Done with what I came here to do, and reminded of Ryder’s warning for me not to stay long, I turn to leave the room, when suddenly Evan calls, “I sold your stories to pay the debt. I did that so McKenna wouldn’t have to pay. I wanted to protect her.”
I shut my eyes and breathe deep, and then I turn back to him, eyebrow arched. “Do you really want to have this conversation?”
“I want you to know that—”
“If you want to have this conversation,” I interject through gritted teeth, not letting him get a damn word in. “Then let me be very clear with you, Evan. You’re a fucking leech.” His eyes begin to narrow, and that’s when I allow my glare to hold all my hatred for him.
In an instant, his expression softens, and I add harshly, “Your sister has been nothing but loving to you. In fact, she’s gone above and beyond what most sisters would do for their brothers in a situation like this one. And you know why she does that for you, don’t you?”
He avoids my gaze, glancing down to his cut-up knuckles. “Because of where we’ve come from.”
“Yeah, you had it hard, I’ll give you that.” I spit venom with my words, “but she’s had it harder. Not only did she have a shitty mother, but her brother is following in her mother’s footsteps.”
His head snaps up then, gaze darkens. “Don’t compare me to my mother.”
I raise my finger, pointing at him, pressing on. “And yet, McKenna stands by you. She’d do anything to help you. Fuck, I think she’d love you regardless of anything that you did. Do you have any understanding of how rare that is?”
He hangs his head. “I know how good she is to me.”
“Then don’t fucking spew bullshit at me,” I snarl back, clenching my fists at my sides. “You sold me and my friends out for money because you were saving your own ass. I don’t care what you tell her, but don’t you fucking dare”—I say the latter with a little more force—“put any of your shit back on her.”
“I—”
The fact he wants to speak only angers me more. “Face what you’ve done like a man,” I snarl at him, “and own up to it. Keep McKenna out of it.”
He finally lifts his head, eyes haunted. “I love her.”
“You don’t love a damn thing but yourself,” I say with a snort. “Loving her is protecting her. Loving her is cherishing how good she is to you. Loving her is not putting her danger. Loving her is not making her work her ass off to pay off your goddamn debts.”
Silence falls between us. Two men staring each other down, but it’s a game I won’t lose. I can’t lose, because if I lose, I lose McKenna. And that I simply cannot allow to happen. I’ll give her the time she needs. I’ll hope she makes the right choice by picking me. But I won’t force her into anything, like her brother has done.
Evan finally blinks, the color gone from his face. “I can fix this with her.”
My jaw tightens, as do my fists. He still doesn’t get it. “You don’t have to fix anything with her,” I say, beyond frustrated with him. “She is not the problem here.” I reach into my pocket, taking out the paper that I’d printed out at the lawyer’s office, and tossing it onto the bed by his feet. “Do yourself a favor and fix yourself.”
Done with him, and done with all this shit, I turn again to leave when he calls, “Thank you.”
I don’t look back this time, striding toward the door. “Thank McKenna,” I say, staring at the empty hallway. “I did this for her, not you.”
McKenna
My feet are heavy as I move toward Evan’s hospital room, two coffee cups in hand. I feel like I’ve gone through the stages of grief while dealing with all this. Denial happened when I found myself threatened. Anger, oh, yeah Evan heard it from me for the last hour. Bargaining, yeah, I’d done that, too. Depression, I think that’s just a given. Acceptance, I got there once the anger fizzled out. Now my head hurts, and I’m not sure if I should feel guilty about wanting to be with Gabe instead of my brother. And yet my heart can’t fathom leaving Evan while he’s injured. I’ve racked my brain, trying to think of a way to make Gabe and Evan friendly toward each other, but even I know that’s wishful thinking. Before all this, I thought maybe Gabe could forgive Evan, if only he knew him and understood his addiction. But Evan had put me in danger. Knowing Gabe that was an unforgivable offence.
If I’m being honest, I think it’s unforgivable, too.
I heave a long sigh as I enter the room, figuring I won’t get things straight in my mind anytime soon.
Evan’s sitting up in bed, his good eye a little wide, and asks, “Did you see him?”
“Did that cop, Hennessy, come back?” I ask, entering farther into the room. Like he’d said back at the factory, he came to take Evan’s totally fabricated statement of being mugged and beaten up by two men, and the cop blessedly believed every word. My brother’s a top-notch liar.
“No,” Evan says, shaking his head slowly. “Gabe was here.”
I stop dead, gripping the paper cups in my hands, not allowing them to fall, and frown at my brother. “Gabe came to see you?”
He nods. “You honestly just missed him.”
I quickly move to Evan’s side and sit cross-legged on the end of the bed. I offer Evan his coffee, keeping mine hugged in my hand. “What did he want?”