“It’s more than dislike, and you know it. He’s poison. He’s like Ro’s personal drug of choice, and he won’t get better unless that soul-sucking dick is out of his life.”
“We’ll see,” Kaiden mutters as we turn a corner, heading out past town toward the outskirts.
It’s not an outright no, so maybe I can work on him.
“If you don’t want to go the college route, come work with Xavier and me,” Hunt says, and my eyes widen.
“Seriously?”
He bobs his head. “We’re growing at a rapid pace and constantly recruiting. We could really use someone like you on the team. Think about it,” he says as Lauder pulls into the parking lot of the bar in question. “If you’re interested, let me know.”
“Okay.” I’m not often taken aback, but I did not see this coming. Excitement snakes through my veins, but I dampen it down as I get out of the car. Now isn’t the time. I can guess what we’re going to find inside, and it won’t be pretty. “Can we at least rough Jarvis up?” I ask Kaiden as he falls into step beside me, with Everett, Lauder, and Hunt taking up the rear.
“I think you’ve done enough fighting for one night.” His gaze skims over me. “Your face is a mess, and we’ll be talking about that when we get back to the house.”
“Oh, goodie. Something to look forward to.” Kaiden swats the back of my head, and I shoulder check him. “Knock that shit off. The mood I’m in, I’m liable to swing at you next.”
Kaiden smirks as he pushes through the door into the dingy biker bar. “Try it, little brother, and let’s see how you get on.”
I narrow my eyes as we walk through the seedy bar, garnering more than our fair share of wary looks. “I can take you, old man. Any day of the week.”
Kaiden wraps his arm around my shoulders, yanking me into his side. “You’re hitting the boxing ring with me this week.” He squeezes me tight, locking me against his side in an iron grip. “No excuses. You need to work off that aggression.”
“Get off me.” I elbow him in the ribs, and he chuckles as he releases me, patting me patronizingly on the head. “Behave. This isn’t the kind of place to draw attention.”
“It seems no one mentioned that to Roman and Jarvis,” Hunt drawls, and I instantly sober up. Hunt jerks his head at a booth tucked in the back where four beefy bikers with vests, tats, and beards are standing around the table, drinking beer and talking to Jarvis.
Kaiden snarls, shoving people aside as he heads toward our brother. Roman is slumped on one side of the booth while his so-called boyfriend flirts with biker dudes. Jarvis says something to the bikers when he sees us coming and they turn and face us with warning looks written on their ugly faces.
“Get out of my fucking way,” Kaiden snarls when we reach the table.
“Get out of our fucking bar,” one of the older dudes says. “Your kind aren’t welcome here.”
“We want no trouble,” Hunt says.
“We’re leaving as soon as we get our brother,” I say, jerking my head at where Roman is passed out in the booth. I lean in closer, and fresh anger mushrooms inside my chest when I spot the needle still dangling from Ro’s arm. “You’re fucking dead,” I bark at Jarvis, lunging at him, but Kai pulls me back, shaking his head. “That better not be what I think it is,” I hiss, glaring at Ro’s asshole boyfriend. I don’t care what Kaiden says. If Jarvis has enticed Ro to inject heroin, I will kill him and gleefully carve up his body.
“Chill, Zayn. You’re always so uptight. It’s only fentanyl.” The asshole smirks, and I want to rip his head from his shoulders.
“Do you know how many people have overdosed on that shit?” I shout, shucking out of Kai’s hold and brushing past the biker at the end of the table to get to my unconscious brother.
Kaiden growls, shoving past two biker dudes to grab Jarvis. He slams him against the wall, shoving his arm up under Jarvis’s neck and pinning him with the full extent of his fury. I want to stand and cheer, but Ro needs me.
I feel, rather than see, more men coming up behind us, and this has the potential to get messy superfast.
The four dudes at the table crowd around Jarvis and Kaiden with Hunt and Lauder facing off against them, leaving the coast clear for me and Everett to attend to my brother. I wasn’t too afraid coming here because I’m used to this scene. But Ro generally pops pills or snorts cocaine. I’ve never known him to inject opioids, and I’ve been too complacent. My brother needs professional help, and while I don’t want to force him into rehab, I think it’s reached the point where I don’t have a choice.
“Shit,” Everett says, trading a concerned look with me.
Fear pounds through my body as I rip the end off my shirt and cover my fingers as I remove the needle from Ro’s arm and put it in the back pocket of my jeans. I check Ro’s pulse, sighing in relief when I find one. “He’s alive, and his pulse is strong.” I rest my head against Ro’s shoulder for a moment, wishing I could eradicate his demons so he doesn’t do this anymore.
It breaks another piece of my heart every time this happens.
Sliding my arm underneath my brother, I heave him up with a grunt. Ro has been working out a lot recently, and it shows. My little bro isheavy. Wrapping his arm around my shoulder, I prop him against my body as Everett helps me to lift him out of the booth.
My head picks up as the cavalry arrives, and relief washes through me now the numbers are more even. Drew and Charlie walk across the room as if they own it, neither breaking a sweat as they take in the scene. I reckon we were two seconds away from an all-out brawl, so their timing is perfect.
“Fuck off,” Drew says, eyeballing the bikers swarming around Kaiden as he pins Jarvis to the wall and interrogates him. Drew slides back his suit jacket, revealing the gun strapped to his hip. Charlie stands beside him, also clearly armed, cracking his knuckles and staring at the men like he wants themto start something so he gets to beat on them. “You know who we are and what we’re capable of.” Drew’s gaze slides to my brother and his friends. “They’re with us and under our protection, so get lost and mind your own business.”
