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“Those things will kill you.” I stood opposite him and propped my foot against the wall.
“Don’t start.” He was three years older than I was but had always acted like he was our parents’ age.
“You think I’m going to stand by and watch you kill yourself and say nothing?”
He sank down to the steps. “Give it a rest, Cal.”
“You wanna talk about Christina instead?” I sat next to him, resting my forearms on my knees.
“I’d prefer some silence, but good luck on that around here.” He blew out another cloud of smoke.
“You need to come stay with me?”
He jerked his head in my direction. “She already left.”
What a gut punch. I hurt for my brother. He’d been married over twenty years. Going home to an empty house, knowing she’d moved on when he hadn’t even seen it coming? I felt for him.
“Maybe you need to get out of that house.”
He dangled the cigarette from his fingers. “Maybe.”
“What are you gonna do?”
He looked away. “What can I do? I couldn’t give her what she wanted most so she finally went and got it somewhere else.”
They’d been trying to have kids forever. Nothing had worked. Not even the expensive fertility treatments he’d had to take a side construction job just to pay for.
“There were other ways.”
“She didn’t want to adopt.” He hung his head. “I thought a miracle had happened. That Dad was looking down and finally gave me a son.”
I balled my fists. There was so much pain in Joe’s voice it ripped me apart. He wasn’t an easygoing kind of guy. He stood up for what was right and disarmed more arguments between our brothers than anyone else.
But he was a good man.
Had been good to his wife.
He didn’t deserve this.
“We should’ve known way back when. Never used a rubber when we were kids.” He snorted bitterly. “I just thought we were lucky.”
He took another drag off the cigarette.
I couldn’t fix this with my fists. Hell, I couldn’t fix it at all. Even if the baby by some miracle did end up being Joe’s, the damage was done. She’d been screwing around on him for who knew how long.
But I was going to pay a visit to Lee Stanis. He’d think twice before sticking his dick somewhere it didn’t belong.
And I might talk to Christina too. She needed to face the damage she’d caused.
“Ma called her mother. Now the whole damn neighborhood is talking about it.” He flicked the ashes. “I know she means well, but I don’t want people in my business. I look like a fool.”
“No. Christina and Lee are the fools.” I folded my hands. “And people were gonna talk whether Ma does or not. She’s just taking up for you.”
He sighed. “I know. But all I want to do is forget.”
I squeezed his shoulder. “It won’t happen.”
He stubbed out the cigarette. “You could at least lie to me to make me feel better.”
