Page 5 of PortCity Killers

Bryce was always the one drug I couldn’t give up, and being in his presence now after so long of not having it, I was a fucking junkie with my fix right in front of me.

I shivered, shaking my head to clear out the lusty cobwebs, “All I know is that Collin roped Jaymes into some bullshit scheme and used him as a fall guy. Things went south on a transport that Jaymes was supposed to doalone, and someone got shot. He doesn’t know who it was or anything like that, but he doesn’t think it was anyone big. Don was there though, and he might have caught Jay’s face.”

“Fuck.”

“Yeah.” I sighed, leaning against the building to look down at the water between the slats of the boardwalk, “That bad.”

Don Giovenni was Valentina’s brother, her right-hand man, and someone who would not take kindly to treachery. No matter which way you sliced or diced it, Jaymes had fucked up and fucked up big.

If what he said was true, if Don had really seen him, then it would be hours, maybe less, before they were pounding down our door with no regard for either of our pleas.

Valentina was not known to be a kind woman. She was as beautiful as she was unhinged, and she had a taste for bloodshed that I didn’t want to be on the wrong side of.

“He’s a dumbass, Lex. You need to cut him loose-”

I pulled at his hands, but his fingers tightened as his big body leaned in closer to me, “That’s not what I came here for.”

“I know that, but you need to let him fall, and he’s gotta fall hard, or he’s not going to fucking get it, Alex.”

I made an enraged sound, pulling harder. Did he think I didn’t know that? Did he think that I wouldn’t if I could?

Of course, he did. Because Bryce, for all I loved about him, was practical to a fault, and it wasn’t practical for me to keep putting myself in harm's way when my brother had proved over and over again how little he valued my feelings and security.

But Jaymes was just a kid; was he truly able to comprehend the danger he put us in? The last thing I needed was a damn lecture on the whole thing, especially not when my own feelings were wrapped up in it.

“I get it, Bryce, but I need help, not a Dr. Phil special.”

“When then, Alex?” He dipped his face to eye me. “When is it going to be enough for you? When is it going to be the time that pushes you over the edge?”

I turned my head away like a child berated by an adult, gritting my teeth against the rising resentment of it.

He growled at me without waiting for a reply, not that I had one for him, “There will be another excuse every time which is another reason why you have to help himthistime.”

He was goddamn right and I wished against everything that he wasn’t. This time it was Jaymes's life, and mine, on the line.

What was worse than that? What would be the next drama? The next dilemma? At what point is enough enough? But there was still nothing for it, not for this moment.

I was involved in this one whether or not I liked it, and all I could do was try to clean up the pieces.

“Please, Bryce.” I looked up into the swirling tides of his eyes. “I’ll do anything. I just...I need help.”

“Anything?”

The cold drip down my back had my voice trembling at his tone. That tone that said there would be no going back from the bargain laid before me, or therewouldbe repercussions that I wasn’t sure I was prepared to pay, but I would.

I would make his devil's deal if it meant that I would get the help I needed now. As much as I hated it, I could be just as practical as him, and I didn’t have anything else to bargain with. “Anything.”

He raised a brow, offering me my last chance to back out, but I didn’t really have any other options, now did I? He knew it.

“I promise.” I held out my pinky from between his grip.

He looked at me before gripping the small finger in his larger one. The callouses scratched at my sensitive skin.

“You let him fall next time no matter what it is, no matter what he drags you into. You come to me, and you let him fucking fall, baby.”

I nodded as he kissed the top of my head, pulling me into his arms, so I could hide the tears that slipped away from me.

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