Fire & Ice (The Locklaine Boys #1) (27 page)

“Pepper,
please
. Baby, don’t do this. Don’t…”

The lump in my throat grew so big I was surprised I could speak around it. “It’s already done. I have to take care of Ivy. I suggest you go before one of the neighbors calls the cops.”

I stood there for a few more seconds. I don’t know why, I just couldn’t force my feet to take me away from the door just yet. At Griffin’s next words, the tears I’d been working so hard to keep at bay finally broke loose.

“Fine… I’m gonna go. But this isn’t over, Pepper. We are
not
done. I swear to God, baby. I’ll fix this, okay? I promise. Please, just call me when you’re on your way home, please. I’ll come over and we’ll talk.”

Pushing away from the door, I brushed the tears from my cheeks and made my way back into the dining room where Ivy had managed to get ahold of the spoon and had proceeded to fling baby food all over the place.

Attempting to push the insistent ache to the back of my mind I went through the motions of cleaning everything up and getting Ivy ready for a bath, trying to hold the shattered pieces of myself together the entire time.

I kept telling myself that I’d done it once before, I could do it again. The only problem was that this time, I didn’t believe it.

TO MY SURPRISE, BY
the time I finished with Ivy’s bath and put her down for the night, Wendy and Dex were pushing through the front door, neither of them looking like they’d just come from a fun night out.

“Hey. You’re home early. I just put Ivy to bed.”

Wendy sat her clutch down on the small table just inside the door, looking worried as Dex prowled up to me, his hands on his hips, his expression a mask of fury. I wasn’t sure why until he spoke. “Really, Pepper?
Griffin
? What the fuck were you thinking?”

I mirrored his stance and glared, not a big fan of his chastising tone. “Excuse me?”

“You heard me,” he continued, unwisely. “For Christ’s sake, Pep! You’re smarter than that.”

“Smarter than what, exactly?” If he’d been smart he would have gotten the hint by the tone of my voice, to shut up. Unfortunately for him, my brother was very much like me. When he got angry he had the tendency to go off half-cocked, not considering the repercussions.

“Than to get involved with someone like him!” he yelled, throwing his arms out to his side.

Don’t ask me why, but at that very moment I felt the insane need to defend Griffin’s integrity since he wasn’t there to do it himself.

“By
someone like him,
I’m assuming you mean someone you respect enough to make him the godfather of your daughter. Or maybe you mean someone you care about so much he’s been your best friend and partner for over a decade. Is that what you mean when you say
someone like him
? Because I can’t
imagine
you’d mean to actually insult the man who you’ve called your
brother
since the day you met him!”

“You know what I mean,” he grumbled like a moody teenager, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Then I guess it’s a damn good thing I’m an adult and can make my own decisions, huh?” I shot back.

“You’re still my little sister. It’s my job to protect you.
Especially
when you’re making stupid fucking decisions!”

“
Dexter
!” Wendy snapped with an outraged gasp.

“That’s where you’re wrong, Dex,” I said, the trembling in my hands belying the calm in my voice. “It’s not your place to protect me. It never was. You took that responsibility on and carried it on your shoulders all by yourself.”

“Because you’re my goddamned sister!” he continued to argue.

“Yeah, I’m your sister. All that means is that you’re supposed to love me unconditionally,
without
judgment, no matter whether or not you agree with the choices I make with my life. Your job is to protect your wife and daughter. All you’re supposed to do is be there for me to lean on when I’m hurting, but seeing as the first thing you did when you came in here was throw around cruel words, you’ve just proven that you’re incapable of doing that.”

I knew I landed my intended blow when my brother’s face fell and he visibly flinched. But I wasn’t finished. “You’ve spent years telling me how to live my life, what I should or shouldn’t do, what you disagree with, that you haven’t been
there for me when I
needed you
.” That stupid friggin’ lump was back in my throat and the tears were once again brimming in my eyes.

“That’s not true,” he whispered, sounding just as wrecked as I was feeling.

“It is, Dex. Think about it. You argued with my choice to move to the City. You argued that opening Fire & Ice wasn’t a stable move. You didn’t even tell me you were proud of me until
after
I proved to you that I could actually open and run a successful store. You never approved of a single boyfriend I ever brought home for you to meet. Everything I’ve done, everything I’ve
succeeded
at, you’ve been there to tell me how I could do it
better
.

“That’s not being a supportive brother, Dex. All that’s ever done is make me feel bad about myself. And I’m tired of trying to prove myself to you. I don’t care if you disagree with what I do with my life. I’m living it how I want because that’s what makes
me happy
. I’ll pick myself up and dust myself off. I won’t count on you to do it.
I’ll
learn from my mistakes and be a better person for it. But if you don’t open your eyes and see that you aren’t always fucking right,
you’re
going to be the one who doesn’t learn.
You’ll
be the one missing out. It’s going to be
you
who wakes up one day and realizes that he’s alienated everyone he loves because they didn’t do what he wanted them to do.

“And you know what? I’d rather spend the rest of my life screwing up and learning from that, than ending up sad and lonely just to prove a point.”

I didn’t wait for a response. I wasn’t going to give him a chance to try and make me see his point of view. I was mentally and physically exhausted. I had nothing left. Grabbing my purse from the hook, I slid it over my shoulder and turned to offer one last parting shot before I got the hell out of there.

“I love you with all my heart, Dex. Always will, but you need to pull your head out of your ass before you lose your sister
and
your brother.”

THE FRONT DOOR SLAMMED
behind Pepper and all I could do was stand and stare at it, trying to figure out what the fuck just happened.

“I can
not
believe you!” Wendy seethed. I couldn’t remember ever seeing my easygoing wife look so angry in all the years we’d been together.

“Wendy—”

She stopped me with a raise of her hand. “No, I don’t want to hear it. I’ve gotta say, Dex, I don’t think I’ve ever been as disappointed in you as I was tonight. You should be ashamed of the things you said tonight. To people you’re supposed to
love
! What the hell were you thinking?”

“You know everything I said was true, Wendy,” I argued, even though I felt most of the fight leeching out of me every time I recalled the broken look on my sister’s face. Christ, her words gutted me. I’d never stopped to think that my wanting the very best for her could have been construed as something so negative. The bone-deep pain I felt at hurting her was squeezing my chest, making it difficult to breathe. “Fuck,” I cursed, raking my fingers through my hair as I began to pace. “Am I really that bad? Is that really me? Please tell me I’m not
that
fucking person.”

She watched me with pity in her eyes.

“Shit! I am! I’m the asshole who shoves his opinion down everyone’s throat!”

“Not everyone,” Wendy attempted to placate, coming up to cup my cheeks in her small, soft hands. “Just the people you really care about. It doesn’t come from a bad place, honey. You just go about it in all the wrong ways.”

Dropping my forehead to rest against hers, soaking up the comfort she offered, I released a heavy breath. “It’s just… Jesus, Wendy. This is
Griffin
we’re talking about. I’ve seen some of the shit he pulls. I don’t want that for my sister.” At her low, sweet laughter, my eyes opened and I focused on her face. “What?”

“Nothing,” she giggled. “It’s just funny…”

My forehead furrowed in confusion as I asked, “What’s funny.”

She smiled adoringly at me. It was the same smile I’d fallen in love with so many years ago, the smile that sucked me in the moment I saw it across a crowded living room at a frat party and never let go. “The fact that you honestly think you were any better than Griffin before you met me, when you were actually a thousand times worse. It’s hilarious!”

“I wasn’t—” I began to argue, but she interrupted.

“You were, Dex, to the point you’re
lucky
I even looked twice at you.” Her expression softened as she slid her fingers into my hair and gave it a light tug. “But I did, and I’m thankful for that every single day. I love you more than anything in the world, but Pepper’s right, baby. You need to get your head out of your ass. Griffin isn’t the bad guy you made him out to be, and if there’s a woman on Earth capable of settling him down, it’s your sister.”

My head fell back on a pained groan as Wendy giggled again and pushed to her tiptoes, pressing a kiss to my jaw. “Better get used to the idea now, Dex. From the look on Griffin’s face when he got back in that cab, he’s gearing up for a fight.”

“Brilliant,” I grunted. “Two stubborn-as-hell people going head to head. Just what I fucking need.”

“I’m putting my money on Griffin this time,” Wendy said. “I have a feeling this is going to be really entertaining.”

This was my sister and best friend we were talking about. I couldn’t think of two people in the world more volatile together than them. For that reason, I couldn’t share my wife’s enthusiasm.

All I could do was hope everyone survived the explosion when it finally happened.