Page 12 of Three to Fall

Thing was, I did believe him. I just didn’t want to. I so desperately wanted him to be a liar, even though I knew he wasn’t capable of it. At least not with me.

“Why disappear? You’ve been gone for so long.”

He pressed his mouth into a tight line. “I never meant to. Trust me, after I killed Annette and Portia, the only thing I had on my mind was getting to the twins they were working with and the rest of their crew. I only meant to stay away long enough for you to calm down and listen to me without shooting me on sight. Got picked up by the cops on a break-and-enter charge while I was down south. Spent the last five years doing time down there.”

I gaped at him and then glanced over at Whip and the others. “Did you know?”

They all shook their heads.

Whip ran his fingers through his hair. “He would have come up on the release lists we check if he’d been local. But if he’dbeen out of state…” He glanced over at Trig. “Seriously. Five years?”

To men like them, five years was a life sentence. It was worse than death. The beatings. The rape. The solitary confinement. They’d all done time in the past. They’d all agreed never to do it again.

Guilt swamped me. Poured down over my head like a bucket of cold water.

I’d unknowingly left my brother to rot in a prison cell for years. I hadn’t even considered he could have been caught. He’d always seemed untouchable.

I’d made assumptions because I’d had my head too far up my own ass to see what my wife had been doing right under my nose.

When I’d thought about how selfish I’d once been, I really hadn’t even touched the truth.

“For what it’s worth,” Trig said, voice softer than I’d probably ever heard it. “While I’m not sorry she’s dead, I am sorry her death caused you pain. I didn’t want that.”

I didn’t want my brother to have spent the last five years in a cell. When he’d spent half his childhood in a cage. My own PTSD flashbacks screamed through my head, and yet I’d been walking around, a free man for the past five years, while Trig…

I’d left him to suffer, the exact same way our foster parents had.

“I don’t think it’s you who needs to apologize,” I croaked out. I lifted my gaze until it met his. “I’m so fucking sorry I didn’t know.”

He shrugged. But then his gaze darkened, focusing on Kara. “I just don’t want you making the same mistake again.” He shook his head. “Should have just fucking killed her before you got home, but then that didn’t work out so well for me last time,did it? But now look at you, all over her like a fucking rash. You sure can pick ’em, Gray.”

I bristled, not liking the way he glared at her. “She’s nothing like Annette.”

“Her boyfriend works for Luca Guerra. Just like Annette did.”

X let out a low whistle. “Plot twist!”

I blinked and gazed down at Kara. “Is that true?”

Kara bit her lip. “Luca is Hayden’s business partner. He knows full well he made a deal with the devil and he’s not proud of it. But he’s not trafficking women.” She glared at Trigger. “And neither am I. You’ve clearly been watching us, so you’ll know that’s the truth. Am I right?”

Trigger lifted one shoulder. “Didn’t kill you, did I?”

Kara glared at him. “Do you want me to say thank you?”

A tiny smile pulled at the corner of my mouth at her getting fired up. It was so unlike her, but I kind of liked it.

Trigger glanced at me with a shrug. “I might like this one.”

I might as well.

3

HAWK

I’d never been a guy who sang. I didn’t even really sing along with the radio while I drove. My voice was shit, and nobody needed to hear it.

Except Hayley Jade.

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