Asher glanced at Joe from the corner of his eye as he drove to the grocery store. "How are you handling things?"
"Fine. She's not my type." He shrugged. "I made her uncomfortable when you introduced me to her. I didn't mean to, but I was trying to gauge how attracted I was to her and if the chemical castration was working. She might as well have been a man. I felt nothing when I looked at her." He grinned at his older brother. "I don't think you can say the same."
"How fast did you fall for Beth?" Asher didn't mind talking to Joe about this. They had grown up in the same environment and had many of the same problems. But, after Joe met Beth, he got into therapy seriously and worked through a lot of stuff.
Joe snorted. "I knew in under an hour I was going to marry her. She was so vibrant..." he trailed off sadly. "My world was grey, and she brought in color. Why? Do you think you're falling for Mina?"
"Of course not!" Asher shook his head. "But I wouldn't know if I was, would I?"
"How do you feel about turning her over to Draco?"
"We're not." He answered shortly.
"Why not?"
"Because she has nerve damage from repeated strangulations, she couldn't wear a tracker on her wrist without freaking out because it reminded her of her father handcuffing her to a radiator and beating the crap out of her, and she attempted suicide three times before the age of fifteen! She's been through enough!" The anger bubbled up inside him, and Asher glared at his brother.
"She absolutely has." Joe said quietly. "Shit. What do you need us to do?"
"I have Les working on seeing if Draco will negotiate with him regarding her. If he doesn't, it might be me tearing him apart. "
"And then what?"
"What do you mean?"
"Say Draco negotiates, and you get her out of it, then what? Are you hiring her? I'm not sure what a chemist will bring to the team. But, on the other hand, I'm sure you'll think of something. Or are you letting her return to her life? Or do you want her to stay with you?"
"It's been one night. I'm not that far ahead yet."
"It's been one night, and you're negotiating for her."
Asher rolled his eyes. "Let's just get the groceries." He got out of the car, and Joe followed him in.
"I have a theory. Would you like to hear it?"
"Sure." He passed the cart off to him.
"Because of our background, we fall harder and faster than most people. So when something shines a little light on us, we gravitate toward it. We can't help ourselves." He shrugged. "It can be problematic and abusive, though, so be careful."
"What do you mean?" Asher frowned, he would never lay a hand on Mina unless she consented to it.
"The reason I went to therapy was because Beth gave me an ultimatum, get help or lose her. I was jealous and obsessive, I didn't understand how or why she chose me and I almost became her jailer because I was so scared she'd leave, despite her swearing up and down that she loved me and wanted to be with me." He shrugged. "She was kind and compassionate enough to recognize and understand why I was that way but she couldn't live with just me."
Asher looked at his younger brother. His and Mina's relationship was doomed from the start. He had kidnapped her and she would resent him for that no matter what he did. She was careful to hide the scars on her wrists from him and since her breakdown, she had shut down. There were no more teasing smiles and she kept to herself the rest of the day.
"I don't think I can expect anything to come out of this Joe, I kidnapped her."