Page 136 of Last Man Standing

42

SEBASTION

TIME TO COLLECT

Almost exactly four hours after Lincoln called and told me they were on the move, I wait outside the regional airport servicing a town that isn’t much larger than three dozen Denver residential blocks pushed together. I lean against the hood of my truck with my ankles crossed and my phone in hand, but although it buzzes with updates from Mav, it remains completely Scarlett-free.

Because she’s pissed. Which is basically our default setting.

Forty feet from where I’m parked, the airport’s electric front doors whir open with the newest flux of passengers from the last flight that touched down, and though Linc and Nova aren’t among the first out the door, they sure as shit come out near the back of the pack, Linc’s arm thrown over Nova’s shoulder, his free hand weighed down by two suitcases and a duffel bag.

Nova’s eyes scan the world ahead of her, but Linc doesn’t need nearly as long. His focus narrows and locks onto me, so with a dip of his chin, he leads her this way and says something to her I’ll never know.

His lips move, but they’re too far away for me to hear.

“Hey, dickhead.” The instant they’re close enough, Linc drops his bags at my feet and peeks through my tinted windows. “You didn’t think to bring my sister with you?”

“No.”

Scowling, he releases Nova and grabs the suitcases instead, whipping them into the bed of my truck so they land with a crunch that I know for sure would make Princess Scarlett cranky. “No clue why you didn’t. I’m not here to see your ugly face, and let’s not pretend she hasn’t already told me about your homicidal fuckin’ mother.” He tosses the duffel bag in last, then turns back and hits me with a glare. “What? You thought we could bro-bond while she’s forced to stay someplace she doesn’t wanna be, with people she doesn’t wanna be with?”

Pretty much.

Before I can tell him to fuck himself, Nova steps closer and surprises me with a squeezing hug. I didn’t realize this was something we do. Like she’s my baby sister, though I don’t have any of those. Like I’m her friend, and not the annoying, abusive house guest she couldn’t wait to get rid of.

Glancing down in stunned silence, I study her smiling face and feel something release in my chest. It’s relief. It’s happiness at seeing her. And though I wish I could claim I’m simply relieved to have my code keeper back, I think the truth is I’m happy to see her. Alive and well. Safe and happy.

I guess I’d be kinda sad if she up and died.

“Ah… hello?”

She slaps my chest and circles away again with a laugh on her breath. Shaking her head, she moves to the back door and gestures toward a silent, glowering Linc. “Get in. Do the bro-bonding thing. I wanna see Scarlett.”

“Wait. You actually wanna bond?” Sour-faced, Linc moves in behind Nova and helps her into my too-high truck. He waits for her to settle into the back seat and fix her seatbelt, then he closes the door and burns me with a sneer. “I already know too fuckin’ much. I don’t wanna bond, I don’t wanna hear about you and my sister sharing a bed, and I sure as fuck don’t wanna deal with her bad mood if your bonding annoys me so much I end up shooting you in the face.” He rips the passenger door open and climbs up. “Get in, Jameson. Drive. Take me to my sister. Do not kiss her when I’m in the same zip code.”

Snickering in the back while I come around the front of my truck, Nova leans forward and taps her man’s shoulder. Something about stop being mean. And Scarlett’s a grown woman. Relax.

Dragging my door open and climbing into my seat, I start the engine and ignore Lincoln’s beady-eyed stare burning the side of my face.

“What happened with Mills?”

“He wasn’t there,” Nova answers, since Linc’s busy stewing over his sister having a sex life. “And when we tried to call him, he didn’t answer. Feels a bit like the relationship has deteriorated, so when he went radio silent, Lincoln figured it was time to come back to Scarlett instead of chasing a cop in circles.”

“So we still don’t know for sure he’s our guy?” I set my phone into the cradle that connects it to the stereo system, then yanking on my seatbelt, I close my door and release the brake. “We suspect, and we have pretty decent evidence pointing his way. But we don’t actually know?”

“That’s basically the gist of what’s happening.” Furious and unable to hold it in any longer, Lincoln turns in his seat and glares. “I told you to leave my sister the fuck alone.”

We’re doing this? Alright, let’s go.

“I’m in love with your sister. I’m keeping her for as long as she’ll keep me. I’m not asking for your approval. I don’t give a fuck if you like me.” I pull away from the airport’s small parking lot and onto the road, so when my phone finally connects to the car and music plays through the speakers, I glance across and meet his stare. “But I know you care about her happiness, which means we need to talk before we get back.”

He barks out an incredulous laugh, throwing his head back so his chest and shoulders bounce. “You wanna talk?” Bringing his eyes back down again, fierce and not at all dancing with laughter, he sneers. “Let’s talk. My sister is too fuckin’ good for you, she’s too delicate for you, and she’s terrified to her bones of your viper mother, which means all that love hoo-rah you wanna waffle on about doesn’t mean shit, since Scarlett will want to be liked by the woman who birthed you. Every time Arabella shoots daggers of rejection at my sister, Scarlett’s soul will die a little more. Eventually, she’ll just be a body moving through the steps of life, but she’ll be void of her heart and soul and all the things that make her good and whole.” His nostrils flare and his jaw flexes with the rage he barely tries to conceal. “Are we done now? I feel like we covered everything, so take me to my sister, then I’m taking her away so you and your family can’t hurt her anymore.”

“I feel like she’s already dying.” I catch his swinging hand, so easily predictable of the brother who lacks emotional regulation when Scarlett is the topic of conversation. “She’s sad,” I admit bitterly, tossing his arm away. “She’s defeated and shy and isolating herself. She wants to be happy about what we could be, but every time I leave her alone for more than twenty minutes, she peels back another protective layer from her mental health and fucks herself over.”

“All the more reason for me to remove her from your life. Good work, soldier. You kept her alive when I said to keep her alive. But I’ve got it from here.”

“You take her from me, and⁠—”