Descent (Steel Brothers Saga 15)

“My parents.” She raised an eyebrow. “That’s what the papers say, but I know you were behind it.”

“I wasn’t.”

“Then why were you there the day they took me in?”

To make sure you went. To make sure you were out of commission so I could marry Daphne.

“I was coming to see you. That’s all.”

“I’m not stupid, Brad.”

No, she was far from stupid. She had a genius IQ. I’d come here to get her cooperation, so why was I lying to her? I was the only—the only one—she might actually listen to.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “You’re right. I was there because I wanted to make sure you got the help you needed.”

Not a lie. Just not the whole truth.

“You put my parents up to it.”

“What if I did? You threatened a man at gunpoint. You were either going to prison or to a mental facility. Which would you have preferred?”

She lowered her eyelids. I almost thought she was feeling remorse. Was she? Or was she acting? You just never knew with Wendy.

“I’m sorry for that. I truly am.” Then she met my gaze. “How is Sean, anyway?”

How is Sean? Did she really just ask me that?

“He’s dead, Wendy.”

She gasped, turning pale. Was she truly surprised? Or was it an act?

Wendy never put on an act around me. Never. She always said exactly what she felt. So either she had changed and was acting, or she was actually surprised.

One or the other. I just wasn’t sure which.

“What happened?”

“He was drugged and poisoned.”

“Who would do such a thing?”

I couldn’t help myself. “Maybe someone who had threatened him with a deadly weapon in the past?”

“But…I’ve been here. When did this happen?”

“At my wedding, Wendy. It happened at my wedding.”

“He actually died at your wedding?”

“He passed out. He died several hours later at the ER.”

“Oh my God.” Her hands trembled as she rubbed her chin. “I was never going to hurt him, Brad. You have to believe me.”

“You know how to use a gun, Wendy. I taught you myself.”

“But I’m not a killer. I’m not. I swear to you. Did they find out who did this to Sean?”

“Did they? You mean the police? No, they haven’t, and neither have I.”

She nodded. “Of course. You and your father got PIs involved. That’s what you’d do.”

“That’s what we did. But now my father’s dead as well.” Might as well stick to the story.

She dropped her mouth open. “George? But he’s so young.”

“Young, but he smoked for years and struggled with emphysema. It was a heart attack that got him in the end.”

“Why didn’t anyone tell me?”

“Who would have told you? You were hospitalized.”

“But my parents… They came to see me every week. Why didn’t they— Oh.”

“What?”

“My parents and my doctors kept telling me I had to get over you. That you’d moved on and that I had to if I was going to have any kind of life. So of course they wouldn’t tell me what was going on in your life.”

Also it was none of your business. But I didn’t say that.

I cleared my throat. “So have you?”

“Have I what?”

“Gotten over me?”

She was still visibly shuddering from my news. If I didn’t know her better, I’d swear this was the first she’d heard any of it.

Problem was, I did know her better.

And I wasn’t buying what she was selling.

“I’m working on it, Brad. I know your future is with someone else. I always thought we’d be together, but I’m dealing with it. I’ll be okay.”

“Just so you know, I have restraining orders in place. You’re not to come anywhere near my wife or my son.”

“Son?”

“Yes. My son. Jonah. He’s three months old.”

She hiccupped, and moisture welled in the bottoms of her eyes. No tears fell, though. She sniffled them away. “Congratulations.”

“Thank you. We’re very happy.”

She sniffed again. “Then I’m happy for you.”

“Are you?”

She nodded. “I’m trying, Brad. I am. The feelings I had for you were partly obsession. I get that now. But they were partly love as well.”

I nodded. I actually understood, in a way. I’d loved her once too, as a teenage boy loves his first serious girlfriend. As a teenage boy loves the woman who takes his virginity and vice versa.

“The love part is normal, Wendy. Relationships don’t always work out, but that doesn’t mean there wasn’t love.”

“I know. My therapists have been very helpful.”

“What next, then? Are you going home to Snow Creek?”

Please say no. Please say no.

She shook her head, thank God.

“I’m going back to school. If I load up, I can complete my degree in a year.”

“Good. That’s good. You’re finishing in investigative journalism?”

“Yeah. I think I can be really good at it, Brad.”

I didn’t doubt it. Wendy was so smart. If she applied herself, she could be a success at anything. As long as she didn’t go mental again.

“Who’s picking you up? Your parents?”