Melissa’s filthy glare intensified at that. I ignored it and concentrated on Max. He was the one I was trying to reach. And I suspected, as I always had, that any issues he had to do with how Dad or I chose to handle financial matters concerning our family, were only issues because he knew his wife would have a problem with them.
My point hit home with him. I saw that in his eyes and the way he backed down when he said, “Let’s go to Dad’s and see this will before continuing this discussion.”
He was hoping for something that would never come to pass, but I gave him the time he asked for. Nodding, I agreed, “Okay.”
Melissa eyed Birdie again and spat, “There’s no need for you to come. It’s not like you’re even in the will.”
I was past caring about watching what I said to Melissa, but this spiteful remark tipped me over the edge. No fucking way would I allow her to talk to the woman I loved like that.
Stepping forward, I crowded her space. “You will never speak to Birdie like that again.” Anger surged from deep within me, unlike any anger I’d ever felt towards her. I could tolerate the shit she threw at me; I would never tolerate her treating Birdie badly. Searching her eyes for understanding, I bit out, “Am I understood?”
She flinched at my hard tone, but she didn’t answer me. Instead, she looked up at me defiantly like she had no intention of paying any attention to what I’d said.
I worked my jaw, trying like fuck not to explode. Jabbing my finger at her, I threatened her with the one thing I knew she’d respond to. “You do not want to go there with me, Melissa. Not when I hold the key to Mum’s house.”
It wasn’t in my DNA to make threats like that. And I sure as hell never got involved in petty drama, so it was unlike me to do this, but fuck, I’d do whatever it took to protect Birdie from Melissa’s malicious streak. And as I suspected it was only going to get worse the further we got into sorting out Dad’s estate, I needed to cut her off at the knees now.
My words hit their intended mark. “Fuck you,” she snarled before pushing past Birdie and me, and stalking out of the room.
I didn’t watch her go. I watched Max tracking her movements. His eyes held all his grief and turmoil. And as much as I wished he didn’t have to go through this, I couldn’t change the course we were on. All I could do was be there for him and hope to fuck our relationship survived the carnage.
14
BIRDIE
She is going to rip this family to shreds.
I divided my attention between watching Winter and Max retrieving their father’s will from the safe in his study and watching Melissa shoot daggers at Winter. Having to listen to her trying to bring Winter down had been bad, but with every passing minute, my heart grew heavier as I fully realised what was happening here.
Melissa was not going to stop until she had what she wanted, which was nothing less than Max freezing his brother out.
That knowledge had me even more determined to be here for Winter to lean on. I mean, the man was made of steel, but even he had his vulnerabilities. Family was what would bring him to his knees. It always had been. It was why he’d put up with Melissa’s shit for so long; he didn’t want to lose Max.
“Is that it?” Melissa asked, moving closer to her husband as he flipped through a folder.
“Yeah,” he said, his voice gruff.
Melissa opened her mouth to say something but snapped it shut just as fast. The agitation and impatience rolling off her couldn’t be hidden. She desperately wanted to know what was in that document.
Max looked up from the folder and met Winter’s eyes. I didn’t miss the heartache or the fear flashing in his eyes as he looked at his brother. Silence filled the room, but it was so loud I wanted to cover my ears. And my eyes and my heart.
Everything was about to change.
Once they read this will, the family they knew before would cease to exist.
Max was stalling; it seemed like he wanted to slow everything down so he could hold onto what he had for even just one moment longer.
I felt the beats of my heart more keenly than I had in a long time. The rhythmic thump, thump, thump became more than just a physical sensation; it pounded in my ears too. The moments in my life where I could recall the same response to something were all owned by Winter. Even when my heart had beat so loudly because my father had died, my memories of that time were all painted by this man who I couldn’t help but love. This man I could never stop loving.
Winter took the folder from Max. His brother didn’t resist. Max might have been the older sibling, but Winter had always been the one who had to take charge when things got hard.
We all moved to the dining table and Winter read the will. Melissa and Max sat next to each other, but it was clear, even to me, that they were emotionally as far apart as a couple could get. I hadn’t noticed that until now. I’d been too tired from the trip up from Sydney to see it before. But I saw it now, and I wondered what had caused this distance between them.
It surprised me that Melissa managed to stay quiet for the length of time it took Winter to read the will. Everything Winter had told me he thought his father would stipulate, he had, and while Melissa appeared ready to lose her shit, she didn’t utter one word.
I sat next to Winter on the other side of the table to Max and Melissa, and made sure my chair was as
close to his as I could get. As he finished reading and looked across the table at his brother, I ran my hand over his thigh, resting it there. I knew by the way the tension in his shoulders eased a little that he appreciated my touch.