Page 66 of Say You Will

I don't remember my biological mother. I was only two when she died of a drug overdose when Gabriel was only a few months old, but Dad has occasionally spoken of the sense of helplessness associated with watching another person spiral. I'm beginning to understand that feeling.

When Gabriel has downtime, he’s got a drink in his hand. Unfortunately, he has alotof downtime. My brother is unraveling, and I can’t fix this for him. No matter how much I wish I could.

Lately, I miss my brother even when we’re in the same room. I don’t know if Gabriel is an alcoholic or not, but if he isn’t yet, he’s on his way.

I work on getting the blood off my hands as Gabriel pulls a clean black T-shirt from the bag.

“The shirt has to go. Your pants are fine until you shower,” he says.

I remove my bloodstained, white button-down, and he stuffs it, along with the wipes, into a plastic bag. I’ll burn the whole thing later.

I catch him glaring at the old scar on my abdomen before he shakes his head with a jerk and looks back down at his hands, clearing his throat. “How are things going with Franki?”

I pull the shirt over my head. “We’re getting married.”

“Just like that?”

“It has to be fast. I don’t have time for anything else.” Now that I think about it, I’m not sure she did agree. She said“okay,”but even at the time I wasn’t certain we were talking about the same thing. She enthusiastically backed me up with her father, but she may have thought I was lying to him to get him off her case.

He frowns. “I assumed you had feelings for her. If your real goal is to get your hands on MPD, then you need someonemercenary, not sweet. Choose someone prickly and capable of standing up to you, not someone who will roll over and give you everything you demand. It’s not a fair exchange. There’s no honor in it.”

I eye Gabriel speculatively then take a shot in the dark to see what happens. “You may have a point. I understand Sydney Walsh has some financial problems. She’d probably agree to be my wife, and she’s plenty prickly.”

Gabriel turns on me in fury. “Don’t touch Sydney. Don’t even talk to Sydney. Stay the fuck away from her—”

He clamps his mouth shut, and I affect a surprised tone. “Is that how it is?”

“Whatever you’re thinking, you’re wrong.”

“I’m thinking that in the future, if you put your arm around Franki and whisper in her ear again, I’ll have to encourage the single guys on the team to take a look Sydney’s way. I hear women are really fond of Ryan. Harris too. Sydney’s cute,if you go for the prickly type.I’m certain if I let the guys know that dating her isn’t a conflict of interest, they’ll be lining up to whisper in her ear,” I say silkily.

Gabriel’s jaw flexes tightly, then he smiles. “I was acting brotherly with Franki. Your jealousy is unfounded.”

“It wouldn’t bother you to see a man holding Sydney and whispering in her ear?”

He looks away, his muscles tight.

“How about I stay out of your love life, and you stay out of mine?” I offer.

Gabriel huffs. “I don’t have a love life, but even I know having a wife who can trust you is more important than whether you take control of one more damn company.”

“What would you know about it? Your life is one party after the other.”

He snorts. “You’re the golden boy. I’m the fuck u—”

“How do you afford your lifestyle? Who funds our missions? Who pays for our security? Who keeps our employees working with fair wages? Do you think I like working a hundred hours a week? Do you think I want to be the only person in this family who gives a shit about logistics? I studied physics and astronomy. I never wanted any of this. You’ve got an MBA and can’t be bothered to drag your ass out of bed until noon. Don’t leave me hanging by a fucking noose, then tell meyou don’t like the way I’m dying.”

Gabriel goes utterly still.

I suck in a breath through my nose.

He shakes his head stiffly. “I didn’t know. I should have….I didn’t want to step on your toes.”

I scoff in disbelief, and he looks away.

“I didn’t want to disappoint you,” he says.

“I don’t understand that statement.”

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