Page 11 of The Lie That Stole Christmas

There it was.Ashley softened Gabe’s sharp edges, wrapping his behavior in words likeprotectiveinstead ofcontrolling.Carter shook his head, and a perturbed laugh slipped past his lips.

“What’s so fucking funny?”Gabe demanded.

Carter met his icy glare.“Just that some things never change.”

Carter moved to walk away, but Gabe blocked his path.They stood eye to eye, close enough that neither had to look up or down.Gabe had always been ‘protective’ of his sister, even when it wasn’t warranted, which was most of the damn time.He never could mind his fucking business.

“Stay the hell away from her.”

“I have for eight years.Just likeyouwanted.”He turned to Ash, meeting her confused gaze, then continued on his way.After all, Christmas wasn’t going to build itself.

Chapter five

Ashley

Ashleyfacedherbrother,whose chest was puffed out like some bouncer who thought he had more authority than he actually did.“What the hell was that about?”

“Don’t think I don’t know what went on between you two.Or that he fucking broke you.I won’t let the bastard use you again.”

“I’m more than capable of handling myself, thank you very much.”

“Are you?”

This was the Gabe she knew all too well.Her big brother was always convinced he needed to take charge, whether or not anyone asked him to.Once upon a time, she’d let him.He’d been the first person she called when life fell apart.Until he stopped answering.

“Oh, fuck off, Gabe.I’ve barely heard from you over the last few years, and now you’re going to barge into my life and act like you give a shit?”

“Of course I give a shit.You’re my sister.”

“Then where have you been?Grandma died.Mom and Dad’s marriage fell apart.Aunt Marilyn went over the deep end.Grandpa pushed everyone away.Where were you?”

Gabe’s jaw ticked.“I was dealing with my own shit.”

Ash threw her hands in the air.“We are all dealing with our own shit.Alone.Now you’re ready to play big brother like the last few years never fucking happened?”

Gabe’s shoulders sagged a fraction before he lifted his chin, his expression hardening.“I know he hurt you.And I don’t trust him not to do it again.”

Ash narrowed her gaze at her brother, who constantly tried to fix everyone else’s problems and ignore his own.“This isn’t about trust.This is about you deciding what’s best for me.”

“I’m trying to protect you.”

A bitter laugh escaped her.“From what?The only man who ever made this place feel like home?”

Gabe flinched, his eyes darkening.“He was never supposed to be a part of your life.He was the help’s kid, for fuck's sake.”

“I see even after all these years, you’re still judging people based on where they come from.It’s not his fault he wasn’t born into money.Besides”—Ash spread her arms out—“every one of us was, and we are all fucking train wrecks.”

“He’ll break you again.That’s who he is.”

Tears built in Ash’s eyes, but she fought them off.She was done crying.“You don’t know him the way I did.”The words left her mouth before she could stop them.Why was she defending him?Carter had shattered her heart.

But every accusation Gabe hurled at Carter felt like an accusation against her.Like falling in love with him had been some childish mistake.

Flashes of her and Carter’s last night together flickered in her mind.The way he looked at her.The way he touched her as if she were the most precious thing in his world.

Then a flip switched, and the Carter she knew vanished.She held onto that version of him, but being back at Winterridge, coming face-to-face with the man she once loved with every ounce of her being, she knew without a doubt that wasn’t her Carter.

“Do what you want, Ash.Just don’t say I didn’t warn you.”