Beloved by Brothers (Doms of Destiny, Colorado 6)

“Why?” Lucas asked.

“If you must know, I have a deposition to conduct for the case I’m working on for Jennifer. It’s scheduled for the first thing Monday morning.”

“I heard about that,” he said. “Braxton Meat Packing is suing her ranch for selling them diseased cattle, right?”

He knew that Lucas was just trying to keep Phoebe talking, to keep her from shutting them out. In the past, talking about the law or her cases always kept her engaged. He hoped it would now.”

She sat down her wine glass and stood. “Good night.”

Without another word, she marched into her bedroom, shutting the door.

He and Lucas stared at the closed door for a long moment.

“What a fucking mess, Mitchell.” Lucas downed the rest of his beer and headed back into the kitchen. “Another beer?”

“Absolutely.”

Lucas handed him his drink. “I really wanted to help her, but what could we do? Jason fucked up everything once again.”

“We will help her. She just needs time alone, which is understandable given all that went down tonight.”

Lucas sat down and they drank their beers in silence for a bit. “We’ve got to go to Chicago with her.”

“I know. She’s not going to be happy about that.”

“Not one damn bit. Our girl has fire.”

“Like a bonfire.” He loved her. Somehow they would get through this nightmare. They had to. “I can’t lose her, Lucas. I won’t. Not again. Not ever.”

“Me either. Fuck. Why is Jason doing this again? After three years, we finally have her in our arms.”

Mitchell shook his head. “I hate to say this, bro, but if Jason doesn’t fix things between him and Phoebe, I intend to move on with her—with or without him.”

Lucas sighed. “Me, too. Damn, I never dreamed I would consider a life, a family, without Jason. Even after the breakup and dealing with all the anger that unearthed inside me, I still thought eventually that you, Jason, and me would share Phoebe once again. That we would build a future together.”

Mitchell had been sure they were going to make it. He still was. “So did I, bro. And even with all the shit he unloaded tonight, I still haven’t given up.”

Lucas took a sip of his beer. “I haven’t either, but you have to admit the chances for that happening are shrinking.”

“You saw Jason’s face tonight.” Mitchell could tell that Jason had really struggled with what to do. “There’s more to the story than he shared. I have to believe he will come around soon, but for now, I will do whatever I have to do to keep Phoebe.”

“Same here.”

They finished their beers in silence.

“We need some clothes for the trip, Mitchell.”

Lucas was right. There was a lot to do before leaving in the morning. “I’ll go to my place and pack a few things. You stay here with her.”

Lucas handed him the keys to his place. “You mind getting my bag packed?”

“Sure. Kill two birds with one stone.”

“I’ll call Ashley to find out what flight they’re booked on,” Lucas said. “Then I’ll check with the airline to see if there are at least two seats available. If not, I’ll call the Knights to see if we can use their jet tomorrow.”

“That covers all the bases for now.”

“All of them, but one.” Lucas frowned. “We still need to find Shane.”