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“Fuck.” He rubs a hand through his cropped blond hair. “She’s dead.” He shoves away from the bar.
I grab his arm. “I’m not lying.”
He freezes, glaring at my hand. “Want me to rip it off?”
I don’t let go but look to Crow for support. He steps between us, barely missing Bear’s fist as it flies at my head.
“Use your brain, Bear,” Crow demands. “Why would he lie? He’s your best friend.”
Bear's arms drop to his side when we release him.
I know the moment he decides to believe me. I step out of his way, calling, “I put her in the meeting room because I didn’t want to give you a heart attack.”
I’ll never forget the look on Bear’s face before he races across the bar to find his sister.
Chapter Four
Grace
I don’t know who is trembling more, Harley or me, so I hold him tight and pray for the best.
The millions of times I’d played out this scene in my head, none of the scenarios had been in a biker bar, terrified that my brother would reject me. My anxiety has me so far in my head that when the door slams open, I scream and almost drop Harley.
The man walking toward me looks nothing like the brother I remember. All of his soft lines have been replaced with steel. His once-naked skin is tattooed, and a massive beard covers his once-clean-shaven face.
I step back, clutching Harley to my chest as he begins to whine. I can’t blame
the pup. This man is terrifying.
“Brian?” I whisper.
Stopping, he stares at me with wide eyes. “Grace?”
I nod, unable to speak, as his hand cups my face, tracing the old scars across my neck. The tears running down his cheeks match my own. Covering his hand with my own, I lean into him. “I’m not dead,” I whisper.
My words break him. He hits his knees, sobs wracking his body.
“I’m sorry, so damn sorry,” he repeats when I follow him to the floor. “I should have come for you.”
“You couldn’t have known,” I whisper. “Mom and I ran for it. We wanted him to think we were dead, but we wrote to you, sent you letters so you’d know the truth.”
He shakes his head. “I thought he lied, that he killed you, that it was my fault. I threw away any mail from home. Didn’t want anything to do with him.” Grabbing my face, he makes me look at him. “I abandoned you, failed you. You and mom.”
“No.” I grip his arm. “You saved yourself. It’s what we wanted. Mom loved you so much. She was so proud of you.” I hate that he was never able to say goodbye to our mom. She’d been a light in this dark world. She loved him until her last breath.
“She’s…”
I nod. “Last year. We never stopped looking for you. She was the one who finally found out where you were.”
The anguish on his face breaks me, allowing me to release years of pent-up emotions. We hold each other on the dirty floor in a biker bar. I don’t know how long we sat there, but when I finally looked up, I saw that Ink was standing beside us with a man I didn’t recognize.
“You okay?” Ink asks, offering me a hand after Brian gets to his feet.
I nod as I stand, but my thoughts and gaze are still on my brother. He looks like he’s seen a ghost, which I guess in some ways he has. I walk over to him and squeeze his arm. “Are you okay?”
Bear nods, taking me into his arms. “I’m so fucking glad you’re alive.”
“Me too.”
