Beef chuckled as he led the horse away.
Boomer crouched down. “Tell us.”
He explained about the photograph and his confrontation with his mother. “She lied to my face,” he said, his breath hitching. “I never wanted any part of him. He was never going to be able to fill in for my dad.” He clenched his jaw and growled, “My real dad. I swear if he touches my mom violently again. I’m going to kill him.”
“I’ll help you,” GQ said.
“We’ll bury the body,” Hazard said.
Breakneck just covered his face.
Boomer squeezed his shoulder, and his throat spasmed. “Don’t do this to yourself, Kelly. You’re the man your father raised, no fucking doubt about it.”
“You belong to us, kid,” Skull muttered. “Doesn’t matter what name your DNA came with.”
He lifted his head, met their eyes, tried to reconcile how much he loved them. “I’m sorry,” he choked out. “I should have told you when it happened, but I was so wrecked.” He looked at Boomer. “If you hadn’t shown up in that bar when you did, I wouldn’t even be here. You saved me when I didn’t know who I was.”
“You know who you are,” Kodiak said. “You show us every goddamned day.”
That penetrated, but with everything that was going on inside him, he couldn’t process a thing. “I fucked up, Boomer. With Blair, and I don’t know how fix it. All I know how to do is fuck and release. I’m pathetic.”
“Join the fucking club,” Iceman said.
Breakneck straightened. “Boss, I?—”
“You needed help. You got it against your will. Who do you think told them to hunt you down and find out what the hell is going on?”
The guys started back toward the buildings. Iceman crouched down. “We’ll always have your back. As for Blair. Don’t underestimate that woman. I did that with Rose, and she kicked my ass in more ways than I’m comfortable admitting. Even I had trouble finding my way with her. But there’s a spark in us that won’t let us give up. Talk to her and apologize. That always works wonders.” He rose, started to walk, then turned back. “Who you are is defined by no one but you. We can tell you until we’re blue in the face how much you matter to us, but goddammit, boy. You already know.”
Breakneck sat there for all of fifteen minutes, trying to make sense of their words, but he was fragmenting, in emotional overload from all the stuff he was trying to manage on a very small budget. His brain shut down, but not his body. He went back to the barracks, changed, and this time no one stopped him from running for the hills.
He ran, losing his grip on the numbness that had kept everything else buried.
Blind and panicked, his breathing labored, punishing his lungs. His feet hit the trail hard and quick, kicking up dirt behind him. The trees were thick, the foliage just as obscuring. He didn’t see the runner until it was too late. They collided hard, slamming to the ground, rolling together, and he held onto that body to protect and cushion, to take the brunt of the punishing ground.
When they came to a stop, he was on his back, his arms still cradling the person. Then her voice rang out. “What the hell are you running from? A bear?” The shock of her voice went through him like a knife. Annoyed, a bit bemused, cutting.
“Blair,” he said, his voice crushed.
She raised her head, her face changed from annoyance to surprise. “My God,” she said. “Don’t you ever rest?” She pushed up and scrambled to her feet. “I swear you’re heading for a complete and utter breakdown.”
Her words cut him even deeper. He came to his knees, then his feet. Wanting to take off, wanting to stay, aching to be the man she wanted, needed, and respected.
“What is wrong with you?” she asked, her expression going pensive. He tried to form words, but nothing came out. He had so much to say, it was as if there was a log jam in his chest. “Is this about Ayla?”
“It’s you,” he said, choking. “You’ve done something to me. I can’t hold on anymore. I’ve lost being numb. Ayla…I’m a stupid fuck. Clueless and she's sweet, and I hurt her and...fuck...I hurt you. Unintentionally. Okay! I'm at a loss. Women are always in my life, throwing themselves at me, wanting nothing but a dangerous dick. I give it to them and hope for something more, but they can't see past the face and body, the job. You...fuck...I think you're different, and maybe I'm dangerous, but that's one thing that's out of my comfort zone. The elements have nothing on you. Sea, air, land. God, I'm powerless. So, my track record sucks, starting with my mother.”
Retreating, his back hit a tree, and he unraveled. One minute she was standing there watching him lose his shit, the next she was pressed into him. “I’ve got you.”
His breath hitched, his face contorted in agony. His instinct was to lock himself down, get distance, but there was nothing left to sustain him. “I didn’t see the signs she was crushing on me. I missed them because she was kind to me, and I fell into the same damn trap.” Hot tears welled in his eyes and slipped down his face. “I’m sorry…I’m so sorry. Don’t give up on me, please.”
“I didn’t, babe. I knew it was something like that.”
His breath escaped in a rush. “What?” She understood?
“I trust you, Kelly.” Her voice was a low, steady hum against his chest, a balm on his raw nerves. Her thumbs stroked his jaw, a slow, rhythmic motion that was both grounding and incredibly intimate. She tilted her head, her eyes searching his, seeing past the fury and the self-loathing to the broken man beneath.
Powerful gratitude filled him, almost bringing him to his knees. Awe. She saw him. All of him. The chaos, the self-loathing, the damage, and she stayed. Just that steady, unwavering presence that felt stronger than anything he’d ever built to protect himself.
