Table For Two: Barrington Billionaire's Series: Book Two by Jeannette Winters Page B

phone as though she really was going to spend the time surfing the Internet.
    Great. I really hate Mondays.
    “Shaun, I don’t want to talk to you about Kenzi. Whatever is going on between her and her brothers is not my concern,” Dean said, but his tone did not match what he felt. She was like a sister to him. If she was in trouble, he wanted to know. But he knew his brother wouldn’t know what really was going on with her. No one ever did.
    “Dean, this is not just about her brothers. This is about you and her,” Shaun said.
    He leaned back in his chair and stared at his older brother. If his brothers thought there was something between him and Kenzi other than friendship, they were as wrong now as they had been all those years ago.
    “I don’t want to hear it, Shaun.”
    “You’re going to. If not from me, then from someone else. We were all so damn wrong. Why didn’t you tell us, Dean? We’re your family. We would have protected you.”
    Shaun always had a way with words, and this had piqued his interest. He could spend the rest of the day pondering whether they would have supported him, but the truth was, it was in the past and no longer mattered. He no longer needed or wanted anyone’s help. Too little too late.
    “I didn’t need it then, and I don’t now. So unless you plan on changing this subject, let’s consider this meeting over.”
    Shaun shook his head. “Kenzi told her family what you did to protect her secret. It didn’t take long for Asher to tell Brice. I have to admit I still don’t understand why you did it. I mean, you went to juvenile detention for assault with intent. If you had just said why you beat that kid up, you might have gotten off, or, at least been put on probation.”
    Dean couldn’t believe Kenzi had broken her silence after all these years. Why would she do that now? What did it change? The damage was already done for them both. Talking about it now would only open wounds that should remain closed.
    “This isn’t something I want to discuss with you, Shaun. Not with you or anyone,” Dean said, his voice conveying the anger building within him.
    “Dean, I hear you. That wasn’t an easy time for any of us. And if everything I heard is correct, it especially wasn’t easy for Kenzi. I understand why she wouldn’t say anything. It’s hard for a woman to come forth after such an ordeal. Even years later, it was a shock to her parents but it explained a lot about her past and present behavior. What I don’t understand is why you held this in all these years and never told us. Not even when you were judged guilty by Dad and kicked out of the house.”
    The problem was, he didn’t even understand some of his actions about that day. Yes, he was furious with the knowledge of what had happened to Kenzi, but they never spoke about it. She never asked him to keep the secret, and he never told her he would. There was just an understanding, as they looked at each other, that they both would carry it to their graves. Or so he had thought. What changed to cause her to break her silence after all these years? He could call her and ask, but if they hadn’t discussed it then, why would they do so now?
    Dean hated that Shaun was the one who never got riled up over anything, no matter how bad things got. He was always cool and in control. How would someone like him understand what he’d been going through back then? Even when their father flipped out, which was a daily occurrence, Shaun was the one who handled it the best. But that didn’t mean he wasn’t without his own internal scars.
    “Things were different then, Shaun. I was different.”
    Shaun stared at Dean then asked, “I’m not so sure you wouldn’t do the exact same thing if it happened today.”
    Fuck yeah, I would. No one is going to hurt anyone close to me. Until that moment, he had never really thought about it. He always considered that part of him was long gone, a childhood reaction. But that wasn’t so. The