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“Which is why he’s trying to extract money from you and get some twisted kind of revenge at the same time.”
“For a wrong that was never done to him.” My body begins to vibrate with anger as Nate’s number lights up my screen. I pick up immediately. “Hey.”
“Hey. Would you be willing to talk to the Raleigh police department about this?”
The question startles and delights me. “Absolutely. I’ll tell them everything I know.”
“Great. I’ll have them contact you.”
“Can’t wait,” I practically cackle. When we end the call, I face my brother. Vindication courses through my veins, though I try not to let it carry me away. “Maybe a wrong is about to be righted.”
“Speaking of wrongs needing to be righted, Jack ...” Donovan angles his gaze away and scratches the back of his head. “I, uh, have something I need to tell you.”
“Don’t stomp on my happy. If it’s more about Colby Chase screwing around, I don’t want to hear it.”
His eyes swing back to mine, and they’re filled with something that looks a lot like regret. “It’s not. In fact, I … Shit, I don’t know how else to say this.”
This isn’t like my brother. Heart hammering against my chest wall, I straighten my posture. “Say what?”
“I didn’t exactly tell you the truth about that.”
My stomach tightens. “You mean there’s more?”
He shakes his head. “Less, actually.” He pauses to clear his throat. “I, uh … I made up all that shit about him sleeping with different women every night. I thought it was for the best if you two weren’t together, but I was wrong.”
Moments tick past as I sit in stunned silence. “You lied about that?” His body seems to fold in on itself as he flinches. “You little shit!”
“I know, I know, and I’m sorry. I just … I thought you could do better.”
“So he never … and he doesn’t?” I don’t know whether to be relieved or infuriated.
“No. Guy’s boring as hell. When dinner’s over, he usually heads to his room. He might hang in the bar for a beer, maybe talk to a bunny if she initiates, but that’s it.”
Deep down, I struggled to reconcile the man who gave so much of himself to the kids on the Gail with the manwhore Donny described. But if Donny made it all up, then Colby deliberately used my brother’s lies against me when I confronted him. Colby never cheated on me—he simply handed me a fake reason to walk away.
The truth has hovered at the edges of my mind the entire time, but now it hits me fully, and it devastates my tiny moment of triumph.
“Jack?” my brother prods gently. “I admit I was wrong, and I am so damn sorry. I wanted to protect you, and I lost it when I found out you were with Chase. I admit I was an asshole. I don’t want you pissed at me for the rest of our lives. Will you forgive me?”
When I look into his green eyes, I see nothing but remorse. “I’m not mad at you.” When I replay his lies, though, I reconsider. “Actually, I am pissed at you, but not as pissed as I am at Colby.”
Pleats of confusion form between his brows. “Why are you pissed at Chaser?”
“Because he didn’t deny it,” I squawk. The more it hits, the angrier I become. “He said I should listen to you, and then he let me walk out his damn door believing those lies.”
My brother recoils. “Why would he do that?”
“Oh, I don’t know.” Sarcasm drips off my words. “Why the hell did my own brother invent the stories to begin with?”
“Okay, okay. Point taken. I still don’t get why he’d do that, though.”
My glare finds and holds my brother’s gaze. “I do. He wanted to break it off and found an easy way out. Let the stupid girl believe he’s fucking around so she’s the one who ends it. It gets him out of the ‘It’s not you, it’s me’ speech.”
“That’s jacked up. What an asshole!”
I roll my eyes. “Please don’t tell me you’re going to beat his ass.”
“I’m going to beat his ass.”
