Breathless (Steel Brothers Saga #10)(6)

He was the son of my father and his stalker, Wendy Madigan.

My life was a big mess.

Plus, I had God only knew how much crazy in my genes. My brothers shared the genetic crazy. In fact, Ryan probably had more. His biological mother was a true psychopath. Still, Joe and Tal were having children from their own bodies, and Melanie had assured all of us that if we weren’t exhibiting “crazy” by now, we were probably fine.

Still…I worried.

I loved children. Dale and Donny had both wormed their way into my heart in a short time, and Bryce’s son, Henry, was an adorable little mini-Bryce with a sweet disposition.

I missed him.

I hadn’t seen him since Ryan and Ruby’s wedding. Bryce had been around a few times, but always sans Henry. I wasn’t sure why.

“Right, Marj?”

I jerked toward Talon’s voice. “Huh?”

“Aren’t you listening?”

“Sorry,” I mumbled.

“No big deal,” Talon said. “I was just telling Bryce that we could use his expertise around here, but he’s dead set on a job that uses his brawn instead of his brain.”

“Oh?” I had no idea what they were talking about.

Bryce chewed his salad.

Instead of saying anything more, I stood and collected the empty salad plates and then brought the meat, potatoes, and green beans to the table. I also set a plate of bread next to Dale and Donny. They both grabbed a slice. Anything to fill up their little bellies.

“Can we talk about this later?” Bryce asked softly.

“Sure,” Talon said. “After dinner.”

I brought the food over. Talon served the boys first and then passed the dishes around. Bryce took very little, which surprised me. He was nearly as big as Joe, the tallest and most muscular of my brothers, at six feet four.

Something was bothering him, clearly.

I held back a huff. Of course something was bothering him. He’d been through hell just like the rest of us. His father was as crazy as Ruby’s. As crazy as Ryan’s mother.

Rather than face the consequences of what he’d done, Bryce’s father had offed himself, right in front of Joe.

Would things around here ever get back to normal?

I was content most days, helping Jade and taking care of Dale and Donny. Cooking for my brother and his family who had been through so much.

At least my brothers were more than content. Despite everything we’d gone through recently, they’d all fallen in love and found their soul mates. They were deliriously happy.

And I was happy for them.

Truly I was.

I just didn’t see that in the cards for myself—at least not anytime soon.

The boys gobbled up their food and were excused. Then Talon, Bryce, and I finished up in silence.

Really uncomfortable and awkward silence.

Whatever Bryce had come to see Talon about, he didn’t want to discuss it in front of me.

Made sense. Bryce and I had no connection.

No connection other than a short kiss that I yearned to continue.

But as I looked at him chewing his food in silence, I saw no yearning in his eyes.





Chapter Four





Bryce





Marjorie had cleared the table and went to check on Jade.

Talon turned to me. “Let’s go down into the family room for a drink.”

A drink. Sounded great. But not in the family room. Not where anyone could hear me. “Do you mind if we use your office?”

“No,” he said. “Why?”

“Privacy.”

“No one’s around but— Oh.”

Marjorie. Talon probably had no idea why I didn’t want Marjorie seeing my weaknesses, and I certainly wasn’t going to tell him how attracted I was to his baby sister. He’d probably want to pummel me. God knew Joe would.

“I’ll get us a drink. Peach Street okay?”

I nodded. Normally I was a beer guy, but I loved a good bourbon, and Peach Street was Tal’s favorite. He bought it by the case directly from the distiller.

I followed him down and took the drink he’d poured for me. Then he led me down the hallway to his office.

“Have a seat.” He indicated one of three leather chairs as he took a seat behind his desk.

“You mind sitting here with me?” A strange request, considering I was asking for a job on the ranch. But I wanted to be on equal footing with a friend. He was going to grill me, and I didn’t want to feel like I was opening up to a potential boss.

“Sure, man.” He walked out from behind the desk and sat down in the chair next to me. “What the hell is going on?”

Where to start?

“You know as well as I do that life will never be the same for any of us,” I said. “I don’t want to get into specifics.”

“There’s no reason to,” he said. “No one knows the specifics better than I do.”

Wow. I felt like a douche. Talon had been through the worst of all of us. I never forgot that, but sometimes I got so involved in my own issues that it nudged itself into the back of my mind. I had no idea how to address my self-absorption, though, so I took a long drink of my bourbon, letting its smoky crispness float over my tongue. The smooth burn down my throat felt good. Damned good.