Chapter Thirty

Daryl finally let her go once she promised that she was finished fighting. She grudgingly stood there while Merle stepped around her and headed towards the living room.

Daryl was positioned between her and her cousin because he didn't trust either of them. She had never been this angry in her life. Veronica threatening to call the police on Daryl had been the last straw. The woman had only brought Trevor with her to taunt them and it had gotten the guy beat up. That wasn't Daryl's fault!

"I want you and your disgusting nephew out of my house," Carol growled. "This is still mine for another thirty days. You have no right to come here and you definitely have no right to bring that piece of crap with you."

Veronica kept the back of her hand pressed to her bleeding nose. "You do not get to demand a damn thing from me. I'll come here any damn time I please and I'll bring whoever the hell I want with me."

"Then be prepared to get your ass kicked every-"

"Carol, damn it!" Daryl growled, clearly exasperated. "You might as well give up with the threats, alright? The bitch wants to call the police, let her. Might as well get it over with now so at least we ain't gotta look at them anymore. I'd rather go to fucking jail."

Veronica glared and then went to pick her phone up from the floor. Carol, who wasn't ready to let a damn thing go, moved quickly, stomping on the device and grinding her foot. She smiled as Veronica straightened up empty handed.

Before they could start fighting once more Daryl stepped between them again and gripped her shoulders. When she met his eyes she sobered instantly. He shook his head. "Enough. We lost, alright? Stop trying to make it worse."

Veronica laughed but there was no humor in it. "Listen to your man, Carol. You'll never win at anything. You never have. You were a loser when we were little and you're a loser now, only now you have yourself a loser husband to keep you company."

She opened her mouth to retaliate but Daryl shook his head. "That's what she wants. Just let it go."

"How can you be so damn calm about this?" she asked, finally feeling the weight of defeat.

He lifted one shoulder in a shrug. "Cause there ain't a damn thing we can do about it."

"Loser or not, at least he can see reason," Veronica sneered from behind him. "It's kind of sad that such a low class boy is this much smarter than you, Carol."

Merle stepped back into the room then and before Carol could snap back at the woman, he spoke. "It's about time you shut the fuck up, lady," he said, a strange calm to his voice.

Veronica scoffed. "Please. What is with you people? You're all complete morons!"

Merle stared at her, a muscle in his jaw flexing but that was the only indication that he was struggling to control his anger. "You're gonna shut up and you're gonna walk away. You go talk to whoever you need to talk to and you need to tell them all that you've had a change of heart and you want Carol to have her land and her house back."

Carol frowned. Merle must have hit his head when he had fallen because he had completely lost his mind.

Veronica laughed. "Is that so? Well, it's quite clear that Carol isn't the most delusional person in the room."

"I told you before that you didn't know who you were fuckin' with. I'm lettin' you do the right thing on your own terms but if I need to, I'll force your hand and you'll give her back what's rightfully hers anyway."

"Merle, really!" Veronica seemed beyond pleased.

Carol was simply confused but when she looked at Daryl he was staring at his brother with a look of mild awe on his face. After a few long moments, Daryl grinned, squeezing her hand reassuringly as his eyes stayed glued to his brother.

Merle sighed. "You wanna try me?"

Veronica nodded, her eyes like chips of ice. "I really do. You don't have anything to stand on and you can't force me to do a damn thing. This house is mine and this land is mine and there isn't shit any of you can do to change that."

Merle turned around and walked back towards the living room without a word. He hadn't looked at Daryl or Carol on his way past. Trevor, who Carol had forgotten was still standing in the doorway, flattened himself against the wall, tears still streaming as he held both hands to his ruined mouth.

"Your brother has to be the biggest moron that I've-" Veronica stopped talking but strangely her voice still filled the air around them, much louder now.

The first thing Carol noticed was that the blood drained from the woman's face and then her mouth dropped opened.

"You sure about that? You sure you want me to leave? You know, you really are a lot more man than I'm used to. My husband, though successful in his own right, really doesn't have what it takes to hit those hard to reach places."

Daryl and Carol shared a stunned look and they both tore off through the dining room, chasing the sound of Veronica's pleasured cries.

They stopped in the doorway to the living room and the site had Carol's face flushing. Daryl covered her eyes with his hand from behind but she could still see through the gap in his fingers. On the television was a clear shot of Veronica bent over a kitchen table, naked, and behind her was none other than Merle Dixon.

"Turn it off!" Veronica shrieked from behind them.

Merle grinned and tossed the remote control into the air so it spun and then he caught it. "We ain't reached the best parts, darlin'. Don't you want them to hear you screamin' about the dirty redneck bein' the best you ever had?" He quirked a brow and Veronica launched herself at him. He danced out of the way, holding the remote up so she couldn't grab it.

"I will sue you all for this!" She shrieked. On the screen her voice grew louder, more frantic, and between Daryl's fingers, since his hand was still covering her eyes like she was some sort of unsoiled virgin, she saw Merle grin at the camera as he moved.

The unmistakable sound of laughter had her spinning, facing Daryl. He shook his head. "Merle, for fuck's sake, pause this shit storm. And thank fuck Carol don't make faces like that," his voice trailed off and he laughed so hard he doubled over.

Veronica was shrieking but Merle listened to Daryl and paused it, plunging the room into silence.

Merle cleared his throat. "I have it all set up real nice. If I think you ain't gonna agree to give the land back, my little friend is gonna hit send and every Hotel your husband owns is gonna get a copy of this in their inbox. Not to mention his personal email and a few other select individuals."

"You son of a bitch! You set me up!" She screamed.

Merle nodded. "I did. You fix it and this just becomes a bad memory for everybody involved. You fuck with me and I'll ruin your ass. You'll be flippin' burgers or shakin' your tits for a living."

"This is blackmail!"

Merle nodded. "You're quick. Your choice," he said, shaking the remote in her face. "What's it gonna be, big shot? You know, when your husband leaves your ass and files for divorce you won't even have a chance at getting alimony since your infidelity was caught on camera. But you'd still own this little place so you could probably make it comfortable for yourself."

She turned, glaring at Carol and then Daryl. "Trevor, lets go," she said, lifting her chin.

Merle leaned against the back of the couch. "And I ain't gotta remind you what'll happen if you go through with callin' the cops on my baby brother for breakin' your boyfriend's face."

Veronica shoved past him without a word, Trevor trailing behind her.

"I'll give you a week. If we don't see papers in the mail, telling us that Carol is the uncontested owner of this little set up then-"

"Shut up!" Veronica screamed, turning at the door. "You'll have them and then I hope you all rot in hell. Enjoy this rat infested hole!"

"We will, thanks!" Carol called, as Veronica stormed out, slamming the door so hard Carol was surprised the glass didn't break.

She stared at Merle, unable to believe that he had managed to save them. Sure, he had caused a little drama of his own for them but this was huge and she would never be able to repay him for helping her save this place. Before she could even think about what she was doing she threw herself at him, hugging him hard. He snorted but she felt one strong arm go around her waist.

She pulled back but kept her hands on his shoulders. "You had this planned from the very start didn't you?"

He nodded.

"But why did you help her? Why did you let her talk Trevor into doing what he did? And you tried to get Daryl drunk so he would sleep with someone else?" She wasn't angry at him anymore, only curious.

"Cause I meant what I said. I still think you two are too goddamn young for this but seems like that don't matter. I didn't want my brother bein' married to a woman that would go behind his back. And I didn't want him to be stuck in a marriage if he wasn't in the mindset to stay faithful. But that didn't mean I was gonna let that woman take your damn house. What kind of asshole do you take me for?"

She shook her head.

Daryl spoke up then. "You saved our asses but what you did was still fucked up, Merle. That asshole coulda done anything to her while they were alone at that pet shop. It was just the two of them and he would have had the means the get away with it too."

Merle shrugged. "I kept an eye on him."

Daryl shook his head. "You don't know what the hell he coulda done in there!"

Now Merle looked uncomfortable. "I was there every damn night, alright. The night he finally put the moves on her I even got pissed off and roughed him up after she left."

They both stood there, stunned into silence as they regarded the man. Carol finally grinned. "You are so sweet Merle Dixon!"

Merle scowled. "You cut that shit out right now!" He scoffed. "Sweet. I got your sweet, little girl."

Daryl glanced at the television and then he was scowling too. "How about we get that awful shit off the screen and get a case of beer to celebrate?"

Finally the scowl melted away from Merle's face and he grinned. "Now we're talkin', little brother.

~H~

Daryl chuckled as Merle stumbled down the hall. Carol refused to let him drive home so he was staying in Daryl's old room tonight. Carol had called Dowler, telling him the good news and the old man had had some good news of his own. His secretary had called and informed him that she was moving to Atlanta because she had gotten a better job offer. The first person Dowler thought of to take her place was Carol.

"I don't know about you but I'm beat," she said, turning the lamp off and grabbing his hand.

"Yeah," he yawned. "Me too."

Neither of them said anything until the bedroom door was shut firmly behind them. When she turned he could still see the disbelief in her eyes. She smiled averting her eyes and shaking her head slightly. "I can't believe your brother."

He sat down on the edge of the bed and kicked his boots off. "To tell you the truth, neither can I."

"He was going to save me all along. He didn't want us together, and he was such a son of a bitch, but he wasn't going to let her take all this from me whether you were here or not."

He smiled tiredly. "Yeah, that was a shocker. Merle's usually a selfish bastard."

Her hands went to her hips and she scowled down at him. "Don't say that! Your brother is a good guy."

He raised a brow at that. "No he ain't. I mean, sure, he came through and saved the day but he was a real bastard about it."

"You're too hard on him. I'm asking him to move in with us tomorrow. He shouldn't have to live in that gross apartment when we have a perfectly suitable guest room."

Now he was the one scowling. "What! No! Come on Carol, you know as good as I do he's an ass! You're just feelin' all grateful right now. Don't make any rash decisions."

"You love your brother," she grumbled, shimmying her jeans down her thighs.

For once, he wasn't distracted by her body. "Yeah, I do, but that don't mean I wanna live with him!"

"And why not?" She asked, turning towards the dresser.

"Because he-"

The door opened and Merle stuck his head inside. "Hey, you two wanna smoke some weed? I forgot all about it but... Damn Carol, you got a great ass."

Daryl stood up, shoving Merle out of the room and shutting the door. He turned, glaring at her and realized that she was trying to hide a laugh behind her hand. He growled. "See!"

She sighed and offered him a smile that she obviously thought would disarm him. "We can at least try it. I've always wanted a brother or sister. This way I'll be able to see what I've been missing all my life." Her arms snaked around his neck and she grinned at him.

He knew it was over then. She was going to get her way and he was going to be stuck with Merle. "You'll change your mind. He ain't easy to live with."

"But you'll give it a shot?" she asked, her lips grazing his jaw lightly.

He sighed and lifted her off the floor before he sat down again. "I'll give it a shot."

"I love you." She grinned at him.

He snorted but he couldn't hide a smile of his own. As long as she was happy, he could deal with his brother. It was actually kind of nice having the two of them close. Merle was all he had as far as blood went and he'd missed him. The man had came through and saved their asses in a huge way today.

Daryl was as grateful for that as Carol was. For the first time, they could look forward to a future that wasn't wrought with uncertainties.

And that's another wrap. Many thanks to those of you that stuck around till the end. I don't know when I'll be posting another story, since nothing is finished at the moment. Don't worry, though. If you don't see me around, I'm still alive! Much love to you guys and I'll catch you on the flip side sometime!