Page 72 of July 27

Ruger straightened and grabbed the rag on the seat of his bike. She slid off the stool and patted his ass on her way to the door leading into the house, but he tagged her wrist, keeping her in the garage.

"He won't stay long." Ruger kissed her.

Not wanting to invade his space when he had company over, she sat back on the stool and let Ruger walk out of the garage alone. She looked at the rolling tray beside her.

Earlier, she'd shown Ruger how to get music on his phone, and the tracks she'd put in his playlist were looped to play repeatedly. The look of wonder on his face reminded her that he hadn't been out of prison long. He'd missed out on so much.

She could see how his absence from society affected him. Eighteen years was a long time. Technology had advanced so much that she could now see where certain common things, like streaming shows on television or ordering online, were new to Ruger.

He played his ignorance off as anger because he hadn't experienced these things. He preferred to go through life alone rather than ask for help.

He wasn't mean or scary to her. But she could understand why others would view him that way.

"Rach?"

Ruger gazed at her with a mix of concern and hesitation. Rachel grabbed the hem of her shirt and worked it around her thumb in worry as she approached them. Something was going on.

He lifted his arm, welcoming her to his side. "Maverick's brought some news about Shady."

She stepped closer, tucked under the security of his arm, and looked between the two men. Maverick was a wall of indifference. Ruger was concerned.

Her heart pounded. She knew the moment would come when she received news of her brother—the weeks of worrying about him had prepared her for the news that he was dead—killed by the organization that had kidnapped her.

Her stomach rolled. Accepting that her brother was gone wasn't easy. He was the only family she had. Good or bad, she loved Shady. He was family.

She swallowed hard, prepared to hear the worst. "Tell me," she whispered.

His arm tightened around her. Her pulse pounded in her head.

"Shady is..." he began, his voice gentle but firm. "He's back in prison, Rach."

The air left her lungs in a burst of relief. "What? How? I thought...oh, God, I thought you were going to tell me he was dead."

"He's alive. He's just back in prison. He got a message out. One that got to Maverick, letting you know where he was."

"I don't even want to know what he did this time." She pressed her hand to her forehead. "I'm just relieved that he isn't...how long is his sentence?"

Maverick shook his head. The inner workings of the prison were a foreign concept to her. She hated relying on others when Shady could use the phone to contact her. But he refused because he had too many dealings with the wrong people with whom he needed to keep in touch. That's probably why he was in prison now.

Ruger rubbed her back. "That's easy enough to find out later. For now, you can relax, knowing where Shady is."

Tears welled up in Rachel's eyes as she processed the news. Relief that her brother was alive mixed with the sadness of their broken family. "My family is never going to be normal."

Ruger pulled her into a comforting embrace. "Nobody's family is normal."

Rachel buried her face in his shoulder, feeling sorrow and gratitude. As she closed her eyes, a childhood memory came flooding in.

She was eight, running through the empty lot behind their house with Shady. They laughed, the sun setting behind them, casting long shadows on the grass. Her brother had found a stray puppy, and they spent the afternoon playing with it. Their worries about losing their mother and their father at home with a load of hot merchandise he was trying to sell on the streets were forgotten in those precious moments of innocence.

Her brother, eight years older than her, was still young enough to enjoy the excitement of playing with a puppy.

"He's a furry ball." Shady held the puppy up, looking him all over.

Rachel giggled, reaching out to pet the small, fluffy dog. "He's so cute. What should we name him?"

Shady thought for a moment, his face serious. "How about Lucky? Because we're lucky to have found him."

Rachel nodded enthusiastically. "I like that one."

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