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“Yeah, well...I changed my name, and Cobe ran off to Texas or some shit to join one of them Holy Roller communes. Haven’t heard from him in over a year.”

I nodded, wondering if I could locate our youngest brother after learning that. I hoped so.Advertisement

“This is just fucking awesome that you’re finally out,” Rocket went on, his eyes igniting with excitement as he lowered his voice. “Now we can get those Bainbridge fuckers together.”

I pulled back, startled to hear him say any such thing. “Excuse me?”

I’d been expecting something more along the lines of hearing how he was doing, when he’d learned to play the drums, where he’d been staying, if he was happy. But he went straight to something like that.

He slapped the bar top in front of me. “Man, they put you in jail. They knocked up Mercy. They burned down our house. Every bad thing that ever happened to us was because of them. I say it’s time for some fucking payback.”

I shook my head, utterly confused. “What do you mean, they burned down our house?”

Rocket snorted, rolled his eyes, and waved a hand. “Oh, the sheriff and fire marshal and everyone else on God’s green earth pardoned them, saying they all had alibis, but I know...I know it burned because of them.”

Horror filled me. My mother, Mercedes, Bentley, Speed were gone because— “Are you saying the fire was arson?”

“Well, it had to have been, hadn’t it?” Determination and a sick obsession filled Rocket’s eyes as he leaned closer. “Those bastards always wanted us gone. Well, they finally did it. But there’s two of us still left. Two of us to take them out. For good.”

I started to shake my head—the kid was batshit crazy—when Felicity appeared, only five feet away from him. “Knox. I’ve got my stations cleaned. You about ready to go?”

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Tensing as Rocket turned slowly to glare at her with pure hatred, I opened my mouth but no words came. I wanted to warn her to get away from him because he wanted to do her entire family harm. But he was my brother. I didn’t want to believe he’d hurt her.

So I nodded without saying a thing.

She brightened. “Cool. I’ll go get my purse. Be right back.”

As she disappeared down the back hall, I was prepared to leap over the bar and tackle Rocket if he followed her. But he didn’t. Instead, he turned to pierce me with a look of absolute hatred.

“So that’s how it is, then? You’re with them now? Fucking a fuckin’ Bainbridge?”

I pointed a finger at him. “Don’t talk about her that way.”

Rocket sniffed. “Wow, the slut must have some kind a golden pussy. She put you in jail, and you’re still hot after her?”

“Watch your fucking mouth, Rocket. She’s not a slut, and she didn’t put me in jail. Her father did.”

“Same difference.” He huffed and turned as if looking at me was too much for him to handle now that he thought I was some kind of redcoat.

“It’s not even in the same universe of difference,” I growled.

He turned back to me. “She doesn’t have a clue who I am.”

I shrugged. “Why would she? You were twelve, and our families didn’t exactly have picnics and get-togethers.”

“I know the name of every fucking member of her family.”

“She’s not even associated with them anymore. She’s not one of them.”

He didn’t seem to care and had stopped listening to me the moment he’d seen Felicity talk to me. “God, you are such a disappointment. I was so sure you’d be different.”

I clenched my teeth. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“You spent six years in prison, man. I’ve been to county lockup for a couple of months myself, and it sucked ass. But you...you’ve done the real thing. They put you in fucking hell.”

I knew that. I knew it better than he could probably ever imagine.

“Don’t you want some vengeance for what they’ve done to us?”

I shook my head. “No. I don’t. I just want to put all that shit behind me and get on with my life. And besides, she’s not one of them.”

I’m not sure why I kept repeating that. It wouldn’t have mattered to me if she were still an active part of her family. It wouldn’t change the way I loved her.

Maybe I was just trying to warn Rocket away. Because the moment he’d glared at her, he’d become my enemy.

He didn’t seem to get the memo, though. “Well, kudos to you, man. I wish I could be so goddamn forgiving. They took our entire fucking family away. I’m not going to let that go.” pqdm.com