Page 176 of Three Reckless Words

Space.

How can one mundane word feel like a guillotine?

I don’t know what the hell to say to that or how to make her stay. Just like I know I can’t go after her or take back the mindless dribble I spat at her.

She closes the door behind her with a small click that’s so fucking anticlimactic it’s laughable.

Insane.

Why couldn’t she burst a lung screaming at me like Rina? I’d rather feel her slap me across the face than this.

Of course, my phone picks the shittiest time ever to go off, but I don’t look away from the door and I don’t pick up.

Winnie doesn’t return.

The call goes to voicemail while I stand there in silence, stranded between love and regret.

To no one’s surprise,Dexter and Patton agree that this conservation case could be a slow-moving catastrophe forSolitude and the other cabins there. Let alone any future expansions.

Just one whiff of ‘endangered species’ will freeze our properties in legal limbo for months, possibly years. They’ll sit vacant while scientists and professors come pouring in.

Talk about a total loss.

“It gets worse. One proven violation could endanger our plans elsewhere in the state,” Dexter says, tapping his pen against the table. “Like the St. Louis project. We won’t have the investment capital if we blow it all on legal fees, let alone the zoning approvals and permits if our name turns to mud in Missouri.”

“Shit, guys. We better step back, pause the expansion before anything goes further,” Patton says miserably.

It’s his baby and I’ve just drowned it in the bathwater.

I grunt in agreement, hating that I need to.

So much for fixing things.

My brothers are both adults, but in my head they’re still the same kids who used to stumble along after me when we were growing up. The same brats I’d save from neighborhood bullies when they stepped on too many toes, before they could get their asses beat.

Patton is the impulsive one, the risk-taker.

Dexter has the bones of a real businessman when he can keep his temper out of the dealings.

I’m the smart, levelheaded human compass who keeps us focused, always heading in the right direction.

Until today.

It’s stupid, I know, but I can’t help feeling I’m letting my little brothers down, throwing them into the fire instead of bailing them out.

Especially knowing they did nothing to cause this mess.

“I’m sorry,” I whisper. “The company shouldn’t shoulder all the legal fees. I can throw down some of my own money to soften the blow.”

“Excuse me?” Patton raises an eyebrow. “Did you miss the part where Emberly is suing thecompany?”

“Because of me. It’s personal.”

“Because of that girl,” Dexter says. “Who, by the way, is the first person who’s made you smile since the Wicked Witch of the West flew off on her broomstick.”

“Bullshit,” I say, more forcefully than necessary. “I’ve smiled plenty since then. I have Colt.”

“Bull. Shit,”Patton mocks back, jutting out his lower lip.

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