Better (Stark Ink Book 2) by Dahlia West

was here— safe— did things to him that he’d rather not think about. Some things got inside you and stayed there, like addiction. Some memories did too, although they were more painful and harder to get rid of. But Zoey was real this time, no phantom presence in the night that he reached for and never found.
    He closed the door again and headed into the kitchen. His phone showed a text from Jonah that he was on his way. Dalton cringed as he dialed Adam’s number, knowing it was early.
    Adam answered on the fourth ring.
    “I need to borrow Jonah today.”
    “Just during the day?”
    “Yeah.”
    Adam paused. “Okay, but I really can’t spare him in the evening. It’s our busiest night of the week.”
    Dalton glanced at his watch and thought about what he needed to get done that day. “I’ll be home before dark. I just need him to be here while I’m gone.”
    “Is there a problem with your place?”
    Dalton shifted on his feet and looked up at the ceiling. Lying to your family wasn’t exactly the best way to get them to trust you. “Ah… no. Not really.”
    “D?”
    Dalton took a deep breath. “Zoey’s here.”
    There was a long pause “What do you mean Zoey’s there?”
    Dalton tapped his fingers on the counter. “I mean, she’s having some problems. So she’s staying at my place today.”
    “What does having problems mean? What kind of problems?”
    Dalton glanced over his shoulder at the closed bedroom door. “Relationship problems.”
    “ Relationship problems? No, Dalton. She’s married . You mean marriage problems . Which are A, none of your business and B, not your problem. You’ve got your own problems.”
    Dalton gripped the phone tightly. “You knew she was married?”
    Adam didn’t reply.
    “You knew and you didn’t tell me.”
    Adam sighed. “Her parents put an announcement in the paper. Pop saw it. We agreed not to tell you.”
    “So you just decided I didn’t need to know?” Dalton couldn’t believe what he was hearing. It was one thing to help out your family when they needed it. It was another to start making decisions for them.
    “It wasn’t a good time to tell you. We just wanted you to focus on getting better.”
    “I am better!”
    Silence again. Dalton’s jaw dropped. Didn’t Adam agree? Dalton hadn’t missed a single meeting or a day of work in almost six months. How could Adam imply that Dalton hadn’t changed? Dalton opened his mouth to ask, but slammed it shut. Somehow he suspected he didn’t want to know the answer.
    “I’m taking her to her parents tonight anyway,” Dalton snapped. Saying it out loud only made him more angry, though.
    “Well, that’s good,” Adam replied. “It’s for the best.”
    “Jonah’ll be at work later,” Dalton growled and disconnected the call.
    Adam could be a self-righteous prick sometimes.
    There was a soft knock on the door and Dalton crossed to the living room to answer it.
    Jonah shuffled inside, ducking in the harsh wind. He scraped his heavy boots on the mat and looked around.
    “She’s asleep,” Dalton told him.
    Jonah nodded.
    Back in the kitchen, Dalton swept his keys off the counter and pocketed them. He glanced down the hallway. Zoey was asleep, but she wouldn’t stay in there all day. Dalton rapped the counter with his knuckles. “So, listen. She’ll be here for the day and I’ll take her to her parents’ house when I get off work. If she needs anything, get it for her.”
    Jonah wrinkled his nose. “Like what?”
    Dalton rubbed the back of his neck and looked at his younger brother. “I don’t know. I don’t know about that stuff. Here’s the thing. She’s pregnant.”
    Jonah’s jaw dropped.
    Dalton frowned. “Jonah?”
    Jonah didn’t respond.
    “Jonah!”
    Jonah finally shook himself and looked at Dalton.
    Dalton smirked at him. “Do you need to take off your boots to finish counting? It’s not mine. If it was, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.” Dalton shook his head. “I