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Like Syn’s brother, Autumn had also seen and experienced things that had left a mark.
Dodge’s low voice filled her ear. “That’s your brother’s ol’ lady.”
“I thought you said her name was Red,” she mumbled out of the side of her mouth.
Autumn’s smile widened. “That’s what everyone around here calls me. You can call me that or Autumn. I answer to either.” She took a step closer. “I’m so glad to finally meet you.”
“You knew about me?”
She nodded. “Yes. Your brother and I keep nothing hidden between us. No matter what it is.”
No matter what it is.
Syn found that statement curious, but that wasn’t why she was here.
Once again, Sig lifted his eyes to look at Dodge over Syn’s shoulder. “There a reason you’re still standin’ there?”
The hand on her back tensed. “Yep. She wants me here.”
She did?
“This ain’t your business,” Sig said harshly.
“You might not think so,” Dodge answered, his voice as strained as when Nico over-tightened one of his guitar strings.
Shit.
“You fuck my sister and now you think she’s your property?” Sig asked, his tone as sharp as a blade and just as threatening.
“Property?” Syn echoed.
“That ain’t it, brother.”
Sig’s chin rose. “Then what is it, brother?”
“Want me to leave?”
The murmured question made her twist her head and look up at him. Did she? Sig might be blood but Dodge was the only one she really knew in that apartment. His presence comforted her. She shook her head and turned back to Sig. “I want him to stay.” Not just want, but need.
His hand on her back anchored her. If he left, she might feel like she was getting pulled out to sea caught in a riptide.
Dodge had also mentioned something about helping her with her “problem.” If he was capable of that, she wanted him to stick around and hear everything. She was going to say it once and once only.
“Would you like me to leave?” Red asked. “I can head downstairs or next door while you two talk.”
“Think it’s best you stay, too,” Dodge told her.
A silent message must have been shared between Red and Dodge because after a second Red nodded and stepped closer to Sig. As if she was preparing for something.
“Maybe we should sit down,” Red said softly. “Are you hungry? Thirsty?”
She was, but now wasn’t the time to put anything in her stomach. Not yet. Not while her stomach was twisting and turning.
Before anyone could move toward the sectional couch, Sig’s words stopped them, causing everyone to freeze in place. “You fuckin’ disappeared.”
Syn sucked in a breath. “I disappeared? Every time you went inside, you disappeared.”
She didn’t miss when his fingers curled into fists and his body went wired. She reminded herself again that he might be her brother but she really didn’t know him.
Not at all.
And that was all his fault. Maybe if he hadn’t been in and out of prison so damn much, he wouldn’t have lost his phone and her number.
“And when I got out, you had fuckin’ disappeared.”
“That wasn’t my choice, Sig. I had no choice but to move with the people you left me with.”
“You mean your parents?” he growled, his fingers now curling and uncurling at his side.
Dodge had warned her he had a short fuse that Sig had inherited from his biological father. She was already seeing evidence of it and they’d hardly begun to speak.
“If that’s what you want to call them. I wouldn’t.”
Sig jerked and that made Syn flinch again. It also made Dodge’s hand on her back press harder. Her brother spun and strode away, clearly agitated.
He stopped by the counter of the small galley kitchen, keeping his back to them. He planted his hands on his hips and dropped his head.
Autumn didn’t move but instead watched him from where she stood. She seemed to know it was best to just let him work out whatever he was working out.
When he finally turned again, she saw it.
Guilt.
Both in his expression and it hung thick in the air, making it hard to breathe.
For both of them.
This wasn’t going to be a joyful family reunion, but a painful one.
Once they got past that, they could work on healing, then moving past it. Hopefully to the point where they could build a relationship.
She wanted that. He was the only real family she had.
In truth, she needed him. Not just for his help, though that was important. But she longed to have a brother. A real brother. To share things with, to go to when she needed help, to get his support. And in turn, she could be there for him for the same reasons.
But if he wasn’t willing…
It wasn’t just guilt that ravaged his face, it was anger, too. His voice was raw when he claimed, “Besides Red, you’re the only good deed I ever did. Now you’re shittin’ all over it.”
