My brother might have betrayed us all, but he’s still my flesh and blood. He might have made horrible choices that I will never understand, but no one and nothing is going to prevent me from trying to save him.
He’s the only family I have.
“I ain’t got much time. Got things to say.”
Tears drip down my cheeks. Magnolia’s voice blurs into the background noise of the night as I focus completely on my brother. “No. You’re not dying, dammit.”
He pulls my hand close to his face. “So fucking sorry. I just wanted to be somebody.”
“You didn’t have to be anyone but yourself! You didn’t have to do this!”
He nods. “It was always gonna end like this. I just wish you weren’t here to see it. Wish I didn’t have to put you through this twice.” He coughs, and the rattle in his chest turns my blood cold.
“Rafe, please.”
“It’s better this way. You found yourself a new life. Be happy, Tempe. Live.”
He coughs again, and his gaze loses focus.
“Take good care of her or I’ll haunt you ...” His words trail off as his eyes roll back.
“No!” I scream.
Kane clutches me tight against him, like he’s trying to keep me from breaking into pieces. But it’s too late.
I’m already shattered.
54
Temperance
Magnolia didn’t call 911. She called Mount.
And when the cavalry shows up, Mount orders one of his men to take the women somewhere in the bus, and then tells Kane to take me home and for one of his guys to drive the Audi back to the warehouse, where a doctor will meet us to see to Kane’s wound.
Ten minutes after the doctor leaves, I sink to the floor in Kane’s shower, watching red water circle the drain as the last of my tears trickle down my cheeks. My chest aches from my heart breaking.
My brother betrayed us all. The brother who protected me. Stood up for me. Helped me.
I can’t reconcile his actions with who I’ve always known him to be.
What’s more, I don’t want to.
Hot water washes over me, and I wish it could wash my memories clean. Keep them from being tainted by the events of tonight.
But nothing can do that.
The last time I grieved my brother, my guilt compounded everything. I thought I’d led him to his death by letting Kane use me to get to him, but nothing could have been further from the truth. This time, I won’t get so lucky.
These facts are facts, and there’s nothing I can do to change them.
The bathroom door opens.
“You need anything?” Kane asks as he sticks his head inside.
As soon as he sees me on the floor, pain lances through his expression as he comes toward the enclosure, not even bothering to strip off his clothes before he reaches the door. Once he’s inside, he crouches and wraps his arms around me.
“I’m so fucking sorry.” Kane lifts me into his lap, unhampered by his superglued wound, and rocks me, holding me tight as the water soaks us both.