay away.”

“You did.”

He hesitates. “You...love him.”

My whole body softens. “It’s more than love. He’s life. I can’t breathe without him.”

He stares into his mug for a long moment. “I spent eighteen years trying to keep him safe.” The words are quiet. “I barely knew him before I adopted him,” he says. “People forget that part. Everybody acts like I was always his brother, but I wasn’t. I was a stranger with the same mother as him.”

“He didn’t know me. Hell, most days I don’t think he even liked me.” A bitter laugh escapes him. “I was twenty years old, Parker. Twenty. I had absolutely no fucking clue what I was doing.”

“I spent years trying to figure out what he needed from me. When he woke up screaming from nightmares, I was there whenever I could be. When he got suspended from hockey, I was there. When he got into fights, I was fucking there. When he spent half of middle school acting like he hated me, I was still there.” His jaw tightens. “We both know a twenty-year-old NHL player had no business trying to raise a toddler on his own.”

“Do you know how many times he looked at me like I ruined his life?”

I do.

“I didn’t know what the fuck I was doing,” Luca says quietly. “So every time something happened, I called you.” His eyes finally meet mine. “I called you because you were the person I trusted most in the world. You’re family. You always have been.”

My stomach twists.

“When he wouldn’t listen to me, I called you. When he got suspended, I called you. When he ran away, I called you. Every single time I felt like I was failing him, I called you.”

His laugh sounds hollow. “You always knew exactly what to say.” Luca swipes his thumb across his jaw. “I practically handed him to you.”

The words land like a body check straight to the chest. Luca looks out the window at a family walking past the diner. “I look at the two of you now and sometimes I wonder where I fucked up.” His voice is barely above a whisper. “Sometimes...I wish I’d never introduced you to him in the first place.”

“You think he picked me over you.”

His silence tells me everything.

“You’re his brother, Luc.” I swipe my hand down my face. “You keep acting like this is some competition you lost. But it’s not.”

“You don’t understand.”

“No. I do.” I lean forward. “You think if he needs me, then somehow he doesn’t need you.” Luca looks away. “That’s not how this works.”

“He loves you, Luca.” A lump forms in my throat. “He loves you so much that half the reason this has been so hard is because he couldn’t stand the idea of hurting you.”

For a long moment, Luca says nothing. “I still hate this,” he mutters after a second. “I hate that you’ve known him since he was a kid.”

“I do, too.”

He looks back at me. “I hate that every time I look at you, I remember his little face lighting up every time he saw you.” He reaches for his mug. “You don’t get to be another person who leaves him.”

“He’s had enough of those.”

I nod. “I know.”

“No, seriously.” His voice is quiet but unwavering. “You break his heart, Park, and they’ll never find your body.”

For the first time all morning, I huff out a laugh. “Anders would dismember me without a second thought.”

Finally, Luca smiles. “Yeah.” He swipes a hand down his face. “He got that from Emelie.”

The first customers begin filtering into Patsy’s. Luca lets out a long sigh. “You seriously couldn’t have chosen anyone else?”

I shake my head. “Luca, I love him. I can’t control that.”