Bound by Love's Gravity by Mia Ashlinn

But he can’t seem to see that.”
    No, he couldn’t. Deep down, Adam suspected that Megan was the real reason Deke kept Sarah at arm’s length. The woman they’d shared in college had really done a number on his partner when she’d killed herself and blamed him in the note she left behind. Now, it was like Deke feared the same fate happening to Sarah. But he needed to realize that Sarah wasn’t Megan. Thank God for that. Megan had been selfish and vain and if she’d lived, she would have destroyed everything between him and Deke. Her jealousy and possessiveness had already created tension among the two of them as well as their friends. Only Deke didn’t remember that part of their dysfunctional relationship.
    Restless, Adam crossed his arms over his chest. “Don’t you think I’ve tried to help him let go of the past? He won’t do it.”
    Kylia shook her head. “You haven’t tried, Adam. Not really.”
    “What would you call the last seventeen years?”
    “A waste,” she countered easily and swiftly. “A huge waste.”
    Adam couldn’t hold back his snarl. “Fuck you, Kylia.”
    Kylia didn’t so much as bat an eyelash. “You are a giver, and Deke is a taker. Instead of forcing him to own up to who and what he is, you’ve enabled him. You’ve done it for years. But now, you have to think about Sarah and how it will affect her.”
    His temperature rose. “I know that I need to think of Sarah,” he snapped.
    “But you aren’t,” Kylia retorted. “If you were, you would have stood up for what you want before now. If you truly loved her, you would have fought for her instead of rolling over and playing dead with Deke.”
    Adam bristled. This conversation was getting out of hand. “I’m done. Talk over.”
    Shrugging, Kylia said, “Whatever you want. I just think it’s time you looked at yourself.”
    Adam thought about responding, but he figured it wouldn’t help. Kylia would merely spew more psycho-babble. So instead of speaking, he turned his head away from her and glared out the side window. But predictably, Kylia had to get in the last word. “Sometimes we get so busy trying to fix others that we forget to fix ourselves.”
     
    * * * *
     
    With a scowl meant to scare secured to his face, Adam jogged up the stairs to the third floor of The Edge and tore down the hallway leading to Deke’s office. He swiftly stalked by one door after another, each unmarked room blending into the next. The wall sconces fastened on each side of the corridor lit his way, but the subtle illumination shining off them bled together after a while.
    Adam passed a group of male club members outside Calen Kohler’s office, throwing up his hand and waving it in their direction when they attempted to speak to him. He didn’t have time to answer Sutton’s questions or listen to BR’s bitching. And he definitely didn’t want to deal with Cameron and Connor complaining about their brother and his new sub. He would handle the Doms’ drama later, once he actually got his head on straight.
    Breathing as evenly and calmly as he could manage, Adam came to a screeching halt in front of Deke’s door. But he didn’t throw it open and launch into an attack on his brother or his partner. He needed to settle down first. Guns blaring and grenade throwing wasn’t the way to go with either man. Adam had to be centered beforehand.
    After the last thirty minutes, Adam was concerned that relaxing was simply not possible. Between Kylia’s psychoanalysis in the car and being cornered by Ansley in the stairwell, he was tired. He was pissed. And he was ready to fight with someone. Since his brother was the one who’d created all of today’s havoc by being some sort of strange Cupid, he got the first punch.
    Thinking back, Adam was amazed that two people could drive him to this point in such a short time span. God, Ansley had some serious talent at pushing his buttons. He didn’t know what insulted him more—the fact that she’d