Brooks lost the goofball expression he tended to wear on a daily basis and shifted into what Elias and the others called his dad face.
“You think I don’t freak out some days at the thought of something happening to Allie and my kids? Because I do. But none of us can live life fearing what might happen. We have to live it, loving the moments like this. Like all the ones Mom and Dad had with us before that night.”
Elias locked his jaw, trying and failing to shove away the emotions bombarding him as he watched Alec and Mia snuggle their baby girl and feed her cake and generally look like the world’s happiest couple.
They’d all lost their parents that day. Not just him. And since then… Cole had probably lost more than any of them during his years in the military. He’d lost Ana back then, too—though they’d reunited now—and his buddies to war. Yet Cole loved Ana with everything inside of him.
“Finn told us what he said to you,” Brooks continued in a gruff tone. “What he thinks is going on with you and why you’re so…you.”
“Finn’s got a big mouth.”
“Not if it’s true,” Brooks argued, a too-serious expression on his face.
“I agree. Because if it’s true, we have all failed you, Elias,” Cole said.
Elias stiffened as Cole joined them, having apparently been eavesdropping on the conversation. At least the last bit of it. “You haven’t failed me,” Elias told them, shifting in his seat due to the uncomfortable and very touchy topic.
“Then you know Mom and Dad wouldn’t want you to spend your life alone. Wouldn’t wantanyof us to do that. You know how much they loved each other, and if they taught us anything, it’s thatthat’sthe most important thing. You can’t go through life avoiding feelings or love because of what might happen. You can’t be too afraid to love because you’re afraid of losing. That’s not living. And if you’ve fallen for Quinley, if you’re in love with her??—”
“She’s back with her ex,” Elias growled, barely able to bite out the words because of the pain and jealousy barreling through him like a runaway train. He wanted to grab her up and throw her over his shoulder like a caveman, and instead he was sitting here listening to his brothers pontificate onlove?
God help him; this was torture. Was he really such a coward he’d given up his chance with Quinley and walked away from her?
“You sure about that?” Cole asked.
“He might not be, but I am,” a male voice drawled from nearby. “And as much as I’d like to say she is just to see how you’d react, she isn’t.”
Elias turned and found Rhys Lachlan closing in on the three of them, Quinley nowhere in sight. The party was completely forgotten as the man sat his drink on the table between Elias and Brooks and took the seat directly beside Elias like they were friends.
Cole lifted his eyebrows in surprise at the move, shot Elias a glare that clearly saidno punchingand grabbed Brooks’s shoulder to yank him away from the table. Brooks grumbled about the interruption but quickly gathered up his plate and drink before giving Elias a glance that indicated Brooks mightbe a little more forgiving if punches were thrown, before he walked away with Cole.
Elias leaned back in the seat, unsure of what—if anything—he had to say to the man.
“Quinley joked after the breakup that she’d be around to ‘vet’ my next girlfriend. I believe under the circumstances that I should return the favor.”
A grunt left Elias even as he found himself fighting a smile at Quinley’s bold offer to a man whose heart she’d undoubtedly broken.
“One of the things I loved about her is that she’s outspoken and truthful, almost to a fault. That’s why when I asked her about her kissing you— I knew it was over between us, not that her running away from the wedding didn’t get the point across. But the look that crossed her face…”
Elias held his silence, letting Lachlan say whatever it was he tried to.
“That told me more than she did. If I thought Quinley and I still had a chance, I wouldn’t hesitate to take it. Might make me an idiot, but quality women are worth the trouble. I think that’s why I’m so surprised that you’renotdoing everything in your power to be with her. A man like you, who came from basically nothing and worked to earn his fortune,” Lachlan said, proving a background check had been performed at some point. “I know youknowher worth. And a woman like her at your side? Loving you? Encouraging you? She’s the kind of woman men build an empire with. So either you’re hiding something, or??—”
“I’m a fool,” Elias said, realizing just how true Lachlan’s words were.
Admitting it aloud grated along every nerve and tendon in his body, shredded him from the inside and exposed his vulnerabilities to a man who could just as easily figure out how to use them against him. But it was true. He couldn’t deny it any longer as Cole’s words echoed in his head like a switch had been flipped. And to sit there and hear Lachlan say Quinley wasn’t his?
The relief that slid through him in that instant made Elias glad he was sitting down. How many times did he have to tell himself he wasn’t that boy living in fear anymore? How much was he going to allow to be taken from him because he couldn’t—wouldn’t—let go of the past? How long would he use the past as a sword and shield to protect himself? Was he such a coward that he was going to let Quinley—every bit of the woman Lachlan proclaimed her to be—slip away? Push her toward someone else?
“A foolish man doesn’t deserve a woman like her.”
No, he didn’t. And if he allowed fear to rule his life and keep him from giving Quinley the love she was due, heshouldlose her.
Elias shot the man a level stare. One probably far too revealing for comfort.
Rhys grabbed his glass once again and stood. “Call me this week. I want to talk about this restaurant idea of yours.”
“You can’t be serious.” Elias stiffened, unable to believe what he was hearing.
