Page 95 of Game Change

My brother goes quiet. Brynne extricates herself from his clutches and wraps her arm through mine. “I’m sorry, Brynne. I don’t want you to be uncomfortable,” I say.

“Do you want to leave?” she whispers to me.

“No one is leaving,” Uncle Milton says. “Paddy, I think you should give Colin the First a few minutes of your time.”

My brother has now lost his coloring, but he remains standing tall.

“I don’t think so,” I say.

“I can explain about buying Uncle Milton’s business,” my brother says. “It’s not what you think.”

“It doesn’t matter.”

Looking back now, I wish he had bought it. If he had, things wouldn’t have gone to hell with Brynne like they did.

“So, how did you turn that around?” Lisa asks later. She’s pulled me to a corner so we can talk alone. Brynne is on the other side of the room with Colin the First. He gives her his phone and she starts to swipe. Lisa waves her hand in my face. “Hey. Over here.”

“I don’t trust him,” I say. “You shouldn’t either.” My brother has always resented me more than Lisa, but he’s never wanted a relationship with either of us.

“He’s apologized to me,” Lisa confesses. I give her a look of disbelief. The men in our family don’t apologize. “For treating me as an outsider.” When I snort, she inches closer. “He’s been reflecting after his heart attack.”

“Reflecting? I don’t believe any of that,” I say dismissively. “He’s too much of an ass to reflect.”

“I’ve accepted his apology. I’ll never have a relationship with him like I do with you, but I’m open to one.” When I stare at her in disbelief, she says, “That’s my choice. I’m not telling you what to do, but maybe you should talk to him.”

I shake my head at my sister. “You can’t possibly be serious, Lisa. He is the same guy who, on my eighteenth birthday, gave me the prefilled paperwork for me to change my entire name. Not just my first but my last name, too. He wanted me to take our mother’s name, remember? And he gave you the same orders when you turned eighteen. He never showed up for a single one of our milestones. He tried to get Dad to write me out of his will and to leave this house only to him and Marilyn. Not to mention—” She holds up a hand, and I stop talking. I can feel color creeping up my neck, so I take a deep breath to calm myself.

“None of it worked, and he regrets it.”

“Well, as long as he regrets it. Let’s throw him a fucking parade. Can we change the subject, please?”

Lisa takes one of my hands and squeezes it. “Okay. I’m sorry. I know it’s more personal with you two. I won’t bring it up again. So, back to my original question. How did you manage to get her back?”

“Did you doubt my charm?” I ask.

“Since you have none, yes.” She pinches my cheek.

Uncle Milton joins us but takes my elbow and pulls me away. “I thought you were going to talk to Brynne. She’s still being cold and distant.” I huff, but I don’t answer. “That’s not what I want to talk about now. I got an email from someone named Oliver Stanfield. He said you and Brynne are a couple.”

“What?” The hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

“I emailed back and said to keep his nose out of my family’s business, but I think he thought he was blowing the lid off some secret. I dug a little, and he’s her stepbrother. Do you have any idea why he would do this?”

I suddenly regret not hurting Oliver the other day, but as I suspected, he’s not going away willingly.

“He’s a jerk. Don’t worry about it. I’ll take care of it.” I tap his shoulder, and he seems to accept that.

Chapter 48

Colin

“He did what?” Brynne asks the moment I tell her about what Uncle Milton told me. We’re back at her place after a surprisingly pleasant dinner with my family.

Uncle Milton made small talk, but other than that, she avoided him and talked with my sisters and brother. She also avoided Heath like the plague, which is the only part of the dinner I didn’t enjoy. Her feelings about my uncle are valid, but I wish she’d give Heath a chance.

“I’m so sick of that guy.” She drops herself in the middle of her bed, and I pull her boots off for her. “His mother called me and said I’m responsible for him going to a shelter. How is that my fault?” She sighs and rubs her eyes. “Maybe buying the house wasn’t a good idea. It’s not like I have any kids to leave it to.”

I drop myself next to her. She cuddles to my side and rests her head on my shoulder.

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