Page 7 of Restrained

“I’m sorry.”

“Have you talked to her?” He doesn’t have to say Vivienne’s name, and my heart squeezes, knowing how badly he’s hurting. It’s all over his face.

“Yes.” My throat is dry, and I suddenly feel like chickening out. The last thing I want to do is hurt him.

“Have you seen him?”

My eyes scrunch in confusion. “Him? Baz?”

He looks sickened and growls, “Sawyer.”

I shake my head. “No.” I haven’t asked Vivienne about Sawyer, but I know he’s living about five miles from here in a condo and has started work with Linc.

“So, you haven’t been totheirplace?”

The bitterness in his tone makes me ache, but I have no idea what he’s talking about again. “Their place?”

“Please don’t make me say it. I know they’re living together.”

Did she tell him she was moving in with Sawyer? “Asher, listen to me, okay?” I take a deep breath as he watches me in confusion. “Vivienne and Baz are staying with me here at my house.”

“What?” I can see the betrayal written all over his face, and I hate it.

“You guys needed a break from each other, Asher. I told her she could come and stay with me for a while.”

He was seated, but now I can tell by the phone jostling around that he’s jumped up and is pacing. “You’re the reason she went to fucking California?”

“Not exactly.”

“Right. That motherfucker got a job with the other motherfucker.”

Sawyer and Linc respectively.“Listen?—”

“No.” He’s angry and cuts me off quickly. “How can you do that to me? You know how much I fucking love that kid.”

“I do.”

“And yet you encouraged his mother to move across the country?”

I swear I did it for him. “Asher, you guys were locked in an unhealthy war. I couldn’t just sit there and watch.”

“Right.” His scoff is cold and holds so much meaning behind it.

“I’ve messed up so much, Asher. I’m trying to be better.”

“That’s just fucking great. Thanks so much for all your help, sis.”

It’s obviously sarcastic, his rage cutting through me. “You need time to grow up. You needed space. She needed?—”

“To fuck Sawyer.”

I gulp, his angry interruption stopping my words, but I'm tired of him acting like a child. “If that’s what she needs to heal and grow.”

“Heal from fucking what? She left. Not me. She did. And now I find out my sister was the driving force behind it.”

“I think you need to look in the mirror a little bit there, Ash.”

I may have offered her a break, but it was one she was already craving. “Right.” His jaw ticks.

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