Chapter Fourteen

How in the hell did I end up with a virgin from a damn escort service?”

Blake had been ranting as he paced back and forth in his brother’s living room. He threw back a burning shot of scotch before moving to the window to look out at the picturesque view of the boats gliding effortlessly across the busy inlet.

“I think it’s funny as hell. You’re the only guy I know who goes to a place like Relinquish Control and picks the most innocent girl there. Whatever gets your rocks off, I guess,” Tyler said as he leaned back lazily on his sofa.

“Shut up! I don’t even know why I went to the stupid place, but I did, and she ended up at my house. Now I have to figure out what the hell to do.”

“Did she please you?” Tyler asked.

Blake turned and crossed over to the chair facing his brother. “The sex was out of this world, and though she has a temper, she listens, which is a must. Of course, if she were a complete doormat, what fun would that be?”

“It’s all about the sex, so who cares what she was before you met her?”

“Yeah, but a virgin? I want nothing to do with that.”

“Well, she isn’t a virgin anymore.”

That made Blake stop. “I guess you’re right. What good would it do me to send her back? It’s not like she didn’t know what she was getting into. She put her body up for sale. You know, though, she’s not as greedy as she might be — or maybe she was just a bit stupid. Had she told McKenzie what she was, the woman could have gotten a lot more for her. Some men get off on that sort of thing.”

“But not you?” Tyler said with a chuckle.

“Go to hell, Tyler. You and I both know we aren’t ever going to settle down, and when we’re with women, we sure as hell want them to know what they’re doing in the sack, because that’s pretty much the only place we waste time with them.”

“So you aren’t really happy with her? Then send her back.”

“I didn’t say I wasn’t happy with her. I just said that I didn’t want the responsibility of a damn virgin,” Blake said, getting more and more frustrated.

“Okay, but it’s too late now, so either suck it up and finish out your week or send her packing, but whichever you choose, please quit acting like a love-struck fool.”

“You’re a freaking pain in the ass!” Blake thundered.

“Yeah, I’ve heard that about fifty thousand times since I was a child,” Tyler said with another chuckle, but the mirth faded from his expression and he looked solemnly at his brother.

Blake didn’t want the conversation to turn. He knew where it was headed, and it terrified him. Not much struck Blake with fear these days, but the topic they were about to embark on was the one thing that could bring him to his knees.

“Sunday is the day,” Tyler said quietly.

“I know. But we have to think of other things. It’s been twenty-five years, Tyler. Don’t you think we’ve allowed that woman to punish us long enough?” Blake said dryly.

“It’s easier for you to hide it, to push it from your mind, but I also know you never would have gone to a place like Relinquish Control if it weren’t the twenty-fifth anniversary of their death.”

“Yeah. I know. This is a tough year, but I think we need to get over it. We’ve suffered enough, and that sadistic bitch can rot in hell for all eternity.”

“I don’t disagree with you, but are we going to do anything to mark the date? The nightmares have come back, and I can’t…I…” Tyler trailed off as a shudder passed through him.

“I haven’t had nightmares for years. I’ve been waiting for them to return, but nothing has happened so far. What does Byron want to do?”

“He said that he wanted to do absolutely nothing, that he doesn’t ever think about them.”

“He’s full of crap. We’ll go to their graves. We’re going to let this go once and for all,” Blake said fiercely.

“How? Yes, you can say that, but years of therapy didn’t come close to erasing it, Blake. We watched our parents get murdered in front of us,” Tyler said, his voice rising.

“And that happened because our mother was such a selfish bitch that she didn’t care if our father’s death traumatized us, her own freaking children. Her game backfired and we got to pay the price!”

Blake couldn’t talk about that time in his life, that long night twenty-five years ago, without overwhelming anger. But he wouldn’t take out his rage on Tyler. They had done that to each other for years. It was over.

“Byron will come. We’ll let this go and never speak of it again.”

Tyler’s eyes narrowed. “Is that an order?”

“Come on, Tyler! You know it’s not that way with us. You’re just itching to fight. Our sanity — yours, mine, and Byron’s — depends on our getting past this.”

“If you’re letting it go so well, then explain this escort person you hired.”

“I don’t know what in the hell is going on with Jewell. Call it temporary weakness, but that weakness just ended.” Blake had a look of grim determination. “I will use her for sex and then easily ship her off after the week is over.”

“We’ll see,” Tyler said with a smirk that made Blake want to crush his brother against a wall with a bulldozer.

“Look. I don’t need this woman for anything more than sex. So what if she hasn’t been with another man before me? I don’t give a damn. She’ll certainly be with a lot of men after me, a lot of men paying good money for her.”

“That is probably the only truth you’ve spoken about her…and yourself,” Tyler said. He sounded as if he didn’t have a care in the world.

“Thanks for all the helpful words of advice, little brother,” Blake snapped.

Tyler’s grin widened. “You know I’ll be there for you anytime.”

Blake didn’t bother to respond. He didn’t know why he’d come to Tyler, why he’d felt the need to share, but it seemed that whenever the brothers had a problem, they always ended up on each other’s doorsteps. It would be that way for life.

He left Tyler’s house, got into his car, and made his way to the office building. Work was good. It was what he needed. He wouldn’t think about his parents, wouldn’t think about Jewell Weston, wouldn’t think about any of it. He would clear his mind and focus on numbers.

It’s what he’d done in the past, and it had always worked.

Why in the hell wasn’t it working now?