Page 46 of The Brothers Next Door

Chapter 19

Nate

When I heard the news that Gabriella’s killer had been killed and that the case was well on the way to being wrapped up, with the base of the gang being raided and most members either arrested or in the process of being arrested, I was both happy and relieved. Hopefully, my brother would finally be able to find some peace and be able to move on without that fucking dark cloud hanging over his head.

But in addition to there being relief I knew there would also be the issue of the wound reopening for him. Sure, it hadn’t entirely closed, but I suspected it would be fresh all over again. I knew how badly my brother wanted to be the one to arrest the man responsible.

Stopping off at the liquor store, I grabbed a case of beer and continued to our complex. I didn’t bother to change out of my uniform, instead opting to go directly to Darrin’s place. He’d gotten off work five hours ago so who knew the state he’d be in by now. Perhaps he was already in a drunken haze. He’d been ignoring my text messages and calls all evening.

I didn’t bother to knock. Instead I tried the door and it opened. “Darrin,” I called out as I entered his place, looking for a sign of him. I came up empty. His boots and uniform jacket were in their usual spots, however.

Perhaps he and Layla had gone out? That wasn’t beyond the realm of possibilities, as she’d been ignoring my texts and calls all evening as well, which was unlike her. As I approached the bedroom, I detected the sound of soft snores.

“Darrin?” As I entered the bedroom, I stopped dead in my tracks and stared.

“Nate?” my brother answered as he slowly sat up on the bed and wiped at his eyes.

“What in the fuck did I miss out on?” I looked down from Darrin to see Layla’s naked body curled up against him, sending rage through me. We’d had a fucking agreement. We’d never told her about the agreement, but she wasn’t stupid. She must have known something was up when neither one of us would sleep with her without the other present.

But it was my brother I was disappointed in more. He was my damned brother, my flesh and blood. He knew how in love with Layla I was, but I was willing to share. That had been the agreement from the start, we share. No matter the feelings, but he hadn’t shared tonight, he’d taken her all for himself.

Darrin’s complexion paled as he looked down at Layla and then back at me. “Oh fuck me.” Immediately he leapt from the bed and after a moment’s frantic search grabbed a fresh pair of boxer briefs from his dresser. “Fuck Nate, I don’t know what to say.” He motioned towards the bed and Layla’s sleeping body.

“There’s not much to say, you broke the pact.” My jaw clenched as I stared at him. It had been years since we’d been in a fight, not since high school, in fact. But I wanted to punch him square in his fucking jaw. If it hadn’t been for the fact I knew the news he’d had to deal with today I damned well would have.

“I don’t… I came home. I started drinking.” He came around the bed to my side and motioned for me to follow him into the living room. I decided that would be a good idea, as seeing Layla looking so naked and content on his white sheets was only getting me more pissed.

“And so, she came over and took advantage of you? She’d have had to give you a roofie and gotten rapey in order for you to break your word with your brother.”

He groaned aloud as he grabbed a bottle of aspirin from the coffee table and flopped down onto the sofa. Shaking a couple out into his hand, he popped them into his mouth and swallowed the two caplets dry. “No. I… Fuck.” He sighed. “You heard about Gabriella’s killer?”

“Yeah. I’m sorry man, really I am.” My rage gave way a moment for the sympathy I’d been feeling previously. Setting the case of beer on the coffee table, I took a seat in the arm chair next to the sofa.

“I started drinking while watching a home movie of me and Gabriella, looking at some old photos, feeling sorry for myself, and then somewhere along the line I fell asleep.”

“How does that get you to having sex with Layla and having her naked and asleep beside you?”

“I woke up when she came over. I must not have been sleeping for long, the pictures were still out. She turned off the movie and I told her about Gabriella and I was basically wallowing in self-pity. She consoled me.”

“She consoled you.” The muscles in my body began to tense again. This was bound to happen. Eventually, it had to happen.

He opened his mouth to speak and then snapped it shut again.

He wasn’t telling me everything, I could feel it. Neither one of us could ever tell a lie to the other one and now was not an exception. “What aren’t you telling me, Darrin?”

“Fuck, man, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to…” He ran a hand through his hair and then placed his head in his hands, elbows propped on his knees.

My eyes narrowed at my brother as I impatiently waited. “Mean to what?”

Looking up, his expression grim, he replied, “I told her I was in love with her.”

~*~TT~*~

Darrin

A look came over Nate’s face that I couldn’t quite place, which was unusual, since I thought I knew every one of Nate’s expressions. It seemed to be a mixture of anger and something else…

“There’s more,” I added.

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