The only way he’s going anywhere is in a body bag.
Bass skids around the building, jerking to a halt a half court’s space away from the pool and my muscles clench.
“No...”
His eyes hit mine, torment heavy in his.
I don’t have to ask if he’s sure, because her shrill scream fills the night sky, echoes through my body, and boomerangs against my throat.
No!
We speed up, coming to a screeching halt when we’re staring down the barrel of an ancient, M16 rifle from the other side of the fence. “My, how the power has shifted.” Leo smirks. “How you doing, Brayshaw?”
“Royce! Bass!”
We look up to find Brielle standing at the edge of the high dive, her hands held close to her body in fear, her wrists tied.
“It’s okay, baby! Breathe.”
“Don’t lie to her!” Leo barks. “Tell her the truth. This is where she dies.”
“You’re fucking dead!” I roar.
We hop up, gripping the top of the fence, but then he lays on the trigger, several shots ringing out loud, fragments of the fence breaking off and jamming into our skin.
We fall back onto the cement. Brielle screams, but we quickly roll up, spotting the hole now two feet from where we stand.
Leo smirks. “Pops was a sharpshooter, that’s where he picked up his heavy hands. Only thing useful he gave me?” His face flips, anger front and fucking center. “A perfect shot, but you knew that already.”
“Put the gun down, Leo, and I’ll let you die quickly.”
“Shut the fuck up.” He points it at Brielle in warning. “Back off the fence. I know you got hops, Brayshaw, but you think you can jump that bitch before I put a bullet in yours?” He glances at Brielle.
“Leo, come on. I’m fucking sorry. Leave my sister out of this, man!” Bass screams, his grip so tight on the metal links blood trickles down his hands. One of his shoes lifts, tucking in the side.
Leo locks eyes on Bass and fires three rounds toward Brielle while keeping his eyes on us.
Panic flares through our bodies, and we look up as she screams.
He’s shot a whole perfectly through the board, three feet from her. “Jump,” he demands of her.
“Brielle, ignore him!” Bass shouts.
His gun points at us, and he repeats it. “I said jump!”
I look to her, shake my head, but when he lets off a couple our way again, forcing us to drop to the ground, she doesn’t hesitate.
She fucking jumps.
The water splashes onto the cement, her body popping back up to the surface from the momentum, but then she starts to sink, flapping around as much as her tied wrists allow.
Her body, her adrenaline, it’s too high. She jerks wildly in the pool.
I flatten myself against the fence as she begins screaming for help, shouting and choking on water.
What—
“Fucking help her!” Bass screams, damn near fucking cries, attempting to climb once more, and this time, Leo’s shot is closer, intentionally missed, but closer.
A shard of metal slices through Bass’ cheek, but he doesn’t flinch. I’m not even sure he’s aware of it.
My mind races, eyes glued on Brielle, on the water as it bubbles at the surface.
“Brielle!” I shout, panic brewing in my gut. “Baby, re—”
“Remember this pool, Bishop?” Leo shouts, cutting me off. “Remember your little story of how we were one and the same, kids locked inside ‘cause proof of our daddies’ hands were printed across us, how you tried to get in my head, relate to me? How you shared that, like me, you and your little sister never learned to swim. How you tossed me in there, watched me drown only to pull me out last second, and toss me in again? And again?” he seethes.
My brows lift and I quickly realize what’s happening here.
Bass, he’s downright fuckin’ terrified, two seconds from being blown apart—he’s about to hop this fucking fence and do all he can to save her, gun yielding psycho be damned.
Brielle begins to sink and a shrill zing shoots through my body. I shake my head.
This ain’t right.
I remember Brielle’s story, about the water, how they never learned.
How she and Bass talked about the two learning to swim, and the sadness she heard in his voice. The pain.
That must have been the night after he nearly killed Leo with a weapon that he realized then could easily be used against himself—water.
But not Brielle.
Not my girl.
Because my baby, I taught her how to float.
He grabs a hold of me, tearing me to him. “You lying prick.” Bass’ lip curls, his body shaking. “You said you loved her and look at you—”
“Trust me,” I beg.
He jerks in my hold, but I yank him tight.
“Fucking trust me, goddamn it!” I hiss through clenched teeth.
Tears fill his eyes. “She’s—”
“Faking.”
His brows snap together, his nostrils flaring as he whips around, staring.
“She’s fucking faking, man,” I whisper.
Right? That’s what she’s doing?
I look to her, at her lifeless body as it floats along the surface.
“Royce,” he croaks.
My chest aches, and I grip the fence, the night around me denying my lungs air.
I choke on nothing.
Was I wrong?
Did she panic?
Forget?
Her body. It hasn’t moved.
I bang on the fence, and nothing.
Leo’s laughter rings in the distance, Bass’ desperate plea, and my knees slam against the concrete.
Her hair, it’s fanned out at her side, her torso up higher than her arms and legs, and I think her head is tipped just enough to sneak the smallest of breaths through the edge of her lips, but I can’t be sure.
My mind says to trust her, that she’s brave and smart and a fighter in her own way, but my heart can hardly fucking take it.
“Well, that was sort of anti-climactic.” Leo tips his head. He walks to the far corner of the pool, farthest away from us, and allows the gun to hang low on its strap, the weight carrying it to his back. He picks up a long pool pole, a giant net attached to the end.
He walks toward the other side of the deep end, and slips it into the water, drawing closer to her and my hands find the metal links again. “Let’s see if she’s good and gone, huh?”
Slowly, I pull to my feet, Bass right beside me.
My gut tightens.
Bass shakes his head, ready to say fuck it, and scale the fence. “We can’t get over before he reaches her. We can’t get over before he reaches for the gun either.”
I swallow, licking my lips. I know.
I thought of this already, and there’s only one answer.
“He can’t shoot us both, Bishop.”
In my peripheral, his head snaps my way, but I don’t look.
“He’s only got one shot left.” I force past my lips.
Me.
It has to be me.
If I jump, he’ll focus on me, use what I’m not sure he realizes is his last shot on me, and she can get to safety while Bass takes his ass out.
It has to be me.
This must be what I was meant for, why I never grew close to anyone else but her, because I was meant for this moment, born for it.
I was born to love Brielle Bishop, so in the end, I would be here to save her, to give her back what she lost—her family. Her life.
I was born to die for her, and that’s something I won’t hesitate to do.
Something I’ll do with pride, for her.
So, I take a deep breath and say a silent fucking prayer to anyone who might hear.
I wish for my dad and Maybell to step up, because my brothers will need them more than ever after tonight.
I wish for my beautiful niece and the nephew I’ll never get to know...
that they never question my love for them.
For Raven and Victoria, not to cry for me, because it’ll tear their men in two.
I wish for my... for my brothers not to hate me for this, even if I know they might, at least for a while.
I hope that they forgive me and never forget me, that they know how much it hurts to leave them.
That my girl, she’ll one day understand the choice I made tonight and why I had to make it.
That none of them feel the ache of my loss, but remember the good, if there’s good to be left behind.
That I fucking love them all with all I am.
A sharp breath escapes, a nervous, fucking petrified laugh following, but I force it away.
Brayshaws, we don’t fear, we don’t back down, and we refuse to lose.
And if there is one thing this world can’t afford to lose, it’s a soul like Brielle Bishop’s.
It would be a darker fucking place without her.
But me?
Me it can.
They can.
They’ll be okay.
My vision clouds, my cheeks growing wet.
“Tell your sister I’ll love her. Always.”
I scale the fucking fence, dropping to my feet seconds later, and when my eyes lift, my right foot planting a single step ahead of my left, they lock on to Leo’s.
He smiles wide, proud, the gun already in his hand.
It’s up to Bass now.
Leo readies himself with a grin. “I always knew you were the fool of the three.”
He pulls the trigger, firing off his last and final shot.
And my body hits the ground.
Goodbye, baby girl.
Chapter 37
Brielle
A muffled shot rings above the water right as I clasp my hand around the pole. I flip over with a loud and sharp gasp.
Leo stands wide-eyed, gun hanging in his hands.
“Brielle!” Is shouted in the darkness, and I recognize my brother’s voice, it’s closer now, but I can’t look away.
“Surprised?” I croak, slowly gliding my other hand over the pole.
Leo frowns.
“You know, you fooled me with the August/Leo thing. You got me. But bringing me here? It doesn’t take much to realize why, now that I know my brother was left to handle you.” I tip my head to the side. “Tell me, do you know what Leos fear?” I try to stay calm so I don’t sink, so I don’t black out, how I haven’t already, I don’t know, but I know it’s coming, color is already gone. “They fear being ignored, overlooked... forgotten.”
“Shut the fuck up!” He stiffens, his nostrils flaring.
“Do you know what lions fear?” I slowly swim closer to him.
“I said shut up!”
“Come on, it’s an easy one.”
“Girl, I will—”
“Human beings.”
His jaw sets, and then the lights above us flick on. His head tips back, and he squints, unable to see beyond the square he locked us inside.
The blonde from my brother’s car catches my eye at the edge of the fence line, where the light board is located, and something in me settles, the hint of uncertainty fading completely when footsteps follow.
Leo whips around to find Maddoc and Captain are standing there.
He jerks left, but more come from the other side. His head snaps right to find Micah, Mac, and Andre, but they’re all on the outside of the gate and we’re in here.
The gun points back to me.
I get a solid grip on the bar, my toes brushing the wall of the pool now. “Who will remember you after tonight, Leo?”
He growls, now at the very edge of the pool’s side.
With all my might, I yank on the pole he still holds on to, and into the pool he falls, and this time, there will be no one to help him climb out.
I quickly kick-off, spearing myself across the water so that there’s no possibility of him reaching me, but the tiny bit of relief is short-lived, because then I hear their jarring cries.
I whip around, only halfway to the edge, and my body ceases.
Royce lies on the ground.
His brothers rushing to his side.
It happens in slow motion, they fall to their knees beside him, their eyes growing wide, instant tears and deep screams following, but it’s when my brother’s wretched expression finds mine that I double over.
His jaw tight and his chin falls to his chest.
There’s a loud cry, and I think it’s mine, the screams too, but suddenly everything inside me is numb, so I can’t be sure.
I can’t even breathe.
And with my next blink, can no longer see.
The darkness takes over, and then the water.
I start to sink, and I don’t care to find my way to the surface.
Not if his eyes won’t be there waiting for me.
Not if I can no longer seek out his touch, hear his voice, or feel the depths of his heart.
Not if he’ll never reach for me again and pull me into his open and wanting arms.
Not if his love is gone.
As I sink to the bottom, and the blackness takes over, his eyes appear behind mine.
Suddenly, everything is right, because he’s right here.
He’s with me.
You die, I die, baby.
That’s what I tell him.
And tonight, under the summer moon we lay beneath, in the town we were born in, surrounded by the people that we love...
We let go of the hurt, and the pain, and the ache, and we do it together.
I love you, Royce Brayshaw.
Always.
Chapter 38
Bass
I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve cried in my life, and today, looking down at my baby sister’s beautiful face, it’s number four.
When I think back on our lives, the pain we lived, the darkness we saw, the end result, as much as it hurts to admit, was inevitable, but the path toward it, I’d never have fucking guessed.
All my life, all I ever wanted was to protect my sister, to make sure she understood how important she was to me, as a good brother would, but somehow, with those thoughts constantly sitting in the back of my mind, I dropped the ball. And this is where it brought me.
To the goodbye.
I failed her in more ways than I can count, failed myself, and I’ll never forget it.
Never ever forgive myself for it.
But I will be better for it. Because of it.
The memory of what happened here will never leave me, and the nightmares will only get worse, but I’ll find comfort in knowing my baby sister isn’t alone.
That she’ll be loved, no matter where she is.
That she’ll be safe and without fear.
That no one can ever hurt her again.
And if they tried, they’d have a hell of a fucking wall to get through to do it.
Because my baby sister... she’s no Bishop.
She’s Brayshaw.
Through and fucking through.
Chapter 39
Brielle
I lift my hand to my brother’s bruised and busted face, and the tears he’s fought hard to keep locked in place slip free, my own following.
“Big brothers aren’t supposed to cry.”
“Little sisters aren’t supposed to die.”
“They brought me back.” My voice is a scratchy whisper, coated in a heavy layer of overflowing emotion, but my attempt to tease, to lighten the far too grim mood, works a little.
His frown deepens, but his lip twitches. “Yeah and thank fuck for that.” He trails the bruising on my cheek up to my temple. “What you did was reckless.”
My mouth pulls to one side and I nod. “I know.”
We both know I can’t apologize for it, because I’m not sorry.
His face falls and my lungs ache, but it has nothing to do with my injuries, and everything to do with what I know is coming. “You need to leave.”
&nb
sp; His eyes snap to mine. “I won’t,” he swears. “If you say you need me, I won’t.”
“But...”
He sighs, his face tightening as he shakes his head. “But you’ve already said you don’t, and as hard as it is to admit, I believe you.”
I tilt my head to peek over his shoulder, and meet the eyes of not one, but four Brayshaws.
A low laugh leaves me, and when I wince, everyone winces with me.
My hand falls to clasp around my brother’s, and I look into the eyes of the person who taught me how to love and how to reach for more.
“I will always need you, Bass. No matter who I have...” I swallow. “Or who I lose. I will always need my brother, but that doesn’t mean you have to be here to be here,” I whisper. “You can go home without guilt and keep working on the happiness you’re chasing but have yet to discover.”
His jaw flexes. “You’re sure?”
“Yeah, I’m sure,” I promise. “You’ve been sitting beside me for four days. I can’t imagine the new world you’ve found can run smoothly without you in it.”
His lips smash together, and he raises a teasing, dark brow. “You have no idea.”
“I object to that statement.”
We look toward the door to find the blonde he rode in with, and he sighs.
She walks in the room, and both Victoria and Raven push to their feet, making her smirk grow, but as her eyes come to mine, it smoothes out. She runs her tongue along her teeth, swallowing. “For the record, by helpless little lamb, I meant worried big brother.”
Bass’ brows pull but he doesn’t turn to look at her.
She licks her lips. “So, yeah. See you around, or hopefully, I don’t. No offense, I’m just sort of... trying to shake a stray.”
Bass rolls his eyes and I glance from him to her.
“No offense,” I say right back. “But you don’t really seem like his type.”
She gives a close-lipped smile and inhales. “Yeah, I tried that line, too, a time or ten.”
She spins on her wedges, heading for the door, but as she goes to push it open, it opens on its own and a low, whispered, ‘oh shit’ leaves her.
Rolland enters, a man I don’t know at his side, but the Brays seem to know him as they rise with his entrance.
Break Me Page 38
