Page 46 of My Fiancé's Brother 2

What. The. Fucking. Fuck.

My mind reeled with this news. Jackson had been in a three-year relationship that had ended a day before I had met him.

“Why did you break up?” I stared unseeing at the backyard. This almost felt like a break-up conversation. When you find out something terrible about your partner, and you know that nothing is ever going to be the same again.

“I had just gotten back stateside after a bad tour, and I was pretty fucked up.”

“And now?” My voice was barely a whisper.

“Now I’m less fucked up.”

“Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”

“Would you have married me if I had?”

“Probably not.”

“There’s your answer.”

That wasn’t an answer. That made no sense to me. My mind flailed as I tried to wrap it around this conversation.

No wonder he had resisted marrying me. It was one thing to think that a guy didn’t want a commitment for the sake of not wanting commitment, but it was an entirely different ballgame when you realize that he just didn’t want to commit to you.

“Is she a civilian?”

“She works logistics out of our base command center.”

“So…she works with you.”

“Sometimes.”

This conversation just kept getting better and better. I felt faint. Dizzy.

“Have you talked to her since you got back?”

“Not yet. I got back and immediately left for training. I just got back this afternoon.”

I couldn't wrap my head around this news. Three years. He had been committed to another woman for three entire years. He had been someone’s partner, a boyfriend. A lover.

“What happened?” Maybe this would save me. Perhaps she had cheated on him. Perhaps he realized that he didn’t love her. This was the one answer that could right everything that had just been made wrong.

He looked over the backyard. “I had a really bad tour. Two of my buddies were killed.”

“I’m sorry,” I floundered, my words sounding inadequate.

“Due to the traumatic nature of my tour, it was decided before I could pursue active duty again, I needed to partake in mandatory counseling. It was part of my re-engagement proceedings to get back to work.” A bitter note traced his voice.

I blinked. My mind raced, trying to put the pieces together. “Your outpatient treatment was therapy?”

“It was complete bullshit.” His green eyes glanced at my face. “The only reason why I participated is that it was the only way they would let me fight again.”

It started to make sense. His secrecy around his outpatient program. His unwillingness to tell anyone what he was getting treatment for. He had been in therapy.

“But why did you and Harper break up?” My voice caught awkwardly on her name. I didn’t want to know more about her, but I needed the truth.

“The night before I left for New York, Harper came to talk to me.”

My eyes were wide. I stared unseeing out into the now dark backyard. I could see the outline of Chloe lying on the grass, her white fur reflecting in the dark.

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