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“The fuck you say?” Remi’s eyes, so like his sister’s, spark black lightning right before he starts toward me. I stand my ground, ready to do whatever. He’s got a couple of inches on me, but I can take him.
Tyson suddenly jumps between us and to my surprise, instead of joining his brother, he puts his hands on Remi’s chest and forces him to stop. “Stop, man. Stop. Come on. It’s Stone fucking Rivers. He’s the best man I know. And he loves our sister, man.”
I’m stunned to hear him say all of this. I walk over to one of the wicker armchairs surrounding the big fire pit and sit. “How do you know that?” I ask, feeling dazed as I think about the way he behaved.
“You sent her some letters. She left them out and I was at her house one day and I saw them. I’m her little brother. It’s like…my job,” he adds defensively when Remi glares at him.
“Why didn’t you say anything?” I ask, bewildered.
“Because it was obvious that it was a secret. And I thought you’d tell me your damn self.”
I glance at Celine and turn back to Tyson, suspicion replacing my confusion.
“So, what was all that shit about me helping you set her up?”
He scrubs a hand through his hair and winces. “I was fucking with you. I thought you’d tell me, I’m sorry.”
“And tonight? This whole date thing?”
“Regan is the most possessive female I’ve met in my entire life. I figured seeing you with someone would get her head out of her ass. She’s been miserable. And so are you. And since you both wanted to keep your secrets, I left you to it.”
“And you used Celine to do that? That’s messed up.”
“Don’t cry for me Argentina,” Celine says dryly, and I turn to her. She drops her sincere, sweet smile and smirks. “I got paid for tonight. And I got to sit on your lap, handsome.” She winks.
“Are you serious?” I turn a murderous glare on Tyson.
“I didn’t know Reggie was gonna get blotto and fucking cry and shit. I thought she’d maybe throw Celine out and drag you upstairs by the collar.”
“Wait, so you’re the guy in the picture that Marcel put in the paper?” Kal asks.
I nod.
“So, why did Regan say it was a stranger?” she looks as perplexed as I feel.
“Oooh, ooh, pick me,” Tyson says in a high-pitched voice as he jumps up and down. No one laughs. He stops jumping around and says, “Cause, clearly, he doesn’t know.” He jerks his thumb at me.
Remi smacks him on the back of the head. “Start talking, Ty. Now.”
He rubs his head and sneers at Remi. Then, he cracks his knuckles as if he’s getting ready to exert himself.
“Marcel threatened to ruin Stone in every way possible. She was worried it would hurt his relationship with Hayes and that Hayes would blame him when his struggle to get Kingdom’s Foundation out of the shit Thomas left it in didn't work. And she’s worried that he’ll lose his job, and she knows how much he loves his job. He’s worked so hard for it. Last but not least, she was worried what more gossip would do to her kids at school and how they’d feel knowing she’d stepped out on their dad.” Tyson pauses to take a dramatic inhalation of breath.
I blink, dumbfounded that he knows so much. And then in realization that I know it all, too. That she told me as much that night at her house. And I was so angry, my pride was so wounded, that I didn’t hear anything but her telling me that I couldn’t handle the fire.
“Dude, I put that shit together. If you’d get your head out of her ass for long enough, you’d be sitting with her and not out here looking like you just woke up from a bad dream,” Tyson scolds me.
“I would?”
“Yeah, bonehead. Now, I’m going to go apologize to my sister,” he starts for the doors.
I get up and step in front of him. “No. Stay the fuck back. She’s mine. Mine. And I’ll take care of her. She said you don’t have to go home. I’d like to amend that - you don’t have to go home, but you gotta get the hell outta here.”
Then I run up th
e stairs and go get my girl.
I find her sitting on the floor of her bedroom, draped in a pink bathrobe, staring forlornly at herself in the mirror. Her eyes come to the door, and she glances up and sighs deeply when she sees me.
