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“You’ll see,” I said firmly, not wanting to tell her the destination because it was crazy. I shouldn’t be going there after midnight, half-drunk and pissed off. I was better than that. But at the same time, I didn’t know how else to prove to Katie that I wasn’t the guy she thought I was.
We arrived at Toby’s house, the one I had bought him as a wedding gift for him and Rachel. I let out a growl just thinking about all the things I had done for my little, ungrateful brother.
“It’s almost as big as yours,” Katie said.
“Almost as expensive, too,” I said, stumbling out of the car.
“Adam, this isn’t where I think it is, is it?”
“Depends,” I said simply. I entered the keycode into the gate.Idiot hadn’t changed it.I took Katie’s hand and led her up to the porch, ringing the doorbell half a dozen times.
“Adam, are we atToby’shouse right now?” Katie demanded, trying to stop me with her hand on my chest. “We shouldn’t be here.”
“We have to be here.” I turned to face her. She was biting her lip nervously. I guess I would have felt as uncomfortable as she did if it hadn’t been for the whiskey, but it was the only way. “I want him to tell you the truth.”
Toby finally came to the door after I rang the doorbell another three or four times, looking pale and drunk. I wasn’t surprised.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” he asked, walking out onto the porch and shutting the door behind him. “You’ll wake up Rachel, you idiot.” He turned to look at Katie and his face changed. Softened.
I wanted to hit him. “Don’t you dare look at her like that,” I snarled.
“What the hell are you talking about? Why are you here?”
I snapped. I took Toby’s shirt in my hand, bunching it in my fist and slamming him up against the door. “You’re going to tell Katie the truth and the whole truth about us, or I’m going to smash your face in.”2
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Toby started, but I could see in his eyes that he was afraid. I was bigger than him and I could fight while Toby was the one that was always throwing sand in people’s eyes, fighting dirty. I didn’t mind fighting dirty when it came to Toby, though, and he knew as much from our childhood and teenage scraps.
Katie just stood there, staring at us with big brown eyes.
“Ask him, Katie,” I ordered. “Ask him about Colin’s mom.”
Katie paused before speaking. “Did Adam cheat on Colin’s mother?”
Toby looked at me and didn’t answer so I lifted him and slammed him up against the door again. He winced. “Adam, you’re drunk,” he started.
“Yeah, so? I’m still stronger than you and you know it. Tell her thetruth,” I ordered.
Toby struggled, trying to shove me away but I held him tight, standing my ground.
“Fine,” he muttered. “Adam didn’t cheat on Colin’s mother. It was just a one-night-stand. He never even saw her again untilafter he found Colin in foster care.” He sounded petulant, but at least he was finally telling the truth.
“And?” I shoved him again, my grip tighter this time.
Toby glared at me. “And what?”
“And who blew through our parents’ inheritance? Who spent it on booze and gambling and women?”
Toby looked at Katie. “You don’t have to put up with him, Katie. You know that I’m always here for you if you want to get away from him.”
“You sonofabitch!” I shouted, slamming him harder up against the door. I was sure by then that Rachel was up, but I didn’t care. She was as much to blame as Toby was for what they’d done to Katie. “Tell her the truth.”
“He’s right,” he said in a strangled voice. “I made a mistake back then, Katie,” he pleaded with her.
I turned my head to check Katie’s reaction to Toby’s revelation. Her face slowly changed from surprised to angry, her hand in a fist. I thought she was going to punch Toby herself. But her voice came out in a whisper.
“You lied to me the whole time we were together.” She shook her head. “About Adam. About Rachel. About everything.”
“I didn’t lie about loving you,” Toby said.
