Shifting in my seat, I turn on the next road, the last road until we get there.
“Because he needed shit from his house, but wouldn’t go get it. Eleanor didn’t want to see him—and her sisters didn’t want her to see him—so Melanie asked Rain to deliver it. Corbin didn’t want Rain to face him, so—”
“So he asked you to ask Tria, since he knew you two were together. That’s a dick move. I suppose he underestimates how much Edward hurt Tria.”
Right now, Dale is my favorite cousin.
“No. His loyalty just lies with Rain, so he didn’t even consider Tria’s estranged relationship with the bastard.”
“But now your loyalty lies with Tria, so here we are. I get it. So is there a lot of heavy stuff? Because your car is rather small, and I don’t see anything.”
“Files. In the trunk. Just three boxes.”
“Then why did you need my help?” he asks, confused.
“I just need you to keep me from killing the asshole if he says anything that pisses me off.”
Dale’s laughter booms out, and he nods as though he finally understands. It’s a relief to have them all know about Tria and me—all but my brother and Rain. I’m still dreading Dane’s reaction, but I deserve whatever he says or does. In the end, it has nothing to do with him or his fiancée.
I pull up to the beach house that is just outside the city limits, and Dale joins me at the trunk. It’s much smaller than Edward’s home with Eleanor, but it’s still bigger than most on the street.
Dale grabs a box while I grab the other two, and we make our way to the front door. Since he has a free hand, he’s the one to knock. Of course a maid opens the door, even though she’s not as sexy as Edward’s usual preference.
“Can I help you?” she inquires.
“Mr. Noles asked to have his files brought over from Eleanor’s home,” Dale says, keeping me from blurting out something less eloquent.
“Names,” she says in a no-nonsense way.
“Kode and Dale Sterling,” Dale answers.
“Wait here. I’ll make sure Mr. Noles wants to take visitors.”
The door slams in our faces, and we both exchange a what-the-hell look.
“Well, I’ll be damned,” Dale says, laughing lightly. “You’re no longer the rudest person I know.”
Rolling my eyes, I hold onto the heavy boxes of files. It takes forever for her to return, but when she finally does, the files start feeling like they’re boulders.
“Mr. Noles will see you now.”
“How fucking nice of him,” I mutter with a scowl, pissed at the fact it took her over fifteen minutes to get back to us.
She shows us in, and we follow her to a living room where Edward is sitting in an oversized chair, looking a little pale when his eyes land on us.
“Eleanor didn’t want to see you, and we didn’t want your daughters to have to do this, so here’s your shit that you couldn’t come get yourself,” I growl, dropping the boxes to the ground with a heavy thud. Dale drops his as well, looking equally frustrated.
Edward frowns as he stares at them. “I wouldn’t have asked my daughters come see me. I was just… I wanted… Never mind. Thank you for delivering them,” he says coldly.
Dale bristles beside me as my temper flares.
“Tria has been trying to call you, but you won’t answer her. Your ex-wife could have probably used a call from you not too long ago. Yet you can only manage to call when you need something.”
I swear that bastard smiles at me, which has me clenching my hands into fists.
“I see. So you finally noticed my other daughter instead of chasing after the one who was taken. I hope you aren’t just leading her around.”
Of all the arrogant, stupid, brazen things to fucking say.
“As if you have a right to speak,” Dale says curtly, surprising me. “Little late to be acting like you care, don’t you think?”
Edward nods, his lips thinning. “I just feel better knowing Tria has someone. Rain always had someone from the time she moved in with me. Tria never did. It’s… it’s a really good thing… to know. Really good.”
His breaths get lower, quieter, and he sighs while looking down, seeming lost in thought. Dale and I exchange a confused look, and the maid comes back in, looking over at him with a little worry. He notices her and waves her off, which makes me wonder if he’s not screwing her like he did all the others.
“You have two great daughters, no thanks to you,” I say, deciding to kick him while he’s down because I’m cruel like that.
To my surprise, he smiles again. “I’m perfectly aware of that. Glad you finally realized the same thing.”