Take Me Down (The Knight Brothers 2)

“Jesus Christ, Ethan. Shut your fucking mouth or I’ll shut it for you,” Parker snapped, startling Emily with his sudden presence. “Now apologize to Emily before I have to do something to my older brother that we’ll both later regret.”

“Parker, I didn’t hear you come in. Your brother’s here,” she said for no good reason when it was obvious. “Don’t fight with him over me. He’s your family.”

The sad thing was, as the protective father figure in the family, she couldn’t blame him for looking down his nose at Emily considering the amount her family had taken from Parker. And no matter what Ethan thought or felt about it now, she couldn’t stop the money transfer and land purchase. It was done and she’d pay Parker back as planned.

Parker strode over and slid his arm around her waist, pulling her to his side. “Emily, don’t listen to him. He doesn’t know anything except the conclusions he’s drawn with very little information and even less common sense.” He sounded pissed at his sibling.

But Emily wasn’t going to allow it. “I can’t say he’s all wrong about those conclusions. It looks bad, doesn’t it?” She shook her head sadly, never having anticipated meeting Parker’s family, or the brother he adored hating her on sight.

It hurt, she admitted, her stomach in knots. Even if they didn’t have a future, she’d have wanted to make a good impression on the man Parker obviously loved and idolized for all he’d done for the family. The last thing she wanted to do was come between siblings.

“So this is the way it is? You two are together.” Ethan’s gaze encompassed how Parker had protectively drawn her against him.

She wriggled out of his grasp. “I’ll leave you two alone,” she said. Wrapping her arms around herself, she walked out of the kitchen, head held high.

All she’d done, she reminded herself, was borrow money from a wealthy man who’d offered it freely and willingly. She hadn’t asked. And she was sure Parker would set his brother straight. But it didn’t negate the bad taste in her mouth over the encounter that only served to remind her that not only did she and Parker live on opposite sides of the country, they came from two very different worlds.

Chapter Nine

Parker watched Emily go, her shoulders back, holding on to the pride that Ethan had tried to strip from her. “You asshole. Where do you get off showing up here and talking to the woman I love that way?” Parker shouted at his brother.

Probably for the first time ever.

His family didn’t call Parker Switzerland for no reason. He kept to himself, didn’t take sides and remained neutral, and was usually mellow. Now Ethan knew what it took for him to explode.

“Well?” he asked when Ethan didn’t answer immediately.

“Well what?” Ethan shot back. “Our lawyer mentions you’re buying commercial property in Colorado, the financial guys send over statements showing huge transfers of funds, what the fuck am I supposed to think?”

Muscles tensed in Parker’s shoulders. “That I know what I’m doing, for one thing. And so much for attorney-client privilege,” he muttered under his breath. “Look, Ethan, I’m telling you and not for the first time that I’m an adult. I know how to run my life. You need to mind your own damned business.”

Ethan braced his hands on the counter, ignoring the wallpaper books open everywhere. “Are you telling me that you’re not giving out money like it’s candy to this woman and her family? Just like you’re doing with Rina’s parents?”

Parker scrubbed a hand over his face and groaned. “That’s not fair. They’re two completely different situations, and if you’d pull your head out of your grieving ass and pay attention to what I’m saying, maybe you’d understand instead of jumping to conclusions.”

Sliding out a chair, Ethan sat down and faced Parker. “I’m listening.”

Parker drew a deep breath and decided to meet his brother halfway. “I admit that I paid the Londons out of sheer guilt that I lived and their daughter didn’t. I can even, with time away, say it’s been a mistake and I will handle it and it’ll end. But what I’m doing here in Colorado is different.”

“How? You showed up, met people in need, next thing you know you’re fixing the problem.”

Parker shook his head. “It’s a hell of a lot more complicated than that.”

Ethan met his gaze and said, with a shake of his head, “Right. You fell in love.”

“You know what?” Parker rose from his seat. “You’re being a prick. Maybe Mandy betrayed you, cheated on you, and stole from the company, but not every woman is like her and I’ll be damned if I’ll let you paint Emily with the same brush. I’m sorry you came all this way but you can just turn around and take your ass and shitty attitude back home.”