*
Dan probably should have gone with Mel, but despite his determination to stand behind her and help her, he was also sure she needed a few minutes of silence to herself. To wrap her brain around what happened.
And, sure, he had a few things to say to Caleb, which were maybe none of his business, but he couldn’t get past the idea that Mel needed someone willing to say something—say out loud that things here were not right. He couldn’t imagine convincing her she didn’t need to power through it, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t tell Caleb to get his shit together.
“So it doesn’t bug you to pay my sister to have sex with you when she’s desperate?” Caleb asked.
Dan didn’t move from where he was leaning against the garage. He didn’t move, period. Because if he didn’t take a few minutes to breathe through the white-hot fury, he’d punch Caleb straight in the mouth.
Mel wouldn’t want him to do that, and he was already doing something she wouldn’t want him to do. So he took a few breaths and then mustered his best fuck-you smile. “Doesn’t it bug you to be so completely useless she breaks under the pressure of carrying your worthless ass?”
Something flickered in Caleb’s gaze, dark and violent, and Dan hoped to hell it was some kind of feeling for Mel. Because if he at least cared, there was hope.
He wanted Mel to have hope. “I care about your sister.”
Caleb snorted. “Why the hell wouldn’t you? I’d bet everything I have that she’s ten times the woman than anyone you’ve ever come into contact with in Chicago. But care doesn’t mean shit—you know why?”
“Enlighten me.”
“Take a look at those mountains, this house, that fucking truck she’s driving. They all belong here. Born here, made here, ground to fucking dust here. Tough. But, more, they’ve all got nowhere else to go. You’ve got somewhere to go.”
“I see you’re an expert on me. I had no idea you’d done so much research.”
“I know exactly who you are. Rich and spoiled, and you don’t give two shits about anything, or you wouldn’t be under suspicion of being a cheating asshole. Maybe you’d stay for a while because it’s new and different and you can throw money at any problem you’ve got. Build a life with my sister. Have a kid you barely pay attention to because she’s not the image of the perfect baby girl who was in your head, another kid you sneer at like he’s a bad seed because…well, hell, maybe he is. Then another you leave with that no one ever knows about.”
“I think I have certain anatomy that would make that a kind of impossible.”
“This a joke to you?”
“I’m not your mother. And I’m not responsible for your mommy issues.” He pushed off the garage, and though he hadn’t been in a brawl in a few years, he relished the thought of one.
But he wouldn’t, mainly because he had a feeling that’s exactly what Caleb was looking for. Reason for a good fight. Well, he wouldn’t be the joker who fell for that shit, especially when Mel wouldn’t appreciate it. No matter how angry she might be at her brother, no matter what little Dan knew about sibling dynamics, he doubted he’d be hailed a hero if he bloodied Caleb’s big mouth.
“Maybe the reason people leave is because you all go around acting like you’re so tough and have it under control when it’s obvious to the whole world you don’t,” Dan said.
“Maybe no one’s strong enough to stick.”
“Guess we’ll see.”
“You think I’ll let you hurt her?”
“You’ve done a bang-up job on your own. Don’t know why you’d care what anyone else does.”
“She deserves better than you.”
“Right back at you.”
“This isn’t about me. She’s stuck with me. You’re expendable. You should expend yourself away from this place.”
“You’re an asshole who could do better for your entire family, but you don’t see me giving you any unwanted advice.”
Caleb shoved hands through hair that looked shaggy and unruly, much like he did as a whole. Dan didn’t remember him looking that way when he’d first met him. Sure, a little shaky, but not like a man beyond the edge of what he could handle.
He almost, almost felt sympathy for the guy. Caleb was almost a decade younger and had a hell of a lot more on his plate than Dan had ever imagined facing.
“I care very deeply about your sister.” Very very deeply. A million verys. Or maybe just the L word he was still trying to decide if he could handle. If he could handle, survive, succeed at loving someone so bound and determined to shut him out. “I don’t have any beef with you other than she’s mad at you, so I’m mad by association. But whether you believe me or not, whether she believes me or not, I’m not going anywhere. Not permanently.”