Wyatt-1(Lane Brothers, Book 1)(28)
“My advice? Tell Aunt Lynn to leave him and just wash your hands of the lot of them.”
Tough love, baby, tough love.
“I’ve tried that already, Wyatt. Your aunt doesn’t seem to see the pitfalls of holding on to her marriage. Hell, she doesn’t seem bothered by the fact that her husband has two mistresses and a penchant for the track. It’s—”
“A lost cause, Pop, I know. Listen, I have some stuff to take care of right now, but I’ll call you later and we can hash out something, if it’s even possible to fix this mess with Bolton.”
“Okay, son.”
I disconnect, only to call my younger brother Jared and get him in on my next mission—finding out who that woman was so that I can land me a good girl.
An hour later I’m sitting in my hotel room with a heavy heart and no plans other than to get drunk, sleep, and go back home empty-handed in the morning.
My bird is Eloise Carver, top five in her class and one of those people who volunteers for everything, just because she can. She’s well liked, seems to be genuinely popular, and seems to have a lot of friends.
She’s sweet and beautiful and perfect for me. And totally out of reach because that poor girl not only came out of the hospital recently after surviving a car crash that almost killed her, but she’s in morning for the family she lost in that same fatal accident.
Knowing that her kind smiles and apparent bubbliness come so easily, despite the pain and grief she must feel, only makes her that much more alluring, but if there’s one thing I won’t do, it’s take advantage of a grief-stricken woman.
Seems I’ll have to wait this out and revisit the topic in a few months, because while I won’t go there now, I have no intention of just forgetting a woman who I am pretty positive might be the future Mrs. Lane and the mother of my children.
I go home the next morning with a heavy heart but hopeful that all is not lost.
I should have known, though, and I’ve spent the next few years kicking my own ass because after that, I was called upon again to track Bolton down when he went missing and dropped out of school.
And then I discovered that my cousin had stalked Ellie, kidnapped her, and spent weeks hurting and starving her. It’s my fault. I made one miscalculation. I fucked up by letting Bolton see my interest in Ellie.
If I’d kept it hidden as I should have, she would never have been on his radar and he would never have noticed her. She’d have finished school and escaped being used as a pawn in a rivalry that Bolton just wouldn’t let go.
So yeah, telling Ellie that that piece of garbage was my cousin and that I’m partly to blame for her suffering is not exactly at the top of my list of things to do.
But if my brothers are here with bad news, I may not have a choice but to tell her so I can get her to my family home and the protection it offers. She may hate me in the end, but love or hate, I will never let her go just so that my crazy-ass family can hurt her.
Tuning back into the conversation, I hear them discussing what seems to be Jared’s romantic woes and Miah’s assertions that he’ll never get married and saddle a poor woman with his crazy moods.
Seems my brothers have won Ellie over.
“You bums done eating all my food and flirting with my girl, yet? Say thank you and get your greedy asses to the office while I clean this mess up and get Ellie situated.”
Twenty minutes later, I’ve cleaned up, loaded the dishwasher, and made sure Ellie is situated in front of the TV so she could relax and enjoy herself.
When I have loaded her up with snacks and watching one of the numerous DVDs I bought for her, I kiss her deeply and leave her to go talk to the Three Stooges who are waiting for me.
Chapter Nine
Ellie
Wyatt thinks I’m unaware of the tension that’s been present since his brothers arrived and crashed the little party we had only just started. I’m a little bummed to have the real world intruding when we’ve only just found this new relationship, but I’m also excited to have met them because it removes whatever small doubts I had left and proves that while Wyatt may be nuts, he’s totally legit and trustworthy.
That gives me hope and the giddy idea that the pleasure we shared is only the beginning of what could be a wonderful life together.
Now as I sit watching a movie I don’t want to watch, I think about everything that’s happened since I woke up tied to a bed. I wonder what one look could have done for the guy, because honestly, as cool as Wyatt is, I just don’t see him as the type to have an unrequited crush for this long without doing something sooner.
Which leads me to believe that there’s something he isn’t telling me. It’s not really surprising because we don’t, in fact, know each other. I know he thinks he knows me because he’s been watching me for so long, but he only knows the surface stuff and the things he could dig up.