“I went to prison for killing a man.”
Gray blinked in surprise. Holden whipped his head toward me. Surprisingly, it was Axel whose eyes flashed.
“Youwhat?”he barked.
I swallowed hard. “That’s what Snake wants to tell you all. I went down on a manslaughter charge.”
“What thefuck?” Axel demanded.
My throat closed up. The anger in his voice, the betrayal, was exactly what I’d feared for so long. They wouldn’t understand like Bailey had. Hell, he really shouldn’t have understood so easily. His heart was just too big.
They’d see me as a threat—and rightly so. I’d nearly hit Snake tonight. Nearly ended him for talking shit about Bailey.
Sirens sounded, pulling everyone’s attention away from my ill-timed confession.
“Axel?” Dalton called out from the darkness.
“We’re here!” Axel jogged toward the front of the junkyard and his sheriff boyfriend. Judging by the sirens, Dalton had brought backup too.
Gray turned to Holden. “What now?”
Holden shook his head. “Now, we let the sheriff do his job.”
“Aw, c’mon,” Snake said, a vicious glee in his voice. “Don’t you want to hear all about how Flynn killed his own fucking stepdad? Don’t you want to picture how that might have happened? He did it with his bare hands. He’s so fucking strong. You don’t want to be around if this man loses his temper.”
“It’s not how he’s making it sound,” I said urgently. “I didn’t mean to?—”
Snake talked over me. “He’ll take one swing and fuckingkill?—”
“Shut him up,” Holden snapped.
I thought he was talking about me, but Gray surged forward and clapped a hand over Snake’s mouth. “Shut your dirty fucking hole about Flynn. He’s one ofours. You hear me?”
Snake’s eyes widened in surprise, but no more than my own. I’d been rehearsing my goodbye speech in my head, and Gray was…defendingme? He didn’t even know what had happened yet.
Gray glanced toward me, gaze catching mine. “We know you, Flynn. Whatever happened in the past, we know you now. Don’t forget that.”
My chest squeezed hard, and to my horror, a wounded sound escaped me.
“Shit,” Holden muttered. “Shiloh…”
Gray pulled Snake away, marching him toward the authorities. To my shock, Shiloh came forward and wrapped his arms around me. “Shh. It’s okay. We’re here for you. The guys don’t turn their backs on the people they love. Don’t you know that yet?”
“Love?” I whispered hoarsely, watching Holden over Shiloh’s shoulder.
“Isn’t that what you keep telling me?” Holden said. “You love Bailey, right?”
“Yeah, of course, but…that’s not…”
I pulled away from Shiloh. I didn’t even know what I wanted to say. Why weren’t they yelling? Why weren’t they telling me to get the hell out of here?
“I’m dangerous,” I said. “I didn’t tell you about my conviction, even though I’m seeing Bailey. You must want to kill me.”
“Don’t get me wrong. I’m not fucking happy this is how we’re finding out. You should have told usbeforeyou got involved with Bailey. I’ve got a lot of things to say aboutthat, but?—”
“Stop!” Bailey’s voice cut through the darkness, and he emerged a minute later, Axel and Gray behind him.
“Bailey?” Holden asked. “What the hell are you doing here?”
