Maybe.

I got what he was saying, but I wasn’t okay that he was using my group to further his agenda.

“If you want to go rogue against Harper, do it on your time. Stop saying anything that connects to my crew. Got it?”

There was a little bit of light, and some of the red from the neon sign shining down on us. We could see each other clearly, and he studied me for a moment. He was measuring me.

I was done. Our family shit aside, I wasn’t going to stand anymore and let him play roulette with my crew, with Bren.

Finally, he dipped his head down. “Fine, but I did ask your girl if she’d hang out with Aspen next weekend. I don’t know where Aspen’s friends will take her, so I can’t be there to protect her.”

I stepped back. “Bren said yes?”

He nodded. “Then, that’s different. You’re giving us the choice to wade in or not. Do more of that shit and we’re good.”

“Right.”

“Right.” Another dark glare at him, but my brother was standing down, accepting what I said. And because I actually didn’t want to risk getting into a physical fight with him, I turned on my heel and went back inside.

Blaise followed a beat later.

He kept to his side. I kept to mine.

We were fine, that way.

From: Cross

To: Tazsters

Subject: Yes, payback is a bitch.

Stay tuned.

—always the best twin

BREN

Things were good, until they weren’t.

I went to work, helped in the field, but Brock also gave me a huge book. He pointed at it as he walked by. “You gotta learn all of that before you take your test.”

My test. I needed to pass a test before I was an official bounty hunter? Seems like I actually was a student.

After work a few times, I met Cross at his school’s library for a study session.

Okay, I lied. I was trying to make myself sound like a better student than I was. The study session happened one time, and never again. A college library, or a library of any sorts, was not a place I wanted to be in unless I was going in wearing a vest, my Taser gun at the ready, and a radio clipped to my shoulder. The rest of the week, I went to work.

I went on bail jumps. I helped where I could, stood back when I was told.

I came home.

I ate or met Cross and Jordan for dinner.

After that, Cross and I studied. In the bedroom. Our living room. Outside. A diner. Anywhere except at a library.

Cross liked the downtime, even though I learned that he actually didn’t need to study that much. He was ‘going through the motions.’ I asked about it, and he sighed with a shy little smile that made my knees melt.

“I like the normalcy.”

“What?”

He shifted, looking a little uncomfortable. “You know, we’re just studying. Normal. We’re not fighting or searching for a drug dealer I want to kill, or your drug dealer ex. No one’s being taken to the hospital. You know, normal. Quiet.”

“You like the quiet?”

He nodded, his eyes shifting to the floor for a beat. “Yeah. I feel settled. I’m not worried that someone I love is going to be taken away from me.”

Right.

I was rocked, rocked, but right.

That made sense.

“Okay,” I whispered. “You like the normalcy.”

Another nod from him. “I like it when you’re next to me.”

Well.

Then.

Warmth spread through me at that last statement.

My throat swelled up, but I didn’t know why, and I didn’t have the words, so I went back to studying. Normal. Quiet.

Guess I’d be studying more from now on.

And those nights when it was just Cross and me at the house, I felt the quiet. I was okay with the quiet. And knowing how Cross felt about it, I was really okay with it now. I could do that.

That was the goal until Jordan came home. Two out of the four nights, he had a girl with him.

I saw both of his guests. I didn’t know either of them.

The other two nights, Jordan had people come over. They were from a couple of his classes. One was the psych class he shared with Cross, so for those nights, the peace wasn’t so peaceful. A couple of the guys wanted to talk with Cross. A few of the girls wanted to flirt with him. He was polite to the guys, shot the girls down, and took my hand, leading me upstairs to my room those nights just to escape.

Jordan shot me an apologetic grin each time.

It was Friday now, and tonight was when the quiet stopped being quiet.

BREN

My phone was ringing, and it took a hot second for me to realize that it wasn’t the alarm.

Cross lifted his head up, looking, and he reached over me. Checking the screen, he moved back and sat up on his side of the bed. “There a reason you’re calling thirty minutes before she needs to wake up?”

I frowned, but I wasn’t frowning enough to sit up because he was right. I had thirty more sleeping minutes to go.

I heard murmuring from the other end, then Cross looked at me. His face tightened, even with his hair sticking up, and he still looked good. He had stopped shaving very recently, so he had a nice patch of gruff hair there, enough that it was distracting me that he was on my phone and not looking happy about it.

“Fine. I’ll tell her.”

He hung up, tossing the phone onto his nightstand.

I waited.

He shook his head. “Not yet.” He wasn’t the only one checking the other out. His voice came out rough, “Sleep or something else before I have to tell you who was on the phone?”

There’d be no sleeping now, so I smiled and pulled down the bedsheet.

A wolfish smile took over his face and he was over and on top of me within seconds.

We went two rounds, long past my alarm, and Cross was just coming out from the shower. I was tugging my shirt down and met his gaze in the mirror. “You have to tell me now.”

His whole face tightened, but he sighed. Reaching for a towel, he raked it over his head. “That was your brother.”

I don’t want to say my heart stopped. That would’ve been an exaggeration, but it paused. My chest tightened. That was more accurate because Channing calling that early in the morning was never a good sign.

I had my hair pick in my hand, but I set it back down and flattened my palm against the counter. I needed that foundation to stop the shaking. I looked down at it, too. “No one died, or you would’ve told me that right away.”

“No.”

I waited, breath suspended.

He was silent, and that fact alone told me it was still bad.

I closed my eyes, still waiting.

“You know your brother. You know how he is when it comes to you and… Your dad is here again.”

“What?”

“He’s already here.”

“What?”

Cross sighed before moving into the bedroom. He went to the closet, and I followed, his voice trailing out to where I waited by the bed. “Channing got the call by a cop buddy of his. Your dad’s in Cain. Channing thought the Red Demons had put him up somewhere. He didn’t want you to be caught by surprise, so he called for the heads-up.”

My dad was here.

Okay, then.

He hadn’t called. He’d probably call, or maybe he wouldn’t call.

I no longer knew what I was feeling or if I was feeling anything at all when it came to him. I mean, he’d already been here. Then he left, now he was back again? But not because of me. Because of… Because of why?

Why was he here?

Cross came back, his eyes gentle and studying me. “You okay?”

I stiffened, but nodded. “Yeah. I mean, yeah.”

What did I say here? I had no clue.

Cross grimaced, his mouth curving down. “I could skip my classes? Ride along with you? I’m sure Brock would be okay with that.”

I shook my head, clearing my throat. “No. No. That’s fine. That’s okay.”

“Bren.” He moved closer, but he didn’t touch me.

I was glad he was giving me that space.

His head bent, and he was within touching distance. He did that on purpose, letting me make the choice or not.

He said, “You sure?”

“I’m sure.”

I moved to leave since I was dressed and ready. He caught my hand, pulling me back. No words were shared, just a last look, and I gave him another nod. “I’m good. I promise. This stuff with my dad, it’s just complicated, but I got a handle on it.”

Then, pulling my hand free, I left the room.

Jordan was just coming up from the basement. He had a nine a.m. class, but it was early for him. Seeing me, he paused, still on the stairs, grimacing.

I braked. “What?”

That look said enough.

“I seriously need some coffee,” came from behind him, and his eyes closed. He took a second before he stepped out into the hallway. He cleared the stairs, and I was blessed with the vision of Jessinda Hinkley herself.

She paused, her mouth falling open. She’d been fixing her bra strap, with her hair needing to be combed through. A red tank top over jeans that were more like a second skin, high heels, hoop earrings, and even though she had washed her face, there were still remnants of eyeliner underneath her eyes.

I was guessing Jordan had gone to a party last night.

Jordan coughed, clearing his throat, and gestured over his shoulder. “I—uh—coffee. I can do that. Bren? You want some?”