Bradford Brawler (Bradford Bastard 2)

I cringe, having purposefully left that part out of my story. “When Colby realized that I knew what he’d done to Tanner’s sister, he tried to warn me to back down by ramming my car into a tree. He broke my ribs and strangled me until Tanner showed up, but I’m fine now. Well, mostly. My ribs still hurt a little but they’re nearly better.”

Anger bursts through his stare. “You should have told me that things were getting this bad. If I knew you were in danger, I would have arranged to come home sooner.”

“You and I both know it doesn’t work like that,” I remind him, walking around him and right into Tanner’s arms. “Besides, I had Tanner hanging around and fortunately for me, the big asshole can’t resist me.”

Damien shakes his head, watching the two of us together. “I don’t like this.”

“You don’t have to like it,” I tell him. “But for me, you have to respect it. Tanner is … well, he’s kind of everything to me. I love him, and it’d mean the world to me if you could get to know each other while you’re here. There’s a big party after the wedding and you’ll get a chance to meet everyone I’ve gotten to know in Bradford, and I promise you, once you see past all the bullshit, you’ll see that this place is really good for me. I have real friends here, people who truly care for me. I’m happy … like really freaking happy.”

Damien scrunches up his face as he shifts his gaze between me and Tanner. “Shit,” he finally sighs before focusing his stare on Tanner. “One wrong move and I’ll fuck you up.”

“Wouldn’t expect anything else,” Tanner responds, something serious passing between them.

Damien waits a moment before walking past me toward the door, when he pauses and glances back. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry about what happened to your sister,” he says, his lips pressing into a hard line. “If Colby happens to show up while I’m here and you want another go at his ass, count me in. I wouldn’t mind getting my hands on that piece of shit too.”

“There’s a long fucking line,” Tanner warns him. “But you’re welcome to whatever scraps are left behind when I’m through with him.”

Damien watches Tanner a moment longer, his eyes narrowed as he tries to make his mind up about this over-protective, badass guy who I’ve chosen to care about, then finally, he nods. His eyes soften and the hard line of his lips pulls into a loose smile. “Rough around the edges, but you’re not bad. Treat her like a fucking queen and you and I won’t have any issues.”

And with that, my brother walks away, leaving me to fall right into Tanner’s arms and bury my face into his chest. He holds me tight, his hand brushing over my hair. “I’m sorry,” he murmurs. “I shouldn’t have lost control like that. I promised you that I’d work on my anger, and I let you down. Believe me, the last thing I wanted was to scare you.”

I shake my head and glance up at him. “You didn’t scare me,” I say. “I was just worried about you. I hate not being able to see you or speak to you. I couldn’t even text to check in and—”

“Hey,” he soothes, moving his hands to my shoulders and holding me back enough to see my face. “I’m here now and I’m fine. Colby is … I don’t know. We’ll figure it out, but for now, all that matters is that you and Addie are safe.”

There’s a strange hesitation in his eyes, something hard that I can’t quite decipher, but when he blinks and pulls me toward my bed, whatever I saw is gone.

I snuggle in beside him, my head resting against his warm chest. “How was Addie when you got home?” I ask, the weight of everything that happened at the courthouse bringing me down. “Late at night, once Hudson goes home, I hear her crying. The first night, I wasn’t sure what to do, so I went over there and just held her hand so she could sleep, and the next night your mom beat me to it. But I just … I hate that this is happening to her. She’s so broken and I don’t know how to help.”

“I know,” he says, his tone thick with pain. “Addie is strong, and I think with the right therapist and good friends around her, she’s going to be alright. That fear will eventually wear off and, once it does, she’ll be ready to face the world again.”

“Or at least until we put Colby in the ground.”

Tanner’s arms tighten around me, a silent confirmation of my words. “He won’t get away with it,” Tanner murmurs, his voice so low I have to strain to hear him. “Even if it costs me my whole fucking world.”