Chapter 74: Chapter seventy four
Brandon Cole pov
“He won’t talk to me.”
That was the first thing out of my mouth the moment I sat down across from Lily. Three weeks. Three weeks of therapy—of ripping myself open, of learning how not to bulldoze my way through emotions and Kingsley managed to undo all of it in less than forty-eight hours.
“What does he even want from me?” I continued, irritation bleeding through despite myself. I already dealt with Desmond. Personally. He won’t say another word about Alex for the rest of his miserable life. So what else is there? And now he’s giving me the cold shoulder like I’m the one who fucked up.
Lily tilted her head slightly, calm as ever. “Is there a reason he might be upset with you?”
The question made something snap.
I almost laughed. Almost snapped at her. If I knew, would I be sitting here paying for professional insight? Or would I be at my office, cornering Alex until he finally cracked and told me what the hell was going on in that head of his?
Or—worse—until I fucked the truth out of him.
The thought came uninvited, ugly and familiar. He liked it rough. Liked being handled, pinned, pushed until he stopped thinking and just felt. I hated myself for how easy it was to default to that. Control instead of communication. Pressure instead of patience.
“No,” I said flatly. “I don’t know.”
“Then maybe,” Lily said gently, “we should start with when this behavior began. What happened right before he stopped talking to you?”
I leaned back in the chair, jaw tightening.
We were fine before.
More than fine. He’d been angry, emotional but present. Honest. He hadn’t shut me out. Then my father walked in.
“I had a visitor,” I said finally. “After that, he just… pulled away.”
“A visitor?” Lily echoed. “Perhaps he’s jealous of your said visitor?”
I scoffed, the sound sharp and dismissive. “It was an old man. He can’t be jealous of that.” I shook my head, irritation flaring. “Why the hell would he be jealous of my father?”
She just leaned back slightly in her chair, studying me like I’d said something important without realizing it.
“Why do you assume jealousy has to be romantic?” she asked.
I frowned. “Because that’s usually how it works.”
“Usually,” she agreed. “But not always.”
I shifted in my seat, impatience creeping in. “He isn’t the type to be intimidated by my father. He’s stubborn. Mouthy. If anything, he’d be angry, not… distant.”
“Anger and distance often come from the same place,” Lily said calmly. “Feeling dismissed. Devalued.”
I stiffened. “I didn’t dismiss him.”
“Did you choose him?” she asked, gently but directly.
The question caught me off guard.
“I—” I stopped, jaw tightening. Images flashed through my mind uninvited: my father standing in my office, Alex being sent away, the door closing behind him. My silence. My restraint. My usual tactic—handle it later, clean it up privately.
“I handled it,” I said instead. “I protected him.”
“You protected him from conflict,” Lily corrected. “But did you protect him from humiliation?”
That landed harder.
I dragged a hand through my hair, frustration simmering. “You’re making it sound like I sided with my father.”
“I’m saying he might have felt like you did,” she replied. “Especially if your father’s words reinforced a fear he already had.”
My chest tightened. “Fear of what?”
“That he’s disposable,” Lily said. “That he’s temporary. That when you’re forced to choose between him and something bigger—family, reputation, legacy—he’ll always lose.”
“That’s not true,” I snapped.
“But have you ever told him that?” she asked.
I opened my mouth. Closed it.
“Why do I have to say that?” I scoffed. “It’s not like we’re anything to each other.”
Lily frowned slightly. “So he’s your fuck toy, then?”
The flare of anger was immediate—hot, instinctive. She noticed it too, because she straightened at once.
“Say that again,” I warned, my voice dropping.
“My apologies, Mr. Cole,” she said calmly. “I’m not trying to provoke you. I’m trying to understand.” She paused, then continued evenly, “So let me be clear. You don’t want him in a relationship. You don’t want to commit to him. But you also don’t want him to leave you or find someone who can give him that. At the same time, you want him to care about you, stay emotionally available to you, and remain… yours. Is that accurate?”
I opened my mouth to respond.
Nothing came out.
“May I say something a bit out of line?” she asked.
I exhaled sharply and nodded. “Fine. As long as it’s not—”
She cut me off without hesitation.
“Don’t worry. I have absolutely no desire to date you or sleep with you. As a therapist, even I can’t handle you.”
That caught me off guard.
“But,” she continued, unfazed, “you might want to stop thinking with your cock and start using your brain.”
I stiffened.
“I don’t need to know what level of delusion it takes to believe people will stay while you keep pushing them away,” Lily said, her tone firm but not unkind. “That’s not how attachment works. That’s not how love works. And it certainly isn’t how someone like ‘him’ works.”
She held my gaze steadily.
“You can’t keep demanding presence without offering safety,” she added. “Eventually, even the most patient person stops knocking.”
Author's note: Don't forget to leave a review/comments. They absolutely makes my day! Make them as long as you can! Sorry for the lates update, will officially start daily updates next month!!:)