I climbed out of the vehicle, my large body unfurling from its cramped quarters. “Nice to see you too, little bird.”
She strode over to me, decked out in pajamas covered in cartoon bunnies, and wrapped her arms around my waist in a firm hug. I pulled her to me to share the embrace, noticing Cam, my youngest half-brother, standing quietly in the doorway.
“You lost, brother?” He locked eyes with mine as his deep Southern drawl carried across the large driveway, his accent as strong as it was when we’d met six years ago. “Haven’t heard from you in a while.”
Cam was the largest and strongest of their group. Years ago, he’d been a prized fighter for the brother I’d killed. I liked and respected him. He’d been handed a raw deal when his adoptive parents passed away, and he’d worked hard to build a life he was proud of. My nephew, Travis, had come from nothing after my brother abandoned him and his sick mother for the whims of our great Cartel leader. He’d built a home with five other people—and now, he had a son.
I’d protected them all from the devastation that was my father as best I could over the years. So much so, Antonio had no idea Cam or Travis existed. It was why I rarely made an appearance up here. I wasn’t willing to risk their lives for my own whims. That, and the fact these men had everything I’d ever wanted and would never get. Even now, in their quiet home with their loved ones safely tucked upstairs in bed, I couldn’t stifle the electric daggers of jealousy that zinged through my spine.
“It’s good to see you, brother,” I replied with a wan smile. “It’s hard to show up regularly when I work for the Devil.” I tucked Winter under my arm and guided her toward her husband, each footfall lighter with every step forward. These people felt the closest to home I’d ever had, other than the people I’d just left behind.
“Could you make some tea, Big Guy?”
Winter’s request halted the burgeoning hole of emotion forming in my belly as she led me through the foyer into the kitchen. She loosened from beneath my hold and pointed to the metal island stool to my right.
“Sit,” she directed, and took her own seat across from mine. “You have some explaining to do.”
Hesitation filled my bones like lead. This woman wouldn’t let me leave until I’d presented every sin and folly to her on a platter. Many of the secrets I held weren’t mine to tell, and Hillary would kill me if I betrayed her trust, even if it was to her best friend. Navigating this conversation could be worse than a live minefield. At least in that, I’d have a greater chance of making it out unscathed.
“Spill, Viking.”
Her blue-green eyes pierced me deeper than a stake to the heart, her tone brooking no arguments or bullshit. Cam handed me a mug filled with minty-smelling tea, then sat down beside her, the icy blue in his gaze equally penetrating. The two of them refused to blink as they eroded my will with their stares, a mix of curiosity and concern.
I drew in a long sip of burning liquid, a stall to gather my thoughts. They knew the tightrope I balanced on, but they didn’t know either side had untethered its line, leaving me to fall to my death on the rocks below. So… I’d start there.
“Several months ago, Antonio wanted me to take over the sex-trafficking side of the business,” I said, unraveling the spool of knotted thread that was my life. “At the same time, Hillary was having trouble with a business partner…”
I left several details out—anything to do with Alvarez specifically, but kept the spotlight on me.Myfucked-up choices,mydeal with the Devil. How Trish ousted me when I was no longer useful, and how the twins were now determined to kill me—which had put Hill in danger. I laidmyself bare on the table like the emperor who wore no clothes. Nakedness was far easier to handle than the baring of my soul. I told them Aaron and Lauchlan—who I guess they’d already met—had become a part of our lives, and how we’d been working to clear Hillary’s name, which was going to happen tomorrow.
“So, I left a few days ago,” I summarized, my jaw hurting with the many words I’d uttered in such a short time. “I’m not willing to risk their lives along with mine when Antonio gets too close.”
Winter’s withering stare could have disintegrated an ant in its path.
“You’re an idiot.” She folded her arms across her chest, the cartoon bunnies mocking me with their own blank stares. “What do you think, Cam? Idiot?”
“A straight fool,” Cam agreed, his baritone sweeping across the granite and hitting me with its soft lilt. “Sharp as a marble.” Cam was like me, a man of few words, and that was all he needed to get off his chest, because he just let the words sit in the air like dense fog.
Prickly hairs stood on end at the back of my neck, my defenses rising with every blink that followed my movements. I swallowed the rising anger and checked myself with tight, shallow breaths. I’d shown up on their doorstep—I had to at least hear them out, even if their advice was shit.
“Thanks for your input,” I tossed back sarcastically. “Very helpful.”
“You want helpful?” Winter rose on her haunches, holding her slight frame slightly above mine on the island stools, a rare hostility blazing cold in her eyes. “What is the point in ‘saving her’ with your distance, if she won’t want anything to do with you when she’s actually saved? Hill values loyalty aboveeverything. Do you think you’re being very loyal right now, leaving just when they need you the most? Do you think she’ll ever trust you again? What’s thepoint of killing Antonio so you can eventually have a life with her, if she’s just going to hate you in the end?”
“She’s not going to—” I stopped because I’d seen it, the betrayal across her beautiful face when I turned away and walked out the door. It was an expression reserved for the lowest of the low, the scum at the bottom of a milk barrel.
Shewasgoing to hate me in the end.
“Brother.” Cam’s warm tone broke through the frigid noise. “If you love her, be with her. Whatever comes of that. Your ‘protection’ won’t mean shit, if she can’t count on you when it matters most. I almost lost Winter because I was too fearful once. Don’t throw away the only thing you’ve ever wanted for a man you despise.”
He saw through me like clear Saran Wrap. The rawness of this vulnerability chafed my insides like sandpaper to the groin. Fuck.
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
Why did it take a four-hour drive and a basic discussion over peppermint tea to have the most obvious answer hit me over the fucking head like a wrecking ball?
“I’m an idiot,” I admitted on a remorseful grunt. “I’m a fucking idiot.”
“You sure are,” Winter sing-songed cheerfully, before slurping the last dregs from her cup. “I’ll make up your bed for the night, but you’d better haul ass in the morning to get to her in time.”
