Break Me (Brayshaw, #5)

by Meagan Brandy

I told her I break pretty things. She asked me to promise.

Maddoc’s dad became ours, and since then, we’ve earned our place. Raven just happens to be a larger piece of the puzzle we didn’t know was missing.

Bishop showed loyalty to Raven, same as he did us since the day he set foot on our grounds, and I’m supposed to respect him for that. For helping one of us when she needed it, for having her back when we weren’t there to do it, no questions asked, no consequence too big. But I can’t. To be real, I don’t hate the fucker. I can’t lie and say I didn’t think he would keep my sister-in-law safe, because I did. But it wasn’t his place, it was mine.

Maybe that’s twisted, maybe I’m twisted, but I never claimed to be the sane one, that’s Captain. Maddoc is the angry alpha, and me, I’m the fuckin’ wild one. The time bomb. Unpredictable and admittedly, unhinged.

He wants to step into my family, insert himself where he’s not wanted. Touché, motherfucker. Consider me inserted.

Like the North Star in a dark night’s sky, he burns too bright to hide.

Royce turns his entire body, now facing me full-on, and a slow, mischievous smirk appears. He holds his hands up lazily. “Ball me, baby girl.”

I turn, ready to walk the hell away, but Franky shoots a hand out, gripping on to my upper arm, and tugs me toward him. The slightest of jolts zips through my chest, and I whip around, ready to serve him in the nuts, but in the time it takes me to spin toward him, he’s already buckling before me.

My brother constantly reminds me how I’m to fear all who hold the Brayshaw name, but standing here, staring into the shadowy eyes of one, I feel none. Not even a hint. The opposite in fact, as the throbbing at my temples seems to dwindle.

Royce is standing at his full height, so his hands barely reach the belt loop on my pants, but that doesn’t stop him from curling the middle fingers of his left hand through one as his right comes up to my neck. I have no idea why I let him. I should crush his windpipe, jab a finger between his ribs... something. I don’t. I don’t breathe either, officially a board piece in his little game of humiliation.

“George, I...” I what? What can I even say? The guy who slipped onto campus and went all Damon Salvatore, started whooping on people because of me is a stranger to me?

What... he locked them inside? I spin around, quickly moving toward my next class, but as I grow closer, I realize Royce had it all covered from the start, and not for his benefit. For mine.

Because while the sun and the moon light our lives with a single glance, to feel that light is rare, and something that can’t be robbed from you before it should. Because a feeling comes from the inside, not the out.

“RaeRae, where’d you go? Where’s Maddoc?” “I’m here!” She comes back on the screen, dropping beside Captain. “Maddoc’s grabbing a soda from the pool house ‘cause your dad has the good shit in there.” “You mean Maddoc replaced everything with caffeine-free shit again hoping you’d go for it?” “Exactly.” She laughs. I grin. “Lemme see my baby.” “Stop saying your baby, dick!” Maddoc shouts in the distance.

“How the fuck’s there a person in there, RaeRae?” I stare at her belly.

A couple weeks ago I got a surprise in the form of an envelope, and inside it was the official sex of Maddoc and Raven’s baby. The sex that they themselves don’t even know. It was a gift she gave me, that they gave me, one I could never repay or match. I know it’s because she wanted me to have something to hold on to, and it was a damn good one. Now all I need to do is get a little present that’s fitting so I’m prepared for when that little baby meets mama and pops. And us.

We live and breathe for each other, with each other. We don’t need words to speak, we don’t need action to understand. We’re like triplets, connected way deeper than most. We talk without words, understand with action. We breathe for each other. We’re three assholes who couldn’t be any more different, yet somehow, we’re still the same. We’re a team with an empire ready and waiting for us.

I scoff, thinking of what Brielle called us—the Three Musketeers. I guess that works in a way, even though our threesome has grown to five.

We might be fucked-up assholes, but we’re trying to teach our niece, Cap’s baby girl, our way of life, and one of the biggest pieces to keeping it as straight as we’ve managed is our no lie rule. No matter how big the issue, how fucked-up we imagine the aftermath of the truth, that’s what we give. Always.

I try to push away the hint of seclusion it brings. I mean, fuck, I’m the one who came here without them when they’d have hopped in the car with me without a question asked had I asked them to. Still, that nasty sense of fish out of fucking water creeps in. Raven notices, her eyes narrowing, but I avoid eye contact.

“Well, we ordered Chinese at the pregnant lady’s request,” Victoria teases. “But she said it tasted like shit,” Maddoc grumbles. “I swear to God, all she wants to eat is Doritos with hot sauce and sweets.” I laugh, making a mental note to stock up on loads of bad-for-you shit for her when I get home.

Worry draws her brows together, but she looks away, knowing I’m here and they’re there and there’s nothing changing about that until I decide there is. I love her ass for pausing to voice her concern though—she understands me fully.

When we were seven, our father gave us tokens meant to link us physically, when emotionally we were since day one. He gave Maddoc a key, Captain brass knuckles, and me a white gold chain donning the family crest. Each had their own meaning linked directly to who he saw in our eyes, and mine is a presentation of our family’s strength as a whole.

Family runs deeper than blood. A bold, brave statement that’s the truest I’ve ever heard. We understood the power of those words as kids, and we hold them even higher now. The ones we love most, we share nothing less than our hearts, minds, and lives with.

It’s something we promised each other as we grew, that no matter how fucked our world might be at times, no matter the wild, the trouble we’re facing, be it town drama or our own, the last meal of the day we’d spend together. At the end of the day it’s a good way to refresh our memories, in case we ever forget—if nothing else, we’ll always have each other. Family by choice. A reminder we bleed like everyone else, even if our world sets us apart from others our age.

I flick my eyes to the sky. “I swear, you’re like... a pizza pocket. Hot on the outside, so you start eating it, but if you don’t get the timing just right, you find out it’s cold in the middle.”

“I need you to remember what I said, Brielle.” His eyes meet mine, a weighty seriousness suddenly woven within them. “Let those assholes think what they want. Don’t fight it, try and change it, or hide from it. Do you. They’re gonna judge you either way.”

Mac ends the call and in perfect fucking timing, too, ‘cause when I look up and out the windshield at my house, it’s a full porch I find. Maddoc stands at the railing, Raven right beside him, Cap and Victoria on her left, and little Zoey already two steps down. They’re smiling at me. Waiting for me. Damn if it’s not a settling-ass sight.

I look to Raven and she knocks her elbow into mine, a small smile on her lips. A half a second passes, and her sigh comes next. I’m right there with the comfort seeping in. The security. The relief that comes with having someone in your corner, no matter fucking what. We’re lucky. Not everyone has a safe place.

Royce’s eyes move between mine. “Hope you’re ready, little Bishop.” I swallow past the lump in my throat. “Ready for what... exactly?” He looks up at the plane that has his last name printed large and proud on the side with open eyes and an answer that steals my voice. “To come home.”

I run my fingers along the outer edge, reading the note scribbled right on top. Your cousin’s a bitch and your fix-it days are over. Time to fly. A low chuckle leaves me, and I open it up to find a pair of sunglasses sitting inside. I stare at them for a long moment, and then finally pull them from the box and slip them over my eyes. “Perfect fit.” I spin to find Royce leaning in the spot I just was, his arms crossed over his chest, eyes on me. The perfect fit. I take a deep breath. Let’s hope I am too.

Don’t underestimate what you don’t know, and once you do, tear it to pieces or tip your fuckin’ hat.

My head snaps back to the porch as the two climb down the stairs, his hand at the base of her back, as if she needs to be led. She doesn’t. An unexpected urge to knock Micah off the steps follows, but I push that shit back, letting irritation take its place.

Gotta admit, she’s got more than I realized. Hips too. Not that I care.

A quick laugh comes from the left and my head jerks that way. My breath lodges in my throat as my eyes land on Raven Carver. Or I should say Raven Brayshaw. Long, dark hair, ink black and shining, she tips her head with a grin.

The heir to the entire Brayshaw empire who nobody even knew existed until she showed up on the doorstep of the very group home I now live in, if what I’ve learned is true. A product of rape in a war between the founding families of this town, raised by a vile mother, a whore in true form, every bit a trailer trash disaster, and abused as a young girl. Yet here she stands. Strong. Bold. Inspiring. Very, very pregnant.

I should have realized right then and there Brielle Bishop would be a problem for me. I didn’t.

“Will you remember something for me?” she asks, speaking before I can respond. “I need you to remember what feels like the end, is always the beginning. My boys are tough, but I’ve known for some time that breaking into a certain one’s soul would prove to be the hardest battle yet. So just... remember those words, will you, child?” I swallow, nod, and she does the same, leaving me in the living room alone.

The light Maybell was talking about, a sliver of it shines through, and not for the first time, and it has everything to do with the stubborn, bighearted, Brayshaw. Thank you, Playboy.

She’s a pain in my ass but not the kind I want to run over with my 22’s. The kind I want to do naughty ass things to. WHOA. Bro... chill.

It only took one brother falling in love and risking it all, the other getting shot at and me, well, I pretty much partied through it all, came in to fuck up who needed fucked-up, and went on my merry way.

“My family was dealing with some straight Jerry Springer shit for a minute, fucked-up family members, connected bloodlines and things you’d never believe. Hit after hit until it all started to crumble. Your brother pissed us off, but when it came down to it, we trusted him more than anyone, so when the one person who meant as much to each of us as we meant to each other needed an extra eye, he was the only one who could do it.” I swallow. Raven.

“He ran for Bass’ back, a big-ass piece of broken glass in his grip. Maddoc went for Raven.” “And you helped my brother.” His eyes snap to mine. “Shouldn’t have had to. He should have called when she asked him to take her somewhere.” “But he didn’t, and you still had his back.” Royce glares at the busted airbags. “He had hers, and not just that time.” “Was he in love with her?” “Nah, I don’t think so, but only he could say for sure.” He pauses, and then says, “They both came from a fucked-up place, so he understood her, and she understood him.”

“So.” I swallow, shifting us back into proper territory. “Do you keep a bat in all these cars?” “Nah.” He shrugs a shoulder, and when he turns to me it’s with a straight face. “We keep three.”

I don’t have to wonder long, a drink is held out in front of her only seconds later. A cup. A cup, cup, as in an open top, drink already inside it, red Solo cup, cup. From the hands of someone who isn’t me. Jonah’s face comes into view and I’m pretty sure I’ll rearrange it tonight. When her smile lifts to meet his, I’m positive of it.

Raven’s scowls, trying to read the thoughts in mine. “If we move,” she says. “He’ll start beating on the guy, no hesitation, no chance of another outcome. You move...” Her lips pull to one side. “My shadow moves with me.” She nods. “He hasn’t taken a single shot since you’ve been standing here talking to me.”

Maddoc looks from Captain to me. “That was quick thinking, and a good move, but run through A to Z before you make decisions.” His eyes, they aren’t angry, but they are firm. I nod and he motions for Micah. “Get her in the back,” he tells him. Micah’s hand finds my lower back and Maddoc slaps it away with a glare. “Get her in the back without fucking touching her.”

“What’d I say, Brielle?” I can’t hear my own voice, my blood’s pumping too loud. Too fiercely, but she must. She shakes her head. I slam a hand on the metal at her side, and she glares. “I said no one touches you. I said you touch no one. What the fuck part of that are you too airheaded to understand?”

His breaths turn ragged, his hand shoving into my hair, and then the world stops turning. The sun meets the moon. And my soul, it wraps around his.

Royce kisses me slow, lazy, and long. And somehow, this kiss is more than the ones before. It’s honest. It’s an apology. It’s us. It’s him. It’s more.