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He’s right. They need to be free to sort this out. I need to go.
“Daniel,” Michael warns.
“I’ll come for you.” The promise is whispered in my ear.
I nod, framing his face, our eyes locked. Stretching up onto my tiptoes, I press a kiss to his mouth.
His hands tighten on my hips, once, then twice, before his touch reluctantly falls away.
I look around at the family in the room, each one wearing a different expression of anger, worry, hurt. Not wanting to make things worse, I put on a brave face and follow Officer Cooper out of the cabin.
CHAPTERTHIRTY-TWO
Daniel
“Ahhh,” I roar, sweeping the tools off the side bench.
My chest heaves, but no matter how hard I try to draw in air, it feels like I can’t breathe.
I have never felt this kind of rage, not even when we were kids.
A hand touches my back, and I quickly shrug it off, but it just returns a few seconds later.
“Michael,” I warn. He means well, but I am not in the right headspace. I can’t think. Charlotte took my thoughts with her. My mind feels foggy.
“We’ll get her back.”
“Do you even want to?” I challenge.
Michael looks stunned by my words. “You love her, so of course I want her back. You being happy means more than anything to me, Daniel. I would do anything for you.”
“So I’ve heard,” I snap.
Recognition washes over his face. “I would never hurt her. I just wanted to scare her.” He shrugs sheepishly.
“She’s not yours to scare,” I reprimand.
“No,” he agrees, “but you want to keep her, and I want to keep you.” Michael swallows hard, and I give him a second to find the right words. “I need you, Daniel. Charlie is scared of you, but she’s seen your heart.” My brother blinks back tears. “If her thinking that I don’t have one is what it takes to keep you safe and happy, I’m okay with that.”
My chest twists at his words; my love for him consumes me. But I need him to know that it can’t happen again.
“It stops now. Please don’t make me choose, Mikey.”
He nods, his tears escaping at his childhood nickname, and suddenly, all I see is a seven-year-old boy who needs to be protected again.
“We both know you wouldn’t live with yourself, either way,” Michael whispers, knowing that I am unable to choose between the two people who I love the most. He wipes at his cheeks and chuckles. “Look what women do to us?”
I laugh with him because who the fuck would have thought we could ever say those words.
“We’ll get her back, Daniel.”
I know.
“Cooper blindsided us, but he’s desperate and running out of time. Dad is on the phone with anyone who’ll answer,” he tells me, motioning to where the main house is, beyond the walls. “He’ll want to put distance between the two of you tonight, but he’ll need to sleep.”
I nod to show I’m listening. And I am, I’m hanging on to every word. Michael is thinking logically when I can’t.
“Go find her. Make tonight count because after today, you’ll need to wait until we can get this sorted out with the judge. You don’t want them to take her away because you lost focus. Keep control now, and you can have forever with her.”
