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With that, he stormed out of the kitchen. Caiden sighed and stood up, shaking his head. He pressed a kiss to my temple. “Eat,” he gently ordered. “Let me talk to him.”
He quickly walked out of the dining room. I dropped my face into my hands, no longer hungry. I felt Meghan sit beside me, her arm wrapping around my shoulder. “Don’t do this, Ally,” she told me. “It’s clear that the two of them have some of their own problems to work through. This doesn’t fall on you, Hun. Let them work out their shit. You need to eat. You have a little one to feed.”
“Ally,” Axel called, drawing my eyes up to him, “eat. What Caiden did—it wasn’t anything Julian or I wouldn’t have done for Meghan. I know Christian is feeling differently about this, but Caiden’s heart is in the right place, and Christian will come to understand that.”
“Do you like the house?” Julian asked me, surprising me with his question.
I nodded. “It’s pretty,” I told him. “And it’s perfect. And Caiden even had a top-of-the-line security system installed that put an alarm button in every single room and hallway of the house. He was so thoughtful about it.”
Julian smiled at me. “They’re going to be good for you, Little Sis. Eat your food. They’ll work their shit out—trust me.”
I drew in a deep breath. I sure hoped so because if they were already stepping on each other’s toes, I didn’t know how the three of us were expected to live in harmony.
23
BROTHERLY LOVE
Christian
“Caiden, go the fuck away,” I snapped at my older brother as I stormed out onto the porch.
I knew Caiden’s heart was in the right place with the house he had just purchased. And I knew I seemed unappreciative, but he always did this shit. I had busted my ass through college to move off campus and get an apartment, and when I told Caiden my plan, he up and bought a fucking house for me and a goddamn car.
Without even talking to me about it.
And he just basically did the same damn thing again.
I knew it stemmed from all of the shit surrounding us when we were growing up. Our parents weren’t that great of parents. We grew up poor. Some days, our meal would only be a bowl of ramen noodles or a couple of hot dogs. Dad was an abusive fuck, and his kids were his favorite punching bags.
Caiden felt guilty as hell when he was kicked out because he was no longer there to take care of me, though by then, I was old enough to take care of myself. When Caiden had left for basic, he had set me up a bank account, and every time he got paid, money miraculously appeared in my account.
Caiden wouldn’t ever just let me figure out things for myself.
“Christian, stop fucking walking away for a fucking minute and turn around and fucking face me!” Caiden barked from behind me.
Clenching my jaw, I spun around to face my dick of a brother, my dark eyes flashing with rage. “What?” I snapped at him. “I don’t want to fucking talk right now, Caiden.”
“Too fucking bad, asshole,” he snapped right back at me. “I know we were supposed to go fifty-fifty on this house. But the house was below market value, and I knew it would be perfect for Ally.” Some of the fight left me at that information. He had done it for her, not for me this time. “If you still want to give me your half of the down payment, fine. I frankly don’t give a fuck. But this house is perfect for her, bro. I even paid for a fucking security system so she has an alarm button in every single room and hallway that she can press if something happens.” He threw his arms up. “If you want to fucking give me half for that, too, then whatever. Fuck it. Give me half. But I didn’t do this for you this time, Christian. I did it for Ally.”
I swallowed thickly. He sighed, shoving his hand through his short strands. “And now she’s probably sitting in that dining room, picking at her fucking food, because she feels like she made us fight. I showed her the outside of the house today, Christian, and she’s already in love with it. She hasn’t even seen the inside yet. And now, I’m going to have to go in there and convince that woman that it’s okay to still want it.”
“Why the fuck didn’t you say that at the dinner table?” I asked him.
“Did you give me a fucking opportunity?” he retorted. I kept my mouth shut because, no, I hadn’t given him the opportunity.
“Let’s go in there and fucking sit back down at the dinner table. Ally was already drawing into herself when I came out here. We’ve both got shit to fix with her right now.”
