“In their eyes, you betrayed them…”
“And now they want blood,” he says, finishing my thought.
He swallows hard. “I don’t know how to fix this.”
“You don’t,” I say. “But I do. We move you. Get you somewhere safe. Cut off every contact Go completely off the grid.”
He doesn’t respond right away. Just stares at nothing.
“I’m scared,” he says finally.
“Honestly? I am too.”
“Do you think a rehab center would be safe for now?”
That catches me off guard because we’ve tried rehab several times and each time was worse than the last.
“It wouldn’t hurt for you to get clean. Might help you think clearer,” I say. This has to be his decision and his alone. I’ve yelled, begged, and threatened him over the years. He always disappeared. I’m not risking that again… not with the Bastards hunting him.
“It’s just… hard, you know? It’s hard to quit when I don’t know how to be anything else.”
“You don’t have to do it alone, Ty. We’ll find a program away from Atlanta. That should buy us some time.”
“I’m sorry about all of this, Sis. I really fucked up my life. Now you’re stuck dealing with my shit. I should be the one protecting you, not the other way around. Instead, I’ve ruined everything,”
Grabbing Ty’s hand, I stand, pulling him up into a hug. I love my brother and there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for him.
“You don’t have to apologize. We always said we’d be there for each other, no matter what. If the roles were reversed, you’d be right here by my side.”
“Yes, I would,” he says, pulling back. “But, had I not taken that gap year, I would’ve been living the life mom and dad dreamed about.”
“That might be true, but you’ve got to let that go and deal with the life you have now. First, we get you hidden and clean. Then we figure out how to rebuild somewhere they can’t find you.”
“Thanks, Sis,” he says, hugging me again.
“Go get some sleep. I’ll finish locking up.”
Watching him walk up the stairs, I can’t believe this is where we are. I sounded confident about handling the Royal Bastards, but I’m not. They’re ruthless and for some reason or another untouchable… which makes them dangerous.
Double checking the locks, I set the alarm, and head into my bedroom. Just as I’m putting my gun in the safe, my phone buzzes. It’s an unknown number so I send it to voicemail.
It starts ringing again and something tells me I need to answer this time.
“Hello?”
“We need to talk.”
The voice on the other end is rough but I know it’s Malcolm.
“No. We don’t,” I scoff.
His laugh is cold, humorless.
“Let me make myself perfectly clear, Londyn. If there’s any chance of saving Ty’s life, you’ll bring your ass to the address I send you.”
I grit my teeth, pulse spiking. I don’t fear Malcolm. I don’t fear anyone. If it weren’t for my brother’s life hanging in the balance, I’d tell him to go fuck himself and hang up.
But this isn’t about pride. It’s about Tyrique.
