Page 34

ALEX

O scar all but sprints down the hallway. The three of us cram into the elevator, descending to the lobby in taut silence. This is our last, best shot at finding the woman we’ve fallen for before she vanishes for good.

As the elevator doors slide open, Kellan murmurs, “I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”

“Don’t,” I say sharply. “Just… don’t.”

A young man with a neatly trimmed mustache and slicked-back hair greets us from behind the reception desk. “Good afternoon, gentlemen. How may I help you?”

“We’re looking for a guest,” Oscar says. “Makayla Dwyer. We share a suite, but we can’t find her, and she isn’t answering her phone.”

“Truth be told, we’re worried something’s happened,” I add—a harmless lie if it gets us answers. “She’s not exactly an experienced skier, if you know what I mean.”

“Ah, I see. Of course,” he says, moving to his computer and typing in her name. Before he can reach for the house phone, he shakes his head. “It looks like she checked out a few minutes ago.”

“She… checked out?” I ask, my stomach dropping.

“When was that?” Kellan demands.

“She’s probably headed to the airport,” Oscar says.

“Madam did request a car to the airport,” the clerk replies. “We arranged transportation to Stockholm at 12:35 p.m.”

And just like that, the universe proves me wrong—again. I step back, shaking my head as I try to process.

Out of the corner of my eye, I spot Bryan and Callie heading our way.

Bryan isn’t exactly thrilled about what happened with Melanie, though his main issue is that we kept it from him. He understands the NDA, and he promised to loop Callie in, too.

“Uh-oh,” I mumble, noticing the look on her face. “Guys…”

Someone else got to Callie first—of course. Melanie lined up her ducks while we were still tripping over ours. From the moment she arrived, she had a strategy—and her sister was always going to be part of it.

“Where’s Makayla?” Bryan asks. “I couldn’t find her anywhere.”

“Neither could we,” Oscar replies, rubbing the back of his neck while his eyes search both Bryan and Callie’s faces. “She checked out.”

Callie scoffs, crossing her arms and leveling us with a sour glare.

“It doesn’t surprise me—not after what you did,” she says, her voice thick with anger.

“Melanie got to you—” Oscar begins, but Callie cuts him off with a raised hand.

“Don’t you dare!”

Bryan drops his gaze. “Yeah. She did.”

“No.My sister told me what happened,” Callie says.

“I tried explaining your side—” Bryan starts, but Callie barrels on, and I have no idea where this runaway train is going to crash. Right now, we’re powerless to stop it.

“No.You three,” she says, jabbing a finger at us. “You landed in trouble with Melanie. I don’t care about the settlement, the NDA—whatever. The fact that things got that far tells me everything I need to know.”

“Callie, hold on. It’s not like that,” I say, inching away from the reception desk toward a quieter stretch of hallway—we don’t need an audience for this. “Melanie lied through her teeth.”

“Oh, good, call my sister a liar again, see how that works out for you,” Callie snaps.

Kellan groans. “Dammit, Callie, she lied. We never assaulted her. Everything was consensual—until she decided to blackmail us.”

“And Makayla? Why’d she leave?”

At the mention of his sister’s name, Bryan’s eyes go wide. He knows about the tryst with Melanie, but he sure as hell doesn’t know about our relationship with Makayla. My stomach tightens as he looks at me. “What about Makayla?” he asks, his voice barely a whisper.

“Whatever Melanie told you, Callie, it’s not true. I swear, you can always ask Kay—” Kellan tries his best to appease her, but to no avail.

Bryan’s temper spikes as he puts the wrong two and two together. “What. About. My. Sister?” he grinds out.

“Why did she leave?” Callie presses, though I’m sure Melanie already filled that blank.

“Callie, what is this?” Bryan asks, then turns those confused eyes on us, and it damn near breaks my heart. “Dammit, guys, talk to me.”

“After we spoke,” she tells him, her voice softening, “I went over to talk to Melanie. The account she gave me is different, and I’m sorry, but she’s my sister.

She’s got a respectable profession, no need for the money she got from the settlement.

It was about getting justice. She showed me a receipt…

Melanie donated the settlement money to a charity that helps abused women. ”

Oscar scoffs and pinches the bridge of his nose in frustration. “My God, she did her homework and then some…”

“And Melanie told me she saw Alex, Kellan, and Oscar… with Makayla,” Callie adds.

Bryan’s jaw hits the floor.

“Hold on, Callie—don’t—” I try, but it’s too late.

“You did to Kay what you did to Melanie,” she says, shaking her head. “You lured everyone in with your smarts, your looks, your kindness, your money—whatever—but underneath, you just use women. Share them, then dump them. It’s horrific.”

“It wasn’t like that,” I say. “Everything we did with any woman we met was consensual. Always consensual.” I look at Bryan. “You have to believe me.”

His answer is a left hook.

His fist catches my jaw, pain shooting through my skull as I stagger back.

Kellan gets between us. “Stop, Bryan, don’t!”

“Fuck you, too!” Bryan swings at him, but Callie locks her arms around his waist and hauls him back. “Callie…”

He’s angry and hurt, but he won’t risk injuring the woman he loves in this fit of rage.

“Baby, don’t,” she pleads. “Please. They’re not worth it. The truth is out now.”

Oscar lifts his hands. “Callie, I swear on everything I hold dear—you’ve been lied to.” I’m still blinking away stars. “Melanie approached us. We had no idea who she was. Things heated up fast, but everyone was enjoying it. She left smiling, and she wanted to see us again.”

“I don’t believe you,” she says, shaking her head.

Kellan lets out a long breath. “We have proof—texts, call logs. Melanie twisted everything because she knew we didn’t want our private lives splashed across the tabloids.”

“My sister,” Bryan snarls. “She was off limits. You had to have known that!”

Oscar lifts both hands. “Bryan, she’s different, okay? It wasn’t like that with Kay—not at all.”

“We made love,” I say. “I know it’s not what you want to hear, but it’s the truth.”

He lets out a strangled sound and storms into the nearest conference room, putting distance between us.

We trail after him. He stalks to the window, raking his hands through his hair while I scramble for a way forward. It’s not just our friendship on the line—it’s everything we’ve built.

“We have feelings for Makayla,” I add.

“For fuck’s sake, I put her in your suite because I thought she’d be safe!” he shouts. “You’ve known her since she was yay high and fresh out of braces, Alex. How could you?”

I look at Oscar for some help. He shakes his head slowly. I glance over at Kellan, but he is just as quiet. Truth be told, I can’t excuse what we did. Not if we’re to follow Bryan’s reasoning, anyway.

“I agree, it looks bad,” I say. “But we’re in love with her. It wasn’t a one night stand, or even a casual relationship. We were really considering settling down.”

“Unbelievable,” Bryan says, staring me down. “After everything with Melanie, you bring this trouble into what’s left of my family, too?”

The words get stuck in my throat.

Oscar spreads his hands. “What happened with Melanie was purely physical—and, for the last time, consensual.” He meets Callie’s gaze.

“You know your sister better than we do. Don’t tell me this is the first time she’s pulled something like this.

” He turns to Bryan. “When we saw Makayla again, everything felt different. None of us expected it to grow into something this big, but it did. I’m not apologizing for falling in love with your sister, and neither will my brothers. ”

“Okay,” Bryan takes a step back, somewhat mollified. “Let’s say I’m buying this. Your honorable intentions and all that bullshit. Where is Kay, then? Why did she leave like that?”

“Melanie,” Kellan replies, crossing his arms. “She’s been scheming against us from the moment she landed in Stockholm.

She wanted more money. She’s been threatening to tell you—to tell Kay—about what happened, but my brothers and I know she would never tell the truth. She’s never told the fucking truth!”

“Right,” Oscar says, backing Kellan’s passion with cold logic. “You know us, man; you’ve known us for a long time. Yes, we like to share women, but we would never hurt anyone, least of all your little sister. You were right to put her in our suite because we would never do anything to hurt her.”

“Yet she’s gone,” Bryan says with a sigh.

I draw a deep breath and try a different angle. Turning to Callie, I ask the question that matters.

“Callie, what did Melanie tell you about her and us?”

“She told me enough,” Callie informs us, crossing her arms over her chest. “She told me that you forced her into a foursome and then paid her to stay quiet about it.”

I close my eyes. This is going to be so delicate. I can’t insult Melanie because I’m talking to her sister, but I can’t let those accusations go unanswered.

“We didn’t force your sister to do anything,” I say calmly.

“We enjoyed a night together and then she started blackmailing us, claiming that she was going to tell people just what she told you. We refused, and she went to the cops and filed a complaint against us. We got in trouble with the law for a short while, but our lawyers managed to sort this out. It ended before it reached the court. With a settlement.”

“Oh, a settlement,” Callie scoffs.

Bryan glances at her. “That doesn’t mean they were guilty…”

“Because our preferences are a little bit outside the ordinary, we were afraid that people wouldn’t understand.

We were worried about our future, our company, and our friends, so yes, we paid her off.

But we didn’t hurt her,” I add. At least Bryan isn’t turning against us at this point.

I am relieved to see him using his reason despite the circumstances.

“You want me to believe you over my own sister?” Callie replies.

“Of course not,” Oscar says, giving me that same defeatist vibe. He’s ready to book a flight home, I can see it in his eyes. “We can’t argue with your sister or tell you what to believe. But the truth is, that no matter what happens, none of us are going to hurt anyone.”

“More than we already have,” Kellan interjects with a heavy sigh. “We could’ve handled this better.”

“You’re damn right,” Bryan mutters, but there’s a softness in that grumble.

He’s still angry, but he’s no longer spoiling for a fight. I’ll take the small mercy.

It’s true we’ve hurt Makayla, Bryan, and Callie—though not intentionally—but that’s not what Oscar meant. We’ve never laid hands on anyone in anger, and this mess with Melanie isn’t our doing, even if the optics are rotten.

“I’ll tell you something about your sister,” I say to Callie.

Oscar gives me a warning look, and Kellan just seems curious.

I forge ahead, letting the words flow from the heart without examining them.

“She’s beautiful, but I think she enjoys ruining other peoples’ lives.

If you think back, I’m sure you’ll realize that she did something or said something to you at some point in your life that made you wonder if she was causing drama on purpose.

There has to be something. This character of hers didn’t happen overnight. She took time to evolve...”

Callie just stares at me, and I can tell that she’s already digging through her memories. Remembering. But her loyalty to Melanie gets the better of her, and she shakes her head. “It’s not Mel who’s the issue here...”

“I beg to differ,” Kellan says.

“Kay just texted.” Bryan holds his phone up to show us the text thread. I can’t read it quickly enough before he puts the device back in his pocket.

“She didn’t go into any details, but she said that something here made her uncomfortable,” Bryan reports. “She’s on a plane going home at the moment, and she’ll text me when she arrives safely.”

I lower my head, taking a deep, shuddering breath. At least Makayla is okay. It doesn’t change the hurt we caused or the pain she left with. I’m going to have to live with that. My brothers and I are going to have to make peace with the role we played in her suffering. Makayla deserved better.

Bryan’s proposal is basically ruined. Melanie’s truth-twisting drove a wedge between us all.

I’m not sure how we’re going to keep working together, either. Everything seems uncertain right now, and I hate flying blind.

“I guess we should go pack our things,” I begin, hoping that someone will tell me that’s not necessary.

“I think that’s a good idea,” Bryan replies, reaching out to take Callie’s hand.

Whether or not they agree on the details of Melanie’s issue with us, the two of them are still a couple, partners in life and building something together.

They have to maintain a united front, and I can’t really hold it against them, either.

As a friend, I could never ask Bryan to enter a conflict with his loving girlfriend over something her sister did.

The truth has a way of coming out eventually, anyway.

I gather my wounded pride and lead my brothers out of the room. We’ve lost Makayla and likely Bryan’s trust. It may be temporary, or it may leave deep wounds in the long term—both prove one thing, though: Melanie did a hell of a lot of damage.

There had better be repercussions.