college.
I should tell Talon and Jade I was leaving.
The thought hovered in my mind. If they noticed I was gone, they’d be concerned. Not that I felt I had to check in with them, but I didn’t want them worrying.
Something niggled at me, though. Something I couldn’t quite identify. A feeling that I shouldn’t tell anyone I was meeting Colin.
Normally I ignored those silly feelings, but tonight I didn’t.
Tonight, it was important I keep this under wraps. I had no idea why, but I felt it strongly.
I walked quietly out of the house with no one the wiser.
“Hey.” I sat down next to Colin at the small bar in the hotel.
“Let’s move to a table,” he said.
“Not even a ‘hi’?” I said.
He didn’t respond, so I followed him to a small round table in the corner of the tiny room and sat down on one of the chairs.
“Spit it out, Colin,” I said.
“Thanks for coming.”
“How etiquette-minded of you. You couldn’t say hello, but you say thank you.”
He opened his mouth, but I stopped him with a gesture.
“I’m not interested in any explanation. Let’s just get to the meat of the matter. Why am I here?”
He cleared his throat. “My therapist suggested I find someone I trust to share this with.”
“And you trust me?”
“Well, you and Jade. But she’s pregnant, and I don’t want to add to her stress. Besides, the beast probably wouldn’t have let her come anyway.”
“If that’s your term for my brother—the one who didn’t abandon her at the altar, by the way—this conversation will end right now.” I stood. “See you.”
“No. Wait. I’m sorry.”
I sat back down. “You don’t sound remotely sorry.”
“The guy kicked the tar out of me. I’m not a fan, okay?”
I said nothing, just gave him the evil eye. My brother had overreacted when Colin showed up at our place last summer. He hadn’t been in a good place. All my brothers were prone to be hotheads, Joe most of all. I wasn’t going to share this with Colin, however.
“I didn’t want to leave Jade,” he finally said, staring at the table.
“What are you talking about? You mean for the wedding?”
“Yeah. I said I got cold feet.”
“A lot of people get cold feet on their wedding day. You took it one step further.”
“This isn’t coming out right,” he said. “What I mean is, it wasn’t…”
“Wasn’t what? Spit it out, Colin.” My voice came out harsh, and I regretted it, but only because of what Colin had been through at Bryce’s father’s hands.
“It was my father,” he said. “My father’s idea for me not to marry Jade.”
I jerked in surprise. “That’s what you wanted to tell me? You said your father called you a coward when you didn’t show up.”
“He did. But not because I left Jade at the altar.”
“All right. Slow down. You’re going to have to walk me through this because none of it makes any kind of sense. You left her. That’s a fact. Your father called you a coward. Another fact, at least according to you. Now start at the damned beginning.”
He stared at the table again.
And I stared at him. His hair had grown back quite a bit, but still I could see a scar on the top of his scalp. A very precise scar, as if he’d had brain surgery.
He hadn’t had brain surgery. Tom Simpson had made that scar. I didn’t want to know how or why. The top of his left ear was also damaged. Odd that I hadn’t noticed before, except that it was more toward the back. Looking at him face-to-face, I wouldn’t have seen it. It almost looked like someone had taken a small bite out of the outer shell of his ear.
This man had been brutally abused.
And I was beginning to wonder…
“Your father has controlled you since you were born, hasn’t he?” I said.
Colin looked up, meeting my gaze. “No.”
“Colin…”
“He thinks he controls me. He doesn’t.”
“How, then, was he able to get you to leave Jade on your wedding day? If indeed he was behind it as you say.”
“He didn’t think Jade was good enough for me.”
“Really? I’m not buying it. Jade was at the top of her class in college and law school, and she’s the daughter of a supermodel.”
“There were other circumstances.”
“Like what?”
“She might be Brooke Bailey’s daughter, but she didn’t come from money.”
“So?”
He let out a soft huff. “You’re right. It’s all bullshit.”
“Yeah. I already knew that. What’s really going on? Was your father behind your decision not to marry