Break Me (Brayshaw, #5)

by Meagan Brandy

Jonah walks for the rock, but Brielle, she stops, and looks from it... to me. She stares, waiting. And that’s how I leave her.

I find a bottle, and the second the engine’s off and I’m parked in front of my house, I drown in that bitch.

“She weighs fifty fuckin’ pounds,” I growl. “If she don’t listen, you lift and throw her ass out.”

“To be fair,” he draws out, his eyes flicking from where my family stands watching me. “I was going to... and then I thought better of it.” My family dares to fucking laugh, but cuts off when I hit them with a glare. I focus on Micah. “Going to what?” “You know, pull her out.” He gestures toward her. “But back home, when Franky grabbed her by the arm, you fed him his own ass. Thought maybe she wasn’t to be touched.”

My fingers flex with a sudden need to agree, because fuck me... The thought of hands on her makes me see red. That’s a fucking problem. And unexpected. And not part of the plan.

“You should never hunt without protection.” Protection. I’ve never been touched at all. Fuck. “Oh, I had protection,” she teases, a knowing look in her eye. “See, there was this wolf who tracked me all that night, and from what I’ve gathered, his teeth are real sharp.” My abs tighten beneath my shirt. Yeah, I watched her. I constantly watch her. I can’t fucking stop.

Virgins and me? We don’t get along.

Bad guy or not, a girl’s first time isn’t the one they should regret.

“Where is my brother?!” I shout, hardly recognizing my own voice. “This is his car. There’s blood. He wasn’t at the warehouses when we were, he hasn’t been at the house since I got here, he’s not answering my calls. Where is he?!”

“Where is he?!” I scream, the pressure in my head doubling.

“Royce.” Raven steps forward, but she has a hard time looking away from the car, and her hands fall to her baby bump.

“Go. We’ll catch the fucker tonight.” Oh my god, I found out their secret and now he’s going to kill me! Micah steps closer. “Brie—” “Don’t make me chop your fuckin’ junk off, Micah.” Royce cuts him a glance, one that has Micah dropping his eyes and jogging away, Andre on his heels.

“Did you hurt my brother?” “Nah.” He grins as if this is some sick joke. “My brothers wouldn’t let me.”

Royce is far from controlled, but when he touches you... it’s with purpose. To test or tease, to scare or scar, want or warn.

“Why do you do that with your eyes?” I tense, and his eyes pop to mine. “Do what?” “Blink like crazy, squeeze them closed, pat on your eyelids like you did when I found you outside at your aunt’s?”

“My vision...” How much do I share? “It gets foggy sometimes, doubles, but it always comes back.” For now, until the nerves give completely, and all that’s left is darkness.

“Your brother almost got his ass fuckin’ hung and hung tight. The only reason he’s still breathing is because he stood with and protected Raven when we weren’t in reach to do it. Why weren’t we in reach, because the motherfucker went behind our backs to help where she needed it.”

“Every ounce of his loyalty was rooted in our grounds, in our name, and then Raven came along. She became his friend before any of us knew she was a part of us, so when word dropped she was of Brayshaw blood, hidden away for eighteen years only to come back with a fuckin’ bang, he was already all in. His loyalty shifted to her.”

“Was that wrong of him?” His eyes cut to mine and he releases me. “Was it wrong to do and be whatever the hell she needed of him? No. It wasn’t. Not even a little bit.”

He wants to talk, a true conversation, but he’s unsure... and he hates it.

Pain recognizes pain.

“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.

“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.”

I never told my brother how every time he’d leave for an angry evening’s drive, angrier hands would come down on me.

I’m so sorry, brother. It’s time for you to live your life without having to worry about mine.

He tips my head back, and his begins to lower. His eyes are hard and focus on my mouth and I forget to breathe. To blink. To think. My lips part. A low groan leaves him. All at once, the weight of his hands, the heat of his breath, and the pressure of his body is gone.

“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.”

“You expected him to be here, that’s why you came without a fight.” I nod. He gauges me. “Now what?”

“You stayin’ or not?” His tone is angry, but his eyes... they’re something else entirely.

He wants me to stay, I can sense it, but he doesn’t know how to say it.

“As if you’d give me the option,” I whisper with a hint of a smile. His jaw muscles flex, his eyes falling to my mouth. “As if you’d need one.” “I wouldn’t.”

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. Fuck him. Fuck her, too.

“If she’s yours.” He lowers his chin. “Let them know.”

“Yeah.” Another laugh, but this one hollow. “And who’s gonna tell her, huh?”

“She ain’t mine, Madman. She’s nothing to me.” “She’s behind you.” Raven’s eyes tighten, and I whip around.

a fog dimming the color of her eyes, like she told me ‘happens sometimes,’ but this is different. This is hurt. Did my words hurt, baby? She blinks and it’s still there. I don’t like it. I want to see them bright and wide. Alive. Stimulated.

“He’s picking a fight.” “Yeah.” She squeezes her lips together. “He is.” Her eyes come to mine, a crazy gray in color, and focused. “It’s what he does when his head’s too heavy for him to hold up.” I noticed. This is my fault.

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.” Realization heats my stomach as if I’m the one shooting back eighty proof, grade A liquor. “Because he’s focused.” She smirks. “Drunk again or not, he can rein it in when he needs to. He wants to know what we’re talking about, and he knows it revolves around him. He’s watching you. He will keep watching you, just like you’ll keep watching him.”

“Well, fuckin’, well, Cameron. Would you look at that? And to think, we were only gonna snap three fingers, and my girl here got you for four, maybe even a couple of them bones a little lower, huh?”

I drop my eyes to the ground at my feet, but then Captain’s fingers are sliding under my chin, and pulling it up, forcing me to face the scene I’m responsible for. “Come on, girl. You’re a part of this,” he whispers. I nod and stand up taller. I’m a part of this.

“That was reckless and could have easily flipped on you.” I nod. “I know, but I knew you’d get to me before it could.” He glares heavy, hard, and his hand comes up to rub across his mouth, but he says nothing. He walks away.

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.”

I hate her, she don’t listen. I like her, she challenges me. I can’t stand the sight of her, she distracts me. I can’t function when she’s out of sight, she’s all I want to see.

“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?”

Her teeth clamp shut, and she holds back, but only for a split second. “Screw you.” “Nah.” I flick my eyes over her. “You’re hymenly whole. That ain’t gonna happen.”

Brielle shakes her head, a jagged break in her voice. “You don’t have to do all this.” “All what?” “Go full-on asshole mode. Hit your friend. Snap at me.”

“You act like you thought I was different.”

“Not different.” She reaches out, placing a hand on my chest, discovering the proof of my manic state. “More.”

“I’ve seen it,” she promises, her ability to read me fucking me up even more. “This is only a part of you,” she goes on. “And it’s not even a bad part, just more... dominant.”