Page 13 of Duress (Birch Falls #3)

DANE

A s I listen to the phone ring and ring, the only thought that runs through my mind is that I don’t want to have this conversation.

I don’t want to talk to my brother at all.

Somehow all of his pretentiousness manages to ooze through the phone, and he never fails to remind me how inferior to him I am.

We’ve gone months without direct communication, which is what I thought was our preferred status quo.

What the hell could be so important for him to be up my ass?

The only reason I am relenting and calling him back is Everly.

I know how Bryce is when he’s in a shitty mood, and I don’t want to be the reason he’s in a shitty mood if he takes it out on Everly.

If talking to him and being near him will allow me more time with Everly, then I’ll grit my teeth and do it.

“Finally decide to be a mature adult and return my calls?” Bryce’s smarmy greeting immediately sets me on edge. Would a hey bro, long time no talk, thanks for returning my calls kill him? I decide to be the mature one and ignore the jab.

“Nice to hear from you too, bro. Care to tell me why you’ve been hounding me like a debt collector?”

“I’m working a case that I need your cooperation with.

My client seems to think there’s been a miscarriage of justice and is seeking a new trial.

Seeing as how you were involved in the original arrest, I thought maybe you’d be willing to review the case and see where any evidence might have been…

fabricated. Set past mistakes right, to clear a good man’s name. ”

I am unable to contain the incredulous snort that escapes when I hear his request. “Are you shitting me right now, Bryce? Is this one of your frat buddies who got busted with one too many DUIs and is now trying to escape the charges? Or one of your lawyer friends trying to get out of a sexual assault conviction? Get fucked. You know I won’t do that. ”

Bryce seems unfazed by my outright refusal. “It’s more complicated than that. Just come over for dinner, and I’ll explain the situation. I’ll have Everly whip something up for us, and we can figure out how to help each other.”

“There’s nothing I need your help with.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t say that, baby brother. Without my help paying Mom’s rent, where would she wind up living? You can’t afford for her to stay at Whispering Grove or pay rent on two places on your cop salary. I guess you could put her up in your bachelor pad and have her sleep on the couch…”

Fucking dickbag. Is he seriously using our mom against me? Jesus, I knew he was willing to do anything to win a case, but this is a new fucking low.

“Are you seriously threatening to stop paying Mom’s rent just to get me to talk to you?” I don’t even bother trying to disguise the disgust in my tone.

“You’re the one being stubborn and refusing to have a simple conversation.

Look, I know you like to look at the world in black and white.

Good and bad. It’s that do-gooder in you.

One day you’ll learn the world exists in shades of gray, and the sooner you come off that high horse of yours, the sooner you’ll realize how much more rewarding life can be.

Be here at six. I’m sure Everly would love to see you. ”

My stomach drops at those words. Is he insinuating he knows what happened between me and Everly? Is that what this is about? Shit. I try to play it cool and not let him hear how his words affected me.

“I seriously doubt she cares, dude.”

“Oh, I don’t know about that. You two must’ve had a good time together last week when you came over. It was pretty late when you left…”

The taste of iron in my mouth lets me know I’m biting my lower lip way too hard in my effort to keep from going off on this asshole. I inhale deeply, trying to calm myself before I respond.

“I was waiting on you. You were the one who stood me up. When I realized you weren’t going to show up at a reasonable hour, I left.

It’s not my fault you let your wife get lonely enough that she enjoys the company of a poor cop.

Maybe you should spend more time at home and less time fellating whatever politician you think will advance your career. ”

So much for responding calmly.

“Everly understands I have to work to maintain our lifestyle. She knows I have goals, and she is happy to support them in whatever way I need. Be a good brother and put whatever petty grudge you have against me aside, and come over for dinner. Now if you don’t mind, I’ve got a wife I need to attend to.

As you so kindly reminded me. Your call interrupted me getting my dick wet in her tight little cunt. I’ll see you at six.”

The line goes dead before I can respond. That mother fucker.

As I pull into Bryce and Everly’s driveway, the mental image he left me with plays through my mind.

I’ve spent the last few hours alternating between trying to scrub the visual of them fucking from my brain and worrying that this means he knows we kissed.

He’s rubbed his relationship with Everly in my face before.

I think he’s always known I have a thing for her, and I hope this is just him being a smug asshole trying to make me jealous of their relationship.

He seems to take great joy in knowing I’m single and make way less money than him.

I decide to be as aloof as possible around Everly tonight, so he doesn’t sense that he actually hit a nerve.

This time when I knock, Bryce opens the door to greet me.

For some unfathomable reason, he’s still dressed in slacks and a button-down shirt on a Sunday evening.

Though the shirt has a few buttons undone at the top and the sleeves are rolled up.

I guess this is what passes for casual in Bryce’s world.

His hair is disheveled, like he’s been running his hands through it…

or Everly has. That thought turns my stomach.

He’s not wrong that I’m jealous of his relationship with Everly.

His arrow definitely hit the mark there.

Though my jealousy has more to do with how much of an undeserving dick he is to have a woman like Everly in his corner, than with her being with him.

If he was good to her, I’d find a way to be happy for them.

Schooling my face to be as impassive as possible, I nod at Bryce in greeting. “Well, I’m here. What’s so important?”

“Come to my study. We can talk while Everly makes dinner.” As if summoned, Everly appears at the top of the stairs that lead to their master bedroom.

She’s wearing one of Bryce’s button-down shirts and nothing else.

Her hair is an unruly mess. Not the sleek high ponytail it was in earlier today.

Aside from the fact that she’s wearing Bryce’s shirt, she looks sexy as fuck.

Her legs are bare, all the way down to her toes.

The shirt hits mid-thigh, just long enough to cover her, but not long enough to be decent for company.

She lets out a startled gasp when she sees me standing in the foyer with Bryce.

“Oh! Um, Dane. Hi. I didn’t know you were coming over.” I see her take a hesitant step back, her cheeks flushing with embarrassment.

Bryce lets out one of his pretentious fake laughs.

“Oh, haha, that’s my bad. Sorry, babe, I forgot to mention I invited Dane over for dinner.

Do you mind throwing some steaks on while we talk business?

” I feel my teeth grind together as I fight to keep my annoyance with Bryce at bay.

He absolutely fucked her and didn’t warn her I was coming over so I would know what they had been up to.

And now he’s treating her like she’s the help.

“Uh, yeah, let me just go get changed.” Everly moves to go to their bedroom but Bryce waves her off, dismissing her sense of propriety like it’s nonsense.

“Nah, don’t worry about changing. I’m sure Dane has seen much more scandalous things on the job. Besides, we’re all family here, right?” Bryce claps me on the shoulder a little too hard, and I have to fight like hell to keep my expression neutral.

Out of my periphery, I see Bryce studying me, like he’s gauging my interest in his half-naked wife. With monumental effort, I tear my eyes away from the goddess on the stairs, feigning disinterest in her.

“Can we just get to the point of why you invited me over?” I shift my focus to Bryce and see amusement dancing in his eyes.

Whatever kind of test this is, it seems like I’m failing it.

Fuck, it’s no wonder. He’s excellent at reading people.

It’s why he’s so good at his job. That, and he’s not above blurring the lines of legality to get the result he wants for his clients.

I push past Bryce and head in the direction of his study, hoping to end this little display of him marking his territory.

I won’t lie, seeing Everly looking freshly fucked by him hurts.

A lot. I know I don’t have any fucking right to feel jealous or angry at her.

She is married to him after all, but my Neanderthal brain doesn’t understand that.

My base primal instinct screams at me to grab her and run.

Fortunately, Bryce follows me to the study with no further attempt to provoke me or belittle Everly.

“Alright, man. Why am I here?” I slump down in one of the leather chairs that face his obnoxiously large, bespoke solid oak desk.

It looks like it belongs in the Oval Office, not some study in an overpriced McMansion.

I’m sure he spent more than one of my paychecks on the gaudy piece of furniture.

Whoever said money can’t buy taste was right.

“Dominick Reeves.” Bryce sits down in the chair behind the desk and steeples his hands under his chin. Could he look at more cartoonishly evil?

“What about him?” A sick sense of dread slithers through my gut at the mention of Dominick’s name. He is Serena’s ex-fiancé and an abusive piece of shit. Oh, and a dirty cop and a murderer. If Bryce thinks I’m going to help him get Dominick out of prison, he can get fucked.

“I heard a rumor that the confession by a one Brad Hopper was obtained under legally dubious circumstances. And without that confession, there’s nothing linking Dominick to the murder of Todd Dennison.

Without the murder conviction, Dominick could go free in as little as a year.

I’ve been tasked to get Dominick a new trial that will overturn the murder conviction.

This case could set me up for life. I need you to admit that you coerced the confession out of Brad so we can get a judge to sign off on a new trial. ”

I sit and wait for the punch line. A gotcha moment from Bryce. There’s no fucking way he’s serious about this .

“You’re kidding, right? You want me to help you get Dominick Reeves out on a technicality?

The main who beat my current partner and put a black eye on the Birch Falls PD?

That Dominick Reeves? You’ve lost your fucking mind.

” I stand to leave, unwilling to hear any counter argument he has.

I knew my brother defended scumbags, but this is beyond petty DUI busts or financial crimes.

Dominick is dangerous. He is exactly where he deserves to be.

“Dane, sit the fuck down.” Bryce stands, leaning on the desk, his hands pressed to the shiny, polished wood.

“You are going to help me with this case. If you don’t, I’ll stop paying the rent on Mom’s house.

I’ll open my own investigation into how exactly it was that you obtained that confession.

I’ll look into your partner and her husband, Kai, and put together a story of how they conspired to put Dominick behind bars so they could be together. Do. Not. Test. Me.”

I open my mouth to respond, but Everly appears in the doorway, her hair pulled up in a messy bun, still dressed in only Bryce’s shirt.

There is fear in her eyes as she takes in the scene before her.

Bryce leaning aggressively over the desk; me with my arms crossed over my chest, jaw tight with anger.

“Dinner is ready, if you guys are hungry.” Her eyes bounce between us, like we are two lions ready to fight over the same piece of meat. The anger radiating off Bryce melts away in an instant; his normal, polished, cool facade slips back into place.

“Thanks, babe.” Flashing her his best you can trust me smile, he saunters to Everly and backs her against the wall before crushing his mouth to hers in a possessive show of dominance.

I try not to watch, but my eyes don’t miss the way his hand slides up her thigh, lifting the shirt just enough to show some dark purple blotches. What. The. Fuck.

When Bryce breaks away from the kiss, her eyes are wild with…

fear? His face splits into a feral grin as he shoots a wink my way.

“Come on, little brother. Let’s eat. You can think about my proposal.

” He walks out of the study, leaving me and Everly alone.

Her chest heaving, lips red and puffy, and her eyes blinking rapidly like she’s fighting back tears.

I move to comfort her, but she shakes her head, halting me in my tracks.

“Ever—”

“Don’t, Dane. Not here. Not right now.” Her words are just loud enough for me to hear, but they freeze me in place all the same.

“But—” I begin to protest, but she looks up at me, a fierceness in her eyes I’ve never seen before.

“Not. Right. Now.” She bites out each word then turns on her heel, following Bryce to the kitchen, leaving me feeling impotent and angry at this entire fucked up situation.