Chapter 7

Callie was having a nightmare, but the only thing Ryan could do was hold her tighter until the sobbing finally stopped and she was reduced to helpless whimpering.

Even though she kept him up all night, he was refreshed in the early hours of the morning. It felt like he had gotten more than three hours of sleep, but he figured it was because the thrill of having the woman he loved in his arms was the only thing keeping him from passing out cold.

There was a knock at his bedroom door, and he panicked for a moment. No one else but Clyde and Callie had a key to his apartment, not including himself.

To confirm his suspicion of who was behind the door, Clyde shouted, "Get the fuck out here now! Both of you!"

Ryan scrambled to his feet and rummaged around for a pair of sweatpants. After the long night of fucking - or making love, as he preferred to call it now - he and Callie had done, he wasn't cut out to deal with the deadly lecture Clyde would give with his fist.

Callie stirred, gaped at the door with wide eyes when it was kicked opened to reveal a seething Clyde with murderous eyes and stood up to block his path to Ryan. "Clyde, don't hurt him!"

He gently pushed her aside and made a beeline for the man he considered to be his best friend for over a decade. "I fucking warned you. I warned you not to get in the same fucking bed as my sister."

Clyde drew a fist back and earned a loud scream from Callie when she heard the crushing of bones through his punch.

"You don't think I know that fucking dress laying in the living room is my sister's?" Clyde scoffed in disbelief and aimed for another hit, but Ryan tackled him to the ground. "I sent it from Paris for her twenty third birthday!"

"Ryan, please stop this," Callie pleaded, running a hand through her hair. "Clyde?"

The two men seemed to have ignored her because Clyde was still trying to throw whatever hit he could land on his best friend. Ryan hadn't even tried to fight back. As he promised, he wouldn't, but he held Clyde against the floor which only angered him more that Ryan had the upper hand.

"I'm gonna fucking kill you," Clyde said, his voice cracking. "I'll kill you for fucking her behind my back. I'll fucking kill you, Worthington."

"I fucking love her," Ryan growled quietly enough for just them to hear. "And I apologize that I betrayed you, but I won't change the way I feel."

"The fuck did you just say?"

"I love your sister."

Clyde managed to pull his hands from beneath Ryan's strong hold and wrapped both of them around his neck, rolling him onto his back so Ryan was incapable of moving. "You don't know what love is. You can't love her."

Callie was sobbing now. The two men were having a bloody war between themselves, and there was nothing she could do to stop them. She slid to the floor in a heap of tears and crawled between the nightstand and the bed, shielding herself from the blood bath.

"Please," she whispered over and over again in a chant.

"I fucked your sister when she was sixteen," Ryan spat. Since his last moments were looming upon him, he wanted to completely come clean. "I lusted after her for eight years, and we kissed when you weren't looking. We fucked when you weren't listening. But I made love to her last night. I love Callie. I fucking love Callie Montgomery, so fucking kill me to spare her."

Clyde blinked hard, loosened his grip around Ryan's neck and rolled off of him. His eyes snapped to Callie when he heard the sobbing and crawled over to her, but she desperately backed up against the wall as far as she could and shook her head.

"Stay away from me," she said, hugging her knees to her chest. "Don't fucking come near me, Clyde."

"Callie," he whispered, wiping the blood from his fists on his jeans, "it's just me. It's your big brother."

"Why did you hurt him?" she asked, peeking over at Ryan's heaving body.

"He betrayed my trust. I never thought he'd go behind my back."

"I betrayed you, too," she said, her eyes wide at the sight of blood on the hardwood floor. "I should be broken and bruised."

"Don't say that," Clyde said, shaking his head. "I'm sorry you had to see that. Come here, sweetheart."

She pulled the comforter even tighter around her naked body and bit her lip, touching a finger to her nose, as if she could feel where Clyde had injured Ryan the hardest. "You won't hurt him anymore?"

"He's had enough," he said, humorlessly chuckling. He helped Ryan up and helped him over to the bed. "I'm such a fucking ass. I'm sorry, man."

"I deserve it," Ryan croaked. He massaged his neck where bruises were bound to form. "I went behind your back, and that isn't what brothers do to each other."

"I guess that makes you a bloody wanker."

Ryan laughed, but it was painful to do. "She doesn't know I do, Clyde."

It took a moment for Clyde to realize what he was referring to, and when he finally did, he nodded in understanding. "I want to hear you say it to her."

"Callie," Ryan said, searching for her gaze. He took a deep breath and grunted when the pain of it went straight to his lungs. "Come up here and sit with me, love."

She looked up at Clyde's outstretched hand and took it, following him to the edge of the bed where Ryan sat. "Are you okay?"

"I'll heal," he assured her. He took both of her hands into his and sighed. "I hate to do this when my face is a little fucked, but Clyde won't have it any other way. I have to tell you that I love you, darling. I really love you."

She blankly stared back at him. Then tears flooded her eyes and an explosion of feelings filled her insides until she couldn't stop sobbing.

"What's the matter, love? Did I say something wrong?"

She shook her head and pressed her lips to his, wincing when he abruptly pulled away and wiped the blood he smudged on her nose. "I'm sorry."

"No, I should apologize."

She kissed his cheek and patted the space next to her to have Clyde sit down. She took each of their hands and kissed them. "I love you, Clyde. You're my big brother. And I love you, too, Ryan. I love you so damn much. You two are all I have, so you have to promise me that this won't come between any of us."

"I promise," Clyde quickly agreed.

"I swear on my life," Ryan said. He leaned over to kiss her cheek and then shook his best mate's hand, as if to call a truce.

"Good," Callie said, offering them both a smile. "Now get cleaned up, and please don't leave a single trace of blood."

"Anything for you," Clyde murmured with the slight shake of his head. He watched her disappear through the bedroom door and pulled Ryan up, helping him into the bathroom. "You really fucking owe me, Worthington."

"Don't I know it.