by Jess Bryant
“Don’t worry. That’s Skylar’s happy scream. If it was the other kind, I’d beat you over there.”
He snorted when his brother released his arm, “You know Skylar has different screams for her moods?”
“Something tells me all the jokes about me and Cash being possessive little bastards are about to die a pitiful death, bro.” Colt motioned to the tattoo studio he owned behind him, “Come on. We need to talk.”
He followed his little brother through the swinging door, “You read my mind but I’m warning you, if this is some speech about staying away from her…”
“It’s not.”
“Good, because that ship sailed weeks ago.”
“I know.” Colt smirked when Remy raised a surprised brow, “You might not look all that much like me or Cash but I know that look, bro. I think it’s the same look for anyone and you’ve had it since… hell since the day you met the girl.”
“I love her.”
Colt stopped walking and faced him fully. The shock written on his little brother’s face would have been funny in another situation. He opened his mouth, shut it again and then scratched his jaw before snorting.
“Damn, okay. You can just come right out with that kind of shit, huh? Good for you. It took me way too long to figure out how to say it. You’re a helluva lot further in the game than I was at this point.”
“This isn’t a game.” He shook his head, “I love her, Colt.”
“You barely know her.”
He scowled at the thought he’d had himself, more than once in the past month. There was so much about Rachel that he still didn’t know, that he needed to know. He wanted to spend the rest of his life learning everything there was to know about her and he would but there was at least one thing that he did know.
“I know that I love her and I know that I at least have a shot of making her love me so for right now, I know enough.”
“The hell you do.”
He grit his teeth, “Damn it Colt, what’s your point?”
“You don’t have any idea do you?” His brother threw his hands up, “You have no idea why Rachel left Sky a note saying that if she went missing or if something happened to her that she should look in the trailer for the evidence.”
Remy’s heart stopped. It just… stopped. He shuddered out a breath and barely managed to take another. He’d known Rachel was in trouble. He’d known that she was scared. But he hadn’t realized she actually feared for her life.
“She what?” He finally managed to squeak out.
Colt sighed, “Yeah, I had a feelin’ you knew nothing about that.”
“Evidence? What evidence?” He demanded.
“Hell if I know. That’s why Sky’s been freaking out since she got to work and found Rachel’s note taped to her locker. We broke into it and there’s also a bag of clothes in there along with a big brown paper bag full of money and a revolver.”
“She hid a change of clothes, money and a gun in Skylar’s salon?”
“Looks that way.”
“You found a gun in Rachel’s things and a note telling Skylar that she was in trouble and you didn’t fucking call me?” He felt his voice rise until he was screaming but he couldn’t seem to get himself under control.
Colt glared at him, “Check your fuckin’ phone before you yell at me, Remy. We did call you. I called you. Sky called you. We called you twenty goddamned times!”
He jerked his phone out of his jacket pocket and cursed some more. It was dead. He’d forgotten it was dead because he’d also forgotten to plug it in last night. He’d forgotten everything once Rachel walked into his life and the phone was only the last in a long line of things.
“Shit.”
“Yeah, I’m going to get you and Sky a matching set of super chargers for those damn things.” Colt scrubbed a hand over his face and his voice was calm again when he spoke, “Of course we called you, Remy. It’s Rachel. Sky said if she was really in trouble and she needed help, that Rachel would come to you.”
He blew out an unsteady breath, “She did.”
“So tell me what the hell is going on.”
Remy dropped his head back and stared at the ceiling, “I wish I knew.”
Since Colt was silent for a moment, he closed his eyes and counted slowly to ten. He focused on his breathing. In and then out. It was one of the more useful things he’d learned in the Army, how to control his emotions and calm down when all he really wanted to do was tear someone apart limb by limb. By the time he opened his eyes, the worst of the rage had passed and he was able to at least focus.
He glanced at his brother and sighed heavily. Colt looked tense and ready for a fight. He had his arms crossed over his chest defensively and his legs braced apart. His chin was up, his lips were thin and his eyes were dark. He knew the look well, thought that if you lined them up right now in front of a mirror they’d look like carbon negatives of one another. Same size and build, with only their coloring to differentiate them. He was dark everywhere Colt was light and a sick part of him wondered if it was more than skin deep. Wondered if he’d inherited Decker’s black soul, the one Cash and Colt seemed to have escaped.
“No.” He said simply and watched Colt’s eyebrows pinch.
“Excuse me?”
“Whatever is going on, it doesn’t have anything to do with you. You’re going to stay out of it. I got you out. You’re clean. You’re safe. I intend to keep it that way.”
Colt smirked, “So you do have some idea what’s going on.”
“What makes you say that?”
“Because your first instinct was to tell me that I was out. That means it’s related to the family. I might be a pretty blond but I’m not an airhead, asshole. You think that whatever is going on with Rachel has something to do with the Bomars, right?”
He nodded.
“Why?”
Remy sank down onto the small black sofa that served as the waiting area for Fine Lines. The tattoo parlor that his brother owned had gotten a renovation barely a month ago thanks to the assholes that beat him up and destroyed the space. Looking at it now it was impossible to see just how damaged it had been but Remy knew because he’d seen it firsthand.
He’d been the one to find his brother lying in a pool of his own blood, barely breathing. He’d thought Colt was dead for at least a minute and it had been the worst minute of his life. Out of all the damage he carried, all the demons, the idea of letting his brothers down, letting them get hurt, was the worst nightmare. He’d thought he was too late but he hadn’t been that day and he’d sworn that he would do whatever it took to make sure nothing like that ever happened to his brothers again.
“You can’t get involved.”
“Damn it Remy, I’m already involved.” Colt sat down beside him with a huff, “You really think Skylar’s not over there right now asking Rachel the same questions? You really think she’s going to let this go? Skylar loves that girl like a sister and she’s protective as hell. You should’ve seen the way she went after Cash before Jemma forgave him. She’s loyal and tenacious and she won’t back down from this fight just because you tell her to. Neither am I. You’re my family. Rachel is Sky’s. We’re both all in here.”
Remy leaned forward, resting his head in his hands and staring at the floor. If he had to blink once or twice to keep back the moisture that had formed at his brother’s words, then that was between him and his shoes. Family. That’s what they were. All of them. He’d always thought he was simply stuck with the hand he’d been dealt. He was a Bomar and his family was a bunch of criminals and bastards.
But the truth was, blood wasn’t what made family. Love was. Cash was making his own family with Jemma and their baby. Colt had Skylar. The twins had made their own family and Colt said he was a part of it. Rachel was a part of it. So of course, together, they were a part of it.
Love. Acceptance. Peace.
It was everything he’d wanted but he should have known it wouldn’t come easy. Nothing
came easy in his life. From the little he knew, nothing had ever come easy for Rachel either. But they had a chance at something better, together, and he’d meant what he said when he told her that he was done running. They would get through this together, all of them.
“It’s her brother.” He sat back upright in time to see Colt’s head tilt with confusion.
“Rachel has a brother?”
“My thoughts exactly.” He snorted, partly relieved he hadn’t been the only one in the dark about that, “Half-brother. His name is Craig but the best part is, you probably know him.”
“How would I know Rachel’s brother but not know he’s Rachel’s brother?”
“Because he’s part of Lincoln’s crew.”
Colt’s eyes went wide, “Seriously? I had no idea she had a brother let alone that he was connected to the family.”
“Yeah, I met the asshole last night after the fight. He’s a real piece of work. Cursed and threatened me for touching his precious little sister.” He shook his head when Colt smirked, “No, that’s the thing. It wasn’t a protective brother thing. He doesn’t give a shit about Rachel. He threatened her too.”
“What? Why?”
“No idea. He scared the hell out of her and she was barely functional by the time I got her out of there. I had to carry her because she couldn’t walk. She went full radio silence and whenever I’ve asked about him since, she shuts down. All she’ll say is that he scares her and she doesn’t want to go home.”
Colt scratched his head, “Hold up a second, you ran into the brother after your fight… with Rachel? She was there? At the barn?”
He nodded and Colt shot to his feet.
“What the hell was she doing there in the first place? That’s no place for a girl like her. She doesn’t even like when more than one guy goes into the salon at the same time. Hell! I still scare her and I’m about as laid-back as the Bomars come.”
“Apparently she was looking for me.”
“At the barn, on a fight night?”
“Yep.”
Colt stopped pacing and turned back to face him, “Well if that doesn’t prove just how scared she was, I don’t know what does.”
“The damn revolver maybe.”
“Don’t even get me started on that.” Colt growled, “And before you ask, no I didn’t leave it over there for her or Skylar to accidentally shoot themselves with it. It’s locked up in my office.”
“Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me. Tell me what the hell we can do keep our girls safe.”
Remy felt that spot in his chest warm at the way Colt said it. Our girls. Skylar and Rachel. There was no warning, no fight, no promise to kill him if he hurt Rachel. His brother had simply accepted that she was his and that they would protect her just as they protected Jemma and Skylar.
“Well…” He pushed to his feet so they were on equal footing, “As much as I hate to admit it, Rachel’s not going to tell me what’s going on with her brother. Not yet. I’ve given her every chance and I won’t push her if she isn’t ready to trust me with that truth.”
“Okay…”
“So we need to get information on the guy from another source.”
Colt groaned, “I think I see where you’re going with this.”
“He’s part of Link’s crew. If anyone knows what his deal is it would be Lincoln don’t you think?”
“You really want to call him in on this?” Colt hedged.
“Hell no. I’m still so angry with him over the way he handled things with you that I can barely be in the same room with him. Then, last night, he made a play for Rachel so the idea of putting my hand through his face is more appealing than ever.”
“He what?” Colt gaped.
“I claimed her, publicly, before the fight. It was the only way I could think of to keep her safe since I couldn’t just get her the hell out of there.” He smirked when Colt eyed him, “Yeah, okay, and because I wanted to but that’s not the point. The point is, our bastard cousin put his hands on her and tried to keep her from me even after I announced to the entire place that she was mine and anybody that messed with her would have to deal with me.”
“Woah.”
“Yeah, so I may have threatened to take him down right there in front of his fan club. He probably wants to talk to me about as much as I want to talk to him right now but it doesn’t matter. We need to know what he knows. It’s the only way to protect Rachel so I’ll make the call.”
Colt frowned, “I don’t like it any more than you do but I agree. We don’t have another option unless Sky gets Rachel to spill all the details to her. Considering I didn’t know the girl had a brother, I don’t see that happening.”
“Me either and it’s not just that she’s shy. She’s been hurt before and she’s scared and every instinct I have tells me it’s the brother that hurt her. I know what it’s like when the people you’re supposed to trust are the ones that hurt you. She’s not gonna open up easily but she is giving me a chance. I don’t want to blow it but I don’t want her ending up dead more.”
He hated the reminder of what he and Rachel shared. Damage. Pain and scars inflicted by their own family members. He’d always known someone had hurt Rachel but he’d assumed it was a boyfriend. Finding out that it was most likely her brother made him sick to his stomach. He knew that kind of sickness and he could only pray that he was wrong.
Colt sighed, “I know you and Lincoln are at odds over me. I get that. But he’s not as bad as you think he is, Remy. He’ll help us. Trust me.”
“Since you have so much faith in him, why don’t you call and ask him to come down here? My phones still dead and even if it wasn’t, I doubt he’d pick up for me right now.”
“Good point. I’ll make the call. Stay here.”
“Where would I go?” He snorted as his brother turned and walked towards his office in the back of the studio.
“To have a cigarette.”
He scoffed at that even though he did want to have a cigarette. He wanted to have an entire pack of cigarettes. But he wouldn’t. He’d quit. Well, he was in the process of quitting. His brothers hated cigarettes. They had too many bad memories of Decker using them as ashtrays. They carried those scars and Remy hated that just the smell of smoke could make them sick with bad memories. So he was quitting but it damn sure wasn’t one of the easier things he’d done in his life.
He wanted a smoke but he needed his brothers in his life. He needed Rachel and she’d told him her mother died of cancer. He didn’t need a cigarette.
Colt came back around the corner, his cell to his ear. Remy watched his brother stand there silently with the phone to his ear and his amusement faded. Lincoln wasn’t picking up which was strange. As the head of an organized crime ring, he was pretty much always in touch in case someone needed him. The phone rang and rang and he and Colt stared at each other, wondering what to do if voicemail picked up right about the time it clicked over.
“What?” A hushed, hurried voice whispered with irritation.
“Link?” Colt hit a button to put it on speaker and the response echoed in the empty space.
“No, it’s the damn tooth fairy. Yeah, it’s me. You fuckin’ called me. Who’d you think was gonna pick up?”
Remy rolled his eyes, “Nobody for a second there.”
“Is that Remington?” Lincoln’s voice came through a little louder, as if they’d finally earned his attention.
“Yeah, it’s me and Colt.” He answered quickly, “We need to talk to you. Can you swing by the studio?”
“No can do, Cuz. I’m… temporarily unavailable.”
Colt shot him a questioning look but Remy shrugged. He could no more decode Lincoln than he could speak French. He’d lost the ability to read his cousin’s mind a decade ago when he left town. The Lincoln on the phone wasn’t the same Lincoln that had given Remy a ride to the Army recruitment office because he knew how badly he needed to get out of town and only wanted to help. This guy was som
eone else entirely.
“It’s important.” He tried again.
“I’m sure you think it is.” Lincoln put a hand over the phone and his voice was muffled as he spoke to someone else before he came back on a second later, “Look, I’m kind of in the middle of something otherwise I’d be more than happy to talk to you boys. I was gonna hit you up later anyway. Feel you out about that girl.”
Remy flinched, “What girl?”
“The girl from last night. What? You claimed somebody else in the last twelve hours?”
“Rachel.”
“What?”
“Her name is Rachel.” He grit out.
“Yeah, Skylar’s friend. Your… whatever she is. I need to talk to you about her.”
“Why?”
“I think she might know…” Lincoln cursed on his end of the phone and then someone shouted his name, “Damn it, I gotta go boys. I’ll swing by when I get back to town and we can hash it all out. Talk soon.”
The line went dead and Remy cursed, “Son of a bitch.”
“Yeah, you can say that again.” Colt tossed the phone on the check-in counter and grimaced, “Lincoln wants to talk to you about Rachel? That can’t be good.”
“No. It can’t.”
“Where you think he is that he said he’s out of town?”
“I don’t know and I don’t care. All I care about is keeping Rachel safe and if he isn’t going to help me, I’ve got to figure something else out.”
“She’s working next door with Skylar. She’s perfectly safe. Nobody’s gonna mess with her at the salon. Whatever is going on, let her work. Let her have some semblance of a normal day and if we’re lucky, maybe she’ll open up and tell Sky what’s going on. If not, no harm done and we’ve killed a couple of hours until Lincoln gets back to town.”
“Easier said than done.” Remy complained.
“I know.” Colt smirked, “Trust me I know. Once you admit you’d be shit without her, it’s damn hard to let her out of your sight isn’t it?”
Remy nodded in agreement. If there was one thing that he knew both of his brothers understood, it was a need to protect their women. Cash and Colt would give their lives for Jemma and Skylar. Just because he hadn’t had a lifetime to get to know Rachel, to be her friend or pine over her, didn’t make what he felt any less powerful.
