No. He wasn’t a baby anymore. But he felt the same way he’d felt the first time I’d held him.
He felt like devotion.
He felt like love.
He felt right.
The second I’d held him in my arms, I’d just known. I felt a connection to him in a way that should have been impossible. It was an intense bond that could never be fractured.
Like my brother’s presence was right there, filling me with purpose.
Anthony quieted his voice. “What is going on?”
“You call Kenny?”
Kenny was the attorney who was always at the ready, fighting to get us clear of the trouble Sunder always seemed to find itself in. Without a doubt, this was going to be our greatest fight. The culmination of it all.
Every mistake each of us had made coming to a head.
Sunder’s end.
Guess it’d been coming all along.
“I got in touch with him and asked him to get over here. He said he was dropping everything and would be here as soon as he could.”
“The guys?”
“Texted them. Said it’s an emergency. Everyone’s on the way. Police have been called. I gave them the tip with the address you sent. You ready to tell me what the hell is going on?”
Protectively, I tightened my hold on Liam, keeping one of his ears against my chest and covering the other with my hand.
Like it might stand the chance of protecting him from all of this.
“Veronica was demanding more money for me to see him again. Ten thousand. I was done, Anthony. Just done. I decided I didn’t care who knew, and if she ran with him like she’s been threatening, I would hunt her down.”
I sucked in a breath. “I couldn’t keep going on this way. I’ve been feeling it in my gut that something bad was going down. That she was going back to her old ways. I finally realized that until I was ready to take a stand, nothing was going to change.”
I swallowed hard. “She wouldn’t let me in when I showed up at her place, so I kicked in the door. She’s been using, man.”
Anthony set both hands on his hips, face toward the ground. “Shit.”
“Not the worst of it.”
Guess he heard the urgency in my voice, because he looked back to meet my face. My tongue darted out to wet my dried lips. “There were girls…two of them…being held in one of her rooms. One was passed out…the other beat to hell.”
He covered his mouth with a hand, wiped it across his lips like he could rid himself of the bitter taste.
I shook all over. “It was Avril. Alexis’s twin sister. The one who got Alexis in trouble in the first place. She keeps telling Alexis that she can’t leave.”
“Goddamn it, Zee. This is a disaster.”
I jerked around when my door banged open. The whole crew rushed in, wild eyed and fists clenched.
Ready to fight.
They had always been there, ready to have my back. I just prayed that remained the case this time.
They all stopped like they’d run into a brick wall when they saw the kid I held in my arms.
Liam flinched, having no clue what was happening. I kissed the top of his head.
Baz stepped forward, shaking his head, words cautious. “Zee, what’s going on?”
Chapter Forty-One
Zee ~ Twenty Years Old
Zee shouldered into the dusky club. Strobes flashed. Bodies were packed wall to wall, the seedy, lusty crowd lit up in bursts of white, blinding light for the briefest of moments before they fell back into darkness.
Again and again.
It set the scene to slow motion.
Zee felt like he was wading through a dense fog that fought to hold him back as he pushed through the crowd.
Relief slammed him when he saw the group huddled in the far corner around a booth.
Distinct and sharp.
Familiar faces and the same goddamned scene. Just when he thought maybe Mark was pulling it together, shit like this had again become routine.
He knew Julie was trying to be understanding. But there was no chance of missing her concerned judgment when he’d slid out of bed and tugged on a pair of jeans after he’d gotten Baz’s text.
Zee stormed that direction, giving zero fucks about the sneers and annoyance of the people grinding against each other as he barged through the middle of the dance floor.
Baz spun around when he felt Zee approach. “Zee, thank God you’re here.”
“What’s going on?”
Baz ran a weary hand over his face. “Sorry to drag you out in the middle of the night. We tried to handle it, but he was insistent. Said he needed you.”
Zee shook his head and took another step forward. Mark was slumped back in the booth, fading in and out of lucidity as his head rocked back against the leather seat.
His eyes fluttered open, pupils pinpoint. They shot through Zee like a goddamned spear. His voice dropped in worry, muttering mostly to himself because it seemed not a soul listened to him. “Fuck, Mark, man, what the hell are you doing?”
Mark’s fingers fumbled across the collar of Zee’s tee. Like he was searching for something to hang on to. “Little brother, you’re here.”
“Of course I’m here. You said you needed me.”
A smile fluttered at the edge of Mark’s slack mouth. “Always need you, man. You’re my best friend. Always there for me. Love you…love you like crazy. You know that, right? You’re the best.”
Zee sighed. Of course he knew.
Lyrik, Ash, and Baz crowded behind Zee, peering over his shoulder at Mark like they didn’t have a clue what to do with him.
“Come on, Mark, let’s get you out of here,” Zee said. “Do you think you can stand?”
“Think so.”
He helped his brother slide out from behind the booth and onto his feet. The second he did, Mark canted to the side, nearly toppling over.
Zee grabbed him before he face-planted, hauling him back up and slinging Mark’s arm around his shoulders, hoping he could at least support some of his weight. Zee belted his arm around Mark’s waist. “I’ve got you,” he promised.
Ash rushed forward to take the other side. “Got him?” he asked.
“Yup,” Zee replied.
Baz and Lyrik took the lead as they worked their way back through the crowd, down the dimly lit hall, and into the back parking lot where Zee had parked. Ash and Zee maneuvered Mark into the front passenger side of the car.
The second he hit the seat, Mark nodded out.
Zee slammed shut the door, gusted out a strained sigh, and leaned his back against the door. As he pressed both palms to his face, he tried to rein in his frustration. The pain and hurt and worry that was the root of it all.
Unease sifted through the night as the club pulsed on behind them.
“He’s bad, man,” Baz said.
Zee dropped his hands and gave a tight nod. “Yeah, I know. It’s getting worse.”
Lyrik paced in the distance, the dark, dark silhouette a squall of turmoil where he raged.