When Peter returned from escorting the pretty Miss Grey to her cab, Mike turned on his brother. “What the hell’s with you?” Mike asked.
Pete bent to retrieve the documents Regina had left behind. “What? The air-conditioning broke in the office and we came back here to work.”
Mike waved a dismissive hand in the air. “I don’t mean that.” But he didn’t know how to approach the subject with his brother. He raked a hand through his hair. “What is it with you two?”
“Who?” Pete asked, his brows crinkling in confusion.
“You and Carly, that’s who.” After shoving his hands in the front pockets of his shorts, Mike began pacing the room. “You laugh with this Regina?” he asked finally.
“She’s quick.”
“And bright. And pretty...”
“So is Carly,” Pete chimed in. Too late, Mike thought.
“And an attorney,” Mike continued as if he hadn’t heard his brother speak. “And you have a hell of a lot more in common with her than you do with your fiancée, if you don’t mind my saying so.”
“You’ve always spoken your mind before,” Pete said. “But this is my life, Mike. We didn’t have parents to meddle in our lives as kids. I sure as hell don’t need you to do it now.”
“You’re going through with this marriage, then?”
“The end result was never in question.” Pete groaned and sat down on the leather sofa. “What she doesn’t know won’t hurt her.”
“You’re dead wrong. You may not mean to, but you’ll destroy Carly and suffocate yourself.” Forget what this marriage would do to him, Mike thought “Is that a way to live?”
His brother didn’t answer.
“Pete, you’re not...” Mike trailed off. As close as the brothers had always been, they’d never traded sexual exploits, and Mike had no desire to start now. Still, he couldn’t protect Carly if he didn’t know the truth.
And though no one had appointed him her keeper, he’d taken on the role as if it was meant for him alone. “You’re not sleeping with Regina, are you?”
Pete stared from his seat on the couch. His silence pronounced him guilty.
Mike let out a groan. “For the love of...”
Pete had the grace to look ashamed. “I thought I could wait, but...”
Sweet and innocent. How the hell had she gotten involved with either one of the Novack brothers? Each had the power to break her heart.
Pete shrugged. “We’ve been engaged for the last five months and dated on and off for three before that. A guy certainly can’t go that long without...”
“He damn well can,” Mike shouted. “And if you loved her, you would have.”
“If she loved me, I wouldn’t have had to look somewhere else,” Pete retorted.
Mike clenched his teeth. “And what does that tell you?”
“Go back to globe-trotting and let me handle my own life.” Apparently Pete was about to dig in his heels as hard as Carly had. Neither wanted to face reality.
Considering Mike had abandoned his own reality, he had no right to force theirs on them. “Just don’t be surprised when things backfire.”
Peter glared at him through narrowed, suspicious eyes. “Mind your own business,” he said, clearly warning Mike to keep his mouth shut.
“Because you think your partnership’s at stake?”
“Possibly.”
“Then why’d you bring Regina back here? You know I’m staying over. Or did you take that risk on purpose?”