Page 29 of My Little Secret

“Yes, it does.” Brute slammed his palm against the countertop. “You’ve always been in my corner. And now you’re not.”

“I have been in your corner since the day I was born,” I challenged him, stepping closer. “So don’t even act like this. I’ve done nothing but support you.”

“Who fought better?”

I sent him a flat look. “You did.”

“Bullshit.” He huffed, taking a few steps back.

“I tell you what you want to hear, and it’s still not enough. Brute, what do you want?” I scrubbed angrily at a plate.

“That motherfucker has got you too,” he muttered.

“What?”

“Fucking Hawk.” His voice dripped with condescension. “He took Mandy first, and now he’s coming for you. Are you two still talking?”

I nearly dropped the plate I was rinsing. “Wait, what?”

“Just tell me if you are.”

I blinked, turning to him. “What do you mean he’s coming for me?”

Brute leaned forward, his nostrils flaring. “This guy is an egomaniac. He always has to be the best. And after he beat me the last time we matched up, he had to take it one step further.”

“Mandy?” I hadn’t uttered the name for a year. Brute’s last serious girlfriend. She’d disappeared one day without a trace. Brute mourned her for months, but never really talked about it with me.

“Yeah. Mandy left because of that asshole. Went straight for her, even though she was with me. He couldn’t be happy just winning. Oh, no. He had to take the woman I loved, too.”

I set down the sponge, the pieces slowly, arduously, fitting together. “Did he know—?”

“He knew.” Brute leaned against the countertop, running his hand over his forehead. “And he knows who you are, too. It’s no coincidence he struck again before match time. Asshole did it so he could brag afterward.”

I furrowed my brow, letting Brute’s side settle in. That couldn’t be true. Most of all because Hawk hadn’t known who I was. Unless…he had? I couldn’t believe that.

“Well, I can personally attest that when I met Hawk, it was purely on accident, and I did not tell him you were my brother,” I said, picking up another dish to wash. “So I don’t think he had it in for you this time.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure.” Brute sent me a heavy look. “And I’ll be damned if he steals you away from me too.”

There was tenderness behind the anger, which made the little sister in me want to hug him. But at the same time, I was locked up with confusion. I needed more information.

“Brute, you’re never gonna lose me,” I said softly, looking over at him. He didn’t look convinced.

“Are you still talking to him?”

He wasn’t gonna drop it. And there was no way I could lie to him. “Yes.”

His jaw flexed but he didn’t say anything.

“I don’t know where it’s going,” I went on. “But it’s nice, and it’s something. That’s all I know for now.”

Brute cursed under his breath and left the kitchen. My thoughts roared to a boil, and I scrubbed those dishes harder than ever. I knew exactly the questions I’d ask Hawk later, but a more pressing matter begged for attention: convincing Brute that Hawk wasn’t a threat.

I needed more details, but still—something just didn’t make sense. Brute was soft underneath that hard exterior. Always had been. And I never thought that Hawk and I might trigger that big brother protectiveness, that fear that he’d lose a best friend and sister in the mix.

Certainly never imagined he had an arsenal of rationalization mixed into the tale of Hawk vs. Brute.

I slipped away from the kitchen, heading to the quiet spare room upstairs to talk to Hawk. He answered on the second ring.

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