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“I tried calling Brooke, but her phone is still here,” Ember said, inclining her head at the purse in his hand. “Lucas and Nate have gone out to look for her.”
“And Griff and Jackson are by the door, keeping an eye on your brother,” Ally added, giving him a sympathetic smile.
His stomach dropped. The thought of Brooke out there all alone without any money or her phone alarmed him. She couldn’t have gone far. Nate and Lucas would probably be walking back in with her by their side any minute. He could talk to her then.
If she’d listen.
“Christ, I’ve messed up.”
Ember gave him the smallest of smiles. “Yeah, you have,” she said kindly.
“What do I do?” he asked them. “Tell me. How do I make this better.
”
Ember and Ally exchanged a glance, and turned their heads to look at him. “You know what to do. You’ve been doing it for most of the time you’ve been back,” Ember told him. “Except for this one thing.”
“I was trying to protect her. Jamie’s my problem. She shouldn’t have to worry about him.”
“But she didn’t want your protection. She wanted your partnership.” Ember glanced over at the table on the far side of the room where Lillian and Martin were leaning in toward each other, both of them talking rapidly. “She’s had people making decisions for her all her life. Her father thought he was protecting her by sending you away. Her mother thought she was protecting her by lying to her. She trusted you, Aiden. She thought you believed in her enough for her to make her own decisions. But you didn’t.”
“That’s not what I wanted.”
“But it’s what you gave her. You took her choices away from her and made them yourself.”
“I’m no better than her father,” he said slowly, as realization washed over him. “No wonder she hates me.” He needed a drink. Because every damn word Ember was telling him was true.
“You’re better in one respect,” Ally said, her eyes soft. “You’re listening to the truth, and taking it all in.”
“Give her time,” Ember urged. “And space. And if she comes back to you, grovel like hell.”
“And in the meantime, you should probably go and talk to your brother.” Ally nodded toward the door. “I’m not sure how long Griff and Jackson can stand to watch him.”
* * *
Jamie was pacing up and down the blacktop of the Beach Club parking lot when Aiden arrived outside. The coolness of the night time air caressed his skin. Griff and Jackson gave him a nod and walked back inside, leaving the two brothers alone once again.
Aiden took a deep breath of ocean air. He’d come back to this town in a blaze of glory, determined to show Angel Sands how he’d changed, come up in the world, become somebody. And yet somehow, in their eyes he was still that kid from the wrong side of the tracks. The scum who’d messed with Martin Newton’s golden girl.
Yeah, well fuck them. He didn’t have time for their opinions right now.
Noticing him standing by the door, Jamie stopped walking and came to a halt in front of him. Aiden eyed him warily, waiting for the anger he’d felt inside the Beach Club to descend. But it didn’t. Instead a deep, dark exhaustion clawed into every bone.
“Why are you here?” he asked Jamie.
“To see my brother.” Jamie grinned. “I missed ya, kid.”
“Cut the bullshit.” Aiden’s voice was low. “Why are you really here?”
Jamie’s mouth twisted as he lifted his hand to wipe at his nose. “Thirty thousand dollars,” he said slowly. “Is that all I’m worth to you?”
“That’s what my peace of mind was worth to me. But I shouldn’t have paid it to you anyway.”
“I need more.”
“No.” Aiden shook his head. “You’re not getting another dime from me.”
Jamie’s lip twitched. “I need it. Thirty thousand isn’t going to get me very far. I owe people money. I need somewhere to live…”
