I don’t truly relax until we’re through the gate, and then I nudge my elbow into his side. Gently, because I’m sure he’s hurting, but enough to get his attention.
“I’m still pissed at you.”
Kellin side-eyes me and grins. His teeth look extra white with all the dried blood and bruising and the thick layer of dirt covering his face.
“Fair. I promise to make it up to you.”
My chuckle dies when I see Brody’s Escalade parked on the street. My feet falter.
He squeezes my hand. “Long story. Let’s go.”
Once we’re on the 10 West, we both start to breathe normally.
I glimpse around the empty vehicle. “Where’s Brody?”
Kellin hands me a phone. “Ask him yourself.”
I recognize this case. Black with orange trim. It’s Brody’s. “You have his SUV and his phone? Please don’t tell me?—”
“He’s alive, Maeve. Last I checked anyway. He went after Nolan Doyle, the accountant your dad was trying to bribe to take us down.”
So, it really was just a way to start a fight with New York. A generational drama I want nothing to do with.
I nearly died for this stupid shit.
Kellin reaches over and places his hand on my knee. “Brody set me free to save you.”
I glance from his hand to his face, which remains focused on the road, and then I peer down at my brother’s phone.
As kids, Brody and I always had each other’s backs. He was always taking a punch for me, and I’d always fib for him to keep him out of trouble.
At some point, things changed between us. Brody started shadowing our dad and withdrawing from me. For a long time, I believed he’d abandoned me, but maybe I was mistaken.
“He’s a decent man.” A smile splits my face. “Stubborn and too rigid, sometimes, but…I’m glad to know I can still depend on him.”
“He’s not the guy I thought he was.” Kellin shakes his head. “He gave me his ride, his weapon. He unlocked his phone. Put it in the hands of the enemy. You know what I could’ve done with that information?” His eyes flit to me before returning to the road.
I continue to peer down at my brother’s cell, tracing my fingers over the edge of the case.
I’ll never know what lengths my father would’ve taken to save me. But Brody risked everything. He put my life—and his own—in Kellin’s hands.
Because my brother loves me. And trusts me.
Kellin’s laugh sounds more like a cough. “I really underestimated him, I guess.”
I snag his hand and fold his fingers around mine. “Me too. But I’m glad we did.”
“I love you.” Kellin utters that beautiful declaration again.
I kiss his filthy, grimy knuckle as joy floods my heart. “I love you too.”
Chapter 40
Kellin
Maeve and I spent the better part of the day getting poked, prodded, and bandaged up by her father’s private doctor, in the penthouse of all places.
Brody and Connor stopped by to check on us. Well, her.
