Page 78 of Nailed

I shoved his shoulder. “Answer me, Merrick.”

“Brock,” Cal said and I heard him take a step closer.

“Stay out of this,” I snarled. “I just lied to the man I owe my career to for him and now I wanna hear the reason why.” I turned my focus back to Rafe. “You owe me that much.”

I expected him to deflect with his usual asshole tendencies. Or maybe he would just run away again, leaving us to deal with the mess he made. But to my shock, he didn’t do any of that.

“Yeah. I stole the equipment,” he said, sounding dead. “I did it and I betrayed everyone’s trust and made you break your own code. Is that what you wanted to hear? In fact, I’ll do you one better….”

“Rafe,” Lauren said in soft disbelief.

He shook his head. “I’m sorry. I’m not…Nick promised to leave me alone if I did one last job for him. I said no at first because I learned my fucking lesson by now but then he threatened to hurt Lauren.”

My eyes flew open.

Merrick grinded his jaw and I saw a genuine flash of terror in his eyes. “I couldn’t let that happen. The things he said he’d do to her…” he clenched his fists at his side.

“I would’ve killed him,” I said instinctively.

“I would’ve helped,” Cal added.

“And that’s part of the damn problem, don’t you guys see that?” He threw his hands up in frustration. “All of you were going to get hurt because of me. I didn’t have a choice so yes, I stole from Cornerstone. I took the coward’s way out again.”

He looked from me to Cal and then to Lauren. When he got to her, his eyes softened. “I’m so sorry, Lauren. I’m sorry to all of you. You guys were right, I’m a good-for-nothing piece of shit and I brought this to the firehouse but I swear to all of you, I’m gonna make it right.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Cal asked.

“I’m turning myself in,” he answered.

“Stop fucking around,” I said, but somehow I knew he was actually serious about this. I looked at Lauren and she seemed on the verge of tears, her chest heaving with what must’ve been panic.

“I’m not. It’s the one noble thing I’d be doing with my life, Lawson,” he replied.

To that, I couldn’t say anything. I’d been prepared to beat the shit out of him. But now I found myself giving him the one thing I thought I never would—my respect. I stepped back, giving him his space. He nodded tightly at me, then moved to collect his bag.

Lauren stopped him just as he tried to leave, pulling him back by the arm. He turned to look at her.

“Hey, wait. You’re not gonna stop to hear if we accept your apology?” she asked.

He tilted his head. “Would that make a difference?”

“Yes.” She moved closer to him, sliding her hands up his arms until they came to rest on either side of his face. “I can’t speak for the guys, but I accept your apology. And for the record, I never thought you were a good-for-nothing piece of shit. An asshole, yes, but not a piece of shit.”

A smile wavered on his lips and then Lauren stood on her toes to kiss him. The force of it caused him to drop his bag and he stumbled off balance a bit before his arms wrapped around her waist.

I knew then that this fucker wasn’t going anywhere any time soon. And I didn’t know what to make of the relief I felt.

32

Lauren

Cal suggested that we head up to the rooftop. “For some fresh evening air,” he’d said.

I had my suspicions because for the last few months he’d been insistent that I stay away from the “mess” of the rooftop despite the fact that he knew I liked to decompress there sometimes.

And all the way up, he had a small smile on his face like he knew something that I didn’t. Once we moved through the hatch though, I finally understood what was going on with him.

Brock gave a low whistle as we all filed out onto the newly renovated space. “Nice work, Cal.”