“So get a job like the rest of us.”
“You think it’s so easy, don’t you? With your pretty suit and shiny degree. Not all of us came out of this thing unscathed, brother. Some of us still bear the scars.”
As if he didn’t have scars, too. He might not have borne the brunt of his father’s beatings, but his skin had enough evidence to show they’d happened. “You want to talk about this stuff?” he said, raising an eyebrow. “Then go to therapy.”
“I could make trouble for you. I saw how you look at her. I can make things bad between you and Brooke. I have rights. I have a son. I could fuck up his life the way Dad fucked up ours.”
Aiden’s gut clenched. The thought of Nick going through what they’d gone through made his heart hurt. Jamie was a loose cannon, and the need to shield his nephew – and Brooke – from him was so strong Aiden could almost taste it.
“Sure. Hang around and see how much you enjoy it. Rights bring responsibilities. You ready for Brooke to sue you for child support? I’m pretty sure you must owe a lot.”
Jamie blinked but said nothing.
“Keep the thirty thousand,” Aiden said. “But you won’t get another dollar from me. We’re done here.” He leaned forward, his eyes connecting with his brother’s. “And if you think you can hurt Nick, you’re mistaken. His mother wouldn’t let you. She’s a wolf. She’d eat you for breakfast.”
Disbelief flooded Jamie’s face. “Yeah right.”
“Try her. See what happens.”
As though he couldn’t stand the closeness between them, Jamie stepped back and ran a hand across his head. “Yeah, well, I wanted some money. That’s all.”
“And you’re not getting it.”
The door of the Beach Club swung open. Aiden glanced toward it, expecting to see elegantly clad couples leaving and heading home. But instead he saw Ember, her face unnaturally pale as she held her phone tightly in her hand. Her eyes sought his out and he could see panic in them, as her chest rose up and down to keep up with her breathing.
“You need to come with me,” she said, her voice breathless. “There’s been an accident.”
27
Brooke ran onto the beach, stumbling as her heels sank into the soft, pliable sand. She yanked her shoes off, holding them in her right hand as she held her skirt up with her left, desperate to put as much distance between herself and the disaster she’d left behind at the gala.
It was a disaster of her own making. But that knowledge did nothing to calm her racing heart, or clear the messed up haze in her mind. It was almost impossible to think straight.
Air. She needed air. She stopped running and bent over, resting her hands on her thighs as she gasped mouthfuls in. The Beach Club was in the distance, lights spilling out from the ballroom, but it still wasn’t far enough away. She needed more space, more air, more time to think. Standing up, she sucked in another breath and followed the coastline until Angel Sands was only a cluster of buildings in the distance, and grass grew in the dunes as the coast turned the corner into Silver Cove.
Before the beach expanded into the half-built resort, there was a tiny cluster of rocks. She brought Nick here sometimes, and they’d run into the ocean and pretend there was nobody else in the world.
It was Aiden who’d first shown her this place. Their place. The one spot her father couldn’t reach them, where she could be herself and not only a Newton. And it was here that she stopped and sat on one of the rocks, dropping her shoes onto the dusty sand before she lowered her head into her hands.
Was it her fault people made decisions without asking her first? She’d grown used to it from her parents. But Aiden? She’d stupidly thought he believed in her. Enough for her to make her own decisions, regardless of how tough they were.
But he hadn’t. And it hurt. Because he saw her the way everybody else did. As something fragile to be protected, not as a partner.
Her chest felt hollow, as though somebody had scooped out her heart and lungs and laid them gently on the sand, leaving an emptiness where they used to be. She squeezed her eyes shut, her mouth trembling as she remembered her parents’ expressions of horror, Jamie’s laugh, and Aiden’s shock at everything being exposed.
It had been humiliating. Practically everybody she knew was at the Beach Club right now and they’d unwittingly purchased first row seats to the scene Jamie had created. They were probably all talking about her. Again. About how she’d brought humiliation down on her parents, how her lies ran so deep nobody knew what the truth was any more. She closed her eyes, trying to shut out the embarrassment.
“There you are.”
Lucas and Nate were walking along the beach toward her. Even in the darkness of the night they were a sight for sore eyes, dressed up in black tuxedos and white dress shirts. Brooke tried to smile at them but it came out as a grimace.
“I’m sorry. You didn’t need to come and search for me. I was going to come back as soon as I composed myself.”
“Hey, you don’t need to apologize.” Lucas sat and stretched out his long lean legs in front of him. “I was happy to get out of there. I’m not one for dressing up.” As though to emphasize his words, he pulled at his neatly knotted bow tie, letting the ends fall down as he unfastened the top button of his shirt. “Anyway, Ember was worried about you. We said we’d make sure you’re okay.”
Nate sat down on the other side of the rock, giving her a soft smile. “You doing okay?” he asked.
“I’ll be fine.” Maybe if she said it enough it would be the truth. Looking up, she caught his eye. “I had to get out of there for a while. I’m so embarrassed.”