Page 71 of Bad Boy Billionaire Protector

“Is it not? Oh, pray tell, what’s it like then because it sure seems as though that’s what you’ve been doing.”

“We love each other,” I said, quietly.

“You love each other? You’re not capable of love. You never stayed with anyone before. You’re just a man-whore, going around having your pick of the bunch, not committing to anything or anyone. And now you’re telling me you love her?!”

“Yes, Adam.I do love her.I’ve never loved anyone like the way I love Amber. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologize to me. You’re not sorry. You’re only sorry you’ve been caught. It would have been better for you if I had died, right?”

That hit me hard in the gut. I was wracked with shame at what I had put him through. Whether he believed it or not, I needed him to know I never wished him to be gone. Never.

I whipped my head around and spit out, “Don’t youeversay that, Adam. Ever. It’s not true. You know I love you, man. We were always best buds growing up. I would never have wanted anything to happen to you.”

“Fuck you, Mason! This isn’t how you treat your brother, especially with a brother as close as we were. Fuck you!”

He was spiraling with pain and agony and it killed me that I did this to him. I went over to him and tried to put my hand on his arm. He shoved me out of the way. “I should end you for what you’ve done to me.”

He sat down heavily on one of the seats and put his head in his hands. He started to cry. “I waited so long to see her and be with her.”

I plopped down next to him, mimicking his position as I gripped my head in remorse. “I’m sorry. I know you loved her. I am the biggest asshole. I did the worst thing a brother could do. I don’t know what to say, Adam. I love her. She’s my everything. I want to marry her.”

“Are you fucking kidding me? I was going to marry her!” He shouted.

We both went silent after that.

“I don’t blame her for finding someone else. I mean, she thought I was dead. And I guess it was wishful thinking that I could somehow pop back into her life and she would be ready and waiting to be with me again. But, for it to be you. You were supposed to be looking out for her, making sure she was safe. And all this time, you were taking her for your own. I mean, she’s so easy to love. She’s amazing. But for you to do this to me. I don’t think I can ever forgive you, bro.”

“I don’t expect you to forgive me. I just hope one day you can accept mine and Amber’s love for each other, but I don’t expect forgiveness.”

“How magnanimous of you. I just can’t believe it. I’ve given up so much of my life for this investigation. And now I’ve lost the love of my life too.”

“Will you at least – “

“ Don’t fucking say anything. I don’t want to hear another sorry.” He stormed off down the hallway.

I bent my head, painfully aware that I may have lost any hope of having a relationship with my brother for good. And I had no one to blame but myself. I felt like the worst brother in the world.

***

“Mason?”

I heard Amber calling me from inside her hospital room. Her door had remained open.

I stood up and I walked back into her room. I closed the door behind me but remained standing in the doorway, unsure what type of reception I would get. I fully expected to hear her say that she hated my guts. This was my greatest fear that I may have broken our relationship for good. I could see that she had recovered from her crying but her eyes looked bruised and she looked more sad than angry.

“Mason.” She whispered.

“Do you hate me?” I whispered, scared to hear her answer.

She shook her head. “I could never hate you.” She closed her eyes briefly. “But this does come awfully close.”

I nodded. This was bad.

“I just can’t imagine what made you keep this from me. Why didn’t you tell me that Adam was your brother?” She implored.

“I don’t know. I mean, I do know but I don’t know why I couldn’t get it together to tell you earlier like I should have.” I sighed.

Sitting down in the chair next to her bed, I proceeded cautiously. “I know why I didn’t mention it in the beginning. I was falling in love with you before I even realized that’s what this was. I felt like I was riding a bullet train, everything happening at lightning speed. I was out of my element; I’ve never been in love before. I knew I had to tell you about my involvement with the FBI, the fact that Adam was alive, and that he was my brother. But when I finally did tell you about the first two things that night when Andrew showed up at my place, and you ran away and almost didn’t come back to me, I was just so scared that I would lose you for good if I told you about Adam being my brother. I knew I had some time to work on this since he was in witness protection. I figured we had just recovered our relationship, it was still feeling a bit tenuous, so I wanted more time to secure your love to me – increase my odds, so to speak – before hitting you with that last bit of news.”

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