"Maybe because she makes her own damn decisions," I snapped out and he raised both brows. "Stop talking about me like I'm not here. If you want me to leave, I'll go..."
"Wait," Jasper said as he pulled from the others and stood on his own.
"Sparrow," Kellan murmured, and everything in his expression begged me to let him handle this, but it was Vaughn who surprised me.
"What the hell did you think we were gonna do, Milo? Pretend we didn't see what that guy was doing to her? She was hurt. Badly. Bad enough we had to have Doc patch her up and she had a hell of a concussion."
"Fuck," Doc exhaled as Raptor's gaze shot to him, all accusation and quiet rage.
"You didn't fucking tell me she was hurt that bad."
And I thought Jasper had anger issues, but where Jasper yelled, this guy was just...a single string vibrating so hard that it pulled the whole orchestra to follow him.
"Because she's fine now and you were struggling enough." Not an ounce of apology lived in Doc's tone. "You gonna try and kick the shit out of me, now?"
Jasper blinked one good eye at him, he had a wad of tissue to the cut over his other eye, and he flicked a look to me.
The rage that seemed to live on Raptor's surface vanished. If I hadn't caught the deep breath he took or the way he glanced down before his shoulders straightened, I'd have missed it. But the action, every scrap of it, was as intimately familiar to me as my own name.
I did that when I needed to bury something. Compartmentalize. Put it away.
Just like that, Raptor's anger erased as if it had never been there. I stiffened at the familiarity and Rome gave me another careful squeeze. Comfort wasn't what I wanted right then. It wasn't true.
This guy wasn't my brother.
I didn't have one...
"No, Mickey," Raptor said slowly. "I owe you too much and you're right. There's probably a lot I don't know." He focused on me. "A lot I need to learn, but Emersyn doesn't need to be here for this."
"Maybe she doesn't," Doc said with a shrug. "But that's up to her, don't you think?"
They both looked at me and Liam straightened. Rome did, too. He wasn't rubbing his cheek against my hair anymore and his hand on my arm stilled. But I could imagine his face. He didn't step away from me, if anything, he rebalanced my weight and I stopped leaning on him so hard. If he needed to move, I didn't want to get in his way.
"You know," Freddie announced as he held up a chocolate covered donut. "I'm calling the fifteen minute rule, and I'm pretty sure we cleaned these floors this month. Besides, the donuts are great." He took a big bite and announced around it. "But I saved the best ones for me and Boo-Boo." He held up a box with triumph. "No donuts were harmed in the making of this drama."
Kellan sighed and Vaughn stared upward, but I laughed. Even Jasper let out a sound that bordered on humor and when his chuckle cut across the tension in the room, I laughed harder.
Fuck me. This was probably the absolute worst time to get the giggles, but Freddie looked so damned pleased with himself, and I swore his eyes held their own version of a hopeful smile. He grinned wider as I giggled harder as he sailed down the hall to where I stood and he made a huge show of opening the box.
"Donut, Boo-Boo?" He took another bite of his own and made a soft moaning noise. I should have known danger was imminent the minute his eyes glittered with mischief. "I bet the only thing that tastes better is that pretty pussy, but I'll settle for this sugar today."
Rome snorted softly, it was almost the faintest suggestion of laughter. I met Freddie's gaze as Raptor stalked forward. With a sigh, Rome moved me behind him and he joined Liam in blocking the other guy.
"Freddie," I snapped.
"It's fine, Boo-Boo," he whispered, as he sidled over to me. "Get everyone pissed at me, they yell, they might smack me in the head, but then they get back to being them, and right now, all I want is to get high if they keep this shit up. The tension in here is fucking killing me." Then he paused and held out his half-eaten donut for me to bite. "And if it comes down to it, I'm Team Boo-Boo."
I groaned. "I don't think this is helping," I admitted as I took a piece of the donut he offered and tore it half.
"You'd be surprised," he said, then nodded to where Kellan, Vaughn, and Jasper had fallen in around Raptor. The only one not quite standing with them was Doc. "The guys will figure this out, Boo-Boo. I promise."
"You know how Freddie is," Kellan said, and I swore he made it sound like the most reasonable thing in the world. "Just ignore him."
"I'm supposed to ignore that you've all been shacking up with my sister? That you not only didn't do the one thing I asked, you did absolutely the worst thing possible and brought her here?" The bite in Raptor's voice wasn't directed at me but it held some of the same acidity as Kellan's had when he said I didn't belong here.
Maybe I hadn't in the beginning. Hell, I hadn't even wanted to be here.
"Has it occurred to any of you that there's a nationwide search going on for her right now?" Raptor demanded. "Her family wants her back."
"Let's talk about this later," Kellan said. "After we smooth things over."
"Man, I love your optimism," Liam said. "I've fucking missed that."
"Why the fuck are you still here anyway?" Jasper demanded. "Don't you have some snooty boys to go hang with now?"
"You're welcome for saving your ass from a beating," Liam said easily. "And I'm here because I know how to answer my phone."
"Enough," Doc said. "You're all acting like you're twelve. Stop it. Everyone here is an adult, in theory, so let's let all the adults make decisions for themselves."
"Fine," Raptor said abruptly. "Liam had nothing to do with this… take Emersyn to your place for now. It's secure, right?"
What the hell?
"He's not my brother," I repeated, softly. At Freddie's sad look, I frowned. "Right?"
"Boo-Boo," he told me, sliding an arm around my shoulders. "I'm not going to lie to you."
So they all thought this guy was my brother?
Why?
Over Raptor's shoulder, I locked eyes with Jasper. Well, I focused on his one visible eye at the moment. The last thing in the world I wanted to see on his face and in his eyes clawed at me.
Guilt.
Chapter 2
Liam
The last thing I needed was Hellspawn exploding my carefully crafted life. I'd had to half drag her out of there and I told her to get on the bike or be strapped to it. Rome followed, and my other half coaxed her into riding with me. Then he'd given me a look.
One I interpreted very well.
Hands off and take care of her.
Yeah, no problem brother mine. From the moment we arrived at my condo, she all but threw the helmet at me and stomped back to the bedrooms and slammed the door. I didn't laugh when she emerged from my room, still scowling and ducked into Rome's, then slammed that door.
Well, she told me.