Besides, from what he understood about Trevor, the man never left his apartment. Yet here he was at Colin’s chalet halfway across the world. How the hell did he get here?
Sabela shot to her feet, and Colin followed.
She held up a slender hand. “You don’t need to come with me. I can take care of this.”
The worry on her face was reason enough for him to go, even if he hadn’t hated Trevor for everything he’d done. “Like hell. I didn’t invite him here, and he isn’t welcome. I intend to tell him that.”
“He’s my brother, Colin,” Sabela said, lightly touching his hand. “If he’s here, it’s because he was worried about me. Please don’t make a scene.”
Colin realized his fists were clenched, and he struggled to release them. “You think I’m the one that’s going to make a scene?”
Sabela sighed and let her shoulders droop. “Just hear him out before you say anything, okay?”
Colin saw no reason to listen to anything Trevor Vaughn might say. He considered the option of demanding Sabela stay put so he could go toss Trevor out on his ass. It was a pointless consideration, though, since Sabela would never obey.
He shrugged a noncommittal response, and then followed Sabela down the hall and into the receiving room where Bruno had stashed their unwelcome guest.
For the first time in four years, Colin gazed upon Trevor Vaughn in person. He’d seen photos, of course. He had, in fact, had a hard time getting those few shots of Trevor since the man had become such a recluse.
Once upon a time, Trevor had been a handsome man. Blanca had often remarked on it when she was trying to make Colin jealous in a bid to draw attention to herself. But now, it was obvious that Trevor’s long-standing health issues had taken their toll on his body.
He was a thin, stooped man, looking decades older than his actual years. Skinny instead of built, hunched instead of straight-backed and proud, he radiated savage resentment. And all of it was focused on Colin.
Trevor stood up as they entered the room, using a cane to support himself.
“I had to come see this for myself,” he said in a sneering tone.
He pointed his cane at Colin. “I can’t believe you would stoop so low as to try to take my sister away from me. You are pathetic.”
“You better sit down before you fall down.” Sabela hurried across the room to help, but she stopped when Trevor turned his gaze onto her.
“Sister, I told you that you shouldn’t be here. I don’t know what this guy has done to you, but he’s messing with your head, just like he messed with Blanca’s. I came to save you and take you home.”
“I’m an adult, Trevor. I don’t need you to protect me,” Sabela replied. “I can make my own decisions and my own judgments about people.”
Colin watched the two of them, every inch of him primed for a fight. If Trevor was going to cause trouble, Colin would cause trouble right back.
“No, you don’t understand what he’s capable of. I told you that he’s only using you to get to me. You can’t let him take advantage of you,” Trevor said.
“That’s bullshit,” Colin snarled. “You’re not welcome here. I’m going to have to ask you to leave. Now. Haven’t you done enough to ruin the lives of the women you love?”
Trevor turned on him. The speed of his movement wasn’t that of a crippled man. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“You know exactly what I mean. Your immaturity killed Blanca, and you won’t admit it. Then on top of that, you dragged Sabela into your sad existence of a life and forced her to care for you when you could have learned to care for yourself. In a way, you stole Sabela’s life, just like you stole Blanca’s. You should be ashamed of yourself. That’s not how a man behaves.”
Sabela interjected. “Please, you two, be civil —”
“You were always jealous of me,” Trevor said. “You couldn’t stand that Blanca wanted to be with me instead of you. If you weren’t so pigheaded and controlling, she’d still be alive because she’d be with me.”
That was it. Colin took a step forward, jaw clenched. “My fault? Are you mad? I wasn’t the one driving the car.”
“You were the reason I was driving it,” Trevor snapped back.
“It was your fault. If you had just left Blanca alone, none of this would’ve happened. You stuck your nose in where it didn’t belong, and now you’re ruining Sabela’s life, too.”
How could one man be so self-absorbed? If it weren’t for Sabela standing nearby, Colin would have dragged the man from his house and tossed him head-first into a snowbank.
“I was driving the car, but all of it is your fault,” Trevor said. “Now you think you’re going to get back at me by taking my sister away from me? Forget it, jackass. I’m taking her with me, now.”
“The hell you are. She’s not going anywhere with you.”
Sabela’s voice rose over both of theirs. “You both need to shut up! Right now.”
Colin stopped, stunned, and looked at her.
Her fiery gaze shot back and forth between Colin and Trevor. He’d never seen her so angry.
She shook a finger at them both. ”You are two grown men. Enough is enough. This ends now.”
Chapter Forty-Three
IT WASN’T OFTEN THAT SABELA stepped into the middle of a fight that she wasn’t a part of.
But then again, it wasn’t often that she found her brother and her boyfriend about to rip each other to shreds over who was responsible for an accident that had happened more than four years ago.
The long-standing feud between them was as alive as ever, but neither of them were in the right. Sabela couldn’t decide which of them she was more frustrated with.
On one hand, her brother had come halfway across the world to try and rescue her only to ignore her entirely, and on the other, Colin claimed the past was in the past, but clearly it was still a sore spot for him.
And both of their behaviors were atrocious.
She had no idea how much longer the two men would continue to hurl insults at each other if given the chance. Somebody had to do something, and she realized that it would have to be her.
She whirled on Trevor. He looked at her with a startled expression.
“Trevor, I love you. You’re my brother, and I realize that you think you’re trying to protect me.”
He reached out and touched her shoulder.
“I love you, Sister. That’s exactly why I’m here.”
She shook her head and brushed his hand away. He wasn’t getting off the hook that easily. “I know that you love me. But I also know that the reason you’re here has nothing to do with me. It has everything to do with him.” She nodded toward Colin.
“Uh, no, you’re —”
“That makes you no better than him. Everything that happened between the two of you and Blanca should be ancient history, but it’s not. I think it’s time that we cleared the air.”
“What are you talking about?” Trevor demanded.
How convenient that he forgot to defend himself against her accusations. Sabela set her lips, irritated. She read Trevor like he was an open book.
“There was a letter that Colin received after Blanca died. I read it, and I need you to tell both of us the truth about it. Blanca didn’t write that Dear John letter, did she?”
Sabela stared Trevor down. He wobbled a little where he stood and set his cane back on the floor. For a man who couldn’t get out of bed to fetch his own beer, he was doing a lot of unassisted standing.
“I know your handwriting, Trevor,” she said. “With all those ‘to do’ lists you write for me, I should. You tried to disguise your writing and make it look more feminine in that letter, but it was you who wrote it, not Blanca. I’m positive of it, so you might as well admit the truth.”
The bombshell had been dropped. No one spoke. She didn’t dare look over at Colin, not wanting to see what was likely his devastation.
Trevor trembled, stunned. His expression began to crumble into the weak, pathetic mask he’d been using to keep her under his thumb for so long. She could see that now. He’d manipulated her so easily.
Those days were over. “Tell me the truth, Trevor. You owe me that, for everything I’ve done for you and if you expect me to continue to be part of your life.”
Trevor studied her, as if sussing out whether her bravery was just a show. It wasn’t, and he was smart enough to figure that out.
He dropped into the chair behind him, blowing out a dramatic breath. “Fine. I don’t care if you know. And I certainly don’t care if he knows. He wasn’t the one for her, Sister. Blanca was blinded by him paying for college and everything else she wanted. But he wasn’t there for her the way I was.”