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“We’re losing her,” Nolan said, worried when Penny’s shower took longer than necessary and when he went to check on her, found the bathroom door locked. “Whatever Dillon said to her, changed the way she feels about us.”
“No, she’s just shook up over the whole incident. She’ll be fine,” Vince said, waving away Nolan’s concerns as he was too busy preparing their plates from the restaurant he’d ordered from. Ordinarily, Jacques didn’t do take-out but they always made a special exception for the Buchanans. Vince stood back and grinned. “Nothing like gourmet cuisine delivered right to your door. Where’s Penny? How long does it take to rinse off?” he asked, mildly annoyed that she hadn’t returned.
“She locked the door,” Nolan said. “I’m telling you, she’s changed. It’s going to take more than a few good fucks to get her back on our side.”
“You worry too much. After what just happened, that woman will do whatever we say. Brother, you have a lot to learn about bending a woman to your will. Sometimes, you’re too soft and sweet when they really want a firm hand on their ass.”
“I’ve never heard any complaints,” Nolan said with a scowl. Sometimes his brother had the sensitivity of an IRS agent bent on auditing an 86-year-old woman for a minor tax infraction. “I think Penny needs to feel that she’s more than just an expensive fuck toy. She needs to feel loved.”
At the mention of the word “love” Vince stilled and Nolan knew exactly where his thoughts had veered. “Penny is nothing like Isabel,” Vince said. “She’s stronger, more stable.”
“We said we wouldn’t make the same mistakes but I think maybe we are.”
“What do you mean?”
Nolan sighed and leaned his head back against the plush cushion of the sofa. “Hell, I don’t know, I just feel we’re screwing something up. Maybe this was a terrible idea; not for us but for Penny. She’s a good girl. Sweet and fragile. That’s the part that reminds me of Isabel.”
“So what do you suggest?”
“We need to be more gentle with her. We went way too fast this time.”
“I couldn’t help myself,” Vince said regretfully, agreeing with Nolan. “There’s just something about her that drives me wild. I don’t want to lose her.”
“Me either. We need to get Dillon out of her head.”
“His dick must spurt magic rainbows or some kind of charmed shit because he’s like the pied piper of seducing women,” Vince grumbled. “I’m so sick and tired of being in Dillon’s shadow. What’s he got that we don’t?”
Nolan quieted as a different memory returned to him, one that he knew Vince tried hard to forget.
“Let us take care of you,” Vince’s voice echoed from the past as they held Isabel’s hand while she cried. “You don’t need Dillon. We’ll be there for you.”
“I don’t understand,” Isabel said, sniffling into the tissue Nolan had handed her. “He looked at me as if he hated me. I don’t understand what I said wrong.”
“You didn’t do anything wrong,” Vince was quick to assure her, resting his hand gently on her shoulder. “It’s all Dillon’s fault. He’s a jerk and it’s about time he realize that he can’t treat people like garbage. You are a treasure. If you were our girl…we’d never let you go.”
Isabel stared with red-rimmed eyes and asked with a soft hiccup, “What do you mean?” She looked to both brothers in confusion as she awaited their answer.
If Nolan had known then how things would unfold, he would’ve forced Vince from the track he was traveling. He’d been so obsessed with having Isabel but Vince hadn’t realized what wheels they were about to set in motion when they’d begun working on Isabel.
Vince clasped Isabel’s hand and drew her close, brushing his lips across her hand as he looked at her in earnest, saying, “You deserve better than Dillon. You deserve the finest life has to offer. We could give you that. Our father has cut Dillon off. He can’t provide for you now, and honestly, I’m not even sure he wouldn’t grow tired of you within a year. We would give you the moon and treat you like a princess…”
“But Dillon—“
“Dillon is gone,” Vince had cut in. “But we’re not going anywhere.”
Looking back, Nolan couldn’t help but wonder if Isabel had known she was pregnant and was desperately hoping to convince one of them to care for her child and give it the Buchanan name but seeing as she took her own life before sharing the news, Nolan could only wonder. Either way, they should’ve known not to push Isabel when she’d been so vulnerable but Vince had been unwilling to listen.
Nolan’s reverie was cut short by Vince as he pulled him back to the present but Nolan was grateful; the past was filled with dangerous pitfalls for them both.
“I don’t want to hurt Penny but I don’t want Dillon to have her either,” Vince admitted. “The bastard doesn’t deserve her.”
“Like he didn’t deserve Isabel?” Nolan said with a twist of his lips that made Vince scowl.
“Yeah, that’s about right.”
“Did you ever think how things might’ve been different if we hadn’t gone after Isabel like we had?”
“Fuck, Nolan. Why do you have to bring up Isabel every bleeding second?”
“I guess I’m finally growing a conscience,” Nolan retorted. “We were wrong. What we did was wrong. Maybe it’s time to atone for that.”
“You want to atone for something, go to church and say a few ‘Hail Marys’ and nut up for Christ’s sake. Penny and Isabel are nothing alike and we’re not doing anything wrong,” Vince said, his voice rising to a near shout, which meant Nolan had managed to get under his skin. Vince threw his hands up. “Fuck this. I’m going out. I need a breather.”
“What about Penny?” Nolan asked, irritated that his brother was bailing.
“You’re the bleeding heart, you figure something out.” Then, he added with a frustrated gesture, “Just tell her to go home. She doesn’t want to be with us anyway. She wants that asshole Dillon. Just like Isabel did.” With that he stormed from the room and in the distance, Nolan heard a door slam as Vince left the house.