“Door’s open.”
I entered his room and handed him the bottle and a glass. “I wasn’t sure you would want to use this, but I brought it.”
Sam ignored the glass, pulling the lid off the bottle and taking a long swig.
“Are you sure you don’t want to talk?” I asked.
“Nope.”
“I’ll leave you to it, then.” I left, wishing there were something I could do to help my brother.
The next morning, Sam showed up for breakfast. The entire family, including Sandra and Chelsea, were there. He looked like shit, but at least he was going through the motions of life.
He poured himself a cup of coffee and snagged a pancake. Around the table, people were glancing back and forth at each other. We didn’t know what to say.
“Max, I have a flight scheduled back to California this afternoon. Why don’t you join me and we can get started on all the club details today?”
I looked at our parents, wondering if they had any thoughts on Sam’s plan. I’d arranged to go to California, but not today. My parents shrugged.
“Yeah, okay,” I said.
Sam scarfed down his pancake, took his plate into the kitchen, and then went upstairs.
“Do you think he’ll be okay?” my mom asked.
“This is my fault, isn’t it?” Sandra was the most uncomfortable of all of us. “If I’d known—”
“It’s not your fault,” my mother said.
But it sort of was, I thought. Sandra lied to my brother, and as a result, he’d left Kate five years ago.
“I’ll go check on him.” I went upstairs, entering his room. “What if I went back and started working on things, and you stayed here for a little while?” He didn’t need to go back to California right away. He could take time to deal with his emotions.
Sam arched a brow at me. “Pulling the twin switch isn’t going to change anything.”
I smiled remembering how we used to trade places. He’d once pretended to be me to take a test for me. “I wasn’t talking about switching. Well, maybe I was, but not me being you and you being me. I was thinking I could take over the Los Angeles project and you could do the Las Vegas one.” That would solve two problems. If I took over Los Angeles, I wouldn’t have to worry about being distracted by Amelia.
“I’m good. Once we get back to work, it’s all going to be okay.”
I wasn’t so sure, but I had to trust that Sam knew what he was doing. I left him to pack my bag. We arrived in California late Friday night, heading straight back to Sam’s house and going to bed.
The next morning, when I woke up, the house was empty. As I looked out over the beach, I saw that Sam was taking a walk. I went to the kitchen and made coffee. It had just finished brewing when Sam returned. Not saying anything, he got a cup of coffee, then grabbed his tablet and went out onto the terrace.
I was about to join him when there was a knock on the door. “I’ll get it.”
I opened the door and was immediately grabbed and pushed into the house, slammed against the wall.
“You fucking sonofabitch.”
It took me a moment for my brain to catch up to what was happening.
“What the fuck is wrong with you, Sam?”
Before I could tell him that I was Max, Sam pulled the man off me. “What the fuck is wrong with you, Ethan? You come into my house and attack my brother?”
He blinked, looking between me and Sam.
“If you have a beef with me, talk to me, not my brother. Second, I don’t know why you think you have a beef with me. Your sister is the one who left.” Sam pushed Ethan again. “Were you part of the plan too?”