Page 135 of The Re-Proposal

My voice seems to calm her. Her face smooths out and she settles down again. I wait until I hear her breathing deeply before I move my hand away.

I want to rip Hatchen apart, limb by limb, for instilling that kind of fear in her. Making her live through that terror. He shouldn’t be walking the streets. He shouldn’t be planning to keep his daughter, planning to ruin Maggie’s life. He shouldn’t be doing anything but bleeding into the ground.

I launch out of the room, my phone to my ear.

Clay answers as brusquely as usual. “Don’t, Cody.”

“Clarissa had a nightmare. She’sterrified.Who freaking knows how deep those scars will go? You still want me to do nothing?”

“I’m sorry about Clarissa. I really am. But you’re not getting to him.”

“Why not?”

“I have men stationed around Hatchen’s place.”

“I wondered where Doberman disappeared to.” I freeze. “They’re not there to protect us from him, are they?”

“I didn’t expect you to call me first. I’m grateful for that. It means I can talk you out of it.”

Frustration grabs my head like a vice. I run my fingers through my hair. “You’re protecting a monster.”

“I’m protecting my brother. You think Clarissa will thank you for killing someone? You think she’ll look at you the same way? You think those scars are easy to live with?” His voice dips at the last line.

I curse under my breath.

“This isn’t you, Cody. You don’t let your base instincts control you. You’re smart. You’d have found another way to ruin him. To make him pay. You wouldn’t jump to violence. You wouldn’t fly off the deep-end.”

“So now you’re calling me insane?”

“Right now? Yes.”

I scoff.

“Why do you go nuts when it’s about her?”

“Because I love her, dammit.” The words burn my lips. It’s my first time admitting them out loud. My first time letting them spring free since the wedding that never was.

“Love? Cody, if you love someone, then you find a way to makethemhappy. Not yourself. Brutally confronting Hatchen will make you happy. It’ll satisfy that rage in you. But what will it do for Clarissa?”

His words shake me to my core.

Never be controlled, Cody. You always be the one in control.

Mom’s voice clashes with my brother’s advice.

I blow out a breath. “This is the farthest you go to protect that creep. Don’t get in my way again, Clay.”

I hang up.

The restlessness inside begs to be pointed in a direction and shot. Or maybe explode like a beam of light from my chest.

I keep pacing until the sound of Joel’s wheelchair reaches my ears. We barely talk at home, moving past each other like ghost ships, but I’ve gotten used to hearing those big wheels tracking on the tiles.

The teenager wheels into view, jaw cracking on a giant yawn. I’m concerned by those dark shadows under his eyes and the pale set to his skin.

I saw him hanging back during the renovation yesterday and I had no plans of including him. His doctor was very clear about not putting any strain on his heart.

Emotionally. Physically. The kid is fragile.

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