He’d asked me to go.

And I’d wanted to die.

Ronan had found me sobbing in the hallway outside Brennan’s room and had taken me to the bathroom to clean up and had gotten a nurse to get me a pair of scrubs to wear since my clothes had been covered in Drake’s blood. By the time I’d gotten back to Brennan’s room, Tristan’s own exam in the ER had been completed and he’d been discharged. He’d been frantic as Mav had finally brought him to Brennan’s room. As soon as I’d told him that Brennan had woken up, he’d wrapped his arms around me and cried.

Gut-wrenching, soul-sucking cries.

I’d learned from Mav that Tristan’s brother had also been released and that Dom’s husband, Logan, had arrived to take their son home so Dom and his brother-in-law, Declan, a Captain in the Seattle Police Department could deal with the State Police who were investigating the case. Tanner was unsurprisingly traumatized, but otherwise hadn’t been harmed in any way.

Once the doctors had finished their exam, they’d admitted Brennan for observation and he’d been moved to a regular room in the hospital. Ronan’s diagnosis of a concussion from when Drake had hit him with his gun had been correct and his doctors suspected that the injury, combined with the ordeal of the subsequent rape, had caused Brennan to vomit before passing out. But they were expecting him to make a full recovery and expected that he’d be able to go home within a day or two.

Tristan and I had been allowed to see him again at that point, though there’d been few words spoken as Tristan had sobbed in Brennan’s arms. He’d fallen asleep there and Brennan had just held on to him until he himself had drifted off. Brennan’s brother had arrived shortly after that and Brennan had woken up long enough to reassure Zane he was okay. I’d been unable to look at the man myself, because I couldn’t deal with the fury I knew I’d see in his eyes. That I’d see in all of Brennan and Tristan’s loved ones’ eyes.

“Memphis.”

I lifted my eyes to see Brennan watching me. “I’m here,” I said softly as I reached up with my free hand to brush the hair from his face.

“Water?” Brennan asked.

I jumped up and grabbed the small cup of water from the table next to the bed and carefully put the straw to his lips.

When he’d had enough to drink, I sat back down and took his hand again. I was glad that he didn’t pull it away.

“How are you feeling?” I asked.

“Okay,” Brennan nodded. He smoothed his fingers over the hand Tristan was resting on his stomach. “He’s okay?” Brennan asked.

I nodded. “He’s okay. Tanner too. Brennan, I’m so sorry-”

“Memphis, I’m fine,” Brennan cut in and he squeezed my hand. I wanted to say more because I knew that couldn’t be the case, but he spoke before I could. “Drake?”

“Dead,” I said.

“You said he was killed in prison.”

Brennan’s statement wasn’t accusatory in any way, but it didn’t matter because it was just another layer of guilt to carry with me. “He bribed the warden and a couple of guards to make it look like he’d been killed by another inmate. The cops searched the van he took you with and found pictures of us…me, you, Tristan. It looks like he’d been watching me for a long time and when he saw I was with you…”

I tried to ignore the wave of shame that swept through me. “The guys he had watching the church where he was keeping you used to work for the drug lord I killed. It seems Drake resurrected the cartel after he got out of prison. They’re all gone now so it’s over.”

Brennan nodded.

“Brennan, we should talk about what happened-”

“It’s fine,” he interjected. “I’m fine,” he added, but I knew his small smile was forced and nothing could hide the pain that clouded his eyes.

“Brennan-”

“I’m tired, Memphis. I just need to get some sleep, okay?”

“Okay,” I said.

“Everything will go back to the way it was,” he murmured, as his eyes drifted shut. “It’ll be like it never happened.”

God, how I wished that were true.

Chapter Thirty

Tristan

I’m fine.

That became Brennan’s mantra in the days following Drake’s vicious attack and after a while I learned to stop asking the question.

But he was anything but fine.

None of us were.

The events of that terrible night haunted my every waking moment. From the fear I’d felt as we’d been abducted, to trying to keep my little brother calm as he’d been pressed against me telling me he wanted to go home, to the sight of Brennan sacrificing himself to save me, to the sounds of the man I loved being brutalized just feet behind me as I’d sung a stupid song about how perfect the world was if you just believed in love.

Tags: Sloane Kennedy The Protectors M-M Romance
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