Page 41 of Frenemies

I turned on the faucet in the sink and filled up a cup. Not because I was thirsty, but because it was easier than looking at him. My cousin was like a beacon of hope that I could never reach. A reminder of things that I could never have. Like a family and love. The longer I thought about him trying to live some normal life, the angrier I got. Blood stained the memory of my baby boy. It didn’t have to stain his.

“Better yet,” I turned around and leaned back against the sink. “Leave her. The only thing you’re gonna do is get her hurt. Men like us don’t change.”

Keenan leaned forward on the chair and braced his arms on his knees. “Is that why you stayed in Ashen Springs to raise a little girl that wasn’t yours? Because men like us don’t change?”

I swallowed down my guilt. The image of Riley screaming over Micha was one I’d never shake from my mind. “Look how that turned out.”

“Wow, that’s great.” Keenan scoffed and shook his head. “I hope you come up with something better to say at her funeral.”

Her funeral was exactly what I was trying to avoid.

“Let me ask you something, Chase. If your brother is gunning so hard for you, why are you here? If Jax is working with the Mayor in Ashen Springs, he had to know you were there.”

“So? What’s your fucking point?”

“Why, are you here?” He reiterated each word as if some deeper meaning would come to me.

It didn’t.

Why the fuck was I here? Because the universe wanted me to suffer. Because this was some fucked up revenge for the sins of my past, or because my brother wanted to enjoy my misery?

Who the fuck knew? If this shit made sense, then I wouldn’t waste my time wondering why Jax spent the day bouncing his nephew on his knee before blowing him up.

“Go home, Keenan,” I grumbled and flopped back down on the cot. “Before Jax finds out he has more family to fuck with.”

“Everyone has a weakness, Chase. Did it ever occur to you that you might be his?”

“Yeah, sure.” That made complete fucking sense. Clearly, he’d never met my brother—lucky him.

“You’re still breathing, aren’t you?”

If he wanted to call it that, then yeah, sure, I’d go with alive. I was a living, breathing, empty hole of numbness. But hey, I was alive.

“You’re alive for one reason, Chase.”

Couldn’t wait to hear this.

“Because you’re the little brother Jax wants to hate but can’t.”

I couldn’t help but furrow my brow as Keenan got up and tapped on the cell door. Was he right? I could count at least five times that Jax could’ve taken me out, but he didn’t. I just assumed it was because he wanted to toy with me.

“Your brother took over the Reapers because your men saw the insanity in him. The only person who can let your men down, is you.”

I didn’t say anything when Derek appeared around the corner and unlocked the cell for Keenan to step out. I didn’t know what to say. Keenan’s words were slapping me in the face harder than Naomi did when I tossed her shoes in the trash.

“You’re not the only one who has a brother with issues.” He took one last look over his shoulder and added, “But you are the only one that can stop him. How much damage are you going to let him do in the meantime?”

“It took two days for them to fix the water, Daddy.”

A loud sigh came from the other end of the phone. “Naomi, I don’t have time for this.”

Of course, he didn’t. He never did. Didn’t have time to look at any of my pictures or to talk to me when Ava was in the hospital. He didn’t even have time after Chase kidnapped me. I called him after the shooting. Know what his response was?

‘I thought you were better than this. Don’t bother me with your criminal friends—I have more important things to do.’

He couldn’t be bothered, but my mother came down. She was fawning all over me like it was the end of the world. That was annoying. It took forever to get her to leave. At least I didn’t find her in some frat guy’s bed.

“I don’t know how you expect me to live in a place like this. I had to hire my own cleaning service. They take forever to fix things, and I’m expected to cook my own food,” I whined despite the fact that I ordered out. Naomi Prescott did not waddle around barefoot in a kitchen. “It’s inhumane, Daddy.”

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