I winced when Race landed a solid blow on Bax’s already battered ribs and then had to squeeze my eyes shut when Bax retaliated by slamming his elbow repeatedly into Race’s cheekbone. They were both bloody, and even in the dark I could see the cold looks of fury on both of their faces. It wasn’t going to end unless I did something about it. Unfortunately, I had no idea what that something should be. I shoved my hands through my hair, closed my eyes, and screamed as loud and as long as I could. If their battle hadn’t drawn the attention of the neighbors, my bloodcurdling shriek surely would. I screamed until my throat was raw, until hot tears burned down my face, until I thought I would pass out from the lack of air in my lungs, and I didn’t stop until a pair of arms wrapped around me and pulled me close. Since the chest I fell against was bare and slicked with blood and sweat, I knew it was Bax who had collected me and not my brother.
I forced myself to look over Bax’s shoulder to make sure my sibling was still breathing. He was, but he didn’t look happy, and as soon as Bax pulled away from me, Race threw him his jeans and barked at him to get dressed if he was going to be so close to me. Bax flipped him off and fished around in the pocket of the hoodie I was wearing for his smokes. He looked at me when he spoke and not at Race.
“I’ll be back in a minute. If the neighbors called the cops, I’m gonna tell Titus it was a false alarm.” He cut a warning look at my brother. “If she’s crying when I get back, I won’t stop next time.”
“Who are you to threaten me over my sister, Bax? You were supposed to protect her, not f**k her.”
Bax growled and made a move like he was going back after Race, so I put a hand on his forearm and reached up to wipe off a trickle of blood that was trailing out of his nose with the edge of my thumb. I shook my head, and with my eyes, I pleaded with him to let it rest. It must have worked because he stuck the end of the cigarette in his mouth and headed toward the door.
“Well, maybe you should have left written instructions with someone before you dipped out, leaving her on her own to deal with half the Point trying to get their hands on her in order to get to your stupid ass. Sorry, as usual I wasn’t in on your goddamn plans, Race, so I just made up my own rules as I went along.”
“That’s what you always do, Bax, and look where you ended up.”
I saw Bax’s jaw clench and his hands curl into fists.
“Not without some help, Race.” His eyes lifted to me and it made my heart sink to see that all those swirling shadows were firmly back in place. “I’ll be right back.” I wasn’t sure if that was a threat to my brother or a promise to me, but either way it raised goose bumps all along my arms.
When the door closed with a fierce bang, I flipped on the overhead light and finally looked at my older brother. He had flopped into the worn-out chair and looked about as haggard and spent as its threadbare fabric. He was a big guy, not as bulky as Bax, but wherever he had been, he hadn’t been taking very good care of himself over the last month. His cheeks looked hollowed out, he had an unkempt scruff decorating his handsome face, and his eyes, identical to my own, were far too dark. In addition to the weight loss and general disarray of his clothes and normally perfectly styled hair, there was now a gaping wound on his cheek, his eyebrow was split open, and there were rusty smears of blood along the back of both of his hands.
I sighed and walked to the tiny kitchenette to get him a damp rag to clean up with. “Where have you been?”
“What are you doing in bed with Bax, Dovie? Do you have any idea what he’s capable of, what kind of guy he is? I never would have left you alone had I thought you would be dumb enough to end up sleeping with him.”
I gritted my teeth and tossed the rag to him. I narrowed my eyes at him as I propped myself up on the counter and watched him.
“You left me alone after I got the crap kicked out of me and told me to wait for him, Race. Who are you to show up now and judge what’s happening here?”
His eyes, so like mine, flared dark with anger and guilt. “I had to leave you. They would’ve just kept coming and I had to figure out who I could trust.”
“They would’ve grabbed me to get to you, Race. Do you even care about that?”
He shoved his hands through his golden hair and started to pace in front of me. “Of course I care. Every move I’ve made has been to keep everyone safe. I knew Bax would find you. Would stand between you and Novak.”
I crossed my arms over my chest and leveled him with a look. “What if he hadn’t? What if he had gotten out of jail and taken off? That’s a big risk you took with my life without talking to me about it, Race.”
“I know Bax.” His gaze drifted to the rumpled bed. “At least I thought I did.”
“I thought he was like your brother, your best friend. Isn’t that why you told me to trust him if he showed up? Even if he was scary, even if he seemed dangerous, you told me to trust him.”
“That was before I knew he would sink so low to pay me back.”
“What are you talking about?”
He lumbered to his feet and started pacing back and forth. “I never thought he would sleep with you to get back at me for sending him to jail.”
I sucked in a breath so hard it hurt. I shook my head and frowned at Race. Even though I missed him, was worried about him, I wasn’t going to let him waltz in and start getting things all tangled up.
“He didn’t. He didn’t know about the setup until tonight when he cornered Lord Hartman. He suspected you had something to do with it, were involved somehow, but he called Titus tonight for the real story. He took me to bed way before that, Race.”
“Jesus, Dove, I don’t need details.”
“Then stop being an idiot. You pulled a gun on the only person in the world who gives a crap where you’ve been and if you’ve been okay besides me.”
“I wasn’t expecting to find you naked, in bed with him.”
“That justifies putting a gun to his head after everything he’s already been through?”
Race’s eyes flicked up at me and then he squeezed them shut and shoved his fists into them.
“You’re in love with him.”
I lifted a shoulder and let it fall. “Maybe a little bit. Regardless, he’s been here and he’s done what you intended him to do. Benny, Novak . . . none of those guys have gotten close to me, and they want to because whatever you have going on is making everyone very nervous, Race.”