Page 63 of My Brother's Best Friends

I shake my head. “If we were to keep Kay from leaving with Melanie, you know that would’ve opened the gates for precisely what we’re trying to avoid.”

“I’m trying to understand what it is that Melanie wants. It’s been a few years, now. I thought it was well and far behind us,” Alex says. “I thought we’d only see her once in a blue moon, and that’s it. I certainly didn’t expect to bump into her HERE.”

“She could create much bigger problems than simply poisoning Makayla’s opinion of us,” I admit. “She could screw the NDA altogether and go public, just to stir shit up.”

“Didn’t she just make junior partner at her firm?” Kellan surmises. “Would it even be in her best interest?”

“People like Melanie are both inconsequential and terrifyingly unpredictable,” Alex says. “There’s no telling what she is capable of.”

“Dammit!” I snap, slamming my fist against the table. “You’re right. We need to go back to the legal agreement and see what can be done. Maybe get the police involved.”

“It was the police who suggested we settle in court because they didn’t find enough proof of her deception,” Kellan reminds me.

“We get a new detective to reopen the case. Fresh eyes, man, someone hungry enough for recognition that they might want to take it up,” Alex says.

“Another option would be to try to talk to Melanie in private and remind her that her sister might be affected by whatever she’s got planned,” Kellan suggests. “Maybe she’ll leave before our trip here is over. I want to believe that Melanie still has some redeeming qualities and that she cares enough about Callie to back off.”

“Our options come with considerable risks, no matter how we look at it,” I conclude.

“So what can we do?” Alex asks.

“We need to keep Makayla and Melanie apart,” I say. “Get her back up to our suite sooner rather than later, for starters.”

“This is so wrong… We’re keeping our relationship a secret from Bryan, we’re keeping Bryan’s proposal a secret from Callie and now we’re keeping our past from Makayla. That’s too many secrets,” Kellan replies.

All we can do is trust that Makayla is able to figure things out on her own, that she is able to see through any lies and half-truths that Melanie might want to spin about us. I would hate to lose her after just getting her back, yet I cannot force anything, either.

I’ll do my part and pray the pieces land where they should.

20

MAKAYLA

“What about this one?”

I point to a spa package that promises a hot-stone massage and a mud facial.

“If you like that sort of thing,” Melanie says, her tone flat, unimpressed by the spa’s entire menu. “I’m more interested in knowing how things are going with the Anderson triplets.”

“Fine,” I mutter, not wanting to get into it. My hackles rise every time their name rolls off her tongue. “Like I said, we go way back.”

“And is that all you’re sharing?” Melanie gives me a cold smile.

“I don’t know what else I can share when there’s nothing to share,” I reply, nervously laughing before I delve back into the brochure. “So if you don’t like hot stone massages, how about a full body scrub? I’m told the thermal waters at this resort are so rich in precious minerals that they have biomedical scientists coming in every few months to take samples and develop new cures for arthritis and other illnesses.”

Melanie pauses, then smiles. “I see you’ve done your homework.”

“I’m just curious by nature,” I reply.

“Sure, we could do a full body scrub. Add a sauna session on top, and we should be golden.”

“Great,” I say, feeling confident that we’ve managed to plot a course of action that doesn’t involve revealing personal insights.

“So, they’re cute, right?” Melanie asks, circling back to my guys.

“Yes,” I admit, but I refrain from saying anything further.

She’s fishing, and I still don’t know what bait she’s after, but I’m not about to spill anything about my life with the Anderson brothers. Still, I need to toss her a bone—just enough to stop the digging.

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