Page 146 of Discretion at Its Finest

My stomach knotted even tighter as I could feel Reid’s presence behind me. That was when I knew. He hadn’t known we were here.

“We… uh… have a few visitors.”

Eugene nodded slowly, confusion growing as he watched his sister fidget.

“Who else did you invite?” he asked.

Brielle’s throat bobbed. His eyes shifted over to Killian, who had approached.

She stared up at Eugene, voice barely audible. “Mom is here.”

Eugene’s eyebrows furrowed, his eyes narrowing as he glanced between the two of them.

I could feel the world going silent.

The cookies, the laughter, the decorations, the warmth in just the next room over, all of it evaporated in an instant.

I couldn’t breathe. He didn’t move, but his jaw clenched so tightly I saw the muscle tick from across the room.

“…You didn’t think to tell me that before I showed?”

Brielle’s arms crossed as she shook her head. “If I would have told you, you would have never come.”

“Of course I wouldn’t have come,” he snapped, voice low, bitter in a way that made my eyes burn. “I told you already. I don’t want that woman in my life.”

The words sliced through me. I stayed still. Tried not to react or crumble as Reid stood beside me.

Brielle pushed harder: “But you haven’t even given her a chance to—”

“I don’t need to give her a chance, Brielle,” he cut her off. “I don’t need her in my fucking life. Not then and not now. Tell Melanie and Juliet we’re leaving.”

“You just got here.” Brielle’s voice got louder. “You can’t leave yet.”

“Well, this isn’t your decision to make.”

“Eugene—” Killian attempted to intervene.

“No,” Brielle cut in. “Melanie is playing with the kids and Juliet is having a good time.They’re happy.You’re not isolating them just because you’re avoiding your feelings—”

“They are my family, Brielle,” he bit out.

“We’re your family too, Eugene!” she yelled, voice splintering.

“Family?” he echoed, bitter laughter leaving him in a short burst. “You think her being here is going to make us whole again? You think this—” he gestured vaguely around the decorated foyer ”—fixes what happened to us?”

Brielle flinched, shoulders curling slightly at the jab as Killian moved closer, placing a hand at the center of her back. But she stood straight once again.

“No. This doesn’t fix it,” she shot back. “But you’re not the only one who lived through it. You’re not the only one who was scared and alone, who felt like the only people in their lives that mattered had abandoned them.”

Eugene’s nostrils flared, his voice dropped. “You have people, Brielle…”

“But I didn’t have you,” she seethed. “And that mattered more than any of it. When you left me I had no one. When you disappeared to the military, you. Left. Me.”

His face remained stoic. “I’m here now, aren’t I? And look at you now. You have your perfect life. Your perfect family. Your perfect children. Your perfect Christmas with the mother you’ve always wanted in your life. You don’t need me anymore, Brielle.”

“That’s not fair,” she said, tears collecting again.

“It’s the truth.”