Page 47 of Revealing Mark

As usual I was the last one to arrive. I plastered a smile on my face and wandered into my parents’ home, anxious and nervous.

Matthew and Sarah were back from their trip, and I had no idea if Mark had said anything to him about Jack. I hated the feeling I was hiding something. Maybe it was best just to tell my brother myself so I could get it over with.

Then I thought about Mark. I couldn’t think of him and what happened as a mistake. My heart still raced when I remembered. My cheeks flushed as I tried to rid myself of my inappropriate thoughts.

“Tracy.” The sound of my brother’s voice caused me to stop.

He was seated in the armchair in the living room. He was alone but I could hear voices coming from the kitchen.

“Hey, bro,” I replied, but he didn’t smile. That was the first sign that something was up.

He stood and walked over to me. “You and I, in the study.”

He knew. Damn Mark! Like a teenager about to get a lecturefrom her father, I followed reluctantly behind Matthew until we were alone in my father’s study.

“What the hell were you thinking?” he asked angrily.

I took a breath to ease my temper. Losing my cool would just escalate things.

“What are you talking about?” I chickened out at the last minute. I hated confrontation. It made me unsettled and it was something I avoided at all costs.

He rubbed his hands over his face before pinning me with a look that I knew. He was about to lose his shit.

“Don’t pretend you don’t know.” He walked up to me and I held myself firm, pushing against the reaction to step back.

“Jack?” I questioned and then swallowed.

“Yes, Jack. How could you let him move in when you had only been dating a few weeks, for Christ’s sake?” He began to pace. “How could you be so stupid?”

That set me off. “I’m not stupid. I made an error in judgment and I corrected it.”

“You make it sound like a document you mistyped. You let a stranger move into your house. Do you know how dangerous that is?”

I rolled my eyes. Jack hadn’t been dangerous. Annoying, yes, but never dangerous.

“Don’t do that.” Matthew’s voice went up an octave and I frowned, feeling my stubbornness set in.

I got that he loved and cared about me but yelling at me like some incompetent child was something I wasn’t prepared to stand for.

“Stop, Matthew.” I always used his full name when I was mad at him.

“Why didn’t you come to me for help?”

“I got myself into the mess and I wanted to be able to get myself out of it.”

He ran a hand through his hair, turning his back on me. Ihated when we fought but some things were worth standing my ground and this was important.

“Look, I don’t want to go on about this. What’s done is done. Besides, it’s sorted and I haven’t seen or heard from him in weeks.”

He shot me a glare over his shoulder. “I should be the person you call when you’re in trouble. Not the one you should be keeping things like this from.” He let out a sigh and turned to face me. “If Mark hadn’t been there, I’m worried things would have escalated and then who knows what would have happened.”

I frowned. I was still pretty mad that Mark had ratted me out even when I knew he was going to. Maybe I had hoped he wouldn’t.

“Everything’s fine,” I assured with a one-arm shrug.

He shook his head. “Mark should have told me from the start.”

“Look, none of this has anything to do with either of you. I get you guys care but I can take care of myself.” With my hand on my hip, I faced my brother with all the determination I had. “You are both tainted by the work you do and you expect the worst possible outcome. It has jaded both of you.”