Chapter 11 #2
My brother doesn’t take his eyes off us.
“I knew something was going on,” his rasp sounds deeper in that deadly low tone.
“I told myself, no fucking way, my brother would keep something like that from me. No way would he disrespect our bond and not tell me he’s fucking my little sister!
” He yells that last part, and it sets West off.
“No,” I cry out, trying to grab him as he and Drew go at each other.
Drew swings first, clipping West in the jaw.
“Stop this, Drew. Don’t fucking do this,” I scream, remembering Asher’s earlier warning and keeping a safe distance.
West headlocks Drew, but my brother punches the man I love in the ribs. Drew gets loose and swings again, hitting West in the face. West charges and ducks, slamming his body low, grabbing Drew at the waist, and knocking both of them down.
Raze walks in, pauses mid-step, surprised before he takes charge. Beckett joins to help, grabbing a wrestling West from the ground as Raze takes my brother and pulls them apart.
“That’s my fucking sister,” Drew yells, fighting against Raze’s hold.
“And you’re like a brother to me,” West spits blood from his cut. “You know me. Better than almost anyone. I wouldn’t fuck around with someone as precious as her. If she didn’t mean the world to me, I wouldn’t even think about going there. You know me,” West pounds his fist into his chest.
“You didn’t think I deserved to know?”
“Of course we did,” West pulls away from Beckett’s hold while Raze keeps his around my brother. “She just came back home. We didn’t expect this. We didn’t plan it. Her life has also been in danger. We’ve all had a lot on our plates. We needed a second to figure it out for ourselves first.”
“You’re too old for her,” my brother lamely argues.
The scoffs in the room from the Hunter brothers, any other time, would have me laughing.
My anxiety is coursing through me. I want to argue my own points, but this isn’t about me right now.
I can’t make this right for them. Just like my issues are mine to handle, this situation is between best friends.
It’s theirs to make right for each other.
I will still live my life in the end. Because I choose West. He’s my forever. Drew will come around. I have to believe that.
“She’s not a kid, Styx. She’s almost thirty years old.”
“Did you see her in some way when she was younger?” Drew growls.
“Don’t you dare sully our history.” West’s face hardens. “I’ve always cared about her. She was my friend as well as my best friend’s sister. This connection hit us the day she came back two weeks ago.” The silence hums in the entire bar.
“I’m in love with her, man.”
My brother’s face filters through a series of emotions. His pride at the moment is the one winning, though.
“I love him, Drew.”
Those hazel eyes sharply slice through me. “You’ve always crushed on him. Don’t think I didn’t know.”
“I was a kid then. That’s not what this is. I haven’t hung out with him in over six years.” I give my brother full honesty. “He makes me happy. Sees me like no one else has. And he loves like no one else will.”
Brian groans in the corner by the barstools, and the energy in the room shifts. Raze lets Drew go as everyone’s attention turns to the other shit show of the day.
“Who beat the shit out of him?” Styx, the MC Enforcer, takes over even though his body still radiates fury.
“He had his hands on your sister when we walked in. He’s high. Was yelling in her face,” Beckett reports. “West took care of him. We tied him up.”
Styx whips his head toward West, who stands glaring down at Brian’s body. There’s that emotional war he’s fighting. My stubborn, pigheaded brother.
“Are you okay?” he asks me.
“Thanks to West, yeah. Brian planned on taking me from the bar. No clue where he would’ve taken me.”
“How the fuck did he get in?” Drew barks at Raze.
“I’d like to fucking know that too,” West growls, backing away from Brian.
“We found his car two miles north. He saw the bikes. He knows our patch. He hid in the alleyways and lock-picked the back door,” Raze reports.
“Yeah, we’re changing the system for the back and front,” Asher grumbles. “Get Grayson on it,” he tells Beckett, who nods.
“Get the fucker to the clubhouse,” Drew orders Raze.
“What are you going to do with him?” I ask. “I’m not a fan of the asshole, but we can’t just hand him over to get killed, Drew.”
“That’s club business,” he grunts, not looking at me.
“It’s my business,” I stand firm. “I’m the idiot who didn’t listen to your warnings. I dated him. I also got rid of him when I finally caught the act. You all are putting yourselves in danger because of me.”
“No,” West says, standing closer. “Because of him. He got himself in this shit. He’s the reason you were attacked. This is on him. Not you.”
“He was always part of the plan,” Drew crosses his arms. “We have an hour before those assholes meet us. Let’s go.”
Raze tosses Brian over his shoulder. My ex’s body jerks, but he still isn’t fully conscious. We all watch as they leave before West finally touches me.
“We knew he probably wouldn’t take it well at first,” I say, holding his body close before he winces.
Fucking Drew.
West’s face is bruised, a few cuts bleeding. “We need to take care of that,” I tip my head toward his face.
“I’m going tonight.”
“What?” My brow furrows. “No.”
“Grayson and Holden will be with him,” Beckett says.
“We’ll be in the back. Armed. Car ready to leave if shit gets bad. But it won’t,” he reassures when my mouth opens. “I know the plan. It’s solid. Trust your brother. And trust me.”
“You’re not his favorite person right now, Hero.”
“But like he did once for me, I’m going to watch out for him. I have his back. No matter what.”
His steady determination is something I can’t argue with. I literally dedicated that song to him because it represents him down to the letter.
“If something happens to you, I swear to God, West Hunter, I will hunt you down, even in death, and demand retribution. Don’t you dare not come back home to me.”
The first smile of the night. A small one, but all West. “I love you, Camille Lane. And I plan on coming home to you for years to come.”
Emotion closes my throat. “I’ll hold you to that promise, Hero.”