Page 105 of Pucking With My Head

Tears welled up in my eyes. “When did you decide I was worth nothing more than to help my brothers?”

“It’s not like that, and you know it. You are the one who chose to leave. Ever since you’ve been living in California, you’ve become bitter and jaded, and it’s not pleasant. You didn’t even come home for Thanksgiving. You left us to fend for ourselves. I wasn’t going to mention it, but I think it’s very unfair that we didn’t manage to have a home-cooked meal because you left us in the lurch. Part of the reason Hayden wants a vacation is to make up to Heather for the fact that he’d promised there was going to be a Thanksgiving dinner at our house, like every year.”

I sighed. “Again, that isn’t my fault. I told you I wasn’t coming weeks in advance.” Shaking my head, I decided to let thematter of Thanksgiving drop. If he didn’t already understand, he never would. “It doesn’t matter. Tell Hayden to refund the vacation, or I am contacting the credit card company. It’s fraud and it’s illegal.”

My dad spluttered for a moment. “You wouldn’t do that to your brother.”

Past me wouldn’t have, but I seemed to have developed a spine over the last few months. Maybe it was the strength of my pack behind me.

“I would do it in a heartbeat,” I said, my tone dead serious.

“If you want to prioritize stupid things like partying in California over the health and well-being of your family, then maybe you shouldn’t come back for Christmas,” he growled.

Was that supposed to be a threat? I couldn’t help it. A laugh escaped my chest. “I don’twantto come home for Christmas. I texted you that over a week ago, and you ignored it! Do you think I want to come back there so I can do my brothers’ laundry, cook your meals? So I can run around like a goddamn maid because you guys can’t look after yourselves? That isn’t a threat, Dad,” I snarled. As I spoke, I stomped towards my car, angrily ripping the door open and getting in. The last thing I needed was people watching me argue with my father on the phone. The car at least gave me the illusion of privacy.

“You always used to be so helpful, but you’ve become selfish and bitter. Look, I’m putting my foot down—you need to come home. You are not capable of looking after a baby. You need to be here.”

“I’m not bitter. I am just looking after myself. I’ll give you a few days, and if Hayden doesn’t fix this, I’m filing a report against him.” I kept my voice level.

“Bethan—”

I hung up the phone, throwing it in the passenger seat and wiping away my errant tears. Just when I thought my familycouldn’t possibly sink any lower, they somehow managed to outdo themselves.

Chapter 40

Gideon

The tuna sandwich I had brought to work for lunch just wasn’t cutting it. Work was extra intense right now, since I had opted to stop taking work home and focus on the girls when I was there.

Maybe takeout would be needed for lunch.

I was preparing to reduce my workload over the next few months. Spending time with Bethany and the baby was far more important than work. I hadn’t worked my ass off for so many years to not be able to take time for family when needed.

When Joey was born, I had taken three months off, and they were some of the best days of my life. I had wanted to take more time, but her mother had insisted she needed me back at work for financial reasons.

“Mr. Noble, I know you’re busy, but you have a visitor,” my assistant, Fran, said as she knocked on my door lightly.

I shook my head. “I’m slammed.” Usually Fran was really good at keeping visitors away.

Fran grimaced. “I know, but it’s Bethany, and I think the poor dear isn’t having a good day.”

I was out of my seat in a second. “Let her in!”

“I thought so.” She smiled, darting out of the door.

A moment later, Bethany was walking in. Her eyes were rimmed with red, and she had clearly been crying.

The sight of my omega in distress immediately made my chest hurt. Every muscle in my body tensed as my inner alpha tried to figure out how to solve the issue.

“What’s wrong? Are you and Joey okay?” Mentally I was running through the plan of the day—Joey was at school, and Bethany had a few classes left before the start of Christmas break. Pulling her into my arms, I squeezed her tightly as she started to sob into my chest.

“My shithead brothers!” she snarled, her voice a mixture of sadness and anger.

My eyes closed, and I huffed in frustration.

What had those assholes done to upset her now? I thought her contact with them was minimal, so how had they managed to cause this?

“What did they do?” I asked gently, pulling back and wiping away her tears. The fact that they could still upset her so much infuriated me. They were all the way in fucking Nebraska and still causing problems.

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