Page 4 of Legions

I knew Thatcher was prone to have violent reactions to things. But I hadn’t known, I didn’t realize the extent or that it was still happening. I thought about Les and couldn’t even think of a time that he touched me. And Christopher, he’d accidentally taken my crop. That did not deserve getting shot.

A cold sweat broke out over my skin, and I shivered, although the morning chill had faded. I’d been living in blissful ignorance.Seeing nothing but the Thatcher that loved me. It was hard for me to see the same man who couldn’t stand the sight of a mark on my body to be so savage. He sliced off Less’s finger, for god sake.

My stomach rolled again, and I had just enough time to grab my hair before I bent over to vomit. My eyes watering as I heaved three times before it let up. I closed my eyes and put my hands on my knees for a moment, making sure I was done before straightening.

When I opened them, I looked out over the acres and acres of Shephard property. Accepting who and what they were had been one thing. But understanding that I was in love with a man who could be so brutally violent and not feel remorse or guilt… what did that say about me? I was the one who loved him, slept in his bed, in his arms. Opened my legs for him anytime he wanted me, and I craved it.

“Capri,” Sebastian’s voice called out, and I winced. I didn’t want to talk to him or anyone. Not right now. His footsteps drew closer, and I couldn’t mask this. I wasn’t okay. Pretending I was wouldn’t be possible. I had blood on my hands. I hadn’t done the deeds, but I had been the cause of them. A man without a finger, one who had permanent damage in his shoulder, and god… what had he done to JB? Messed him up for life?

“Hey,” Sebastian was behind me now. “You okay?”

No, Sebastian. I was so far from it that I didn’t know what that was anymore.

“Why did Less quit?” I asked, not looking at him. I wanted to see how deep the lies went. How far they would go to cover for him. How much had been kept from me.

“What did you hear?” Sebastian’s tone was tense. There weren’t two brothers who could be any more different.

“That Thatcher sliced off his finger for touching me.”

“Shit,” Sebastian muttered the word. He’d been hoping I stilllived in ignorance. A part of me did too. It was easier. My little bubble of happiness. The one where my Prince Charming isn’t a psychopath.

“And Christopher,” I said.

“He didn’t slice any of Christopher’s body parts,” Sebastian said quickly.

“But he shot him.”

“In the shoulder. He’s fine. Alive and well. We got him an excellent job at a stable north of Atlanta.”

He defended him so easily. That brother bond was strong, but I knew that King, Storm, and even Wells would do the same—come to his defense, act as if his actions weren’t insane. It was what they did. They were all joined together in this life, one that I didn’t truly understand, it seemed.

“But he can’t race anymore,” I said, feeling the guilt weigh heavier on my chest, to the point that it hurt to breathe.

Sebastian let out a heavy sigh. He had no defense for that. No way to make it sound better. Because there wasn’t one. “He was compensated. He doesn’t even have to work again if he doesn’t want to. There is no mortgage on his home.”

I shook my head. Money didn’t fix everything. “But that doesn’t make it better.”

“I know.”

At least he admitted it.

“What did he do to JB?” I asked.

Silence. I closed my eyes as horrific scenarios assaulted me. Taunting me.

“He’s alive. He’s fine. Taken care of,” Sebastian’s voice held a trace of unease.

A tear rolled down my cheek, and I wiped it away. “Why? Why does he react like that? The man I love. The one I wake up to every day, that isn’t him.”

Sebastian blew out a breath. He’d grown up with him. Seenhim at his worst.

“Thatcher is complicated. But Capri, you know that. You’ve seen it. You were warned.”

I turned around to look at him. “Warned? No, Sebastian. No one ever told me that he had done something to JB or shot Christopher. Both things happened before we got together. Yet I didn’t know about it.”

Sebastian raised an eyebrow. “Would it have stopped you from loving him? That’s what it boils down to, isn’t it? Would it have kept you from falling in love with my brother had you known?”

Thatcher’s face as we stared at each other in the mirror this morning came back to me. The vulnerability in his eyes when he looked at me while he was inside me. His arms and how safe and content I was with them wrapped around me.

---