Defiance (The Protectors 9)

He held me for as long as it took for me to settle, and then he was pressing his forehead against mine. “Missed you so much, Nathan.”

I nodded. “Love you,” was all I was able to get out.

“Love you too, big brother.”

The endearment threatened to send me to my knees again, but Vincent’s hand on my back steadied me in a way nothing else probably could have. We hadn’t talked about how I would introduce him to Brody, but in that moment, I knew what needed to happen. Maybe it was because I’d already felt stripped so raw that it wouldn’t matter, or maybe I just wanted to get everything out in the open so my brother could turn his back on me now before I had the chance to really sit down and talk to him.

I wasn’t sure.

But life had just sent me a stark, brutal wake-up call that I refused to ignore.

I pulled back from Brody. “Um, Brody, this is Vincent,” I began. I threaded my fingers through Vincent’s and was glad when he didn’t hesitate to hold my hand. “My boyfriend.” I knew I was reaching with the title, but I was going for all or nothing with Brody. I just hoped like hell it didn’t bother Vincent, because if Brody did let loose on me like I deserved, I’d need Vincent more than ever.

Brody’s eyes widened slightly, but he recovered quickly and then he was reaching out his hand to Vincent. “Nice to meet you. I’m Brody Wilder.”

I was holding Vincent’s left hand, so he was able to reach out his right to shake Brody’s hand while still holding onto mine.

“Wish the circumstances could have been better,” Vincent murmured.

“Yeah, me too,” Brody said.

“You’re okay?” I asked Brody as I looked at his arm. He was wearing a regular T-shirt but I could see the outline of a bandage beneath the fabric just above his left pectoral muscle.

“I’m good,” he said. “Come on inside. I’ve been holding off on taking my pain meds until you got here, but I wait too much longer and Quinn and Beck are going to use their powers of persuasion on me,” he added with a smile.

It wasn’t until Brody motioned over his shoulder that I realized we were no longer alone. I remembered both Beck and Quinn from when I’d met them the previous month when I’d gone to see Brody in Dare. Quinn had his arm around Beck, but the second Brody turned to head towards the doors, Beck hurried down to him and put his arm around him. I saw Beck say something to Brody, who nodded and then kissed his forehead.

Vincent didn’t release my hand until we were in the house. A couple more men were waiting inside, along with a small brown dog that I remembered seeing with Beck, Brody, and Quinn in Dare.

“Vincent,” one of the men said as he smiled and stepped forward. I bit back the tendrils of jealousy that flared to life when Vincent released my hand so he could hug the other man.

“Ethan,” Vincent said with a nod. Then he extended his hand to a large blond man standing just behind the man he’d called Ethan. “Cain,” he said as they shook hands. “Surprised to see you here.”

“Ronan asked us to help keep an eye on things,” Cain said.

“Nathan, this is Dr. Ethan Rhodes,” Vincent said as he introduced me. I liked that he put his hand on my back again. “Ethan, this is Nathan Wilder.”

“Nice to meet you,”’ Ethan said. “This is my fiancé, Cain,” he added as he motioned to the blond. I extended my greetings to both men.

“Ronan thought it might be a good idea to have a doctor around to keep an eye on Brody’s injury,” Quinn said to me. “Since he wanted to be with Reese.”

“Is…is there anything to worry about?” I asked Ethan.

He shook his head. “No. The shot was a through and through, and only damaged tissue and muscle. It didn’t hit the bones and there’s no sign of nerve damage. I’m just here to keep an eye out for any signs of infection, which is a very minor possibility.”

I nodded as I took in a deep breath. My body ached from the stress of it all, but it was nothing compared to what Brody and Reese had been through.

“Nathan, you remember Beck and Quinn,” Brody said.

I nodded and shook both their hands. When Vincent introduced himself, I saw Beck automatically take a step back. My brother put an arm around his lover and murmured something in his ear that had Beck relaxing. Vincent, for his part, sensed the younger man’s tension and bypassed him to shake Quinn’s hand and then stepped back.

A couple more men entered the room, and I felt Vincent stiffen next to me.