Page 44 of Perfect Pursuit

I wish it was different.

Fallon:

Regrets?

Ethan:

No. You?

Fallon:

Only that time didn’t stand still.

Ethan:

We’ll figure this out, Fallon.

Fallon:

For some reason, I believe you.

Ethan:

Probably because I’ve never lied to you, witch.

When I place my phone face down on the table, Jesse gives me a knowing look. “Was that her?”

“Yes.” Judging by the expression on his face, he’s waiting for me to elaborate. “She was asking if I have any regrets.”

“And do you?”

I meet my brother’s challenging gaze before I give him the truth. “No.”

Jesse’s tight facial expression eases. “That’s all that matters.”

“Is it?”

“Yes. Keep treating Fallon that way and I won’t have to kill you.”

My jaw drops as I verbalize, “You’re not pissed at me being with Fallon. You’re worried I’m going to hurt her.”

My brother’s eyes bore into mine, the truth clear as day.

I stand up and pull out my money clip. Tossing a few bills onto the table to cover both our tabs and the tip, I lean forward to hiss, “You have nothing to worry about.”

He offers me a sad smile.

“Spit it out, Jess.”

He lets out a long sigh. “You’re not here, E. You’re not here to listen to the old man’s ramblings about Mama at home and in his therapy.”

Ice chills the heat in my blood. I slide back into my barstool, not saying a word.

Jesse takes that as a cue to go on. “He loved her so much he lied to our sister, kept her from her soulmate for decades. His pain turned him inhumane.”

Recalling the way he lied to our sister as she tried to find her baby’s father to notify him of her upcoming pregnancy in her late teens, I wince. The knowledge of the ways he systematically degraded her to make her co-dependent on him makes me roar in fury. The fact Paige forgave him says a lot about my sister.

As for me, “I harbor so much resentment about what he did to Paige, I’m not certain I can get past it.”

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