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The kid glanced at both of us. “Can I go now? I’ll get in trouble if I haven’t delivered all these papers by six.”
I waved him off, and the kid got back on his bike, peddling away down the street as Rebel and Kian pulled into the driveway in Kian’s truck.
They both got out with big smiles on their faces, which slowly faded when they took in our expressions.
“What’s happened?” Kian asked. “What are the two of you even doing out here?”
I held up the white card. “We got another note. That kid delivered it. Said a man paid him to put it through our mail slot.”
Rebel stared at the card warily. “Just open it.”
Brooke isn’t the only one I can chop into pieces. The debt still stands.
Fang, Kian, and I all stared at Rebel.
She laughed uncomfortably. “It’s Brooke. She’s just messing with us. Right? She must have people she’s working with…”
I picked up my phone.
Kian stared at me. “Who are you calling?”
“Brooke’s damn rehab facility.”
Kian covered the hand on my phone with his. “You already tried that. They wouldn’t put you through.”
I jerked away, covering the tremble in my hand. Finding Brooke’s finger on my front step still sat fresh in my mind, just as horrifying now as it had been at the time.
I wouldn’t let that be Rebel. “I’ll continue calling until someone puts me through. I’ll threaten to call the cops and demand they do a welfare check if they won’t. They can’t fucking keep me from her. I’m still legally her husband.”
But the first dozen times I called, no one picked up the phone. Rebel searched the web for other lines to try, but all of them rang out as well. With each one, I grew more and more worried.
Something wasn’t right.
After standing around watching me hit redial over and over, Rebel and Fang gave up and went upstairs to get some sleep. But Kian paced up and down the kitchen while I made call after call until he couldn’t take it anymore.
“I’m going to the gym. I promised Luca I’d meet him for another training session. Apparently, he didn’t get enough of torturing me when I went to his facility the other day. Are you going to be okay?”
I waved off his concerns. “Go. I’m just going to be here, calling this number over and over,until someone fucking answers.” I slammed the phone down on the countertop when it went to the resort’s answering machine once again.
Kian paused. “Brooke will be okay. She’s locked up in a secure facility where no one can get to her.”
“What about Rebel?” I croaked out, voicing my biggest fear. “Do I need to send her off too, just to keep her safe? This isn’t fair on her. Fuck.” I stared into Kian’s hazel-green eyes. “Am I being selfish by staying here? I put her in danger coming here in the first place. Falling in love with her. Maybe I should have gone back to Cali. Kept my problems with Brooke to myself.”
Kian grabbed me by the shirt and hauled me in, his usually easygoing expression fierce. “Don’t fucking say that! We aren’t better off without you, Vaughn.”
I stared up the stairs where she’d disappeared into her room with Fang. “You can’t speak for her. You aren’t the one in danger.”
He shook me a little. “But I am the one who was left behind. You left me when shit hit the wall with us, so I know exactly how she’d feel if you left now.”
I stared at him. “I just don’t want her to be hurt.”
His voice was a low growl. “Then stay and fucking fight for her. Because walking away is guaranteed to hurt her. I promise you that.” He picked up the phone and shoved it at me. “Keep calling. Don’t stop until you get through to Brooke.”
His hands moved to grip my face, his fingers tight on my jaw so I couldn’t turn away. “We aren’t better off without you, Vaughn. So get it through your thick skull that this is it. We’re your family. You don’t get to run anymore. You only get to stay.”
His lips pressed to mine urgently, and I kissed him back, needing every ounce of his reassurances.
“Okay?” he asked, finally pulling away.
