“I wasn’t expecting you. It’s not a great time—”
Paige stood still. He was still in the apartment. And he had visitors? Who would call on him this late?
Given his comment that this wasn’t a great time, presumably his visitor was a woman. And just like that the misery was back.
She’d do him a favor and make it clear that she wouldn’t be hanging around.
As for the fact he had a woman wrapped in a towel in his apartment—well, she’d let him explain that part.
Gathering her clothes in front of her, she stepped through to the living area and froze.
She’d expected a woman, but it wasn’t a woman who stood there.
It was Matt.
And she was standing in Jake’s apartment dressed in nothing but damp skin and a wet towel with her thong dangling from her fingers.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Don’t hide a skeleton in your closet unless you’re sure no one is going to borrow your clothes.
—Eva
MATT’S GAZE RAKED over her from head to foot, taking in her flushed cheeks and the fact that she was naked under the towel.
“What’s going on?” His voice was low and deadly, his handsome face unsmiling. “Jake?”
Wishing she could slide through a gap in the floor, Paige stepped forward. She’d thought life couldn’t get any worse.
She hadn’t worked out the right way to tell Matt, but she certainly hadn’t wanted him to find out this way.
The last thing she wanted was to hurt her brother. And right now she barely recognized him. He was always calm and measured. Strong. The type of man who solved problems with thought and carefully chosen words, not anger.
“Matt—”
“I’m talking to Jake.” His voice was ice-cold and she flinched. He never brushed her away. He was never anything other than kind and protective.
“Matt, I can—”
“You’re having sex with my sister?” All his attention was fixed on Jake. “You have the whole of Manhattan at your feet, but you choose to amuse yourself with my sister? How long has this been going on?”
“Awhile.”
Matt’s face turned white. “You drank beer with me, shot a few games of pool, and you forgot to mention you were screwing my sister?”
“I didn’t forget.” Jake’s tone was flat. He didn’t flinch or stammer. He made no excuses. Nor did he mention the times he’d tried to persuade h
er to let him tell Matt.
“Who else knows? Frankie? Eva?” He took one look at Paige’s face and pain crossed his own. “You told them. They know. Everybody knows except me.”
Knowing that she’d hurt her brother was the worst thing about this whole situation. “They guessed, but—”
Matt wasn’t listening. All his attention was on Jake. “You took advantage—”
“He did not take advantage. I’m not some vulnerable teenager.” Paige stepped in front of Matt, forcing him to look at her. “I didn’t think you’d want details, but since you’re jumping to conclusions that have no basis in fact, I’ll supply the facts. Jake stayed away from me. All these years, he stayed away from me. I was the one who came to him. I showed up at his door. Gave him no choice.”
Matt made a disgusted sound. “I’ll bet he fought you off.”