“You fucking piece of shit,” Harper snarled. “You don’t fucking deserve a brother after the shit you pulled.”
I needed to take control somehow before Harper snapped and lunged for him again. “Someone has to explain to me what’s goin’ on right now.”
“He’s part of my brother’s gang,” Rikky told me.
“You’re in a gang?” I asked Harper.
“It’s not a gang,” Harper responded.
“It’s a gang,” Rikky corrected.
Harper lunged. It took more effort than I’d expected to hold back his surprising strength.
He grunted and pulled back to run both hands through his hair. “Do you know what he did to Archer?” he asked me, and now he didn’t sound as angry. He sounded hurt.
I took a step toward him and he took one back, not letting me close the distance. He looked at me like I was involved in whatever this was, that I’d somehow hurt or betrayed him just like he believed Rikky had.
Panic clawed at my chest. Ineededto fix this.
“No, baby. I swear I don’t know anythin’ about Archer.”
I knew Rikky had a twin. I’d tried to befriend him when I’d befriended Rikky, but Archer had been prickly and unwilling to talk to me. The closer I got to Rikky, the more Archer seemed to dislike me, until I just stopped seeing him around at all.
Harper held my gaze as he pointed at my best friend. “He killed three people.”
I swallowed. I believed him. I knew Rikky’s family weren’t good people. He never gave me the details, and I never askedbecause I knew I wouldn’t like the answer, but I’d long suspected animals weren’t the only thing the Kovats family hunted.
My eyes flicked to Rikky, who wasn’t smiling anymore. He was staring at Harper in a way that had me wanting to put myself between them. “Did you?”
Rikky stared for a moment longer before turning to look at me, his lips curving upwards, but it wasn’t a smile I recognized on him. “I’ve killed more than three. So what?”
“So you fucking framed Archer for them, you fucker! He had to leave because of you! You ruined his fucking life!” Harper was getting loud again, and I knew his voice would echo off the tiles and make its way back to the dining room. I couldn’t have my family knowing anything about this.
“Yes. What are you going to do about it?” Rikky sneered.
Harper tried to lunge for him again, and I only barely managed to catch him this time. I pulled him tight to me, keeping him as safe as I could, because I knew he wouldn’t stand a chance if Rikky decided to fight back.
Rikky swallowed. If I didn’t know him so well, I might not have noticed it, but he wasn’t as calm as he was pretending to be. He wasn’t unaffected or as amused as he wanted to seem. He was upset and trying not to show it.
“Talk to me, Rikky.Please.” I begged. “Give mesomethin’here.”
We shared a long stare, communicating without words before he sighed. “I didn’t have a choice.”
“Of course you fucking did. You didn’t have to do what your dad ordered you to do,” Harper seethed and Rikky’s walls pulled up again.
“Ididn’t.” He smiled. Rikky wanted to seem cold and cruel, and I didn’t know why. I didn’t know this side of him or how to handle it. “My father has no idea Archer didn’t do it. It wasmyidea.”
My arms strained from trying to stop Harper breaking free and going for Rikky again, but I managed to keep hold of him. I kissed the top of his head in an attempt to calm him down.
“Rikky,please. Look… Harper is it for me. He’s the one I’m meant to be with. I love and trust him with my whole heart. He isn’t goin’ anywhere. Whatever happened, whatever you did, you can tell me, tellus. I know who you are. You wouldn’t do somethin’ like that for no reason.”
There was a struggle in Rikky’s eyes, a war. The winning side changed depending on whether he was looking at Harper or me. He didn’t trust Harper, that much was clear, and Harper didn’t trust him. But I trusted both of them, and I’d do whatever I needed to, to be the bridge that helped them reach each other.
“Please,” I asked again softly. “Brother, please.”
Rikky’s eyes stayed on me, and he swallowed before nodding. “Okay,” he sighed. His posture softened, and I could see my best friend returning to me.
Harper was still guarded in my arms, but he stopped trying to break free. I eased the hold I had on him and rubbed his back slowly.
