Page 109 of Messing With My Brother's Best Friends

“Got it, thanks.” I smiled at him tightly, then as his words filtered in, I found myself settling back in my chair. Laughter bubbled up inside me as I looked at each one of my family members in turn. “So, you were pissed that the guys wanted to be in a relationship with me because there’d be no gang bang action for you with your sister.” Finn’s jaw flexed, but he didn’t say a thing. “And you lot had sex parties with the neighbours.” Dad flushed bright red, but Mum just met my gaze head on. “So the problem isn’t that I’m in a loving relationship with more than one man, just that it doesn’t include my brother or that it’s something serious rather than sexual exploration.”

“Well, Kendall—” Dad started to say.

“Yes.” Mum didn’t overrule the boys often, but when she did, everyone listened. “That and shock. Things have gotten more conservative now. You just don’t hear about more than two people being together, so it took us by surprise, but…” Her focus shifted to Dad. “We reacted badly yesterday and after talking to Gage, I think we can start to make amends.”

“I’m gonna sign my shares in the company over to you, Kendall.”

I blinked, stared at Finn, looked more closely for that whole pod people thing, and then blinked again.

“What?”

“Gage has made really clear that the way things were couldn’t continue and…” My brother sucked in a breath. “IoweyoubecauseIwasajealousprick.”

“What?”

“Fuck, I knew you were going to make a big deal out of this.” Finn sighed. “I was jealous, OK? Of the attention everyone gave the only girl. Of the fact nothing seemed to keep you down. You always bounced back from every prank and then started planning your own. You gave as good as you got and…” He nodded slowly. “I respected that.” But any good feeling he was experiencing seemed to fade. “I fucked up, though. First with your interview and then when I should’ve admitted it was my fault.” He shook his head. “Moving you out and away from the guys. I’ve started therapy.”

“The fuck you did…” I stared at him. “Really?”

“Really. Cheryl and I are working through things, and it’s become clear.” His lips thinned. “I can be a bit of a bloody prick at times, so… I’m signing my share of the company to you. You’ll be a quarter owner and…” Finn looked past me to Gage and Van. “Potentially one of my bosses. I know you fellas don’t want a bar of me now, but… I need a fucking job to support my family, and you know I’m a good plumber.”

“Probably because you’re as full of shit as those pipes,” Gage drawled.

“Yeah.” Finn chuckled. “I probably am. So, whaddya think, baby sister? I know I’ve still got a long way to go to fixing things between us, but having me as your minion might go some way towards that.”

He was still my brother. Annoying, infuriating, and frustrating, but my brother, so I was up and out of my seat and walking around the table before anyone could say another thing. When I flung my arms around him, his hands clasped mine.

“I’ll make the guys get you to do all the shitty jobs,” I promised. “Cleaning toilets with toothbrushes. Your toothbrush, hopefully.”

“Wouldn’t have it any other way,” he said in a shaky voice.

“So that’s what you were up to.”

We all turned to see Connor standing there, obviously having entered the house much more quietly. He just stared at everything that was unfolding, as if unable to believe his eyes. Then he nodded at Gage first, then Van.

“Where the hell did you get to this morning?” I asked, pulling back from Finn. “All of you?”

“We went to fix everything,” was all the reply I got.

Chapter 54

Van

Somehow I just knew everything would work out, but this…? Watching Finn fall on his sword and then Kendall and her brother hug it out, that went far beyond my expectations. I stared at Gage, mutely asking to be filled in on what went down. I’d found nudie pictures of our parents and cleaned Mum’s gutters, but they had obviously discovered whole other solutions.

“So we’ll be able to pay back Mark now,” I said.

“Eventually.” Connor strolled over and sat down, smiling down the table, and it would’ve killed him to know how much like his dad he looked. Not evil like Mark, but he had that same vibe of being supremely in control. “I had a chat with my parents this morning and made clear that a hostile act like that would be met with equal and opposite force. Thanks for the photos, by the way.”

I grinned.

“They were very effective in… persuading Dad to see things my way,” Connor said. “Proper loan documents will be drawn up, including an interest rate. It’ll mean bigger repayments, but I think we can swing it. As long as we adhere to them, Dad won’t try this shit again, lest he be in breach of contract.”

“There won’t be any need for that.” Bruce’s grumpy tone caught our attention and he stared down the table with his arms crossed. “Alice and I talked and… We sold the house in town for a pretty penny and we put that money aside.” He shot his wife a dark look. “For a rainy day.”

“Today’s about as rainy a day as I’d like to see,” Alice replied.

“We’ll pay that prick Mark out. We’ll give him the money and that will leave the lot of you free and clear.”

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