Brody by Cheryl Douglas Read Free Book Online

forgive myself if something happened to my brother because I’d been stupid enough to share news I should have kept to myself. “Are you sorry I told you?”
    He looked at me a long time, as though his mind was racing. “No, I’m glad you told me. I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t wondered what the hell happened to him over the years.”
    “Yeah, I guess we all have.” Whether we wanted to admit it or not, he was still our father and the only family we had left, aside from each other and two half-brothers and a stepmother we’d never met. I scraped a hand over my face. “It still seems surreal, doesn’t it? I keep thinking I’m gonna wake up and it’ll be a bad dream.”
    “A nightmare is more like it.” He pulled his keys out of his pocket. “You gonna be in town for a while? I do want to talk about this some more.”
    I couldn’t walk out on Riley without an explanation. I had other commitments, but for once I had to prove I was willing to put her first. “I’ll be here for a bit.” I smiled, trying to ease the tension. “Unless Ri kicks me out.”
    Kane chuckled. “You know if she does, you can always crash at my place.”
    “Thanks, I appreciate that.” For the first time in my life, I wasn’t looking forward to hitting the road again. Maybe I was finally ready to face my problems, instead of running from them.
    After a handshake and half-hug, I asked, “Do you think I should mention this to anyone else?”
    “No, not yet,” Kane said. “They’ve all got a lot going on right now. Let’s just keep it between us for now, okay? I’ll call you tomorrow. Maybe we can meet up and talk some more.”
    “Sounds good.” As I watched him punch the button for the elevator, I said, “Hey, Kane?”
    “Yeah?” he asked, holding the door as it slid open.
    “Stay safe out there.”
    “Always.”
     

 

Chapter Four
    Riley
     
    I was running late when I dashed into my favorite Chinese restaurant to meet my sister for dinner. Waving to a hostess I recognized, I wove through snugly positioned tables toward the back of the small, crowded restaurant.
    “I’m so sorry I’m late,” I said, slightly breathless as I plopped down across from Macy. I dumped my purse into one of two empty chairs. “One of my clients was late for a cake tasting, and they had trouble making up their minds once they did arrive.”
    “No problem,” Macy said, waving off my apology as she held up her phone. “Gave me a chance to dump my emails. I swear I let these things pile up for weeks before I finally get around to deleting them.”
    I wasn’t surprised. I’d always been the organized, analytical one, while Macy was the fly-by the-seat-of-her-pants, live-for-the-day sister. Sometimes I envied her, being able to live in the moment with scarcely a care in the world.
    “So what did you do today? I assume you’re staying with the folks while you’re here?”
    “Yeah,” she said, reaching for her water glass, “I am. I guess I should tell you before you hear it from him. I stopped by your place to see Brody today.”
    Great. Just what I needed. My little sister interfering in my love life. Not that Brody and I were lovers… yet. No! I was not going to go there again. Not with him.
    I sighed. “Why did you do that? I can handle Brody.”
    “No, you can’t.”
    The waitress approached to take our order. Thankfully we didn’t even need to look at the menu to order several of our favorite dishes to share.
    “I hope you didn’t tell Brody that I can’t handle having him in my life. It makes it seem like he still has some hold over me, which he definitely does not.”
    Looking torn between sympathy and frustration, Macy shook her head. “Will you always have blinders on where he’s concerned? Why can’t you just admit that he’s the one and only man with the power to break your heart? He’s done it once, and I just went over there to warn him he better not do it again.”
    “And? What did he say when you