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“Yeah,” he murmured.
The horror on Mike’s face punched him in the gut.
“Something like twenty people died. Holy shit, Kane. That was you?”
Growling, he launched to his feet and loomed over his former friend. “No, it wasn’tme. Were you even listening? I was un-fucking-conscious.”
“Step back from my brother. Right. Now.” Ice and steel reinforced Mandy’s voice behind him.
He whirled to face her, taking in her fiery hair and fierce expression. His pulsing anger muted the effect her nearness usually caused. “Back off. This has nothing to do with you.”
A lie.
Her green eyes glittered dangerously. “My brother has everything to do with me. Threaten him again, and I’ll wear your intestines as a hat.”
“I wasn’t threatening him.” Thank God furniture stood between them. The urge to shake her overwhelmed him, though he’d never really put his hands on a woman in anger.
She shook her head. “Bullshit. You’re up in his face—”
“I am not—” Their climbing voices tried to drown each other out.
“Enough.” Cindy’s sharp voice cut through the air, silencing them both. The baby on her hip was crying. “Take it outside.” Mike gaped in stunned silence beside her.
Mandy spun on her heel and stomped out the front door. He followed at her heels.
The door was barely closed behind them when she poked him in the chest. “This wasnotwhat I meant when I said you should come to visit him.”
“And it’s all about what you want, right, Your Highness?” He purposely chose a variation of Scott’s old nickname for her, and she flinched.
“Mike is recovering from a serious accident. The last thing he needs is you bullying him over something that happened a hundred years ago.”
A hundred years ago? Reliving what had happened at the hospital made it feel more like yesterday. He looked pointedly at the place her finger still rested against his chest, then raised his eyebrow.
She dropped her hand and shook it like it burned, then made a frustrated noise in the back of her throat.
“Is everything okay here?”
He looked over Mandy’s shoulder at the quiet question. The first thing that registered was the hair. The boy’s hair was the same beautiful red as Mandy’s.
“It’s fine, Joshua,” she murmured. “Go on inside with your parents. I’ll be there in a minute.”
Parents? No way was this kid Mike and Cindy’s. Not with Cindy’s dark skin and Mike’s dirty blond curls.
This kid had a fiery head of hair and green eyes he could have only gotten from one place.
Mandy.
Had she moved on from him so quickly? He staggered back. “How old are you?”
The kid—Joshua, she’d called him—frowned. “I’m twelve. Why? Who are you?”
He searched the boy’s features. Could this be…?
Suddenly, the air felt thinner. His chest grew tight.
Joshua said something to Mandy he couldn’t make out, then walked into the house.
“Isthiswhy you left me?” The tangle of emotions rising in his chest made his head swim. He leaned against the siding next to the front door.
