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Ty’s jaw tightened. Mr. Browne shifted slightly against his pillow and immediately grimaced before settling again.

“We can’t help who our family is,” he added.

Ty looked back at me. Despite what Mr. Browne had just said, his hands were still twisted in my shirt. For a second, I wasn’t sure whether he planned on listening. Then Sha spoke.

“He’s right.”

Ty finally released me. I took a step back and bumped into the wall behind me. I was sure I was about to get shoved through that muthafucka. Sha’s eyes stayed on me.

“But you better not be nothing like his ass.”

I looked at him. His expression didn’t move.

“Because the second you show us you are, you gone see how fast everybody in this room say that they just talked to you. I would hate to break my niece’s heart by killing ya ass, because I love the shit out of that girl, but I knew my brother first.”

I understood exactly what he meant.

“You ain’t gotta worry about that,” I said reassuringly.

Ty reached toward me again. My body immediately stiffened, but instead of grabbing me, he straightened the front of my shirt where he’d wrinkled it.

“There.”

He patted my chest hard as fuck one time.

“Now you presentable.”

I stared at him. This nigga, I thought to myself as he went back to his chair and sat down like he hadn’t just threatened to shake me until my fucking organs rearranged. Mr. Browne looked at me. I couldn’t read his facial expression, and that bothered me. Telling him this kind of shit could have derailed whatever progress we had made, but it wasn’t something that I was willing to keep from him.

“So, where’s your brother at now?”

“I don’t know.”

Sha’s face hardened.

“I went looking for him last night,” I continued, “I went to his mama’s house.”

“And?” he asked.

“He was gone,” I paused, “and the feds had already been there. Well, that one agent was the only one that was there.”

That got Ty’s attention again.

“He raided the house and tore the whole place apart looking for something.”

Ty looked down at Ryan’s card. Mr. Browne was quiet. I could practically see him putting everything together.

“Does his moms know where he went?” he asked.

“She said she didn’t.”

“You believe her?” he asked with a raised eyebrow.

I thought about Ms. Gia standing in Ghost’s doorway with tears in her eyes after I had searched her house with my gun out.

“Yeah.”

At least I wanted to. Mr. Browne’s eyes stayed on me.