28. Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Levi
My hands won't stop shaking.
Sunny's alive. Up until an hour ago, I would've thought that was impossible.
There hasn’t been even one second, in all these years, I’ve doubted what I saw or felt that night. I'd been so positive. So sure that she'd been taken away from me.
Everything I've built. Everything I've created. All of it was for her. An attempt to balance the scales. To make at least one part of it right somehow. And this whole time…
Angel . The fact that she’s been using the nickname I gave her, a memory from the first day we met, to hide behind all this time makes me want to put my fist through something.
The drive back to the safehouse is endless, each mile dragging. Colt and Z are behind me in their own cars. They deserve answers. They deserve the whole truth. Even the parts I don’t know if I’m ready to face again.
That truth feels destructive. Like it’s waiting to tear apart everything we've built.
When we pull into the gravel drive, our crew takes one look at Z's face and vanishes. Smart.
I stalk into the dark house, my body humming with the need to break something, to hurt something. To make something on the outside match the chaos ripping through me. My fist clenches, aching to put it through the nearest wall, but I force myself to the bar instead. Seven years of trying to maintain control, of waiting, of planning—I won't let myself slip now. Not even for this.
The whiskey bottle is steady in my grip even though nothing else about me is. The first shot burns as it goes down, but it doesn't come close to matching the acid that's already burning a hole in my gut. The glass hits the wooden surface too hard when I set it down, the sharp crack echoing in the dark.
"Start talking."
Z's voice comes from the shadows. He doesn't move from where he’s standing in the door frame, arms crossed, but there's violence in his stillness. Those ice-blue eyes of his cut through the darkness and lock onto mine.
I've seen that look on his face before, plenty of times. I never thought I'd see it aimed at me.
"That night was the worst night of my life. I found her covered in blood, Z." My voice comes out steady, rehearsed. "No pulse. I called 911 and—"
"And what?" Zane steps into the room and flips on the lights, his movement fluid, predatory. Colt follows behind him.
"You dialed the phone and walked away? Didn't you wait for the ambulance? For the cops? Please tell me you waited. Tell me you weren't that stupid."
"I couldn't stay!" The reasoning, the certainty that I've clung to for the past seven years starts to crack. "My mother was dead. Garrett killed her that same night. I had to—"
"Had to what?" Colt rises, his usual warmth gone.
"She was dead." But the words aren't true. I thought they were but they're not. They sound different now.
"No, she wasn't. You realize what that means right? That, you left her there to die. Alone." Z's voice is frigid. "The girl you supposedly loved."
"I did… I do love her! I was barely eighteen! Cut me some slack!" The defense sounds hollow, ridiculous even to me. "I'd just found my mother murdered, and Sunny—" Her name catches like barbed wire in my throat.
"You weren't there. You didn't see her, how still she was, all the blood—" I close my eyes against the memory.
"I couldn't protect either of them. I failed."
"To say the least." Colt's quiet agreement cuts deep. "And then you lied to us about it."
"The threat was real." I grip the bar's edge, anchoring myself to this one truth. “None of this changes that. Garrett killed my mother. He tried to murder Sunny."
"Tried." Z steps closer. "She survived what he did. Survived being left for dead. By you."
The truth of it hits even harder spoken out loud. "I know."
"Know what?" Colt presses. "That you're a coward?"
Something snaps. I'm in Colt's face before I realize I've moved. "You think I don't know exactly what I am? You think I don't live with it every fucking day?"
"Back off." Z's grip on my shoulder is iron, yanking me away from Colt.
I wrench free, my words a low hiss. "Don't touch me."
"Or what?" Z's eyes are cold, emotionless, daring me to give him a reason.
"Everything I've done since that night has been about finding Garrett," I snarl. "About making him pay for what he did. To my mother, to Sunny."
"Sunny's alive!" Colt shouts. "She's been alive this whole time, a few hundred miles away, right under your nose! While we've been running ops and cracking skulls, she's been right here!"
The reminder that she's been so close, living as Angel makes my head spin. "I didn't know."
"That's your excuse for everything, isn't it? That's not going to cut it." Zane's contempt is palpable. "What else don't we know, Levi?"
The question hangs in the air between us. Seven years of partnership, of brotherhood, threatening to break under the weight of these stupid lies.
"Tell us everything," Colt says. "No more bullshit. No more half-truths. Everything."
"Fine. No more lies." I pour another whiskey, not sure I can get through this without it. "That night... I was supposed to be with her. It was her birthday. Her 18th."
"But you weren't," Zane prompts when I pause.
"No." Shame competes with guilt as I continue. "There was this asshole. Zack. He'd made it his mission to make her life miserable. He'd been threatening her, stalking her, pissing me off. I came up with a plan to get rid of him. Teach him a lesson." I laugh bitterly.
"That's where I was. That's what I was doing when…" I hang my head. "I was running late. I was supposed to be back, but I wasn't. When I got there, Garrett had already been there and left."
The memory of finding her, broken and bleeding, threatens to drown me. I grip the glass harder. "It was too late when I got there. Or I thought it was. Z. Colt. You have to believe me. It was bad. You know we've seen a lot. Done a lot. I've never seen anything that even comes close to what he did to her."
I drain the whiskey, my hands shaking as I set down the glass. Colt's question hangs in the air between us, the one I've dreaded. The one I'd managed to push into the back of my mind and bury.
"Why would Garrett go after them in the first place?" Colt's voice is calm but insistent. "It sounds like he waited. Like it was personal, not random like you said. There's more to the story. There has to be. I can see it."
I can barely breathe through the heaviness of my guilt. "You're right."
"Then tell us." Zane's eyes bore into me. "All of it."
"The first day I met Sunny..." My voice cracks. I clear my throat and try again. "That first day… I found her crying in her backyard. She was beaten, bruised. Garrett had—" I clench my fists. "He'd hurt her. Badly. And when he came outside looking for her, drunk and talking about how she needed to come back inside with him... I lost it."
The memory of that day floods back, crystal clear. "I knocked him down the stairs. Broke his ribs, his leg. Could've killed him. Should've killed him."
"Jesus," Colt mutters.
"I thought I'd handled it. Thought I'd scared him enough to stay away." A disgusted laugh escapes me. "I was so fucking young and stupid. All I did was paint a target on our backs."
I start pacing, unable to stay still. "After that, all he had to do was wait for the perfect time to get even. He must've had eyes on us. Following her. Following me. I wouldn't have noticed, I was too wrapped up in her. I was so proud of myself for saving her and protecting her."
"There's no way you thought that would be it," Zane says. It's not a question.
"Yeah." The words are acid on my tongue. "I think a part of me knew that someone like Garrett wouldn’t spook that easily. I knew, I just chose to pretend I didn't. I loved her so much."
"What about your mom?" Colt asks. "How'd she get involved?"
My throat closes. I have to force the words out. "Mom? She wasn't involved at all. She'd only met Sunny a few times and I'm pretty sure she'd never met Garrett. I think he used her as another way to get to me. To take something away from me and hurt me."
"Shit," Zane breathes.
"She spent her whole life telling me that I needed to pay attention. That I was too much like my father and that nothing good would ever come of it. But I wouldn't listen. Thought I knew better. Thought I could handle anything."
I grab the whiskey bottle, pouring another shot with trembling hands. "Every single thing that happened after that first day—it's all on me. My choices. My arrogance. Thinking I could do that kinda damage to someone like him and there wouldn't be consequences."
"So, that night..." Colt prompts.
"I left her alone." The words come out forced. "Left her vulnerable because I was off dealing with Zack. I told myself I was doing it for her, which is only partially true. I was doing it mostly for me. I couldn't stand what he was putting her through. And Garrett..." I down the whiskey, needing its burn. "He was smart. He went after my mom first. Made sure I'd find her. He went for Sunny while I was distracted."
The silence in the room is deafening. I can feel their eyes on me, processing the weight of my confession.
"All these years," I continue, my voice barely above a whisper, "I've told myself I was seeking justice. Revenge. But the truth is, everything that happened to them—to my mom, to Sunny – it all traces back to that first day. To me thinking I could fix everything. I didn't see the bigger picture until it was too late."
"Levi..." Colt starts. His voice is sympathetic, soothing.
"Don't." I hold up a hand. "Don't try to make this better. You wanted the truth? This is it. I got my mother killed. I left the girl I loved to die alone because I couldn't face the damage I'd caused. And then I dragged you both into my vendetta, built a whole life on lies because I couldn't admit the truth—that all of this, every bit of it, is my fault."
The silence in the room is heavy, oppressive. I watch Z's jaw clench and unclench, his hands flexing at his sides like he's fighting the urge to hit something. Hit me. Can't say I'd blame him if he did.
Colt sits back down on the couch, running his hands through his hair. His expression is softer than Z's, but no less troubled.
"Look," I say, my voice rough. "I know I fucked up. Not just that night, but every day since. Lying to you both, using your loyalty for my own agenda..."
"We trusted you." Z's voice is sharp. "I've been willing to follow you to hell and back. And the whole time—"
"The whole time I was too much of a coward to tell you the truth." I meet his burning gaze. "You're right. I betrayed that trust. With both of you."
Colt leans forward, elbows on his knees and lets out a deep sigh. "We were kids back then, man. All of us. Making shit decisions, thinking we were invincible—"
Z whirls on him. "Don't make excuses for him."
"I'm not." Colt holds up his hands. "But I get it. The panic, the guilt..."
"You're a coward," Z says through gritted teeth.
"You're right. I couldn't face any of it. Not what happened to my mom, not what I'd let happen to Sunny... It was easier to focus on revenge."
"And now?" Colt asks.
I laugh, but there's no humor in it. "Now? Now I have to live with knowing she survived. That while I was out here playing vigilante, she was trying to survive. Alone."
"Because you ran," Z corrects.
"Because I ran," I agree. "I know I don't deserve forgiveness. From either of you. From her. Hell, I don't even have the right to ask for it."
Z pushes off the wall, stalking toward the door. "No. You don't."
"Z..." Colt starts.
"Don't." Z turns back, his voice cold as he speaks. "You want to stick around, that's your choice. But I need to get out of here before I do something we'll all regret."
He storms out of the room. Slamming the door when he leaves with enough force to rattle the windows. I close my eyes, feeling like I'm watching one more important thing slip through my fingers.
"He'll come around," Colt offers.
"He shouldn't." I pour another drink with shaking hands. "Neither should you."
"Maybe. Maybe not." Colt stands, crossing to the bar. "But it's my choice."
I look at him, stunned. "After everything I've done? All the lies?"
"Yeah." He takes the bottle from my hand, pouring his own drink. "Because under all that bullshit, you're still my brother. That counts for something."
"It shouldn't." My voice is barely a whisper. "Not after this."
"Well, tough shit." Colt downs his whiskey. "Because it does. Z will figure that out too. He just needs to calm down."
I shake my head. "I don't think so Colt. I don't think this can be fixed."
He sets down his glass. "Time will tell, brother."
He's right. I've got nothing but time now.