Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 94512 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 473(@200wpm)___ 378(@250wpm)___ 315(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94512 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 473(@200wpm)___ 378(@250wpm)___ 315(@300wpm)
Something inside Dare snapped, and the anger he’d been searching for came rushing forward. He strode over and grabbed Brian by the front of his shirt—Dare’s shirt—and jerked him forward. “He didn’t just go to her for the money, you bastard. He put a hand on her. Grabbed her by the wrist and—”
The wailing sound interrupted Dare, catching him off guard. He stopped shaking Brian long enough to realize the man was crying. Not crying.
Bawling like a baby.
“Son of a bitch.” Dare released him, and Brian collapsed on the bed.
He hadn’t expected this. He’d anticipated a confrontation. A part of him had even been looking forward to it. But this sobbing, defeated man needed help, not a fight.
Watching him, Dare understood for the first time why Liza helped him. Enabled him. Cared about him. Because Brian McKnight was incapable of caring for himself.
“Hey.” Dare shook his shoulder. “Your sister’s emptying her savings to pay off your debt. She’s meeting with this Mikey character at her office today.” And with everything in him, Dare wanted to be there, but Cara threatened to castrate him if he went near the building.
Liza needed to do this for herself, she’d said. And he needed to find another way to prove he wasn’t the asshole he’d shown himself to be. So here he was, working on the one thing he knew would show Liza he accepted her, family and all. Brother and all. She needed to know he could put the past behind him once and for all.
Hell, he needed to know the same thing. And Dare finally did. He knew now he could let it go. Because all the anger he had been holding on to and directing at this man had been Dare’s way of not turning it on himself, but in the end anger was just as lousy a coping mechanism as Brian’s alcohol crutch. Nothing could change what had happened, and Dare had done the best he could with his life. He saw that clearly now.
“She’s always been there for me,” Brian said, bleary-eyed.
Though it galled him, Dare nodded and replied. “Well, she said you were there for her too. You took the rap for a broken vase after her boyfriend hit her.”
“It wasn’t all that hard to guzzle a bottle and say it was my fault. My folks were never as hard on me as they were on Liza.”
And look at the spectacular results of that brand of parenting, Dare thought, studying the other man.
“I’d do anything for her,” Brian said.
Bingo. “Really? Then let’s go.”
“Where?” Brian asked warily.
“To rehab. You’re going to call your parents and tell them they’re paying for your inpatient stay.” Dare had gotten a list of places from Alexa, who’d also made a few calls and secured a bed. “And after you check in, you’re going to call your sister.”
“But—”
“Unless you didn’t mean what you said? That you’d do anything for her?”
“The best thing I could do for her would be to disappear.”
Dare let out a laugh. “No, that’s the best thing you could do for me. Liza wouldn’t survive that.” And Dare wouldn’t survive losing Liza.
If there was one thing he’d learned in the last few days, it was that. She was his heart, and he didn’t want to go forward without her. He just hoped she felt the same way about him.
He started for the door.
“Hey, where are you going?” Brian asked, sounding panicked.
“To my SUV. You’ve got five minutes to decide whether we’re taking that trip or not. But if you show up? Don’t do it for your sister. Do it for yourself. Otherwise, you’ll end up right back where you started, and if you ask me, that’s a shit place to be.”
Without looking over his shoulder, Dare walked out, slamming the door behind him.
Chapter Nineteen
Liza drummed her fingers against her desk. She tapped her foot against the floor. She played basketball with balled-up paper. And she waited for a loan shark to walk into her office and take the money she and Cara had painstakingly stuffed into two cardboard tubes that usually held architectural plans.
Fifty thousand dollars, she thought in disbelief.
A knock sounded on her door.
Her stomach jumped, and she rose to her feet. “Come in.”
A third man she hadn’t seen before strode into her office. He wore a suit and tie and looked like any other client. “May I help you?”
“I’m here for the package, Ms. McKnight.”
Hands shaking, Liza pointed at the two tubes.
The man opened the white cap on the end of each, saw the money inside, and nodded. “This all of it?”
“Do you think I ever want to see you again? Of course that’s all of it.” I like my kneecaps, thank you very much, Liza thought.
The man turned and treated her with what looked like a genuine smile. “Then it’s been a pleasure doing business with you. More so than with your brother.” He popped the covers back onto the tubes and gathered them in his arms.