Page 47 of Under Your Care

???

It was another hour before we pulled into my brothers’ driveway. Lane’s hands fidgeted in his lap as he peered through the windshield at the house in front of us.

“Are you sure that you want to do this?” I patiently asked. “You don’t have to see him, sweetheart. Maybe it could wait until you’ve healed?”

Lane took a deep breath and straightened in his seat, chest out and shoulders back. “No, I can’t wait. I have to do this, Grey. I’m… I want to do this. I can’t explain it, but when you told me you had killed him… I felt upset, almost jealous. I was glad he was gone, but there was this feeling that you took the chance I had for revenge. I wish I didn’t have to be beaten within an inch of death, but I’m sorta relieved that I can do this.”

“Okay,” I accepted.

I helped Lane out of the car, forgoing his crutch by having him lean on me instead. We walked up to the home’s front door. To my surprise, the door swung open once we were a couple of feet from it. They never greeted me at the door. Hudson loomed in the doorway, watching us with a blank look on his face. Within moments, his mask slid into place and he warmly gestured us in. Lane huddled into my side, gripping my arm, a look of distrust aimed at my brother as we passed him into the foyer.

“Any issues with him?” I asked Hudson as the three of us walked through the house to the door that led to the basement.

As he punched the code into the keypad, he shook his head. “Not really. He kept whining so we gagged him. Since then, we’ve been able to justignore him.” The door’s lock disengaged, allowing us to go through and walk down the stairs. As normal, the door automatically locked behind us.

Lane was eerily quiet beside me. He raised his eyebrows when he realized we were walking towards another locked door. I pulled him even closer into my side as the entrance opened, revealing the cement walls of the twins’ torture room. His steps stuttered when his gaze found who it was searching for. I was ready to stop and turn around without a word if he wanted. My lip twitched up as he took a breath and continued walking forward, a certain confidence now exuding from him.

He only faltered when he saw his friend in the corner of the room, sitting at Hayes’ feet. The two locked onto each other. But while Lane began walking over to him, Oliver fretted and seemed to lean into my brother’s leg for support.

“Hey…” Lane said tentatively. Hayes ran his hand through Oliver’s hair, catching his attention.

“Go ahead,” Hayes instructed. Lane frowned and looked back at me. I shrugged, knowing he was concerned for his friend. Oliver seemed well-enough. He was alive, so that was all that really mattered.

Oliver stood on shaky legs and opened his arms, grunting when Lane limped forward and threw his arms around his tiny figure. The strength of Lane’s hug lifted Oliver’s feet off the ground for a few seconds. As his feet returned to the ground, he kept himself buried in Lane’s chest.

“I’m so sorry,” Oliver mumbled, voice barely audible to anyone except Lane.

“I’m sorry too. I should’ve been more open with you. Can we go back to being best friends again?”

Oliver nodded and squeezed his arms tighter. “I would’ve contacted you sooner, I promise. It’s just that…” He glanced at Hudson who was now leaning against the basement wall. Oliver swallowed before continuing, “I’m supposed to get my phone back soon. We can text like normal. Oh, and we can hang out again like normal. Okay?”

Lane frowned again, clearly unsatisfied. He bent down so that he was speaking directly into his friend’s ear. I shared a look with my brothers as our partners whispered to each other.Our partners. That was weird to think about.

Lane turned to face me, seemingly done with his whispered conversation. “I’m ready.” His gaze flicked over to the center of the room where his cousin was strapped to a gurney.

Oliver returned to Hayes’ side, sliding down to the floor once more. Hudson sauntered over to stand on his other side. It was oddly thoughtful for my brothers to be hands-off this kill. Maybe we had Oliver to thank for that.

I held my hand on the small of Lane’s back as we slowly walked to Tate. As we stopped next to the gurney, Lane looked down at his cousin, while I kept my eyes focused on him. His eyes were pools of immeasurable sadness. He stood completely still, the only movement being his eyes raking over the bound body below him. I watched - transfixed - as he stared down at his living nightmare. I wondered what was going through his mind. The man who had caused him so much fear, so much pain, lay completely helpless just inches away.

My breath faltered momentarily as those eyes filled with misery met my own.

“I love you,” he murmured.

I pulled him to my chest. “I love you too, little fawn.”

“Forever?”

“Always.”

He smiled shakily up at me, tears brimming in his eyes. “I’m not sure if I should say something to him first.”

I placed a chaste kiss on his forehead. “You can do this however feels right.”

Lane gently pulled out of my embrace and stepped over to where hewas standing near Tate’s upper body. I made no move to remove his gag. His eyes were panicked but glaring daggers up at Lane.

The room was dead silent when Lane began to speak. He held Tate’s gaze as he did so.

“I’ve made countless speeches to you in my head over the years. I never expected to be able to actually recite them to you. It’s so weird being able to speak uninterrupted like this… Do you still remember the last time? You said that you’d gotten a girlfriend so you didn’t need me anymore. That you weren’t a homo. It felt so strange…” Lane seemed to wander into a memory.

---