Page 138 of I Shouldn't Feel This Way

“You don’t know him like I do,” I said, trying my best not to snap at her.

“Then let me get to know him better. Can’t you understand how lonely I feel? I have all this family I know absolutely nothing about. You never go into detail or even talk about my aunt and uncle. You refuse to tell me about my grandmother, and now that your brother’s shown up at our front door, you turn him away and make decisions based on whatyoufeel is best for me. You never even told me about Uncle Evan! Seriously, Noah, do you have any other siblings that I should know about? Or are they just dead to you?”

“Aria, listen to me. Evan is reckless and dangerous!”

“That’s not who I am anymore!” he shouted.

“What is going on in here?” My wife appeared behind Aria.

“Nothing. Evan was just leaving.” I glared at him. “Now.”

“Breanne was right,” he scoffed, shaking his head. “I never should’ve come here. I just thought I knew my brother better than anyone else. I guess I was wrong.”

“Noah, what is the meaning of this?” Vanessa looked at me in confusion.

I had to control my temper. I couldn’t stand the idea of him getting close to my daughter. I was protective of her. I would die for her. I would kill her for, but I would have to be blind, deaf, and paralyzed to let those two spend time together.

Feeling jealous? Are you worried he’ll put the moves on her like you have? Did you see the way he made her blush? He’s bulked up since you last saw him.

Fuck, why now? Why was my evil half so hell-bent on taunting me? Well, the answer was simple: he was evil; therefore, it would make sense that he should choose such distressful situations such as this to mess with me more. I guess I’d just have to keep it together to one-up my tenacious twin.

“Why is everyone yelling?” Vienna was at her sister’s side, and I felt like I was suddenly surrounded by a group of people that wanted to persecute me and let the enemy into my home. All I wanted was to protect them! I’d learned a long time ago that Evan could never be trusted. Why the fuck did I need to reveal every single detail of the past to make them understand? Why couldn’t they take my word for it?

“Do you see what you do, Evan?” I said. “Are you happy now? I let you in my home for ten fucking minutes, and—”

“Stop yelling, Noah!” Aria cried out. “Stop yelling at him! You’re the only one who’s been nothing but hostile from the second you saw him.”

“You don’t know the whole story between me and Evan.”

“I heard enough.” She raised an objecting hand. “How can you blame him?”

Vanessa appeared more puzzled than before as she said, “Wait … blame him for what?”

Great, this was just perfect. This was exactly how I wanted to spend my Sunday.

“Can we all just go back to the living room,” Vienna said, “and clear up this confusion?”

“No, that won’t be necessary,” Evan replied. “My brother doesn’t want me here, and that’s okay. I’m not the kind of guy who likes to impose my presence on anyone, especially when I’m unwelcome.”

I gripped the edge of my desk and clenched my jaw when he walked past Aria.

“Wait!” she called after him. “You can’t leave, I … I just met you. You’re my uncle. Don’t you want to know me?”

My heart sank in my chest when I saw my daughter reach for his arm.

Why, Aria? Why do you need him in your life all of a sudden? Am I not enough? Why can’t you trust me when I say that he’s bad news? Why, why, why!

Alarms were going off in my head. It took every ounce of strength to refrain from lifting her over my shoulder and carrying her out of there so that I could lock her up in her room.

My, so judgy, Noah. Do you really believe he’s as sick in the head as you are?There was that sinister voice again, mocking me.

You’re the last person who should judge him and cast a stone, pal.

Evan handed an ivory-colored business card to Aria. “My cell number’s on there if you ever need to talk. Call me any time.”

She seemed charmed by the bastard, looking up at him, mesmerized.

I’m going to punch that smile off your face!I stepped toward her and yanked the card right out of her hand.

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