I whirl on Conal. “I don’t fucking believe you!”
“Don’t start.”
It’s all I can do not to take a punch at him. “She’s the best thing that’s ever happened to us.”
“I know that!” he roars, and there’s no missing the pain beneath his anger. It doesn’t stop me from being furious with him.
“You fucked up. Bad.”
“No shit, Sherlock.” Again, I hear the anguish his sarcasm tries to disguise.
Rafe sighs. “I think both of us would like to beat the crap out of you right now, brother.”
Conal sinks onto the bed and buries his face in his hands. “I deserve it.”
I turn away, running a hand through my hair. “What are we going to do?”
“We’ll get her back,” Rafe says, with absolute conviction.
I stare at him. “How?”
He shakes his head. “Right now, she’s in shock. I think we should let her leave?—”
“What?” Conal yells.
“Just for now,” Rafe says calmly. “Give her time to miss us, and remember all the good parts. Then we’ll get her back.”
“You said that. How?” I repeat.
“We’ll figure it out,” he growls. “She cares about us, I know she does. We just have to give her time.”
Conal picks up a chair and hurls it at the wall, leaving a hole. “No,” he says. “No! I can’t let her leave.” He races out of the room, down the hall, and down the stairs, Rafe and I on his heels.
Downstairs, the house is eerily silent, no one there but a couple of security guys. There’s no sign of Hazel … or Alan.
“Where is she?” Conal demands.
“Alan gave her a ride into town,” Jack says.
“Fuck!”Conal grabs a vase sitting on a side table and hurls it, shattering it into tiny pieces. He’s always had a temper, but it takes a lot to provoke it. I haven’t seen him like this in years, and since we met Hazel he’s been in an almost continuous good mood.
I put a hand on his shoulder. “We’ll get her back,” I say quietly, though I have no idea how and I’m not sure I believe it myself.
He doesn’t answer, striding away through the house. Rafe and I exchange glances and follow him, the security guys trailing after us. If our brother decides to destroy any more expensive items, they’ll probably try to stop him.
Instead, he goes into the gym and starts pummeling a punching bag with his bare hands. I make a face, but don’t interfere. Instead, I turn to Jack and say in an undertone, “He’ll need first aid when he’s done.”
“I’ll have it ready,” Jack says.
I clap him on the shoulder. “Thanks, man.”
Rafe and I go back upstairs and slump onto a couch, sitting glumly side by side. “You think she’ll go to her mom’s?” he asks.
“Probably. Her sister’s here in town, but I have a hunch she won’t go there.”
“Why?”
I shrug. “Ember wasn’t wild about us marrying Hazel. She might be a little too ‘told you so’ for Hazel’s feelings right now.”
