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Chapter Twenty-Eight
Mulaney
That big-mouthed SOB.
Everything was fine until he had to go and air our dirty laundry . . . and in front of the people who mattered most, no less. He’d done it to force me into a corner so he’d get what he wanted.
I paced around the rooftop deck Muriella had pointed me to and barely felt the cold. How could he have done this? For seven months he’d kept quiet, but I saw now he’d given me a false sense of comfort while he bided his time. Why he wanted everybody to know about our mistake was beyond me.
We could’ve fixed it a long time ago, but he’d refused. So I was unwilling to acknowledge he was my husband. If I did . . . I couldn’t, and that was all there was to it.And yet . . .even after the last few days where I’d watched Easton pull away—looking at me with inexplicable disdain—it only highlighted what I almost had. Something dangling in front of me I wanted badly.But now all hope was gone.
“For a newlywed, you sure are acting strange.”
I wheeled around at the sound of Stone’s voice. Mitch was right behind him.
“I’m not a newlywed,” I argued.
“I believe it. When Jules and I got married, we couldn’t keep our hands—”
“I don’t want to hear a damn thing about where either of your hands were,” I said, angry and hurt with equal measure. Not at my brother, because he deserved every ounce of happiness in his life.Unlike me, it seems.
“I second that,” Stone agreed as he strode across the deck toward me. “Mind filling in some gaps? I knew there was something up with you and Easton when you stopped by to see me a few weeks ago, but I thought I might be crazy.”
Mitch thwacked him in the back of the head. “You’re crazy as a run-over dog, and by the way, in case you forgot the way she carried on with the man at the ranch—”
“I’m standing right here.” I hugged myself to shield against the cold. “There is nothing going on between us, and I’ve never carried on in my life.”
They both fired unimpressed looks in my direction.
“Gettin’ married is kind of an important detail to leave out.” Stone leaned against the ledge of the building.
“I don’t need a guilt trip,” I snapped.
He held up both hands. “I’m just trying to figure out why you got married in the first place if you didn’t want to be. That’s not like you.”
I tapped my foot as I looked back and forth between them. “You want to know the truth?”
“Seems as good a place to start as any,” Mitch said.
“He bet me I wouldn’t do it.”
“Aww hell,” Stone groaned.
“Little sister, when are you going to learn you don’t have to take every dare thrown on the table?” Mitch squeezed my shoulder.
“Hold up a second.” Stone stroked his chin and stared at me.
“Whatever is about to come out of your mouth, I don’t want to hear it,” I said. I’d come up here for some peace and quiet. Apparently, that was too much to ask for.
“We know you can’t say no to a dare,” he started, completely ignoring me. “But even more than that—”
“She never does a damn thing she doesn’t want to,” Mitch finished.
“That’s not true. I can’t stand to garden, and Ruby makes me get out there with her every spring.”
“But you like spending time with her, and you love making her happy,” Stone pointed out.
My brothers were too observant for their own good.
