Page 33 of All That She Needs

They were pale, with light blond hair, so the three of us shared that same vampire-like look, and Dennis might be right to call them fallen angels descending to Earth to taunt and scare mere humans like him. Because they did, they scared his pants off without even trying. It didn't matter that they were saving lives every single day—Mason was a neurosurgeon, and Max was a cardio-thoracic surgeon. To Dennis, and probably many others, their outward appearances overshadowed their professional accomplishments.

"Anybody want tea or coffee?" Dennis asked as he tentatively walked closer, and I noticed with amusement how his eyelids fluttered copiously. It was his tick when he was nervous.

"Coffee, please. Black." Max replied, with that low, deep tone that would scare little children into hiding.

"Okay," Dennis said as he slowly turned his attention to Mason. He clasped his hands together and shifted nervously from one foot to the other. Dennis was a bundle of nerves, and I almost felt sorry for him. "And you?"

"Same." Mason replied calmly. "Thank you."

When Dennis finally turned to me, I was already laughing. I shook my head, earning a sharp, narrowed look from him. "Nothing for me, thank you."

Dennis immediately darted out of the room as if his pants were on fire, and I couldn't help but laugh harder. I turned to my brothers and said, "It's always amusing to see how you both scare him without even saying anything."

A grunt from Max told me that would be all the response I would get, so I ditched the topic. "What did Kayden tell you?"

"He told me you kicked his father out of the house." Mason said.

I waited. And waited. It was like pulling teeth to getthem to talk. Impatiently, I asked again, "And?"

"Did he really cheat on you?" That was Max asking. And for him to ask that without punching anything was already a miracle.

"Yes." I swallowed hard. "He did. In fact, he fell in love with her."

The fury that quickly flared on their faces was intense enough to make me flinch. "Don't be mad," I pleaded quietly. "It doesn't concern you."

"Of course it does," Mason countered firmly. "He hurt you. He hurt my nephew. Kayden was crying when he called me, and it fucking broke my heart, Asha. That makes it our business."

I understood their anger. My kids meant the world to them. They weren't married yet and didn't have children of their own, so they poured all their attention into my kids and spoiled them like crazy. They even called my kids almost every day—video call, mind you, because they missed my kids so much—while I was lucky if I got a call from them once a week. Even when they were two hours away by plane, they showed more attention to my kids than Aiden.

"Don't. Please. I kicked him out, and I'm getting a divorce. Case closed."

"How long have you known?" Max's question was loaded, and I knew the truth would only anger them.

I winced before admitting, "A few months."

Their eyes widened in shock, almost comically so. "Asha," Mason breathed, disbelief thick in his tone. "And you just kicked him out now?"

"Why didn't you say anything to us?" Max pressed, his voice tinged with frustration.

"I was living in denial," I confessed, my voice trembling slightly with shame. "I couldn't even admit it to myself."

Mason shook his head, still trying to process what I'd just revealed. "And you just... let it happen?

"I didn't let it happen," I shot back, a bit more defensive than I intended, even though I knew it was a lie. I did let it happen. I didn't fight. I did nothing. "I was trying to keep my family together. For the kids, for me... I don't know. Maybe I thought he'd come to his senses. But that didn't happen, and now I'm done."

"Is he with her now?"

"I don't know if he's still with her," I admitted. "All I know is that their relationship was short-lived. They broke it off after around six months, and then he spent months trying to win her back until he suddenly gave up for reasons I didn't know. I thought when he stopped chasing her, he would come back to us."

Max's jaw tightened. "But he didn't. He was still pining for her."

I sighed, feeling my heart shattered all over again. "He came back; his presence did, but his mind was still with her."

Mason's expression darkened as he absorbed the details. "And you just stood by and watched him chase after her?"

My head dropped to my hands as the weight of my guilt and shame pressed down on me. "I know I was wrong. I let it get this far. I let him destroy everything."

Mason's eyes narrowed, his voice laced with anger. "Aiden was never like this. He was all about family. How could he let someone get into his head like that and just... abandon everything?"

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