18. Beau
BEAU
M y stomach flip-flopped and my skin went all clammy.
I liked to pretend nothing got to me, but my time in prison had been a nightmare.
I’d had to fight to establish myself and attempt to protect a few of the prisoners who I doubted would have survived without someone bigger and stronger in their corners.
“It was hell. Do you really need to know more than that?”
He laid a hand on my arm. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked. I just… You’re… not what you seem.”
I raised my brows.
“Damn it. You’re going to make me explain that, aren’t you?”
I nodded.
“You’re caring, and you… you have a code of honor.”
“So do you. I wouldn’t have accepted help from Remington if I didn’t know that about your family.”
“That’s true, although most people who aren’t in the same line of work don’t get that. They either think we’re cool as fuck for getting away with what we do, or they think we’re evil.”
“You’re far from evil. I met evil in prison, and I don’t ever want to see it again.”
“Tell me what happened. How did you end up there?”
His question surprised me. “Remington didn’t share that?”
“No, he never shared the details of the bargain you made. When I asked, he said it was between the two of you, and all I needed to know was that you owed us some assistance with our automotive business.”
I blew out a long breath. I hadn’t told anyone the full story. My brother knew most of it since he’d taken part, and I assumed he could deduce the rest if he bothered to think about it. Sam knew some, mostly from evenings spent drinking far too much after we closed the shop.
Did I dare tell Corbin? Would he or his family use some of it against me?
I thought about the way he’d looked at me as he tasted the cum that was running down his legs.
No. There might be times when he made bad choices.
There would definitely be times when he refused to listen and when he was stubborn as fuck and needed his ass reddened again, but I had no reason to think he would betray me other than perhaps to save the life of someone in his family.
Honestly, how could I fault him for that?
He had the kind of family I’d never even imagined.
“Promise me this stays between us.”
He took my hand and brought it to his lips, brushing them across the back of my knuckles. “I swear to you, and I take giving my word seriously. If there’s one thing my father and Remington instilled in me, it’s that.”
I decided to start all the way back at the beginning.
“I grew up basically feral, out in the bayou in a shack. Three rooms, no indoor plumbing, a tiny refrigerator that was broken as often as it was working. I learned to work on cars because it was the only way there was ever going to be one that ran. My father was a dealer. My mama ran off when I was fourteen, and my brother, Travis, was eight. One day, my dad just disappeared. To this day, I don’t know if he’s dead or if he’s out there somewhere.
I managed to take care of us, hunting, fishing, repairing other people’s vehicles.
There was a woman who owned a little store just a short boat ride away. She was charitable, thank God.”
Corbin reached for my hand, and I laced our fingers together.
“Eventually, my grandma showed up. I’d never met her before.
She got word that my mom had passed. Apparently someone had found her body and searched for next of kin.
My grandma didn’t have much, but we moved into her little shotgun house.
We were used to being crowded, but now our space was clean, and she had air conditioners in the windows.
She loved us and tried to teach us some manners and decency.
My brother was slower to learn than me.”
Corbin offered me a bottle of water. I cracked it open and drank about half of it in one go. Had he known how dry my mouth was and how hard it was for me to get these words out?
“I managed to graduate high school and get work at a local garage. A few years after that, I became part of a crew of street racers. They weren’t always on the right side of the law, but they were good men. My brother dropped out at sixteen, and I brought him on as well.
“Did you race?” Corbin asked, looking excited by the idea. Of course he would be turned on by speed.
“No. I stuck with mechanic work only. I don’t feel any need to risk my life unless it’s absolutely necessary. I had plenty of that back in the bayou. One of the guys on the crew, Rob, and I got to be close friends.” Corbin looked at me pointedly, and I shook my head.
“No, we were truly just friends. We were both way too controlling to be together like that.”
Corbin scoffed. “I can imagine.”
“But Rob wanted more, more money, more excitement. He wanted to involve our crew in some things the rest of us weren’t comfortable with.
I’m not saying we were angels or anything.
One of the guys ran a very successful chop shop, and one was a well-known bookie.
We all had our hands in things that were questionable, but Rob wanted us to start running drugs by hiding them in the cars we were moving.
The rest of us thought that was way too risky.
Since I’d been closer to Rob than anyone else, I was elected to try to make him see reason. ”
Corbin sucked in his breath. “I bet that didn’t go well.”
“It didn’t, not in the long run. At first, he was angry, but he calmed down, and I was convinced he’d given up on the plan.
In reality, he’d just decided he was going to do it anyway without the rest of us knowing.
He seduced my brother and secured his help.
They became glued together, which I hated.
I knew how he treated the men he was with, and I’d never approved of it.
Corbin’s eyes were wide. “What did you do?”
“I tried to talk sense into my brother, but he’d gotten used to getting what he wanted. I’d tried to shelter him from the worst things in our life, and he’d become determined to take what he wanted, no matter who got hurt.”
“I’m sorry.” The sincerity in Corbin’s voice made my chest tighten. “I’m surprised you…”
I studied him. “What?”
“I’m surprised you even bothered with me at all.”
“You’re nothing like him. Travis is… I don’t know if he’s redeemable anymore. You’re so much stronger than he is.”
“How long has it been since you’ve seen him?”
“Until last week, it had been three years, but I’ll tell you more about that later.
Rob set me up by planting a bag of cocaine in a hidden compartment in a car I was delivering, then sending an anonymous tip to the police.
Once I was behind bars, he dumped my brother and told him he better not ever see him again, then Rob proceeded to move up the ranks in his new organization. ”
Corbin shook his head. “Damn. I’m not really surprised. You know my background, but maybe my brothers are right and sometimes I’m a little na?ve. It’s not that I’m shocked Rob would want to run drugs to make more money, but the lack of loyalty… Without it, our organization would fall apart.”
“Rob is the one who ended up dead in a car that was sold to me, wearing my brother’s hat.”
“Oh fuck. And your brother? Is he…”
“He’s alive and in hiding. He knows whoever killed Rob is likely to come for him too.”
“Shit, are you…”
“I’m going to help him. He’s still my brother. The night you asked for my help with the Ferrari, I’d just gotten back from spending several weeks tracking him down and moving him somewhere safe.”
Corbin leaned in for a soft kiss. “I’m sorry someone you thought was a friend would do that to you.”
“I realize now that he was never as good a friend as I thought he was. There wasn’t time for me to have friends growing up. I was so excited to make those connections that when I consider it now, a lot of the men I thought were friends were just using me.”
Corbin met my gaze. “I know you didn’t think much of me when I met you, but if I tell someone I’m their friend, I mean it, and what we did tonight… I wouldn’t let anybody do that if I didn’t consider them a friend.”
I squeezed his hand. “Thank you. I’ve only ever shared bits and pieces of this story with anyone.
I still can’t… I can’t talk about all the things that happened to me while I was locked away.
When I told you I’m not scared of anything, it’s because I spent the first months terrified every second.
When I figured out how to survive, I knew if I could do that, I could do anything.
I swore I was going to be a law-abiding citizen when I got out of prison, but your brother’s offer was too good.
I needed to stop feeling like a caged animal, and he gave me the opportunity to start my life over, but I paid my debt to him, and I don’t intend to be beholden to anyone anymore. ”
“Not even if…” Corbin looked away and scrubbed a hand over his face. “Never mind. Nothing.”