A Beautiful Distraction(36)

“Ah, you know your brother . . . He’s out enjoying his youth.”

“Yeah, so that’s your way of saying he’s into trouble again, isn’t it? When’re you going to stop making excuses for him, Dad? When are you going to realize he’s sliding off the fuckin’ edge?”

So much for trying . . .

His dad dropped his lids and tilted his head slightly lower, his expression morphing into one Rafe didn’t see very often. “I don’t know who you think you are talking to, son, but you will not disrespect me like that in my home—in your mother’s home—again. And before you go running around here snapping at your family who hasn’t seen you in over a year, you might want to think about the fact that you’ve not been here. You don’t know what’s going on with your brother, and you spitting out accusations when you don’t know what you’re talking about is a load of shit. Now say hello to Marco, then grab us a couple beers and sit the hell down.” He patted Rafe on the shoulder, squeezing it firmly. “I’m glad you’re home, son.”

That was the end of that conversation, and Rafe knew better than to bring it up with his dad again. But he knew one thing was for sure: Leo was in trouble.

• • •

It was getting late, well after the garage’s closing time, but Rafe had yet to see his little brother since he’d been back. Not surprisingly, the owner was still there, but he said that Leo hadn’t even shown up for work in a few days, nor had he been able to get ahold of him.

Leo was fucking pissing it all away.

“That was a complete waste of time,” Rafe muttered, slamming the door shut to Marco’s car. It was Rafe’s last night before he flew back to Colorado and Leo was still blowing him off.

“I’m sorry, man.” Marco turned the key in the ignition and pulled out of the parking lot. “You wanna go grab a beer, or do you just want to head back to the house?”

“Nah, let’s just go back to the house. I wanna say bye to Tilly before they head home.”

Marco nodded and shifted his glasses up on his nose. Out of all his brothers, Marco and Rafe had the least in common. They enjoyed different types of women, listened to different music, and drank different beer. But Marco was probably the easiest to get along with. Not much bothered him—he was easygoing and rolled things off his shoulders. And the majority of the time, he just fucking got it.

When they pulled into their dad’s small gravel driveway, Luca was leading Tilly to her car.

Smiling, Rafe got out of the car. “You leaving?” he asked, crossing the lawn to where Luca had parked Tilly’s SUV on the road in front of the house.

“Yes,” she answered, smiling her smile he’d loved since she was a little girl. Tilly’s mom had grown up with his mom, so there wasn’t one moment in his life when he couldn’t remember her in it. “Come here and give your fat sister-in-law a hug—” She choked as unshed tears filled her warm eyes. “God, Rafe. I’ve missed you so much. Your brothers and dad miss you too. Try to come home more, okay?” she asked, her hand wrapping around the back of his neck, squeezing him tightly.

“I will, Till. You call me when my nephew is about to make his appearance and I’ll be on the first flight out.”

She sniffed. “Promise?”

Winking, he smiled his sincerity and nodded, then kissed her on the forehead.

The back of her hand thumped against his chest. “And don’t worry about Leo. He’s a lot like you, ya know?”

“That’s what I’m worried about.”

She never broke eye contact as she challenged him. “If I remember correctly, you ran into your fair share of trouble when we were younger, and you turned out just fine.”

“I don’t know about that, Till.” He was still nursing a broken heart with bottles of whiskey, fucking away the heartache Bridgette implanted.

“I do.” She stepped closer to him and rose up onto her tiptoes, her pregnant belly making it difficult to reach him, so he leaned his head down to meet hers. Leaning into his ear, she whispered, “And I can tell your heart’s broken. Don’t try to tell me it’s not, Rafe. I know you too well.” She kissed him on the cheek. “It’ll get easier. Just don’t let me find out who she is or I’ll be forced to show her just how dangerous and pissed off a pregnant woman can be.”

It didn’t surprise him that Tilly knew his secret; he just hoped she never figured out the whole of it. He had no intention of disappointing her. And that’s exactly what would happen if she knew the truth.