When eerily familiar dark-brown eyes lifted at their arrival, homing in on Sean, then shifting to her, then back to Sean, Ivy’s nerves replaced her desire. And when Sean froze like a statue beside her, dread replaced that too.
CHAPTERTWENTY-SIX
It was like an apparition. Totally surreal and impossible. And yet…there was his brother, sitting in the hall in front of his door, eyes wary, apprehension etched in his brow.
Relief and confusion hit like one-two punches to his chest. Then, belatedly, panic, because he’d been caught completely off guard, and Ivy was with him. Carefully, he took a step forward, so she was slightly behind him.
Jordan’s eyes narrowed as he caught the movement, and he slowly got to his feet, hands raised out on either side of his shoulders, a universal sign of surrender.
“Sean,” his brother said in acknowledgement.
They were a similar height and build. But where Sean had honed his physique in a gym, Jordan had hardened his in prison. For seven years, Jordan’s brain and body had been the only weapons he’d had to protect himself in a place where men were kept caged behind bars. And as a result, Jordan looked harder, fiercer than he should have at thirty-five. With his heavily inked arms, scar marring his left eyebrow, and hair cropped short to the scalp, he looked so much harsher than Sean remembered him.
Then again, they hadn’t seen each other since the night the police hauled Jordan away. So it had been a while.
“What are you doing here?” Sean demanded, sounding colder than he intended. An inexplicable feeling thrummed through him. On the one hand, his brother was here, safe and in one piece. There was so much relief. On the other hand, guilt barreled through his chest. His past was standing right in front of him, silent and waiting. While his future fidgeted nervously beside him, as if she finally sensed the sudden and massive shift in the tectonic plates of his life.
Ivy didn’t know. And Jordan didn’t know that she didn’t know.
Because he’d been dishonest with both of them.
“I invited him,” Ivy said, stepping forward.
Shock sucked all the air out of his lungs, making his jaw slacken.
“I was in your office a few weeks ago dropping off a file. Your phone was on your desk. A text came in while I was standing there.” Ivy set her fists on her hips when he narrowed his eyes. “Oh, come on, Sean. It’s not like I was purposefully snooping. I was standing there, and your phone lit up. It was right after we’d had that conversation about your brother.”
He remembered. It had been one of their most intimate moments. Ivy curled on his lap as he bared his soul to her. Most of his soul. Not all. He’d planned on baring the rest tonight.
“I knew you were struggling with what to do, so—” She paused, looking abashed. Then she quickly straightened her spine, lifting her chin defiantly. “I’ll never be able to repay what you’ve done for me over the last three years. I wanted to help you find the peace you’ve helped me find. So I scribbled down his number and got in touch with him, because I didn’t think you’d do it yourself.”
Shock gave way to betrayal, which quickly slid into anger. “Ivy, did it ever occur to you that I didn’t want to see him?”
She nodded. “It was impulsive, and I overstepped. But he’s your brother. All the family you have left. You can’t cut him off. You didn’t want to! Don’t try to deny it now because you’re angry,” she added decisively, pointing at him. “You wanted to reconnect. You just didn’t know how.”
Dammit, he hated that she’d seen his weaknesses so clearly. Hated that she now saw the part of him he hadn’t wanted her to see until he was ready.
“So you took it upon yourself to take the leap for me?” he asked, incredulous. “So you brought him to Portland, not even asking if there was a legitimate reason I might not want him here?”
Ivy held her ground, feet planted, eyes locked on his. The crystal blue cut into his soul like a knife. “Is there a legitimate reason?”
“He’s a criminal!” Sean exploded. “An ex-gangster! Hell, he could still be in that world. Do you have any idea what kind of people he ran with?” He’d never shouted at her before, but some situations required yelling, and her repeatedly putting herself in harm’s way was one of those legitimate reasons. “You, of all people, should know what men who think they’re above the law can do. Did you ever once think he could be a danger to you? That I didn’t want him here because I was trying to protect you?”
She took a shocked step away from him and closer to Jordan. His two worlds had collided in front of his face, and he was sofuckingunprepared.
Jordan scowled, his eyes hard and…hurt. “Is this the part where we pretend I did time because of somethingIdid?”
Nausea roiled in Sean’s gut as everything about that night, almost a decade ago, flashed through his mind.
Ivy’s head swiveled between them. “What does that mean?” she asked, her face tilted toward Sean, but her gaze locked on Jordan. “Sean?”
Fuck. How had this night spiraled so quickly.
“You know what?” Jordan grabbed his backpack from the floor. “I shouldn’t have come. But thanks for reaching out to me, Ivy. It meant a lot that you did, even though this was a mistake.”
“No, wait!” Ivy grabbed Jordan’s arm as he tried to pass. “Sean, say something. You can’t let him go.”
I wanted to help you find some of the peace you’ve helped me find. But he wouldn’t call what was poisoning his soul peace. And it would be so much easier if Jordan left.
