Page 48 of Mine, Forever

York was down in the gym beating into a punching bag with entirely too much force for someone usually in control. He’d been different since Ebony was gone, a different that usually would have me pulling out my pistol and shooting, asking questions later, but this was York. He always had my back, and I knew somewhere in the back of my mind he would never do anything to hurt me.

He only wore a tank top and shorts showing off his upper arms which I never saw. I saw an armed forces tattoo on one of his arms which explained a lot. He never spoke about himself, or his family or past, but I assumed that was because he’d lost everything and didn’t want to think about it anymore. Maybe I was wrong, all I knew was I didn’t care about his past just like he didn’t care when I killed someone for no reason.

He stopped punching when he saw me enter the gym sitting down on a stack of old crates.

“You need a ride somewhere?”

“No.”

“You aren’t dressed for the gym.”

I looked down at my black pants and white shirt. “I suppose not.”

“What’s up?”

“Earlier…” I began, trying to compile what I wanted to know clearly in my mind, “… when you told me about Ebony’s arrest. You were apprehensive, more so than I would have thought.”

“I’m not into her if that’s where you’re going with this.”

“But there’s something you aren’t telling me.”

“Yeah,” he nodded.

“Out with it.”

My patience was wearing thin. As much as I respected York, I wasn’t enjoying this little display of secrecy.

“You know I don’t speak much about my family, and I have my reasons for that. But this part I can tell you… you see, Ebony is my cousin.”

I didn’t know how to respond to that. It had to be the last thing I would have ever imagined would come from York’s mouth. How was this even possible? My face must have asked the same question because York answered without me having to word it.

“My mother’s brother’s daughter.”

“You know her father?”

“Yeah, he taught me everything I needed to know growing up.”

“Why didn’t you tell me before now?”

He sighed. “To be honest, I hadn’t seen her since she was five. I didn’t recognize her at first and only realized who she was when you asked me to run a search on her.”

Pushing up from the crates, I began to pace running through the information as quickly as I could. I didn’t know how this world could be so damn small, or why York let me torture his cousin for a year in Serenity without a word. Was he going to out me when I least expected it or did he not care about his cousin’s welfare?

“When she was in Serenity—”

He didn’t let me finish. Instead, he held up his hands to stop me. “Look, Ebony was obviously hiding something sinister. I could see what you were doing, even when you didn’t see it yourself. She’s changed now. I can see that. She has a mind just like yours, Jett, even though you don’t want to admit you’re broken. You two were made for each other. That’s why you’re acting this way—so irrational. I get it, I do, and I’ll do what I can to help you. But quite frankly, your relationship with her is for you two to judge, not for me.”

I hated what he was thinking. There was no such thing as soul mates and bullshit that made it easier to sleep at night. I’d always been someone people feared, even in high school and that tragic accident which had cemented in me the fear I’d never be normal again. That accident had shoved me over the edge into the man I am today. Only when my father pushed me to the edge did I realize I didn’t care about anything or anyone. I wanted to be fucking evil and broken. For years, I’ve survived off the pain and anguish of others, living in complete knowledge that they suffered because of me and what I impulsively did. When Ebony came along, something in me shifted. I knew it, and obviously, York did too.

I didn’t like that.

I didn’t like that York knew me better than I knew myself.

“We have to get her back.”

The words surprised me. Had I really said that out loud?

“How?”

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