Page 52 of Darling Venom
He stared at my mug, then flicked his eyes back to me. “I gave him everything I could.”
“You dated a woman he loathed,” I snapped, finally finding a hole in his version of things. “He hated Hannah.”
“I broke up with Hannah because of Kellan.” Tate bared his teeth, jerking forward like I’d physically hurt him. The fire in his eyes threatened to smother me. “Dated her for him, too, for that matter. She seemed like a good idea at the time. A nurse. Sweet, nice, caring. Came from a big Southern family. All about matching plaid pajamas on Christmas and baking casseroles. I thought she’d be able to replace Kellan’s good-for-nothing mother, who OD’d when Kellan was asleep in the next room. Did you know Kellan found his mother when he had a nightmare? He ran to her room and tried to wake her up. She never opened her eyes.”
I collapsed backward and pinched the bridge of my nose.
Everyone in Kellan’s life had failed him.
His mother.
His father.
His half-brother.
Me.
“For a while, Hannah tried,” Tate explained. “I think she knew why I kept her around. Why I chose her. She made an extra effort to be there for Kellan.”
“His version of things was different. Kellan said she was nosy and a pushover. He always complained about her trying to tell him what to do, what to wear, how to act.”
Tate’s mouth quirked up. “She was feeling the heat. I was growing impatient once I realized my instant McFamily wasn’t fully cooked and ready within a year. Kellan wasn’t cooperating. I was young with a new job, a chip on my shoulder from carrying the last name of a notorious drug addict, and raising a fifteen-year-old. I was a sour piece of shit. Both Kellan and Hannah suffered. After it became apparent that Kellan wasn’t going to warm up to my fiancée, she changed tactics.”
“Military school.”
I pinched my right leg to stop it from rocking. I remembered how much I’d hated Hannah for suggesting it.
Tate’s jaw ticked. “He told you?”
I nodded. “He was upset.”
“I didn’t know he knew. She always brought it up when she thought he wasn’t listening. It grated on my nerves. Even though, at that stage, my relationship with Kellan was strained, I still thought he would come around. Get a better perspective once he grew up. When Hannah began to push for military school, I cut her loose.”
I looked down at my lap. “He thought she dumped you because she hated him. I wish he’d known how much you cared. He painted a different picture. Hence why I thought it would be a good idea to burst into your office and serve you a generous piece of humble pie.”
“Is that what that was?”
A half-moon grin graced his lips. It marked the first time I’d seen him truly smile, and I momentarily lost my breath. He looked so much like mischievous, charming Kellan and yet a completely different entity.
I wanted to reach out and touch him, but that would be insane.
“I wanted to make you feel uncomfortable,” I admitted.
“Ditto.”
“Mission accomplished.” I chuckled, remembering how he had stared at me defiantly when he was inside Allison. “Sorry for interrupting.”
“Sorry for…” he trailed off. I knew what he was sorry for. Holding my gaze while inside her. “For what it’s worth, I’m always a poisonous piece of shit, but on Valentine’s Day, I’m next-level asshole.”
“Those days are hard on me, too. Truce?” I curled my fingers, offering him my pinky.
He took it in his.
We looked comical together, since he was so much bigger than me.
“Truce.”
Silence stretched between us, forming an invisible line I knew not to cross. Our eyes did the talking now.
