“I couldn’t leave you here,” he said. “I can’t leave this city without you. I got a hotel room in a little bed and breakfast and decided to go by your father’s place. But a police officer was there, telling me the man that lived there had a heart attack. I came as soon as he told me.”
It was fucking Landon.
The guys all narrowed their eyes the moment Kyra said his name. We watched this asshole pull our Kyra into his arms and kiss the top of her head. Just like I’d been doing.
The action made me sick to my fucking stomach.
“You guys,” she said as she turned to us. “This is… um…”
“Landon Avery, Kyra’s fiancé. You must be the Trent Brothers. Kyra’s told me so much about you all. How you guys took care of her after her cousin died.”
“Mother.”
“Yes, her mother,” he said. “Thank you so much for being with her during this time.”
Holy fuck, this asshole was relentless. Her fucking cousin? Was he shitting us? Was Kyra actually thinking about picking this narcissistic prick over us?
I felt the red-hot jealousy coursing through my veins. I hadn’t felt this kind of jealousy even when we all shared Kyra that night but seeing this Landon asshat wrap his arms around her, when we all knew he wasn’t good enough for her, burned my soul.
“Did you really find out by going to her house?” I asked.
“I called and confirmed with the neurosurgeon on my way here,” he said. “The doctor told me he’d been officially admitted and was critical.”
“Wait,” Kyra said. “The doctor just told you that? Without being family?”
Good girl. Smart woman. Give it to him.
“He’s an old family friend,” Landon said. “I was just concerned. That’s all. A part of me was hoping it wasn’t your father. That someone else had been in the house and Matt was simply a bystander.”
“You mean Mark?” Blake asked.
“Mark, yes.”
Kyra didn’t seem convinced but the words that flew from his mouth next changed the expression on her face completely.
“I want to take care of him, Kyra,” Landon said.
“What?” she asked.
“I want to help your father. He’s in a very bad position and I have access to some of the best medical resources in the nation. Kyra, the top neurosurgeon in the country is on my speed dial. I’ll spend whatever it takes to get your father better.”
“Are you serious, Landon?” she asked.
“Very,” he said. “I can pay for top-notch care. The best doctors. All of it. I can move him anywhere he needs to be at the drop of a hat. Please let me help.”
The look on her face showed me she was actually considering it and it was like a punch to the gut. I knew Kyra and her bond with her father. He was all she had left, in a way. Yes, she had us, but we weren’t her father. I knew she would want what was best for him and it was obvious Landon wanted to give that to her. I was sure he had an ulterior motive. With men like him, there was always a motive. But Kyra was so innocent and she was in such a desperate position. Who the fuck was I to judge her decision?
This man was handing her whatever her father fucking needed and I couldn’t blame her if she went back to him.
But as all my brothers watched her face morph, I knew we were all thinking the same thing.
Don’t fucking do it, Kyra. Be with me. I could take care of this. All of it.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN - ETHAN
I woke up with an ache that crashed through my body like a fucking eighteen-wheeler. I sat up from the chair I was slouched in, arching my back, trying to get it to pop. I’d spent the entire fucking night in the waiting room of the hospital, staying with Kyra since she refused to go home. We all had, really. We took shifts staying up with her since she couldn’t sleep. I was in charge of getting everyone breakfast when I got up so Harper could take a fucking nap and, as I stood from my seat, I threw my back around and heard it crack.
It trickled all the way up my spine and I couldn't help but sigh with relief. Holy fuck, these chairs were uncomfortable but it was all we could do since Kyra insisted she wanted to stay here. Of course, that asshole Landon went back to his comfortable bed and breakfast nook to catch a snooze, which only served to prove why the fuck Kyra shouldn’t take him up on that offer. I didn’t give a shit if it would do her father wonders. That asshole didn’t care about her or Mark.