Page 16 of Brazen Obsession

Tom doesn’t say anything as he meets Sara’s eyes.

She chuckles bitterly through the tears. “Finn, Dante, and Wyatt would have kept their distance if you hadn’t been an ass. You have to know they were always your friends first. But you knew how I felt about them and you tried to destroy that. So fuck you. You don’t deserve to be part of my life. If you can’t handle this, then go fuck yourself.”

Sara turns into me and I wrap my arms around her waist, holding her tight. Feeling her tears bleed into my shirt. The fury I feel at him making her cry is almost enough for me to punch him again.

There’s a small spot on his jaw that isn’t already discolored.

Tom buries his head in his hands and Natasha strokes her hand down his back, comforting him. He doesn’t deserve any comfort.

“Thank you, Drew,” she says softly. “We should be comfortable there until we can make other arrangements.”

Tom lifts his head and looks like he’s going to try to explain.

I narrow my eyes. “Don’t.”

The single word from me makes his gaze jump from Sara to me.

She draws in a ragged breath, but I don’t release her.

“You fucked this all up.” The anger isn’t in my voice anymore. Just a sadness. “We’ll eventually forgive you for your part in this. It’s just the way of things, but we’ll never trust you again. Not with Sara. You could have chosen a million different ways to do this that wouldn’t have put Sara in danger.”

“You could have come to us.” Wyatt stands next to me, looking down at Tom. “We could have worked out a solution. Maybe we still would have had you guys run and hide, but at least we would have known what we were dealing with.”

“There are always more options.” Finn stands on my other side and takes Sara’s hand. “We could have done any number of things to get to the same result without traumatizing your sister. Because that’s what you did. Her whole world got shaken. The place she called home was destroyed because they were coming for you. Her safety has been at risk for weeks.”

“Like Sara said, there isn’t going to be an easy fix to this.” I sigh. “But the one thing you need to get through your head is, Sara is ours. I don’t give a fuck if it burns in your gut or you can’t stomach the thought of us having her. We love her. We’ve always loved her. You tried to keep us from each other, but we’re so much greater together than apart.”

“Sara is ours. She’ll stay with us. If she wants to go home to your parents, that’s her decision.” Wyatt brushes his hand over her red hair. “But she gets to make the choice. She gets to determine where she sleeps at night and who she sleeps with. Not you. You don’t have any right to tell her what she can and can’t do.”

“She’s not a child.” Drew leans forward. His words are for Tom but his eyes are on Sara. “Maybe you still see her as such, but she’s a full-grown woman who knows her own mind. She didn’t just decide to do this impulsively and neither did we. We’re all in. That means as long as she’ll have us, we’re hers.”

“I didn’t mean...” Tom blows out a breath and lets out a soft fuck. “I’m sorry, Sara. I’m sorry for everything. I’m not trying to be an asshole here, though I know I’ve been one. You’re my little sister. I’m supposed to protect you and I fucked that up.”

“So don’t fuck this up.” Sara turns to look at Tom and Natasha. “Don’t fuck up that child’s life because you need to be free.”

“It’s never been about being free.” Tom’s brow wrinkles. “It’s about the weight. The secrets we carried and knowing I could have prevented it all. Our father would have lived if I hadn’t said anything.”

“Go to therapy.” Sara sighs. “Fuck, Tom. That’s survivor’s guilt or something, but that’s what therapy is for. You can’t just run from your problems. They’ll find you. Or you’ll end up hurting someone you love.”

He nods.

“We do need to discuss logistics here.” Drew meets my eyes. “Can we do that?”

I give him a sharp nod. Finn and Wyatt both settle back into their seats. I draw Sara with me back to the couch and pull her down to sit on my lap. Tom looks away, but like Sara said, he can go fuck himself.

I’m not going anywhere. I’m not hiding what she means to me. Sara is mine.

She settles with her legs across Wyatt’s lap and her head against my chest.

“We need to figure out where Sara will work now that you’re back.” Finn rubs the back of his neck. “I don’t really want her over in the pool. Greg and a few of the other guys seem keen on her.”

“Sara can work in my office,” Wyatt and I say at the same time.

I meet his smug eyes and he smirks.

“Maybe she can split time between our offices,” I offer.

Wyatt nods.