“Honor my family? What the fuck do you know about family?”
He flinches so slightly it’s barely noticeable. “I suppose this is where you blame me for your screw ups. Getting kicked out of the Marines, ending up in jail.” He shakes his head, disgust coloring his expression. “You need to take responsibility for what you’ve—”
“You first.” I grind my teeth, biting back the words that fight to be spoken.
“Me? What the hell did I ever do to you, other than try to get you to be a productive member of society?”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Fury bubbles behind my sternum. “You took away everything. My mom, my music—”
“No, I protected you from the things that made you weak. Your mother coddled you, and that music…” He shook his head. “No man worth his salt plays the piano.”
I can’t believe it. After twelve years, he hasn’t changed. “That’s it, isn’t it? You’ll never see me for the man I’ve become, or the things I’ve achieved. I’ll always represent your biggest failure. You couldn’t turn me into a clone that would follow you around like a puppy, mimicking your every move, eventually becoming the weak, controlling asshole that you are.”
“I’m weak? You’re taking steroids, and you have the nerve to call me weak? I knew you were irresponsible and immature, but a cheater?” His eyes travel from my bright orange shirt to my hair. “I can hardly stand to look at you.”
I shrug. He’s not the only one. I can hardly stand to look at myself. It’s no use telling him that I’d never do steroids. I’d be wasting my time explaining that I think the UFL doctor poisoned me. Shit, it sounds stupid in my head. Saying it will only give him more ammo in his character assault.
“I’m done. Good luck with your life, Blake. I give up.” He slams the phone into its cradle, and the looming presence from the other side of the glass moves away.
“You gave up on me a long time ago,” I whisper.
Hanging up, I push from my seat.
“One more visitor.” My escort hollers down from his position at the door. “Take a seat.”
Another visitor? I don’t want to see anyone else, but I drop back down and wait. Movement on the other side of the glass brings my eyes to a pair that matches my own.
Holy shit. I rip the phone from the cradle and press it to my ear. My brother, Braeden, sits and raises the phone to his ear.
“Brae, man. Hey.”
His hair is darker than mine and cropped in a military high-and-tight. And he’s huge. Twice the size he was when I saw him last. Looks like he’s been hitting the gym hard. I guess he found a way to channel the caged feeling that accompanies being the son of Duke Daniels.
“Hey, bro,” he says, his smile genuine, but concern in his eyes. “They treating you okay in here?”
“Yeah. How are you?” For the first time in I don’t know how long, the tingle of a smile touches my lips.
“I’d be better if we were sitting at a bar having a beer and not separated by glass.”
Smile erased, I nod. “Sorry you have to see me like this. I fucked up.”
“That’s not the story I heard.”
“No? Well, you need better information.”
“Talked to Jonah and Raven. They told me everything.”
That’s about as accurate as he could get. “Oh, okay.”
“I just have one question.” He leans in on one elbow, putting his face close to glass. “Please tell me you didn’t fuck a stripper on Valentine’s Day when your girl was being held by her ex.” His green eyes dance with humor, and a grin pulls at his lips.
“That’s the shit you want to ask me? Really?” Damn, I miss my little bro. “No. I didn’t. It took me about eight seconds of being in a dark room alone with her to realize I was fucking everything up.”
“I knew it. Jonah owes me a hundred bucks.”
It’s nice to know someone still believes in me.
We chat for a while, small talk that revolves around him and doesn’t touch my jacked-up situation. The guard calls down that our time’s up.
“I better go.” I tilt my head toward the guard. “Captain Powertrip gets pissed if I don’t jump every time he calls.”
“Sounds good.”
“You leaving town soon or…” I don’t know what to say. It’s not like he’s going to stay for a week just so he can visit his big brother in jail.
“Yeah, I’ll be here for a few days.”
“Oh, really? So I’ll—”
“See you tonight.”
“What?”
“Oh, did I forget to tell you?” He scratches his head and takes an exaggerated look around. “I guess I did.” His lips curl into a full smile. “Jonah posted bail.”
My jaw goes slack. Bail was set at fifty thousand dollars.
He taps the glass between us. “Hang in there, bro. I’ll see ya later.”
Thirty-one
Blake