I snickered. “He is mad.”

Alec reached down and snatched my phone away from my ear and out of my hand.

“Hey, that's rude!” I snapped and stretched my arms up high trying to reclaim my phone, to no avail.

Alec ignored me, and my slapping at his legs, and placed my phone to his ear. “Who the fuck is this?”

Silence.

I watched as a smile stretched across Alec's face. “Baby brother! It's about damn time you called, you have Dominic worried sick!”

Silence.

I lifted my arms and placed my hands behind my head as I gazed up at Alec.

He frowned as Damien spoke. “Anything we need to worry about?” he asked.

I raised my eyebrows and looked at Alec expectantly, but the arsehole ignored me.

Alec released a breath. “So come home then, if you're bored over there why stay?”

I tilted my head to the side when Alec began to pace from left to right in front of me.

“How soon?” Alec asked then when Damien answered his face dropped. “That could be years away, Dame.”

I sat upright and got to my feet, then I stepped forward and wrapped my arms around Alec's waist and rested my head against his chest. Alec used his free hand to rub up and down my back.

“Yeah, I know, you've got shit to work through.”

I hugged Alec tightly when he sighed and his body deflated.

I felt horrible for him.

He missed Damien—all the brothers did.

“Yeah, man, you got it,” Alec said to Damien then chuckled. “You want to speak to her again?”

Alec nudged me and handed me my phone back when he got my attention.

I took the phone and placed it to my ear. “'Hello again.”

Damien chuckled. “You're driving him crazy, you realise that, don't you?”

I snorted. “I'm aware of it, yes.”

Damien cackled through the phone and Alec vibrated with silent laughter because he heard it.

“How is your writing going?” Damien asked me.

I blushed. “It's fine.”

“You talk to Dame about your writing, but not me?” Alec asked me, his tone annoyed.

I rolled my eyes. “You beta read the first ten chapters of me book and when you got to the sex scene you laughed!”

“Because no man moans that much during sex!” Alec laughed.

I glared at him. “You do!”

“Oh, burn!” Damien teased.

Alec glared at my phone, then at me.

“Go away while I talk to your brother,” I said and walked over to our new sofa.

I sat down as Alec walked out of the room cursing to himself.

“I miss you guys,” Damien sighed when his laughter subsided.

I frowned. “We miss you too. I'm dyin' to hug you. It sucks that we haven't met in person yet... you'd love me.”

Damien laughed. “I already love you, spitfire.”

I chuckled. “I love you, too. Aideen doesn't love you, but she fancies you. She said you could be her boy toy.”

Damien snickered. “She's hot, I'll take whatever I can get.”

I gasped. “I'm tellin' Kane!”

Damien whooped with laughter and it made me smile.

“I gotta go, babe. I have the early shift at work tonight.”

I heard the sadness in his voice and it broke my heart—he was always sad.

“Okay, sweetheart. Stay safe, and call back soon.”

“I will,” Damien said. “Give everyone my love.”

“You got it. Bye.”

“Bye.”

The line clicked as Damien hung up his phone and I frowned. I wished I could help him, but I had no idea the depth of his problems or what the hell it was that had him so down. Alec shone some light on his brother's past, but I'm sure not everything was told to me.

“Keela?” Alec's voice shouted from somewhere in the house.

“What?” I called back.

“I left my phone in the moving truck, will you come with me while I go and pick it up?”

That meant I could get out of cushion duty.

Sweet.

“Yes, let's go!”

We just left the building where Alec rented the moving van from, but they assured him there was no phone inside when he delivered the van back to them.

“I can't believe you lost your bloody phone,” I grumbled as I climbed into Alec's SUV.

Alec got into the driver's seat and slammed his door shut. “I didn't lose it. Those bastard's clearly have it, which means they stole it from me!”

I shook my head as I buckled my seat belt.

“I don't know why you're giving me attitude either—if it was your phone you'd lose your shit,” Alec stated as he started up the SUV.

I pressed my fingers against my temples.

I wasn't doing this, I wasn't arguing with him over a fucking mobile phone.

“Stop talkin'.”

“No,” Alec quipped. “You'd raise Hell if it was—”

“Shut. Up.”

“—your stupid phone,” Alec said, continuing on his rant like I didn't just speak.

“Alec. Stop.”

He grunted. “I just bought that fucking phone too, and now it's gone.”

Oh, my God.

He wouldn't close his mouth.

It was impossible for him to just shut the fuck up and it was grating on my nerves.

He was exasperating.

“Can you just stop?” I asked Alec whilst I rubbed my throbbing head. “I'm tired, we have been on the go since half ten this mornin'... I just want to go to bed and sleep for a week. The girls and I unpacked everythin' in the new house while you brought the movin' van back to the rental place. I'm knackered so just shut the fuck up. Please.”

Alec blinked at me. “Well... you're rude.”

Rude?

He thought that was me being rude?

I said please!

“Honey, that was me being nice,” I huffed then sighed. “I'm tired, Alec, don't you get that? I just want to drive home in silence and you refuse to stop speakin'.”

Alec didn't reply.

He did what I wanted and remained quiet, but he did it with a silent attitude. I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye and caught him squeezing the steering wheel of the SUV a little too tightly. His posture was a little too straight for him to be relaxed, and his set jaw screamed he was mentally cursing me out.

All of this got on my already worn nerves.

“Why do you look like you're goin' to kill someone?” I asked him.

He growled. “You just told me to shut the fuck up, so that's what I'm doing.”

I rolled my eyes. “Whatever.”

“Whatever,” Alec mimicked.

Bad move.

“Really? You want to start somethin' when I'm this tired? Try it and see how it pans out for you,” I threatened.

Alec laughed. “What are you gonna do? Not put out. Oh, no, what ever will I do?”

Wanker.

“You can fuck yourself, that's exactly what you can do,” I snarled and turned my body away from him.

Alec snorted to himself. “We'll see.”

Excuse me?

“What's that supposed to mean?” I asked, my tone firm.

Alec shrugged his shoulders. “We'll see how long you not putting out will last—I give you until midnight.”

Was he serious?

“I'm not a sex deprived maniac, I can easily go without shaggin' you without it botherin' me,” I stated.

Alec laughed. “Yeah, right.”

I could feel my temper rising.

“I'm serious, Alec. I don't need sex with you, I don't even need to sleep in the same bed as you,” I said, my voice raw.

Alec continued to nod his head. “You keep telling yourself that.”

I opened my mouth, but closed it because I was about to say something that I would regret later on. I was going to say I didn't need him at all, but that was a lie. I did need him, but not for the reasons he thought.

“You're so disrespectful. You want me as your wife, yet you treat me like a dog who can't go a day without humpin' your leg.”

I turned my body and faced the window of the SUV as Alec drove.

“I don't mean it like that and you know it,” Alec said, his voice a grumble.