Page 90 of Alpha Bait

I folded my arms and snapped back, "why the hell would I care what Richard Carmichael does?"

"Don't make me say it," he muttered

He knew. Donnie had figured out the exact nature of my relationship with Richard Carmichael. I had no idea how long he sat on the information, but the fact I was still alive meant that he didn't tell my brother.

"I have nothing to do with Richard Carmichael. Don't you get it, Donnie? I'm not the same person that I was. I'm not Indie Holloway. I'm not a part of the family. I'm dead. I'm dead and I'm never coming back to New York"

"You can't abandon us."

I snapped, "I'm not the one who abandoned you, Donnie."

He seemed to get a hold of himself, realizing that if he kept goading me, he would reduce his chances of convincing me to come back to the city with him.

"If Richard kills Donnie, he will go to jail for the rest of his life. This doesn't have to happen. I've spilled blood, Indie. I've done wrong. The more I think about it the more I realize we need to put an end to this. Richard wants to put an end to it by putting a bullet between your brother's eyes. If he gets that chance, and eventually he will, we will never see an end to all of this fighting. We will ruin everything that our father worked for just because we couldn't be mature enough to stop."

"Have you tried giving the speech to my brother?" I huffed.

"You are the only one who can get through to either of them. I spent $5 million tracking you down. That's how hard you were to find. I did it anyway because I know that you are our only hope."

"You'll have to find another hope."

I tried to sound cold, but I had to admit even to myself Donnie's words had spoken to me. If Richard was trying to kill my brother, that meant he was back in New York. If he was trying to kill my brother, he already knew that Ames was dead, and he probably believed that I was dead too.

He, more than anyone was who I owed. I could not allow him to continue believing untruths while I became Patsy. I owed him more. If he was willing to kill for me... I'd have to be willing to die for him.

"If I come back with you, there's no telling what Jamal will do to me."

"My loyalties may not have been clear before Indie, but I will not allow your brother to harm you. If you come back with me, I will protect you."

I considered it.

"You'll protect me?"

"Without a doubt," Donnie replied.

"If I come back, I want to do things my own way."

Donnie replied, "and you have my word that I will support you.

I had a decision to make that would change the course not only of my life but of our two families who had been long intertwined in a battle that most of us craved to end. The difficulty would lie in convincing my brother to end it.

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