by Abby Blake
“Why?” she asked quietly. If she’d been belligerent or petulant or demanding he might’ve stood his ground and demanded her obedience, but it was her concern and obvious compassion for a person she didn’t even know that did him in.
“Because I love you too much to put you in danger. When Bryce left, he already had a criminal record and done time in prison. I have no idea how he was injured or why he’s shown up here.”
“But you still care for him,” she said quietly. The way she said it made it obvious it wasn’t a question. He nodded anyway and then kissed her softly.
“Okay, you go deal with your brother, and I’ll wait for you to come to me.”
He smiled, hoping it looked more sincere than worried, and then headed into the bathroom, found the meds, and left quickly.
* * * *
Cold sweat drenched Bryce when he heard a woman’s voice. Shit! He shouldn’t have come here. What the hell had he been thinking? He hadn’t seen any of his brothers in more years than he cared to count, and it hadn’t even occurred to him that things might’ve changed.
What if they had children?
Fuck. He needed to get out of here.
He leaned forward, trying to reach the brace on his leg. The awkward movement sent pain screaming along every nerve ending, and he gritted his teeth against the urge to vomit. He managed to wriggle halfway off the lounge before dizziness stalled his progress. He closed his eyes for a moment, but they flew open quickly when he heard someone enter the room.
“What the fuck are you doing?” Lachlan asked, sounding completely exasperated. It was the same question he’d asked Bryce the day before he’d walked out of their lives. Bryce hadn’t been able to give him an answer then, at least this time he could say something.
“I’m sorry,” he began as he tried again to get to his feet, “but this was a really bad idea. I should be going.”
“Not a chance,” Lachlan said, sounding like the bossy older brother Bryce remembered. “How’d you break the leg?”
“You know me. Give me a few beers, and I get really clumsy,” he said in what he hoped was a dismissive tone. “Dude, look, you don’t understand. I really shouldn’t have come here.”
“Why?” Lachlan asked as he handed Bryce two pain pills and a glass of water. Bryce gratefully swallowed the tablets and then leaned back, hoping that they could kick in quickly and he’d be on his way. Damn, he shouldn’t have come.
“Where are the others?”
“Off planet,” Lachlan answered tersely. “Answer the question.”
“Why what?” Bryce asked trying to buy himself some time. He really hadn’t thought this through at all. He’d been wrong to involve his brothers in his problems.
“Why did you leave? Why did you come back? Why now? Why can’t you stay?” Lachlan started pacing back and forth but then seemed to realize what he was doing and stopped in the middle of the room. “Fuck, Bryce! Pick a question. Give me something here. Tell me anything.”
It hurt that Lachlan still cared. Fuck. Why would the guy care for someone who’d done nothing but cause him trouble? Bryce felt his chest squeeze as every regret he had rolled through him. He wanted nothing more than to ask for his brothers’ help, but he couldn’t be that selfish. Not now.
“Who’s the girl?” he asked, deliberately injecting his voice with disdain. Maybe if Lachlan didn’t care anymore, if Bryce managed to insult his brother enough, he would get out of here without putting anyone in danger. “Some pain slut you picked up from the club?”
“No, my wife,” Lachlan said as his eyes narrowed in anger. Wife? Oh fuck, it was a monumentally stupid idea to come here. Wife? God, he needed to get out of here. Maybe if he insulted Lachlan enough he’d be angry enough to dump his sorry ass in a cab and wave good-bye. Lord knew he wasn’t getting out of here under his own steam. If possible, his leg throbbed more now than it had the day he’d woken with it in the brace.
Trying to think clearly through the pain buzzing in his brain, Bryce came up with the only insult his overwrought mind could conjure.
“So you sharing her around or what? Isn’t that what you and Brock do? Find some little pain slut and beat her ass and fuck her until you get tired of her?”
The anger on Lachlan’s face was frightening. Hell, at this rate he was liable to strangle Bryce before he dumped him in a cab.
* * * *
Mikayla sat cross-legged in the middle of Lachlan’s bed. Unable to relax enough to fall asleep and too anxious for answers, she’d settled into the uncomfortable position and waited. She had a million questions, but the one she needed to ask first was why hadn’t anyone mentioned an eighth brother. It was possible that they’d all just assumed that one of the others had told her, but not even Matt had mentioned his twin. More questions rose to haunt her as she realized she’d married into a family she suddenly knew nothing about. It wasn’t a pleasant feeling.
“Little one,” Lachlan said from the doorway. “It’s going to be okay.”
“How is it going to be okay? I feel as if I don’t even know any of you.”
“That’s not true,” he said, sounding hurt, “you know us. We haven’t changed simply because we left out one little detail. It’s not like we ever expected to see Bryce again. He walked out on all of us years ago.”
“Why didn’t Matt say something?”
“I don’t know why he didn’t tell you, Mikayla, but I do know that he took Bryce’s leaving pretty badly. They were as close as Ryan and Ty at one stage, but then Bryce started getting into trouble and things just got worse from there.” Lachlan sat heavily on the bed and pulled her into his embrace. “I think in some ways Matt feels guilty for not being able to keep his twin out of trouble. I know he visited Bryce a few times when he was in prison, but something happened and Matt stopped going. When Bryce got parole he pretty much dropped out of our lives. Until today I wasn’t even sure he was still alive. Although, by the looks of him, death came pretty close.”
“How bad is his leg?” Mikayla couldn’t shake the feeling that there was more—much more—to the story, but without any basis for what was essentially a gut feeling she kept the observation to herself.
“Bad. I think he should still be in hospital. I doubt even the private system would release someone so badly injured, insured or not. At the very least he should be in a public hospital.”
Mikayla nodded in agreement but chewed on her lower lip for a moment before asking, “Do you think he discharged himself?”
“That’s my guess,” Lachlan said on a deep sigh. “Mikayla, I think he’s in trouble. Serious trouble this time but I’m not sure how to help him. I think taking him back to the hospital might be a very bad idea.”
“We need to call Matt,” she said decisively. “Maybe he can give us some insight. He might even want to come home for a while.” She tried to squash the annoying little thought that wanted Matt and the others home for her own selfish reasons.
“Come on,” Lachlan said as he helped her off his lap and onto her feet, “we’ll contact Matt right now.”
* * * *
Matt woke from yet another sexy dream of his wife. God, he missed her. They’d barely been gone three weeks, and already he wanted to say to hell with the contract and go back to his woman. He glanced down at the hard cock tenting his pants and wondered for about the millionth time on this trip whether it was worth risking hypothermia in an effort to deflate what seemed to be a constant erection.
He was so busy thinking of ways he could break their research contract and still keep the company financially viable that he jumped about a foot and a half in the air when his intercom buzzed.
“Matt?” Ryan’s voice was disgustingly enthusiastic, and Matt wanted nothing more than to ignore the summons and crawl back into bed.
“What?” he growled ungraciously.
“Mikayla and Lachlan are on the subspace channel and want to talk to you.” Mikayla, thank heavens. He may have spoken to her just yesterday, but he
was more than happy to see her again. Lachlan, on the other hand, wasn’t such good news. In fact, Lachlan wanting to talk to him usually involved a business or contract headache that they could all live without.
Not bothering to get dressed, Matt moved quickly down the hallway and into the communications room.
“Good morning, honey,” he said, feeling in a much improved mood just knowing she could hear him. He moved to stand in front of the camera and tried to make out her image on the view screen. Damn snowstorms played havoc with reception again today.
“Matt,” she said, sounding more serious than he’d heard her in a long while, “we have a visitor that we thought you should know about.”
“A visitor? Who?” he asked, feeling dread roll through him.
“Bryce,” Lachlan said. That one single word drained all the good humor from Matt’s day.
“What does he want?” he managed to force past his clenched jaw as the familiar pain and anger churned in his belly.
“He needs help,” Mikayla said so sincerely he wanted to rage even more. Mikayla with her soft heart and willingness to forgive would be easy prey to the man he’d once called brother. Not anymore though. Bryce was as good as dead to him, and the guy should’ve had the sense to stay far, far away.
“Get him out of my house,” Matt growled. “Get him away from my wife. Get him the fuck out of our lives, and tell him never to come back. Lachlan, what the fuck were you thinking letting him in?”
Through the poor quality video feed Mikayla looked on the verge of tears, and Matt’s only regret was that he’d said the words in front of her. Bryce was dangerous. Hell, Matt had seen him at his worst. There was no way in hell he was letting that man anywhere near his wife.
“I was thinking,” Lachlan growled almost as angrily, “that the man with a shattered femur wasn’t a serious threat in his condition.”
“Femur? Speak fucking English. No scratch that. I don’t care what language you speak. Just get him out of the fucking house.” Matt practically swelled as red hot temper spiked through him, but a moment later his wife’s voice cooled his rage quicker than a bucket of ice water over his head.
“Matt, Bryce needs us. He’s hurt, and he’s frightened, and he has nowhere else to go.”
“Honey,” he said pleading with her to understand. “Bryce is not what he seems. Please believe me when I say you aren’t safe with him. Mikayla, I don’t know what I’d do without you. Please, just stay away from Bryce.”
Fuck. Tears filmed his eyes, and he hoped like hell that the video feed on Mikayla’s end was just as fuzzy as his own.
“Matt,” Lachlan said, “I’ll keep her safe, but I really think you should consider coming home for a while. I know it’s going to fuck up the contract a little, but well, I don’t know how to explain it, but something’s not right. Bryce needs help, but the moment he realized Mikayla was here he did everything he could to get me to throw his ass back out the door.” Through the grainy image Matt saw Lachlan run his hand through his hair. He knew his eldest brother well enough to know that was a sign of extreme agitation. Lachlan was the most controlled individual he’d ever known, and the fact that Bryce’s appearance could rattle him so thoroughly was a very bad sign.
“I’ll be on the next transport. I’ll see you in four days.”
Lachlan left them then so that Matt could talk for a few moments with the woman he loved but the storm knocked out the reception before he could tell her anything important. Disappointed, angry, and frightened, Matt fell into the nearest chair and rubbed his face with both hands.
Hell. Bryce—the man Matt had witnessed murder someone—was back in their lives, and a very dangerous threat to their wife. Fuck, he should’ve told his brothers what he’d known a long time ago.
He’d explain it all to Peter and John, and then he’d get his ass home and protect his wife from the man he was ashamed to call his brother.
* * * *
Bryce swallowed the agony that came with every movement. Fuck. What he wouldn’t give for his comfortable hospital bed, proper painkillers, and that softly spoken nurse who’d been attending him.
He closed his eyes, trying to will the pain away, but popped them open again as nightmare images replayed in his mind. He could still hear the nurse’s high-pitched screaming. A noise at the doorway had him reacting quickly, but the pain in his thigh and hip threatened his sanity and he fell back onto the sofa. What did it matter anyway? If they found him and killed him, at least it would be over.
“Good, you’re awake,” Lachlan said in a hard voice as he came into the room. He glared at Bryce for a moment before the cold expression slipped, and Bryce saw concern peek through. Agony sliced through Bryce again, but this time it was centered in his chest. Hell, he knew Lachlan had no reason to give a damn about him, but even the thought that he still might lanced regret through him.
Lachlan stood in front of him, using his intimidating height and muscular build to best effect. “Explain,” was all he said as he crossed his arms and waited.
Explaining was the last thing Bryce wanted to do, but his brother deserved to at least know how much trouble Bryce was likely to bring to him and his wife.
“What’s her name?” he asked, hoping to avoid the whole someone’s-trying-to-kill-me subject for just a few minutes longer.
Lachlan smirked like he understood what Bryce was doing, but he answered the question anyway. “Mikayla. Her name is Mikayla and she’s not just my wife. She belongs to Matt and John and Peter, Ryan, Ty, and Brock as well.”
“All of you?” Bryce asked, unable to keep the surprise from his voice. Even the pain couldn’t dull the fear that little tidbit of information provided. If the woman was married to all seven of his brothers, he could be very sure that she was special and absolutely irreplaceable.
Lachlan nodded and then waited for Bryce to answer his question.
“I need to leave,” Bryce said, grinding his teeth as he tried to sit up again.
“No,” Lachlan said in that voice that meant he wouldn’t budge an inch. “You need to explain what kind of trouble you’re in. Did you think I’d miss the bullet wound on your arm?”
Bryce had hardly given the injury a moment’s thought. The bullet had barely scraped the side of his arm, but he should’ve known that of all his brothers Lachlan wouldn’t mistake the burn mark for anything else. Lachlan’s army training could sure cause Bryce a huge headache. He didn’t want any of his brothers involved in his shit, but keeping Lachlan at a distance was going to be harder than he thought.
“So when do I get my turn to fuck your wife?” he asked, trying to inject as much disrespect into the words that he could muster. He hadn’t even seen the woman, had no intentions of messing with his brothers’ wife, but he had to do something to protect her.
Lachlan smiled. He actually smiled, and Bryce felt a surge of righteous anger pulse through him. Hell, if Lachlan wasn’t going to defend his wife, he didn’t fucking deserve her.
“I know what you’re doing,” he said amiably. “But it won’t work. It doesn’t matter what you say. I’m not kicking your sorry ass out. You’re obviously in trouble. I may even be able to help.”
Fuck, fuck, and fuck. Lachlan had always had a hero complex. Why couldn’t Matt have been the one to answer the door? He would’ve kicked him to the curb the moment he laid eyes on him.
“Bryce,” a soft, feminine voice said from the doorway, “please let us help you.”
Bryce closed his eyes as tears filmed his vision. Damn pain. He felt rather than saw Lachlan head to the doorway. A swift whispered argument followed, but they both came back into the room. Shit, if the woman could win an argument with Lachlan, she was a hell of a lot stronger than Bryce had first imagined.
“Explain,” Lachlan said again as he took up the same position and pose he’d held before. But this time Mikayla added in a soft voice, “Please, Bryce. Your brothers deserve an explanation.”
Hell. They probably did. They
deserved the truth, but Bryce’s need to protect the wife they all cherished seemed to override that.
“Get her out of here,” he yelled at Lachlan. “Tell your slut to get back in bed where she belongs. What sort of a Dom are you that you can’t control your whore?”
Mikayla looked ready to kick his ass—something he thoroughly deserved—but instead of arguing like he’d expected, the woman burst into tears and ran from the room. Lachlan gave him a look that should’ve flayed the flesh from his bones and headed to the door. He turned back at the last moment and said in a resigned voice, “Well done, Bryce. You managed to make a pregnant woman cry. Are your secr—”
“Pregnant?” Bryce asked, cutting off his brother’s question. “Jesus, Lachlan. Man, you’ve got to get me out of here. Just loan me some money and drop me at some out of the way motel. I’ll lay low until my leg heals, and then I promise you’ll never hear from me again.”
Lachlan glanced over his shoulder, obviously concerned for his crying, pregnant wife. Fuck. Bryce watched the play of emotions on Lachlan’s face, realizing with a jolt of hysteria that he’d never seen his older brother anything but in control. Lachlan nodded stiffly and left the room.
Chapter Four
“Mikayla?” Lachlan said in his calming voice. She’d already stopped crying by the time she’d reached the bedroom, having realized that Bryce had said what he said to deliberately turn her away from him.
“I’m okay,” she reassured her husband as she climbed off the bed and into his arms. “It’s just the hormones. Any other day I would’ve realized what Bryce was up to, but with the pregnancy my emotions seem too close to the surface. I didn’t mean to worry you.”
