“Sorry? You’re sorry? You’re a fucking idiot is what you are, Declan.” He stands perfectly still, his stony glare fixed on me. “I warned you about you and Anita and how it shouldn’t affect me and Livy, and yet here we are.”
“Sorry,” I repeat and then think about me and Anita. She looked seriously pissed off, however, more than that she looked hurt and that makes me feel worse still.
“Stop fucking apologising, or even better stop dragging me and my wife into your drama.”
I don’t point out that as he and I are close and that his wife is my lady’s sister, so somehow, I think he and Liv will always be dragged into it. Mase is angry, really angry, like changing through darker and darker shades of red until steam is coming out of his ears angry. He can be pissy and antsy about stuff he isn’t comfortable with, and business can rile him, but nothing sends him raging like Liv. Like something that is likely to hurt her or get under her skin. Like things that will make her angry, especially when that anger is directed at him and that is exactly what I have done, again.
“You have to tell her about Audrey.” His shoulders have dropped slightly, and his hands are no longer balled into fists, so he’s softening and calming down a little.
I nod. He’s right. “What do I tell her though?”
His hands are clenching I notice. He’s getting cross again. “Oh, I don’t know…maybe you could act like a fucking adult and tell her the truth!”
I shake my head. “I’m not ready to do that.”
“Then get ready, little brother, because when I tell Liv, she is unlikely to be willing to keep your secrets for you.”
“No! Don’t tell Liv, please.”
There’s a low wall near where we’re standing, and I feel guilty as I watch Mase move closer and drop down onto it.
He reaches up to his head where he roughly runs his hand through his hair and then, with his eyes closed, pinches the bridge of his nose as if he has a headache.
“Dec, I love you, even if you are a fucking idiot.” His eyes are open and he is looking up at me.
I know what’s coming next and to be honest, it’s no more than I’m expecting. If anything, if he said anything different, I’d be disappointed.
“I don’t lie to Liv. Assuming she’s speaking to me, I know that as soon as I get home, she is going to hurl swear words at me, possibly throw a punch if she’s close enough…” A wry smile curls his lips ever so slightly and I can’t help but reciprocate because as much as we joke about Liv throwing punches, it really isn’t her typical reaction. She’s one of the gentlest, least violent people I have ever met. “And then she is going to ask me what is going on and exactly who Audrey is because she in no way bought that she was a former business associate.”
I nod. I knew that and I respect him and Liv.
“You could ask her not to tell Anita.”
His face is back to angry, and he is on his feet and pacing. “And here we are again, your actual fucking, fucking with my life.”
Suddenly, my own anger rises, aimed at Mase, but I am angrier with myself for being in this position than at him for not trying to fix it by coercing his wife in some way.
“Fucking? My fucking! Anita and I do not fuck—I mean we do, but it’s not fucking, not like before with other people. She is different and she deserves more respect than your comment demonstrates.”
I find myself flying towards my larger brother, ready to fight, but I’m unsure who I am really fighting.
Punches fly and a few kicks that wouldn’t look out of place on a school playground follow before Mase, who appears to have seen me coming, has me pinned against a wall by my throat.
“Calm the fuck down!”
I am still thrashing a little.
“Declan, stop!”
I feel myself slump in his grip.
He looks down at me and shakes his head. “Sorry, about the fucking comment. The only way Liv will agree to keep quiet is if you are going to tell Anita.”
A nod is my only response.
“So, you are on a clock.”
Another nod follows.
