bitch for cutting off his own daughter…Old Man Wilde was a fucking maniac. How Remi and the rest of them survived living with that monster is beyond me.”
I blink in disbelief. “That can’t be. He and Regan were really close.”
“He fooled everyone.” His voice is laced with disgust.
“How’s Regan?”
He shrugs, his eyes grow wary. “I don’t know. I haven’t really had a chance to talk to her.”
“Well, what about Remi, or Tyson?”
A small smile lifts the corner of his mouth, and it plucks a nerve to see that when he showed no feeling when I asked about Regan. “They’re okay. Remi’s back in town and holed up with his girl. Tyson is…Tyson. He was pissed, blew off steam, and now he’s thrown himself into his work.”
“And what about Regan? Or does she not count because you disapprove of her?”
His eyes narrow. “Remi and I were close before this. Regan and Confidence are friends. Maybe, she’ll go see her. If you’re hoping that somehow this will make me more inclined to forgive her for your little…whatever, don’t hold your breath. Marcel is a friend, and he deserves better.”
I want to tell him what I know about that man, but I doubt he’d believe me, and I don’t want to betray her confidence. “I’m not sure why you think she’s done anything you need to forgive her for. And you have no idea what kind of husband he is.”
“The kind she’s still married to,” he snaps, his expression hardening with annoyance.
“For now,” I say and hate how petulant I sound and how clueless I am. We haven’t been in touch at all But, I haven’t let myself imagine anything other than her getting her ducks in a row to divorce him.
“Stone, think about what would happen if people found out about your... thing in Mexico.”
“It wasn’t a thing,” I say between clenched teeth.
The damnable pity returns to his eyes. “For your sake, I hope it was. I don’t want you coming home thinking that you’re going to take Marcel Landel’s wife from him.”
His demands make my skin feel one size too small for my body. “She’s not a thing to be taken.”
His expression grows rigid and his eyes narrow. “You listen to me. I’ve been busting my ass to restore some of the good faith our uncle squandered while I was away. Your mother is still a pain in my ass. Dare is just barely back on his feet; I don’t have the bandwidth for another crisis. Especially not one that has anyone with my last name in the center of it. Please, think about what it will mean. And not just to me. But to our family. To your career. Stop thinking with your dick,” he growls.
His words slip under my skin, rub against my insecurity, my guilt, and my pride. They burn away the final veneer of civility I was clinging to.
“You’ve always been good at turning a challenge into an opportunity. It shouldn’t surprise me that you’re doing it now,” I sneer.
“What the fuck do you mean by that?” Hayes’ eyes narrow.
I mimic his expression and bring the phone closer to my face. “You just dropped the mother of all bombs on me. Yet, the first thing on your mind is Regan and me?”
His anger erupts. “Of course, it’s been on my mind. You’re my brother. I want what’s best for you, and another man’s wife isn’t it. This isn’t an opportunity, Stone. It’s a fucking tragedy, and I’m just trying to stem the bleeding.”
“And you think asking me to subvert my happiness for the greater good of a family that has deceived you your whole life is what’s best for me?”
He winces, and color blooms on his cheeks, and he drops his gaze from mine.
“Exactly.” I take no joy in being right.
“Stone, that’s not fair.”
“What is?” I bark, and he closes his eyes in a bid to find his calm.
He sighs and runs a weary hand over his face. “I know you like her. She’s beautiful and smart, I get it. But you have no idea the hornets’ nest you’ll be kicking, if you don’t let it be. Please.” There’s that word again.
I walk back to my room and stare at my bed. I should lie down and close my eyes and just, for once, say fuck it.
But the sun has started to rise, and it’s too late to indulge in the confessional of sleep. Self-indulgence will have to wait until the moon comes back. Someone’s life depends