Page 121 of Sheltering You

Bryan blinked. “He told me about it because I was doing that thing for him in Germany. It was a national security⁠—”

“This has nothing to do with national security. I’m your brother, and you knew…” Emotion—stupid, embarrassing emotion—bubbled up inside. He swallowed, swallowed everything he’d planned to say. “You should have told me.”

“He’s also my brother.” Bryan didn’t back down. If anything, he stood taller. “It wasn’t my place to tell you. It was Jasmine’s.”

Derrick looked at the jet’s window. Thanks to the bright morning light, he couldn’t see inside, but he had a feeling she was watching.

“I guess you had to betray someone. You chose me.” He spun and climbed the stairs.

“Derrick.”

At the top, he glanced back. Bryan remained on the tarmac, hurt and confusion in his expression. Because Derrick was always the guy to let offenses go. He was always the guy to get over it and move on.

Not this time.

“I’m going to sleep. Try not to crash my plane.”

Derrick’s heart was pounding, his hands sweating. Stupid. Who cared if he’d just yelled at his brother? Bryan had betrayed him. Derrick owed him nothing.

He aimed for the back, needing space and privacy. But of course his gaze landed on Jasmine before he passed.

She didn’t even glance his way as she swiped her fingertips beneath her eyes.

Great. He’d wrecked his relationship with his brother and he’d made the woman he loved cry. And it wasn’t even eleven o’clock in the morning.

What a banner-freaking-day this was turning out to be.

He adjusted the cabin temperature, making it a little warmer for his always-chilly…not girlfriend, grabbed two bottles of water, and walked back to her seat, holding one out. “You okay?”

She took it, nodding. “Are you?”

“You remember how to recline the seat?”

“Yes.”

“Good.” He grabbed a couple of blankets and pillows from a storage bin and handed her one of each. “I’m going to get some rest.”

He didn’t wait for a response, just made his way to the back and collapsed. He wasn’t going to think about it. Any of it.

He shoved the pillow against the window and closed his eyes.

The engine powered up. A few minutes later, Bryan taxied to the runway.

Derrick hadn’t realized how angry he was at his brother until he’d heard his voice earlier, and then it all just…rolled over him.

If Bryan had told him Jasmine was married and expecting a kid, then he could have protected himself. He wouldn’t have gotten his hopes up. He wouldn’t have had such…expectations. He could’ve guarded his heart.

He should’ve done that anyway. But he’d always been an all-in guy, especially where relationships were concerned, where people were concerned. He’d been like that with his brothers, trying to fix everything that broke. Everything they broke. It hadn’t been Derrick’s fault when Grant talked Bryan into going down to the dock at camp so Grant could show off by climbing up the cliff. Derrick hadn’t been there when Bryan decided to follow him up. He hadn’t been there when Bryan lost his grip and fell onto the rocky ground below.

Derrick had been in bed with a fever. If not for that, maybe he could’ve stopped it, stopped the whole tragedy from happening.

But he’d been a five-year-old kid.

Sheesh, Grant and Bryan had only been nine and seven.

Derrick could still hear the helicopter that air-lifted Bryan to the hospital. He’d been too young to understand how badly his brother was injured. It had never occurred to him that Bryan might die, though of course he knew now how serious those injuries had been. Bryan had been fortunate to end up with nothing worse than a crushed ankle. He should’ve been thankful.

But he’d been bitter. It wasn’t the fall that’d wrecked their family. It wasn’t the helicopter or the hospital stays or the medical bills or the years of physical therapy.