Dax (The Theriot Family 4)

“No, which is another reason he’s suspicious of any that come along. They’re either very lost, or they’ve come out with a purpose.”

“What if someone is just lost, and he shoots them?”

I shrugged. “It hasn’t happened yet.”

Travis followed me into my brother’s house. House was really too generous a word for it. It was a shack with no indoor plumbing and only a living area with an extremely rudimentary kitchen tucked in the corner and a closet-sized bedroom. He had as much money as I did—and I suspected he did work he wasn’t telling us about that brought in plenty more—but this was how he chose to live. Maybe he really did like it better, but I felt like he was punishing himself.

“Things are better with your brother now?” Ambrose asked Travis.

He nodded.

“Did you finally tell them how Rob treated you and how you wanted to get away from him but you couldn’t?”

My eyes widened as I stared at my brother, and Travis looked as confused as I was. “How the hell did you know that, and why the fuck didn’t you tell Beau if you knew?”

Ambrose held up a hand. “I know now. I didn’t know when it first happened.”

“Why didn’t you tell Beau when you found out?”

Ambrose shook his head at me like he found me disappointing. “Because it’s Travis’s story.”

I thought about how I’d said the same damn thing. If Ambrose had known when Travis was still with Rob, that would be different, but if he’d found out recently, then I had to admit he’d done the right thing.

Ambrose looked back and forth between the two of us. “What’s going on here?”

“LePlatt sent one of his—”

“No,” Ambrose said. “You told me about that in your message, and I’d already heard the rumors.”

How Ambrose got as much information as he did when he never left the bayou was something I still didn’t understand. There were people who thought I could perform miracles, but my abilities were nothing compared to what my brother could do.

“I want to know why you’ve brought Travis here.”

I reached for Travis’s hand, and he threaded his fingers through mine. “Because I’ve sworn to protect him no matter what.”

Ambrose grinned. “You know he’s had a crush on you since he was, like, twelve.”

Travis made a strangled sound, and his cheeks grew adorably pink. “I… um… I never thought Dax would feel like that about me or that I would feel the same about him after all this time, but when he offered to help me after that morning in the bayou, all of it came back stronger than ever.”

Ambrose smiled, but I could see there was pain behind it. “So Travis is it for you?”

I nodded.

Growing up it had always been just me and Ambrose. Neither of us had ever had a best friend or a girlfriend or boyfriend. No one was more important to either of us than we were to each other. Now there was someone for me, someone I wanted to be part of my life every day, someone I cared deeply for. I wasn’t sure how he was going to take that.

“So…” Travis looked from me to Ambrose, obviously feeling the tension. “Are you okay with this, with us being together?”

I squeezed Travis’s hand and prayed Ambrose wouldn’t say something hurtful. If he said something to me later in private, I’d be okay. I just didn’t want him to make Travis feel like he was coming between us. Years ago, I would’ve known Ambrose wouldn’t do something to hurt Travis’s feelings, but he was way more unpredictable now.

“I think you’re perfect for each other.” I stared at my brother. Had he really said that?

“Really?” Travis asked.

Ambrose smiled, a rare thing for him. “Yes, I do. I always thought you might get together when Travis was old enough, but then he and Beau left, and—”

“I behaved like an idiot,” Travis said. “I thought I needed excitement. I was ready to do anything to escape from Beau bossing me around.”

“You were manipulated,” I reminded him. “You were young and vulnerable, and Rob took advantage of that.”

“But he was able to do that because I was angry with Beau, which was stupid. Beau had sacrificed so much for me.”

I started to speak, but Ambrose held up a hand. “That’s true, but it doesn’t make you a bad person. You had little chance to explore anything as a kid, and Beau did everything he could to change that. Neither of you were in a good position, but no matter what happened between the two of you, no matter what you would change about how you treated Beau, what Rob did to you makes him the worst kind of fucking scum. He should be glad he’s dead because I can only imagine what Dax and I would do to him if he were alive.”