Page 118 of Fragile Heart

“And you can’t crucify yourself for what you did ten years ago. Neither of us know the future. If you had chosen differently, there’s no way to know that she’d still be here with you now.” The look he pins me with is tortured. I try to give him more. “And how many other things would be different now even if she had stayed? We wouldn’t have formed a pack, you wouldn’t have taken over Monroe Ranch. Brandon might still be alive and wreaking havoc on some unsuspecting buckle bunny instead of working with you. Hell, Misty Mountain might not even be Melissa’s and Emily’s.”

My phone chimes, but I ignore it.

“If we spend all our time thinking about the ways life could have been different, we miss out on the life we actually have,” I tell him. “We take each day as it comes and make the best decisions we can. We apologize when we get it wrong, and we correct our course when we realize we’re nowhere near where we want to be. But we can’t keep looking behind us wishing it could change.”

After a minute, he sighs. “Yeah, all right.” And then, quieter, “You’ll make sure I don’t lose her?”

My heart clenches. “I won’t let you lose her.”

When he doesn’t say anything else, I grab my phone. Even now, there’s a small bit of hope that it’ll be Brielle.

It isn’t.

I send a quick text back to Lynn.

I’ll be over ASAP. Just finishing up talking with Ethan.

“I need to grab Cam from Lynn.”

He wipes his face and dries his hands on his jeans.

“Fuck,” he mutters. “I need to talk to Brielle.”

That’s going to be hard right now. I stop him with a hand on his shoulder when he tries to stand up.

“Do you love her?” I ask him. I’m not about to let him hunt her down if it’s for anything less than love. “Maybe not enough to bond her, but enough to love her until you’re dead, no matter what happens?”

“Yes,” he says without hesitation. “Fuck, I’ve loved her for a damn decade.”

Thank fuck.

“She’s in Jackson,” I say. “Melissa won’t tell me more than that, and Brielle won’t text me back.”

He frowns and then grimaces. “Fuck, man. I’m sorry.”

He runs a hand over his beard and then stretches his neck.

“I need to convince Melissa to fess up,” he says, a flinty, unwavering look in his eye.

I cock an eyebrow, but he doesn’t waver. Well, at least I won’t have to make the drive to Jackson alone. As long as she’s still in Jackson by the time we figure out just exactly where to go.

I text Melissa, giving her a heads up.

“I hope you’re ready to beg,” I tell him. “Because the girls are fuckingpissedwith you right now.”

Chapter Fifty-Two

ETHAN

Melissa’s standing on the porch of her house, her arms crossed, her eyes blazing with fury. I ease out of the truck, closing the door and tucking my hands into my pockets. Caleb waits until I start walking, staying a few steps behind me.

“You have some nerve, Ethan,” Melissa seethes as I stop, one foot on the bottom stair of the porch.

I don’t say anything. My head is fucking pounding, and my eyes burn. It feels like I’ve been run over by a truck and then trampled by a herd of cattle. Fuck, I’d forgotten just how shitty a hangover can be. It doesn’t help that I know one wrong word will have Melissa slamming that door on me and refusing to help fix my fuck up.

“If you think I’m going to cover for your stupidity this time, you’rewrong,” she says. She’s practically vibrating with rage. “I shouldn’t have done it the first time. The only reason I did is because she begged me to.”

Caleb pauses behind me.

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