“What’s wrong, Rubin?” I asked quietly, knowing he had lots of things to say and many questions to ask.
“Nothing.”
“You’re a really bad liar.”
Rubin looked at Eric yet again, as though seeking permission for something I clearly wasn’t aware of.
When Eric side-eyed him, he gave a subtle nod of approval, and I watched as Rubin’s shoulders fell with relief. He moved across the room carefully, coming to stand on the opposite side of the bed from Ayda. There was a look in Rubin’s eyes I’d never seen before—a peace, almost, and a young boy whowas transitioning into the man he’d always wanted to become.
“I spoke to my dad the other day,” Rubin began.
“Yeah?” I croaked, clearing my throat and looking at Eric who was giving nothing away before I looked back up at Rubin.
“Yeah.” Rubin nodded. “I got to sit down opposite him for the first time properly. We were like two adults having this conversation I couldn’t keep up with at first. He was throwing all these words at me I didn’t understand, saying he was sorry, asking for my forgiveness and begging me to give him a chance.”
“How did that make you feel?”
“Weird.” Rubin sighed. “He said he’s made a lot of mistakes in his life, done things he shouldn’t have done. Said things he shouldn’t have said. Hurt people he shouldn’t have hurt. He told me he always managed to sleep okay at night because, deep down, he thought his intentions were good.”
Good?I wanted to cry out. Walsh didn’t have a good intention in his bone marrow, and he wasn’t the kind of man to beg for forgiveness. All my nerves were tingling, waking up from their slumber, telling me to say something that would wake Rubin up from this dangerous path he was about to go down, but then he spoke again, and everything I wanted to say got swept away with the words he breathed in front of me.
“Do you believe him, Drew? Do you believeourdad? Do you think his intentions have always been good?”
He knew.
The kid fucking knew.
My lips parted in shock, and I turned back to Eric, eyes wide and heart beating in that hectic rhythm it had gotten so used to recently.
I stared at Eric Tucker like it was the first time I was seeing him, and there he stood, proud and unashamed, an innocence shining through as a small smile tugged at the corner of hismouth.
“Well, Drew?” Eric asked, bunching his shoulders together. “Answer your brother. Do you think your father’s intentions have always been good?”
“I can’t believe you found the balls to tell him,” I whispered back, my lips barely moving.
“Where do you think you got your balls from, son?”
“You could have given me a head’s up.”
“I asked him not to,” Rubin said, bringing my attention back to him. He was now smiling too. A glint of excitement shining from his eyes. “Brother…” he added.
“Holy shit, the kid’s got balls, too.”
“Not really. I’m not brave like you—more relieved to know that the man I shot isn’t my real dad. Relieved to be away from him. Relieved that I don’t need to feel guilty about not feeling guilty that he’s going to spend a long time in prison... some of his sentence thanks to me.”
“That’s a lot of relief.” I sighed.
“Maybe you can teach me to be brave one day.”
“As long as he teaches you to be brave and not stupid,” Eric interrupted. I didn’t need to look at him to flip him the bird, my own weak smile trying to break free when I heard his responding laughter.
“How do you feel about it, kid?” I dared myself to ask.
“Honestly? I don’t really know yet. I guess it makes sense why The Hut always felt like home, and why defending The Hounds always came so easily to me. It was like some kind of…”
“... connection,” I finished for him.
“Yeah. An indescribable bond that didn’t make sense to me when written on paper, but made sense to the way it made me happy to be around Tate and you guys.”
“You’ve always been a part of my family, Rubix cube,” Ayda teased. “But once Drew makes an honest woman of me, it’ll beofficial.”
“And once Ayda stops calling you Rubix Cube. That’s way too cute for a Hound.”
“Still better than some of the names I have for you.”
I squeezed her hand back as firmly as I could, which, given my current state of being weaker than piss, wasn’t very firm at all. “Ah, my sweet, loving future wife.” I smiled up at Rubin. “Don’t you just love her and her smart mouth?”