Page 66 of His Secret Betrayal
Alek pecks me on the cheek one last time, telling me to take the rest of the day off, and he’ll meet me back at home once things are settled with Caleb.
But after he takes his comforting presence with him, I cringe. God, I hope the entire office didn’t overhear Caleb’s outburst. Then some of my worries start to creep back in. I can’t help but think how eerily similar this situation is to what I put my own brother through. When I walked in on him in Maddie’s arms, I let my anger get the best of me and said some hurtful things I’ll never be able to take back. Then I made him pick between me and the woman he loves, prompting her to leave.
It was not my finest moment, and if Caleb wanted to make his dad pick between us, then that’s exactly what I deserve.
The thought makes me sick to my stomach, the rolling sensation making me grimace.
Fuck, I need to see my brother.
When I get to Jax’s house, I make a point ofknocking. While I wait for a response, I step back and study the exterior of the home where I spent a large chunk of my childhood. It’s a spacious, creamy white building with slate-gray shutters and a wooden, wraparound porch. Behind me is the long, gravel driveway I used to pedal up and down on my bike.
The door swings open, only I’m not greeted by my brother. Maddison is on the other side, her doe-brown eyes widening as surprise flashes across her features. Her brown hair flows around her shoulders,and she’s wearing her worn, gray Crestwood Heights University shirt paired with black leggings. An errant beam of sunlight gives the small engagement ring my brother gave her a sparkling effect.
“Luke!”
“Hey, Madds,” I say, unable to keep the affection out of my tone. No matter what happened between us, I’m always happy to see her. Pulling her in for a hug, I squeeze until she lets out a protesting grunt. “Is Jax home?” I ask.
“Yup, he’s in the backyard building a pergola.”
“Um, okay. Why?”
“He says it’s for me, but it’s really for him.” She snorts, her eyes sparkle as she grins, motioning for me to follow her to the backyard where we step onto a wide, stone patio with a clear view of the peaks of Cedarwood Mountains in the distance. Thankfully, since it’s early March now, temperatures are beginning to rise and winter is slowly transitioning into spring. There’s still a bit of chill in the air, but it’s no longer hurt-your-face cold.
“Be nice,” Maddie warns me in a whisper.
I tilt my head as we approach Jax, who is indeed building…something. It’s an ugly, brown monstrosity leaning precariously to the left. “You should stick to putting out fires,” I mutter, grunting when Maddie jabs her elbow into my side.
God, I forgot how pointy that thing is.
My brother climbs down a rickety, old ladder, all the while giving me the stink eye. “It’s not finished, asshole.”
I huff.
Jax wipes his hands on the bottom of his black shirt, his eyebrows pulling down as he studies me. “What’s up?”
A sigh escapes me, because I know that look. He has this uncanny knack of reading straight through people’s bullshit, always seeming tosense when something isoff. And the look he’s giving me now means he’s fighting the urge to go all big brother on me.
“I can’t drop by because I want to see my bro?”
He gives me a knowing look, tipping his chin toward the patio table. “Let’s sit down.”
Jax leads me toward the table, and I pull a chair out, the legs screeching across the patio. As we sit, I’m vaguely aware of Maddie striding away in my peripheral vision. Jax’s eyes heat as his emerald irises land on the swell of her ass.
I kick him under the table and rumble, “We get it, dipshit. You’re in love, and you want to marry her and give her babies. Now, can you please stop eye-fucking your fiancée and focus on me?” My eyes narrow. “Did you eye-fuck her like that when we were dating?”
Seriously, how did I never realize the way my brother looks at her when Maddie and I were together?
Jax coughs, his face turning red as he averts his eyes. The answer doesn’t really matter at this point, but I would be lying if I said I didn’t get some sick sort of amusement out of the way it makes him squirm with guilt.
Maddie’s voice filters in from somewhere behind us, her shoes shuffling along the patio as she returns. “Didn’t he ever tell you about the time he watched—”
Jax’s head whips toward her, his eyes going round. “Baby, some things should be left to his imagination, don’t you think?” he asks quietly, a thread of alarm in his voice.
Maddie blushes, the corner of her lips pulling into a coy smile.
“I don’t want to know,” I murmur. Knowing those two, it’s something to do with their sex lives which I sure as fuck don’t want to hear about.
Maddie places a handful of chilled, plastic water bottles onto the table before stepping back to look between us. “Should I give you two a few minutes alone?”
