AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I knew you wouldn’t do anything crazy if I just told you I slept with her. That you wouldn’t go to extreme lengths to punish me because Paige was involved.”
“So you made up a story for the lost money because you knew I’d make it public,” Matthew announced, the realization hitting him like a rock to the head. “You wanted me to punish you.”
“I wanted you to hurt me,” Ryan corrected. “Because I felt so bad about what I did. I don’t have an excuse as to why I slept with her, and I’m not making one now. It was a bad decision. I’m taking accountability for it. I’m not asking for your forgiveness, Matthew. I’m just explaining it so I can get this off my chest.”
“I don’t have plans for forgiving you, Ryan,” Matthew pointed, but something told me that wasn’t true. I thought that he would eventually forgive my brother for what he did, knowing now that he lied about embezzling the money. “But I’d have learned how to be civil with you. Eventually. For Reagan.”
“Was that why you didn’t get out of jail sooner?” I asked, a new enlightenment came.
A nod. “Dad wanted me to. But I didn’t want to cut my sentence short. I deserved it and it gave me time to think my life through.”
“Was vacationing in Bali and ghosting your sister part of that plan?” I snapped, narrowing my eyes at him. Now that his issue with Matthew was out in the open, I needed my own peace of mind.
“You think I was vacationing in Bali?”
“That’s what Daddy said,” I disclosed.
“Dad’s a selfish bastard who would go to lengths to keep his money and business. It’s all he has.”
“So, what were you doing in Bali?”
“I’m opening a travel service company there. It’s not ready yet, but I’m planning to launch it sometime late next year.”
“You were just too busy to call me, then?”
“I didn’t know what I’d say to you, Reag, to be honest,” he admitted. Unshed tears shone in his eyes. “I didn’t want to hear how disappointed you were in me for leaving you with Dad. I wasn’t always there when Mom died, so I thought you’d hated me by the time I left jail.”
“I could never hate you, Ryan. You’re my brother.”
“Even when I gave you that black eye?” Yes, I wanted to say. But right now, he needed to be put in his place, he needed to know that there were consequences for what he did.
“Well, except for this one. I’d be holding a grudge for this one. Maybe until it healed. I’ll take it.”
The air was a little lighter when Matthew offered to order for us. He didn’t ask Ryan what he wanted but he got us each a sandwich and iced tea. My brother didn’t acknowledge his former business partner while we ate after our order came. But Ryan had asked a million questions about me. How I thought to move to Florida and how I ended up in Parker Villas, among other questions.
Then he said he loved watching me play the piano, and I teared up when he said that he remembered Mommy when he was watching me the other night. And I realized how much I had missed him, and that I wished things didn’t have to be so complicated between us.
“Are you going back to California now?” I asked later as we stood from our booth. Matthew remained quiet, but his soft touches and stolen glances told me he was still paying attention.
“I have a flight scheduled later in the evening. I’m going to talk to Dad before I leave for Bali. I think I’ll be staying there for a while.”
“Call me, Ryan. Okay?” I couldn’t help myself. I threw my arms around my brother. And I loved how his hug hadn’t changed over the years. It was still tight, assuring—a safety net that reminded me that he’d caught me whenever I fell in the past. But right now, I was good on my own. I had Matthew and a new sense of maturity for taking on the world.
“I will,” he answered. “And Reagan?”
“Yeah?”
“When you’re ready, talk to Dad.”
“When I’m ready.” And I didn’t know when that would be, but I knew that it would come to me eventually. Things like that took time for me. But one thing was sure, I knew that I could never hate my family forever.
Chapter twenty-five
Matthew
“Why didn’t you tell me you were engaged?” Clair Sullivan asked days later after Reagan and I went back to work. She wasn’t happy about hearing about the punching fest that happened in the banquet hall that night, but she kept her thoughts to herself about it.
But the thing with Reagan, oh, she was excited to ask about that one. Which was why she was bugging me this early in the morning.
