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Jay hates my family. That much is obvious.
But why?
The sky is almost black. Even the stars are hiding from Jay’s wrath. As I search the vast emptiness above, a flash of lightning in the distance has me mesmerized, struck stupid by its sight.
“You can’t marry him,” a voice echoes from behind me.
I turn around and spot Carter stumbling toward me. His hair is a mess, and his eyes are bloodshot. At his side, he swings a half-full whiskey bottle.
“Sleep it off. We can’t resolve any of this tonight.” I’m so damn tired of justifying myself to my brothers.
If the idiots would have kept their damn dicks in their pants, we wouldn’t be in this mess.
“I know what he did,” he snarls, his eyes glistening.
“Enlighten me, please.” I hold out both hands to signal that he has the floor.
Being the only sister of these three boys is exhausting.
He holds up the bottle and uses one finger to point at me. “You fucked him back then. I know it.”
I let out a sarcastic laugh and search the damn heavens for patience. “Big deal. You fucked anything with legs.”
“Yeah, and it cost me my freedom,” he bellows.
Scoffing, I shake my head at his idiocy. “You aresodramatic.”
“Really?” he asks, moving closer. “Because whatever happened between you and Jay is what led Pa to force me to join the military. Threatened that if I didn’t, he’d cut me out of the business. I served over-fucking-seas for years because of him!”
“Watch your mouth!” Jay shouts from the door.
I’m seriously starting to wonder if I’ve been equipped with a tracker I know nothing about. Why are they here? Why can’t everyone just let me fall apart in peace?
“Oh, fuck you!” Carter screams. “This is between me and my sister. You know, the girl you fucked when you were supposed to be my best friend?”
“I saidwatchyour mouth.” Jay’s voice is dangerously low as he steps in front of me, blocking my brother from my view.
“Jay, it’s fine,” I say, placing my hand on his shoulder.
But he ignores me. “That’s the future Mrs. Hanson you’re talking about. Apologize.”
Carter laughs and stumbles over his own feet. When he rights himself, he takes another sip and points at us again. “Was this the plan all along? Use her for revenge?”
Stepping around Jay, I glare at Carter. “Enough. I get that you’re freaking out about potentially having a child—”
Jay barks out a laugh. “Oh, there’s no potentially. He’s got a child, all right.”
I spin and pin Jay with a glare. “What?”
Jay closes his eyes and lets out a long breath, like he’s working to compose himself. “Don’t you think it’s time we got everything out in the open? Finding out you’re a dad years later fucking sucks. I’ll tell you that.”
My hands shake. This is further confirmation that Jay planted all that information. He fed it all to Vanessa and Grace so they could destroy us.
“Why?” I rasp, my voice as tired as my heart.
“Because he hates us, Cat!” Carter hollers. “Fuck it. If you don’t want to listen, I can’t help you.” He stumbles back and glares at us, then he turns and disappears through the door to the stairwell.
Tension slices through the night air as I regard Jay. “I still don’t get what happened between you two all those years ago. Why does he hate you so much?”
