AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“No.” He steps back, eyes never leaving mine. “You’re my brother, just like Trav. We don’t ever owe each other. It’s just what we do.”
The words are ones I already knew, but I still needed to hear them from him. Things won’t be magically fixed now, I know that. A simple heart-to-heart won’t erase what happened to me. But it’s a start. It’s a damn good start.
I give him a smile that’s all friendship and ease, only having to force it a little. That was too heavy. I need to make it lighter now. Need to get started moving forward. “Does that mean I can give you shit like he does?”
He raises a brow, but he’s smirking. “I suppose. Something you’ve been wanting to say?”
It’s a risk, but one I’ve considered a few times now. Something related to that awful night but in a way that might make the whole thing a little easier to think about. “Are you aware that you mumbled under your breath a bit during it?”
He freezes. “Fuck. No.” He swallows hard. “What did I say?”
I think he already knows, but I give him a playful eyebrow wiggle instead and inform him. “You take Daddy’s cock so good. You a daddy, Jake?”
He sighs heavily. “I hate you.”
“Is it just a mild kink, or like a full-on daddy-mode thing that you do?” I ask with a grin, half fucking with him and half genuinely curious.
He rolls his eyes and turns toward the door, clearly done with me. “Fuck off.”
“Follow-up question!” I say with a laugh, chasing him now. “Is Casey your boy?”
It has the opposite effect of what I hoped for, his shoulders suddenly falling. He stops with his hand on the door and his head bowed. I stop a step behind him.
“It’s okay if he is,” I say softly, realizing I may have just hit a sore spot I didn’t realize exists. “You know that, right?”
He shakes his head. I wait for him to say something, to give me an argument, but he just shakes his head a second time and leaves.
I don’t try to stop him. That’s something he’s going to have to figure out on his own.
Just like how I need to figure out what I’m doing with Nolan and—more importantly—how the fuck I can keep myself from ruining it.
Turns out, I get to avoid the whole don’t fuck this up thing for a while longer because we got approved to go after Quinton. Nolan went quiet when I told him I was leaving, his eyes watery as he demanded I promise to come back safely. He had tried to hurry off after giving me a timid kiss, using an excuse about checking on Casey. I hadn’t let him. Instead, I’d pressed him firmly into the wall, hiked him up in my arms until his legs were wrapped around my waist, and kissed him until he was panting and dazed. Then I’d gently lowered him, slipped a burner phone into his pocket so we could keep in touch, and told him now he was allowed to go check on his friend.
Keats is waiting for us on the tarmac, dressed in black tactical gear with a bag slung over his shoulder. He lifts his energy drink toward us in silent cheers. “Ready for some fun?”
“You have no fucking idea,” I tell him, giving his shoulder a pat as I pass him to head up the stairs of the Cessna.
This shit with Scott Quinton isn’t just about finding Elliot. It’s personal. He’s the head of the trafficking ring that captured both Carter and Casey. He’s the one who kept them locked in a cell with dozens of other slaves, who kept them starved and cold and dirty, who let his guards play sick games with them, who sold them like cattle to the highest bidder, who insisted Travis claim Carter on a stage after the sale so all could enjoy the show.
I’m going to rip him apart slowly, making sure he stays alive for as long as possible. I won’t even kill him until he fucking begs for it.
The flight is longer than I’d like it to be, with a stop halfway for refueling, but it gives me the time to talk to Travis. I settle in the chair beside him with two microwave meals stacked in my left hand and two of Keats’s energy drinks in the right. With a chuckle, he helps me juggle everything until we each have our own meal and drink.
“So,” I say, not at all casual. “You’re officially dating my brother.”
He flashes me a guilty smile. “I am. We went on our first real date the other night. An art show.”
“I heard. I’m happy for you. For the both of you.” When he gives me a doubtful look, I shake my head and laugh. “I am. I’m not thrilled about how you guys got here, but not much of that is really on you or him. What happened… it was a mess. All of it. A fucking mess. But the two of you are good together. I trust you to take care of him.”
“Yeah?” Travis asks, his voice hoarse and eyes wide.
“Yeah.” I narrow my eyes at him playfully. “But I don’t want to hear any gross details. I already know enough about my brother’s sex life. I’d really, really like to not know anything else.”
Travis laughs. “Fair enough.”
“Actually, I take that back. Can I—I have one question. Just one.”
Looking slightly horrified, he says, “Okay…?”
