Page 112 of Ruin
“Kaison,’ I say when he doesn’t answer.
“It’s fine, Kolton. I’m fine.”
“Don’t give me that shit. Stay at my house.”
“With you?” he barks out a laugh.
“I’m staying with Lucian.”
His brow furrows, and I realize then how much I’m putting on this relationship.
If I let Kaison and Cora stay at my place, I have no choice but to stay with Lucian. I want to mend things with my brother, but living with him isn’t the way to do that. Even the thought of him being in my house while I’m not there is stressful, but he needs help and I can help him. I can put my shit aside. I spenta lot of time at Lucian’s anyway, so as long as I don’t think too hard about this, it’ll all work out.
“Kolton—”
“I expect all your shit to be at my house within the next couple hours. Get the prospect on it.”
I drive off, not letting him answer me. If I do, he’ll argue more. I’m not sure about any of this, but if I want to let go of all the bullshit I’ve been holding onto, I have to start somewhere, and with Lucian gone, it’s the perfect opportunity to work on things with my brother.
I stare at my phone, waiting for a text back. He must have landed by now. So why isn’t he answering me? Why hasn’t he texted at all?
All the bad thoughts go through my head.
He doesn’t plan on coming back at all.
His plane crashed.
The car that was bringing him to the hotel crashed.
He’s too busy fucking someone else to answer me. Maybe Beth. Maybe some younger, hotter guy that isn’t as much of a pain in the ass as I am—someone who’s nicer to him.
So much shit—toomuch.
Finally, the bubbles start, and I can breathe.
Lucian: Of course that’s fine. You know where the spare key is.
I stare at the text, glad he’s okay with it, but not feeling any better. Why isn’t his answer good enough? He answered what I asked. What more do I want from the guy?
I respond with thanks, then shove the phone into my pocket, not sure what I’m expecting or what is going to make me feel better other than having him here, which isn’t a possibility.
Why am I so goddamn needy?
My phone buzzes and I pull it out.
Lucian: I miss you.
The weight on my chest loosens, and I find myself smiling at the phone. Was that it? Is this what I needed? A little reassurance without indirectly asking for it?
Me: I miss you too.
I put my phone in my pocket, then head up the steps to my house. Kaison and Cora are already here, all their stuff is inside, thanks to the prospect figuring shit out. Noah is a goodkid. Kaison and I are supposed to leave in a couple hours with Coyote. We told him we’d meet him at the clubhouse, but we don’t plan on letting him leave.
The more I thought about it, the more I realized this is what we have to do.
The town needs this club, and Coyote isn’t the right guy to run it. There are better ways to go about this, but that won’t work this time around.
I can trust my brother, and we can trust Grizz, probably Rhino too, but what about the other guys? It’s better we do this on our own and deal with the shit after, rather than spillingour plan and one of them running to Coyote. They could have Coyote’s back just because he’s the Prez. Loyalty is funny like that.
