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“Right. He’s your brother. You want to support him.”
“No!”
His eyebrows rose in question, but his mouth was still a flat, cold line of doubt.
“Alex, I wasn’t supporting him! I heard that he was there. I only wanted him to leave. That’s all. I didn’t... I’d never have gone. Never.”
His stiff shoulders relaxed a little. “What was he doing there?”
“I don’t know. He wanted to make a point.”
“What point?”
“A stupid point! How should I know? It was cruel of him and terrible and I only wanted to stop it. I’m so sorry, Alex.”
“Jesus. Don’t cry.”
She shook her head and swiped at her cheeks. “He thinks you’re his brother.”
Alex’s head drew back. “His what?”
“I guess there were rumors that he was your dad’s son. Like an idiot, he listened to them.” A little hiccup escaped her throat and she swallowed it back. “He looks like my dad, but I don’t think he got anything else from him. No dignity or work ethic or common sense... God, what am I going to do?”
“It’s not your fault.”
“No, but I have to live with it.” She blinked her tears away and caught his eye. “I’m sorry. This isn’t about me. Your mom. She needs help.”
“She’s always needed help.”
“I’ve been on the sharp end of her obsession for a long time, but this is different, Alex. This isn’t martyrdom or stubbornness. There’s something wrong.”
“Maybe. Or maybe she was just trying to freak you out. Do you think that’s beyond her? She broke into your house just a few hours after she called you a whore in front of the whole town. She’s nobody’s victim.”
“And after everything she’s done to me, I’m still worried about her. Why aren’t you?”
He didn’t answer her question. Instead, he dug his phone from his pocket and scrolled, looking angry that she’d even asked the question.
“And you didn’t tell me you stole her cat! I thought she was going to kill me!”
He grunted, but didn’t glance up from the phone. “She’s seeing her psychiatrist next week.”
“Good. Okay.”
“My brother’s texting me. I’d better get back.” He hesitated for a moment, but he didn’t say anything else. He only studied her face and then walked toward the door. “Thanks for calling.”
That was it. He was gone again. As far away as if he was still on his bike, heading anywhere but here.
Sophie locked the door, turned off the lights and crawled into bed. She couldn’t help anyone else today, not even herself. Tomorrow she’d try to clean up the mess. Again.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
ALEX PRETENDED THERE wasn’t a kitten curled up and purring under his chin as he scowled at his brother. “We’ll see how she’s doing in the morning. I’m obviously not going to get out of town tonight.”
“You weren’t supposed to leave tonight anyway,” Shane countered. “What the fuck was that?”
“You were busy. There wasn’t any reason to stay.” The kitten nuzzled his throat. He gave up ignoring it and scratched the back of its head. The purring rumbled more loudly. “She’s sleeping?” he asked, tipping his head toward the back room.
“Yes.”
