Page 15 of Ambrosia Kisses
He shoves me away from him with a low curse. "How the fuck are we even related?"
"I ask myself the same shit every day."
He thinks I'm being funny, but I'm not. It's a compliment. Oliver is a hell of a man, just like Dad. I understand business, but people? Well, not so much. Oliver has that shit all figured out, though. He's always been a far better man than I have.
"You asked her who she was fucking," he snaps at me.
"That's…not exactly what happened," I mutter, shoving my hair out of my eyes.
"Oh, really? So she showed up crying for no reason?"
Guilt churns through me, burning like acid. I fucking hate that I made her cry. I hate that I'm an asshole. I hate that she hated touching me this morning. I'm in hell, and it's entirely my fault.
"I fucked up," I admit.
"Yeah, no shit." He scowls at me. "You're a fucking asshole, you know that? She's spent the last three years working her ass off to finish law school. She's been through shit you can't even imagine. And then you act like a dick for no reason."
"I know." I sigh heavily. "I fucked up."
"Yeah, you did."
"What do you mean, she's been through shit I can't even imagine?"
"Nu-uh. I'm not telling you jack shit, motherfucker."
"Tell me," I growl.
"If you want to know, ask her." He narrows his eyes on me and then he smirks. "Just don't be surprised if you end up bleeding to death from a head wound if you do."
"What does that mean?"
"It means if you make her cry again, we're beating you to death with a shovel and then feeding you to the sharks, you prick." He jabs me in the chest. "And Lyra told Ma that you made Paisley cry."
"Fuck," I groan, clutching strands of my hair. "You told Ma?"
"No. I let my daughter tell Ma."
"You're an asshole." I glower at my little brother. I don't know why the fuck people think I'm the diabolical one. It's very clearly him. Ma will fight a goddamn bear for her granddaughters. There's no way she isn't kicking my ass if Lyra told her that I made her aunt cry.
"Yeah, well, so are you." He jabs me again. "Fix it before you lose her forever, you idiot."
"I'm fucking trying!"
"Not hard enough."
"Did you know she thought I left for Italy that morning?"
"Yeah. I've been trying to tell your stupid ass for three years that she thinks you walked out on her."
"You never fucking said she thought I left the goddamn country while she was asleep in my bed!"
He eyes me for a long moment and then sighs. "You want the truth?"
I jerk my chin in a nod.
"Maybe I thought she was right," he says, shrugging.
"What the fuck?"
