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Before I lose my nerve, I push the words past my lips. “The Tulip Broker is my brother.”
Raven goes rigid in my hold, and I watch as Cole pats his pockets for a weapon. Finding a knife, he whips it out. The blade glints in the sunlight and his fingers flex around the handle. I know he’d use it on me, given the chance.
“Hold up,” Vander commands, his palm pressing on Cole’s chest to keep him in place. “Give him a moment to give us the full story before you attack him.”
Our eyes meet and I tilt my head in his direction, giving my thanks for stepping in. At the same time, Raven steps back, removing herself from my hold. I know she wants to closely watch me when giving them the whole story, to be able to study me for any lies or deceptions. But it doesn’t mean I’m done holding her.
Truth be told, Cole is the one I get along with the best. He’s the most like me, the one who I connected with first. That being said, he’s also terrifying when he’s unhinged. He disassociates from his brain, one train of thought consuming him: maim, torture, kill. I’m thankful I wasn’t the one with him on his killing spree. It can be taxing attempting to corral someone like that. It’s why I broke off from my family and built an empire of my own. One where I can keep myself from having to build any relationships.
That all changed when Little Bird entered my life. Now I’ve found a new family, one I hope I’m not about to lose.
“He’s an adopted brother, really. And I should start by saying I had no idea he was the one holding your sister. I would’ve said something much sooner.”
“Why should I believe you?” Cole spits. At least I know I haven’t lost him yet.
“Because I fucking hate him. We have an agreement. I won’t kill him if I never see him again and he stays out of my business. And he’ll do the same for me. I know the name he goes by, and where he operates from, and that’s it. I don’t give two shits about him and haven’t given him a second thought in years.” I take a deep breath, waiting to see how my words settle around him.
He seems to chew them over, and after a second, he says, “Fine. You’ve told us. Now can we get going?” He turns immediately, not waiting for a response, and opens the door to the car, climbing in without a backward glance.
I’m so shocked, I almost stumble, even without moving my feet. He’s letting it go? Easy as that? No fight? No scramble to try to kill me?
Grayson tilts his head back, gazing at the sky. “Nope. Pigs aren’t flying.”
An amused grunt pushes past my lips. “Glad I’m not the only one.”
“Here,” Vander says, shoving a set of keys into my chest, which I barely catch. “You know where we’re going, you drive.”
Raven sucks in a sharp breath and clutches her chest. She stumbles back a few steps, making the three of us step toward her. Cole even opens his door again in worry, showing he never took his attention off his obsession.
“Oh. My. God. What is happening?” Little Bird says dramatically. “My predictable bodyguard has handed over the keys? You always drive. Are you dying? Did you accidentally take Cole’s bullet for Jasper?”
Vander rolls his eyes before snatching her hand and yanking her into his chest. Her giggle cuts off, and she bites her lip, fluttering her eyelashes at him. Her former bodyguard turned lover grips her chin and tilts her head back so he can look at her. He shows her a softness he doesn’t let anyone else see.
“I’ve reached my limit,” he growls, taking a step toward the SUV, making her match his movements. “I need to hold you in my arms for a while. Shake off the torture of thinking I almost lost you again and then having to hear your screams of pleasure for hours on end.”
At this point he has her caged in against the vehicle, his forearm braced above her head and his hips pressed against hers. His free hand grips her neck, and she naturally tilts her head to accept his punishing kiss.
Cole huffs and settles in the car once more, snatching his laptop and opening it. “Hey, asshole. What’s the address?”
He glares at me through the open door. The pressure of his gaze makes me feel like I’ve been put on notice—one wrong step and he’ll kill me.
“I don’t think it’s best to search his actual address. He’s the paranoid type who’d have an alert set up for whenever someone ran it,” I tell him, worried that this will be the thing that sets him off.
“I’m not an idiot,” Cole huffs, rolling his eyes. “Knowing his address helps me to narrow my search down. And I’m more than capable of disarming something like that.”
I narrow my gaze at him. This has to be some trick of his. Some long game ploy to get me to let my guard down. “Why have you let this go?”
He pins me in his sight, a withering grin spreading across his face. “Because our queen reminded me that we’re family. Brothers fight all the time, but at the end of the day, they have each other’s backs.”
It’s not lost on me that he’s referring to the two of us, even when the issue at hand is that I told them my brother is the one who has his sister caged.
Cole doesn’t wait for me to respond. “With the kind of lives we live, sometimes the only true family we have is the one we create for ourselves. I just needed the reminder. Plus, I know you wouldn’t do anything to hurt Raven. And hurting me would devastate her.”
“That it would.” It’s not much of a reply, but it’s the only thing I could think to say right now. I’m too surprised that he so quickly listened to Raven and came to those conclusions. He’s not wrong. Not even a little.
The sweet sound of a moan fills the air and I find Vander kissing along the column of our girl’s neck. Her head is tilted back, her eyes closed. I somehow missed when he lifted her to wrap her legs around his waist.
“I have no more orgasms to give you. I think my G-spot is bruised,” she whines, and I can’t help but smirk. My pants are still damp from making her squirt. I loved dragging every single orgasm out of her, even when she whined that she couldn’t come again. I know her body better than she does, and it wouldn’t dare disobey me.
