“No.” She shook her head. “Of course not. I appreciate everything you’ve ever done for me. I don’t know where I would be if it wasn’t for you. I love you, Jax, but I can’t take this anymore. If I want to be with Caleb, then it’s my choice. Solely my decision. Not yours or anyone else’s for that matter. I don’t tell you how to live your life, and it’s not fair you won’t grant me the same respect. What have I ever done for you not to trust me?”
“I trust you, Evie.”
“You have a shitty way of showing it.”
“You think this is the best way for me to find out? Through fucking extortion?” He grabbed the folder out of my hands. “I’m fresh out of one scandal, and now I have to deal with this? When you could have just fucking told me the truth?”
Caleb chimed in, “And what would you have done, Jax? What would you have said if I told you I was in love with her back then?”
“Fuck!” He tugged his hair away from his face as if he wanted to tear it out. “I don’t know! All I know is right now I want to fucking kill you!”
“You would have wanted to kill me back then too.”
“Not as much as I want to kill you right now!”
“Jax, please,” Evie pleaded. “You need to calm down. This isn’t helping anyone. You’re only making things worse.”
“I’m making things worse?” he mocked. “I’ve seen pictures of my best friend’s dick inside of you like you’re a fucking whore—”
“Caleb, no!”
My fist flashed past Evie’s face to crush against her brother’s jaw.
“Oh my God! Can we please stop hitting each other for one fucking second?!”
“Don’t you ever call her a whore!”
She gripped onto my arm. “Stop it! You’re as bad as he is!”
“I can’t stop thinking about how many times you were alone with her! I was supposed to protect her, but all I did was hand her right to you! Do you have any idea how sick that makes me?”
“You know that’s not true.”
“Caleb, I don’t know shit. I don’t know you at all.”
“Fuck, Jax! What do you want from me? I’m telling you the truth! You want to hate me? Fine. Be fucking livid with me! But don’t take your anger out on Evie. She loves you. You’re the only family she has. She doesn’t deserve that. She’s done nothing wrong. I hate that this is happening. I hate that I can’t do anything about it. But please, don’t blame her for this.”
“I don’t know how to get past this.” He shook his head, disappointed. “How did I not know what was going on between you two? I love Evie more than anything in this world, and I couldn’t see it? How many times were we all together and still I was so fucking blind?”
“I … don’t…” I sighed, not knowing what to say.
“I can’t look at you right now. I can’t even look at my own sister. Do you know how hard that is for me? You two are the most important people in my life, and I can’t stand to face either of you. All I see is your lies.”
“I’m sorry, Jax. I don’t know what else I can say to make this right.”
“Sophie knows, doesn’t she?”
“Don’t drag her into this, Jax.”
He faintly nodded. “Shit…” was all he managed to say. “I’ll tell you this right now. In front of both of you. You hurt her, Caleb. I’ll beat you within an inch of your life. You hear me? I’ll end you.”
“I swear on my life. I’ll die before I ever hurt her again.” My eyes connected with Evie’s. “I love you.”
“I don’t agree with this,” Jax added, backing away. “There’s no point in pretending like I do. Who’s to say that won’t change, but for right now, I still want to fucking kill you.”
I nodded, fully aware…
He meant it.
Evie
I handed Jax some pain reliever for his bloody lip.
“You okay?”
He shrugged, grabbing a beer from the fridge.
Caleb went to go check on his kids, and I wanted to be alone with my brother.
He asked out of nowhere, “Did you say yes to his marriage proposal?” Crossing his arms over his chest, he leaned against the island.
“I told him I didn’t know which version of our past is the truth. Although, I want you to know that I was the one who pursued him, Jax. He didn’t want to hurt or disrespect you. For the longest time, I didn’t understand his reasoning behind it. I’m not going to lie to you, but I resented you for it. I never felt the way Caleb did. I always wanted to tell you, but I couldn’t betray him. I knew it would be Caleb who you’d go against, and I couldn’t do that to either of you. I know what it’s like to lose someone you love. I lost both of my parents.” Tears formed in my eyes. “I can’t lose you too, Jax. I won’t survive it.”