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“I’ll think about it,” he decides, exasperated but quieter than before. “For now, it’s late. You’ve been on the road all day. You two can take the guest room upstairs—second door on the left. It’s the only room that actually has a bed in it, so unless one of you wants to take the couch, you’ll have to shack up together. There’s a separate bathroom and towels in the linen closet. Help yourselves.”

The look I give June snaps her mouth shut. “Thanks,” I offer, tucking a hand around her elbow and dragging her up the stairs before she can say anything. She wants to. I can feel it.

It’s only once we are in the surprisingly large but sparsely furnished spare room that I let go of her. “Is he serious?” she hisses, throwing her hands into the air. At least she’s whispering. It’s a small favor, but I’ll take it.

“I’m too tired to argue.” The bed looks damn good, practically begging for me to cocoon myself under the thick down quilt.

“I just can’t believe he would keep you hanging like this. He’s your brother.”

“You keep saying that like it matters.” Sitting on the edge of the bed, I take off my shoes, resisting the impulse to lie back here and now. It doesn’t seem like driving should be so exhausting when all you’re doing is sitting still, but I’m sure all the shit on my mind—and the constant chirping in my ears—hasn’t helped.

“It does matter! Family is . . . Emily and I are always there for each other.” She folds her arms in front of me, tapping her foot on what looks like a handmade rug. He really went all out with the quaint, homey shit, didn’t he?

“Don’t worry about it.” I hear my brother downstairs, pacing on those creaky floorboards like a man with a lot on his mind. “He’ll come through.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“This isn’t only about me. It’s about him too.” I’m more sure than ever when I stand, ready to wash up before I pass out. “If he wants to stay alive and maybe even show his face in the world again, he’ll help. Trust me on it.”

All I can do now is hope that I’m right.

Otherwise, I might as well kiss my ass goodbye.

Chapter Fifteen

June

It’s like being in bizarro world, waking up at the crack of dawn while Adrian is still sleeping like a log next to me. I don’t think he moved once all night. I guess all that driving took it out of him. That, plus all the arguing with his brother. I offered to take a shift driving, but Adrian refused to let me behind the wheel after I joked about how many fender benders I’ve been in. I stand by the fact that five is a perfectly reasonable number, and they weren’t even all my fault.

I miss Emily more than ever as I watch him sleep. If it wasn’t for the soft burst of warmth that hits my face with every exhale, I would wonder if he was still alive. I just don’t understand how two brothers can act the way they did last night. If Emily came to me needing help, I wouldn’t leave her hanging. I would jump right in and ask whose life we were going to fuck up.

But not these two. It’s much too early in the morning to think about banging their heads together, but it’s the only solution I can come up with. Really, though, what did I expect? Adrian warned me about their rocky relationship.

He seemed sure last night that he would be on our side. That’s nice for him, but I don’t have to agree. Theo came off angry, frustrated, maybe even a little afraid of what this would mean for him. Whoever this Matteo person is, he’s bad enough to make a guy retreat to the middle of nowhere and live like a hermit. How bad do things have to get before a guy fakes his death to escape?

Maybe I can butter him up a little. I could at least make it so he doesn’t regret letting us spend the night.

I could just about fall over from surprise when Adrian doesn’t budge as I ease my way out of bed. After a quick trip to the bathroom, I head downstairs in the sweats I slept in—the sweats I live in, since I have nothing of my own and haven’t since that now-dead goon took me from my hotel. Another reason I’m not exactly sorry he’s toast.

The house is painfully quiet, quiet enough that I can hear the refrigerator humming in the kitchen once I walk in. It’s nice, sparkling clean, and I have to wonder if Theo gets much use out of it. I stand on my tiptoes to open the cabinets to find lots of canned soup and pasta. Well, I guess there’s no option for delivery around here, and he’s only cooking for himself. No need to go all out.

I’ll make breakfast for us. It will be an excuse to sit down together and hopefully get along a little better than we did last night. It doesn’t take long to find a cast-iron frying pan and a pound of bacon in the fridge. Who knows? I could end up saving the day thanks to this meal. June, the heroine. It’s probably a better idea than banging their heads together, anyway.

Though that option is still on the table.

The fancy gas range is a bit temperamental, with the flame jumping higher than I expected once I turn on the burner under the pan. I have to fiddle with it a little before opening the package of bacon and placing slices on the cast iron. Soon the heavenly aroma fills the air. I doubt the guys will be asleep for much longer once they get a whiff of this.

Turning away from the pan, I look around for something to flip the bacon with. I swear, I only have my back turned for three seconds. That’s it.

But that’s all it takes.

“Shit!” I gasp, my heart seizing at the sight of flames that have magically started leaping up from the pan.

“What do I do?” I ask the universe.

I can’t panic, but that’s all my brain wants to do while I fly around, breathless, searching for something to put out the fire, which is starting to grow. “Where the hell is the baking soda? That puts out a grease fire, right?”

The only thing I have on hand is a dish towel hanging over the oven door’s handle, so I pick it up and start swatting uselessly at the flames.