Page 59 of Up in a Blaze
His gaze was wide when I finished speaking. Probably because I never talked that much.
Still, the guy had to get the fuck over the shock and process what I said.
I could tell he did when his expression smoothed out and then he clipped, “Fuck.” He scrubbed a hand down his face. “Eve and me had a shit home life. She thinks if she sticks with one person, they’ll eventually grow bored and cheat. Both parents did it to each other. Both showed the hate they held for each other and us in their actions and words. They shared all the twisted shit they did to each other with us. Our rotten mother tried to get Eve into drugs to pimp her out. We were starved, beaten, and….” His jaw clenched again. “Yeah, it wasn’t healthy, so that shit is gonna fuck us up somehow. I thought since we got away from them when we were sixteen, we’d heal. But livin’ on the streets was a whole new level of fucked-up shit to get through.” He shook his head. “Fuck me, you don’t need to hear this shit. Anyway, thanks for tellin’ me. At least I ain’t so pissed with them anymore.”
Jesus Christ. I knew they’d had family issues. I just didn’t know how bad it had been.
Tech’s occasional flinch if he was in the zone on the computer and I moved too quickly made more sense.
“Brother,” I said, his gaze shot to me, and once again, it was wider than it’d been. “I?—”
He explained the look he’d given me with “You never call me brother.”
Hell. He’d noticed. “I ain’t a part of the club. You probably shouldn’t call me brother either.”
“Fuck that. You’re club. You just don’t wear the patch.” He turned back to the computer. “Didn’t know me sharing my sob story would get you to call me brother.” He smirked over at me.
“Fuck off. I was just respecting the club.”
“Appreciate it and you listenin’ to me.”
“Anytime. And I think Eve will wake up eventually. You can either say something now or wait until they come to you about their history and tell them you already know. Imagine their faces.”
Tech grinned. “Yeah, I think I’ll do that. But Quake also gets my fist to the face for datin’ my sister. Fuckin’ prick knows she should’ve been off-limits.”
Snorting, I turned back to the monitors.
“Seriously, brother. Get the fuck home.”
“Will do as soon as Sawyer finishes work.”
“Shit, that’s right. I forgot you brought him in. How was the drive?”
“Silent. The kid fidgeted and looked like he’d be sick if I tried to start a conversation with him.”
Tech winced. “Damn. Good luck for the drive home.”
Yeah, I reckon it’ll go about the same way.
But I also did a little more digging on Sawyer and his brother. Learned they weren’t living in the address that was on file. I wasn’t sure if me bringing it up on the car ride home would be good or bad. Probably bad, though. I could scare him away from the security he had within Polished. But there could be a chance he might open up to me.
Unless I left it up to Henri. He was the charming one.
I thinned my lips as I drove down the road. Sawyer looked exhausted. More so than usual. Why was the kid doing this to himself? What was he hiding?
Clearing my throat, I caught him tensing.
Fuck.
I wasn’t that scary, right?
“I won’t hurt you,” I offered.
“I know,” he said quickly, wrapping his arms around his stomach.
Fuck it. Guess I’d do a little more opening up for the night since I hated that the kid felt uncomfortable around me. Also, I had a feeling Henri was going to get attached to him and Arlo, which meant I had to at least try to put him at ease.
“First time I met Henri was when I was bleeding out in an alleyway after being shot and beaten.”
