Page 75 of The Piece You Stole

And I remember dragging him back for a hug and telling him he was family, that as long as he didn’t hug me every damn day, I wouldn’t kill him for it.

Hit the bullseye five times in a row and I’ll buy you whatever gun you want, I told the too-thin boy with the long blond hair he liked to hide behind.

I’d thought it would take him two-plus months, which would give me plenty of time to save up from my job guarding doors.

I didn’t expect a timid knock on my bedroom door two weeks later. Focused on getting ready to leave for work, I’d lifted my gaze from the black shirt I was buttoning up. Aden was staring at his feet, hands in his pocket. But that was nothing new. It hadn’t taken me or Kade long to learn what had happened to put such dark shadows in his eyes.

“Yeah?” I asked him.

He stared even harder at the floor. “I did it.”

I didn’t believe him until Kade returned from his job as a guard in an investment bank where his hours spent wandering around with nothing to do had given him a taste for the stock market.

Kade had poured himself a Makers Mark and smirked at me over the rim as he filled me in that Aden had hit the target a week before but hadn’t wanted to tell me because he knew the gun was expensive and didn’t think I could afford it.

That night, Aden took me and Kade down to the shooting range and put five bullets in the very center of the target. Buying the gun, a Glock 19 that Aden had spent longer researching than it had taken him to learn to shoot, cost three months wages. I’d have gone without eating for two months to buy it.

Kade and I had our wolves for protection, but we all worked, and we couldn’t always be with Aden. He needed a way to protect himself when we couldn’t be there. So, he got his gun. Over the years, Kade and I have bought him others, but this is the one he went up to his room for. This one has always been his favorite.

“I won’t ask you why you’re doing this, but I’m glad you are,” Aden says, relief warming his eyes before he turns to leave.

I grip his shoulder and hold on. “Stop at a drive-thru and eat. The greasier the better. We don’t need you taking potshots at a fox tonight because you weren’t sober.”

The corners of his lips turn up in a grin.

Seeing his smile eases something inside me because I know what it means. Thank fuck he forgives so easily because after nearly ripping his throat out, he has every reason to want to put a bullet between my eyes.

“You want something?” Aden asks, eyebrows raised in question.

I shake my head. “I’m good.”

He turns away. “Kade?”

“Whiskey,” Kade says promptly. “I’d even settle for a Johnnie Walker if that’s all they have.”

“Sure,” Aden says, with a smile that makes it clear he’s getting no such thing.

But when his eyes return to mine, his smile fades. “You and Kade won’t try to kill each other while I’m gone.”

A soft thump draws both our gazes. Kade perches on the counter, his laptop on his lap and his fingers flying over the keyboard. “You know how much I like an audience.” Lifting his head, he winks. “We’ll wait for you. I like the attention.”

Aden and Leandro leave, and I rest my back against the wall, eyes on Kade, waiting for him to pull up the addresses we’ll need to hit this morning.

“So, a mate, huh?” he murmurs, his focus on his laptop.

I don’t respond. There are some things I talk about, and there are some things I don’t.

He peeks up at me, gray eyes serious. “Tell me something. Is she as annoying as that brother of yours?”

I cross my arms over my chest.

“Because if she is,” Kade continues, his lips twitching. “It might go some way to explaining why you’re such an uptight cunt most of the time.”

“Fuck off.” I snort. “Or I’ll smash that thing over your head.”

As Kade’s fingers fly over the keyboard, he’s smiling. This one isn’t a sign of looming violence. No, this one is real.

That’s when I know I’m on my way to being forgiven.

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