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Maddox shoves his hands in the pocket of his peacoat. “I didn’t come here to fight.”
“Out of my shop, Maddox. I don’t want this here, and neither of you want it anywhere anyone can hear you.” The look she gives him speaks volumes. Enough that Maddox shakes his headand looks at me. “I heard Cait’s out of town. Want to take this to your place?”
“Sorry, man. You’re not my type.” I push past him until Amelia calls out my name.
“Callen...” She looks between her oldest son and me. “This is my favor. Talk to him. You can use my office.”
I shake my head, and she smiles, knowing she won.
I’m not sure she and Caitlin have ever looked more alike than they do in this moment.
It’s eerie, and I smile, hoping my daughter looks just like her mother.
When I said I owed Amelia one, I didn’t know today would be the day or this would be the one.
Fuck me.
“Fine.” I fucking glare at Maddox. “But let’s make this quick. I’ve got shit to do before Cait and the girls get back from their spa day.”
I follow him into Amelia’s office and am immediately flooded with memories of us doing our homework back here in elementary school while Amelia brought us cookies and chocolate milk. I manage to push it out of my mind as I turn and face my former best friend with no clue how this is going to play out. “If you’ve got something to say, say it. I’ve got shit to do.”
Probably should have just paid someone to put together the furniture that’s waiting for me back at the house, but I convinced myself it would mean more to Caitlin if I did it.
Probably not my best decision.
“How is she?” Maddox asks as he eyes a picture of him, her, Rome and Lucky hanging on the wall. Matching devilish grins, covered in cupcake icing, stare back.
“You’re going to have to ask her. If she wants you to know, she’ll tell you.” I hold tight to my anger, even though it’s dulled over the three months since our fight.
“Has she forgiven you?” He pushes, and I don’t bother answering. I don’t think he actually expects me to, so he changes tactics. “You should have told me.”
Now we’re getting to it.
“You’re right.” I shock the piss out of him with my admission, but I never thought I was faultless in this whole fucking mess. “And I was going to. Would have if I hadn’t talked to your dad first. Madman, you gotta understand if I hadn’t promised you a fucking lifetime ago that I’d stay away from her, I’d have been with Caitlin for years by now. The only reason I wasn’t was you.”
“You had a funny way of showing it, man. You weren’t lacking the ladies’ attention,” he snipes back.
Fuck.
“You wanna hear you’re right? Fine. You’re right. I wasn’t a fucking saint before her. But I’ve been loyal since the minute I touched her. Christ, I’ve basically been loyal since the day you moved her into our condo. You didn’t ask. You just did it. You put the one person I wanted under my nose for years, and I still stayed away out of respect for you. And you know what? I hurt her in the process. So fuck you. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, but your dad dicked us both over when he told me to stay away and keep this shit to myself.”
Shit.
That felt better than I expected.
Maddox and I have never been feelings friends. He’s been my brother. We helped each other through shit, but it’s never been shit that’s built up between us before.
“You’re right,” he agrees, and my head spins. “I told her it wasn’t fair to be pissed because you did what Dad told you needed to be done. Most of us would have done the same thing. Maybe not Rome, because let’s face it, he’s a fucking psycho who loves drama, but the rest of us... We would have done it too. Fuck, man. My sister. You wanted my fucking sister for years?”
Maddox drops down on the mint-green couch along the wall and rests his elbows on his knees. “Do you love her?”
“I’ve loved her for a long damn time, man,” I tell him without hesitation. “She’s it for me. She’s everything. She and the baby are my world.”
He tilts his head and looks up at me with tired eyes. “You gonna marry her?”
“Yeah.” I smile. “She doesn’t know it yet though. So keep that to yourself.”
Maddox grabs the box of cookies from my hand and steals one, like he’s an alcoholic dying for a drop of whiskey instead of a chocolate chip cookie. “You think you can get her to talk to our dad?”
