Page 113 of The Heartbreaker

“Let’s tone it down,” I warned him. I then gave Addison a look, letting her know I would explain everything later—an explanation I hadn’t delved into because it was deep, layered, and it would take a long-ass time to unravel.

“It won’t matter if I’m there,” Rhett said. He nodded at me. “You’re going.” He then nodded at Addison. “And you’re going. They won’t even notice me missing.”

“I’m going?” Addison asked.

Another discussion I hadn’t yet had with her, but it was something we needed to talk about for two reasons—I had to pull Daisy out of school for several days, and unless I confessed what was going on to Jana, I couldn’t use the wedding to launch our relationship.

“We need to talk about that,” I said softly to her.

“Does that mean you’re not bringing her?” Rhett huffed, helping himself to another beer before returning to his spot on the counter.

I glanced from him to Addison. “Jana will be there. She was invited. Besides, she’s doing Lily’s makeup, and Daisy is in the wedding—she and Rayner are flower girls.”

“I can’t believe you haven’t fucking told her,” Rhett barked. “What the hell are you waiting for?”

I didn’t like his tone.

I didn’t like the way he’d worded either statement.

And I didn’t like that he was saying all of this in front of Addison.

“Rhett—”

“I get it,” Addison said, ignoring Rhett’s comments and interrupting me. “Don’t worry about it.”

Her voice was calm, her expression backing up what she’d just said.

But that didn’t make things less complicated or make me feel any better about the situation.

I needed to fucking talk to Jana.

She was in town for the next week or so, so I would find a time to go over to her house and explain this all to her. Aconfession I wasn’t looking forward to making, but one that would hopefully alleviate all this stress once it was done.

“And I thought my life was a fucking shit show,” Rhett muttered. He took a sip of beer. “It’s time you man up, brother.”

Is he fucking serious?

“This has nothing to do with manning up,” I countered.

“No?” he challenged. “Then, what does it have to do with? You think this is fair to Addison? That she’s some secret?—”

“She’s not a secret. Everyone knows about her, except for Daisy and Jana.” My eyes narrowed at my brother. “Do you just want to fight? Is that what this is about? Because if that’s the case, I can make that happen, but it’s not going to take place in front of Addison.”

His legs stilled from swinging. “I can’t make myself understand why you’ve said nothing to her about it. That shit makes no sense to me.”

I picked up my filthy martini, but I was too worked up to take a drink.

I didn’t know why I wanted to defend myself or why I would even bother, but I still found myself saying, “When Jana’s in town, almost every conversation we have is centered around Daisy—her schooling, her activities, her schedule. What am I supposed to do, drop that bomb while she’s bragging about the way Daisy is advancing? Hell, I want to. I’ve tried. I don’t want to put this off any longer. But?—”

“I’m dating the teacheraren’t hard words to say, Ridge. You act like you’re going to have to confess to fucking murder.”

Even his expression was goading my anger. “Rhett?—”

“I’m out,” he said, jumping off the counter. He set his empty by the sink, stole a cookie from the container in front of Addison, and walked to the door.

I leaned my back against a cabinet, bringing the liquor up to my lips and swallowing until the glass was empty.

“Should I address the elephant in the room?” Her voice was just above a whisper.