Which wasalsosomething he wanted. When had he ever asked Flynn whathewanted? Dammit, hehadtaken advantage, taken him for granted, just like everyone else in his life ever had.
Flynn deserved better. He deserved more than that.
“No, you just moved him out of his crappy shoebox apartment because this is true love,” Aiden said. “After what? A handful of weeks? And you’re not evengay.”
Flynn opened his mouth, presumably to argue, but then shut it again.
A lump formed in Zach’s throat. Was he having second thoughts about that, too?
“I married him becauseyouscrewed up,” Flynn growled, but there was that unsure waver in his voice again. The one that made Zach’s heart clench. “Because you promised him a future and then ripped it away, and that wasn’t fair.”
“Oh yeah?” Aiden asked, his gaze moving back and forth between the two of them, like a wolf picking a target. “What would Grandma Violet say if she knew this was all bullshit, huh? You think she’d be thrilled to know that her favorite grandson lied to her?”
“You wouldn’t,” Zach said, though even as the words fell from his lips, he knew that Aidenwould. It was written all over his face.
He was mad about this situation, though whether that was because of Zach moving on or Flynn stepping in was impossible to tell. Either way, he clearly wasn’t about to just shrug and accept it.
Which meant he wanted something.
Which meant, almost certainly, that he was about to extort one or both of them.
Probably Flynn. Like he always had. Flynn had been careful to avoid telling Zach exactly what Aiden had done in the past, but between hearing both of their stories, he could piece together that their relationship was all about give and take.
In the sense that Flynn gave, and Aiden took, and took, andtook, and he didn’t feel guilty or ashamed for a moment. Flynn was too kind to hate his brother, but Zach didn’t quite feel the same way.
Anyone who could be intentionally cruel to Flynn was obviously not a good person.
Zach just wished he’d realized that about Aiden before they’d decided to get married. None of this would have happened if he’d just been smarter about all of it.
“Why shouldn’t I?” Aiden asked. “It’d be for your own good. You’ll see. The minute, thesecondhe doesn’t need you anymore, he’ll dump you like a sack of rocks. Like he did with me. He wasn’t interested in anything other than his grandma’s money.”
“That’s not true,” Flynn responded, but Zach could hear the doubt. The creeping fear.
It broke his heart, but it was also exactly what he deserved. While he was busy protecting his heart, he’d hesitated too long to let Flynn in, and now it was too late.
The things Aiden was saying had done exactly the kind of damage they’d clearly been intended to. Flynn looked lost and confused, and any move Zach made to comfort him would be turned against him.
Because Aiden was Flynn’sfamily, and Zach wasn’t, aside from legally. Aiden acted the way he did because he knew he could rely on Flynn to take his side, to help him out, to be the responsible older brother. No matter what.
“Yeah?” Aiden asked. “I’ve still got grandma’s number from when Zach used my phone to call her.”
No. No, no, no.
No.
Zach could see exactly where this was going, and he couldn’tstopit. There was nothing he could say or do to stop Aiden if Aiden was determined to go through with this.
“So how about we get a little honesty out of Zach, here,” Aiden said, taking his phone out and tapping on the screen a few times. “Here’s the deal. I’m gonna call her and introduce myself, tell my side of the story. I dunno what you two said, but I’m betting it’s notwell, we met last night…”
Blood pounded in Zach’s ears.
Aiden could ruin this. He could ruineverything, with one phone call, and he was apparently just vindictive enough to do it.
“What did I do to you?” Zach asked, tears welling up in his eyes.
Aiden glanced at Flynn. “That’s my brother,” he said meaningfully.
Zach’s head spun. This wasn’t abouthim. This was about Flynn.
