by Cali MacKay
“He’s…I don’t know. He’s in rough fucking shape.” And it was hard not to think of what Ray might do to Skylar—or what he may have already done—if he was capable of beating a man to within an inch of his life. “They’ve done all they can for him for now, but the doctors will be in again come morning, and the nurses will be in throughout the night to check on him. But…I don’t know. He’s still unconscious, and it feels like he could take a turn for the worse at any moment, even if I want nothing more than for him to pull through. He’s the only family Skylar has left.”
“She’s got you, Finn—and us. We’ve all known her since we were kids.” Ash shook his head…and rested a comforting hand on my shoulder, always the concerned older brother. “I know what she means to you—and we’ll all make sure she gets through this.”
“I appreciate it. And thanks to all of you for showing up on such short notice and for sticking around.” We might be a large family, but we’d always been close and we could always count on one another. “Since I’ll be here anyway, it’s probably not necessary to have everyone here. Maybe take it in shifts?”
Locke stepped to my side. “Don’t worry about it. We’ll figure it out, and make sure you have coverage here if you need it.”
I thanked them and then headed back into Matt’s room, my attention immediately shifting to Skylar. Not wanting to argue with her anymore, I said nothing, simply sitting back down by her side and taking her hand in mine. When she leaned up against me, letting me wrap my arm around her shoulders, the tension that had been knotting my muscles eased just a little.
“I hate arguing with you, Finn.” She let out a weary sigh and then shifted in her seat to face me, looking utterly exhausted.
“Then let’s not argue.” I cupped her face in both my hands and brushed my lips against hers in a sweet kiss, desperate to erase all her worries, even though I knew it was impossible.
“I swear, Finn…I’m trying to find a way to get Ray out of my life, so he can never bother me again. But I just need time.” Except her eyes wouldn’t meet mine as she told me, making me wonder if there was more going on than just Ray being a threat.
“You know I’d like nothing more than for Ray to be out of our lives—except that I’m worried about what you might be doing to make that happen.” I tipped her chin up so she’d be forced to look at me, needing the secrets between us to stop. “For fuck’s sake, talk to me, Sky. What’s going on?”
“I’ll tell you everything once I know it will all work out. But for now I just need to see this through on my own—and at the moment I’m more concerned about my brother.” She leaned back against me and let me wrap her in my arms, her head resting against my shoulder as I held her tight, never more worried.
“You’re dealing with so much of this on your own, but I’m here for you, Sky—even if you won’t tell me the extent of the trouble that you’re in. I swear, I just want to help.” I kissed the back of her hand, bringing it to my lips, refusing to say anything more, since it would do no good.
She leaned in and kissed my cheek. “I know you do—and it means the world to me.”
I startled awake to the angry beeps and shrieks of monitors, as Skylar jumped out of my arms and to her brother’s side as I headed for the door to get the nurses, though it was only to find that they were already on their way, running down the hallway toward us.
Crossing back to Sky’s side, I pulled her away, so the nurses could get to work, not wanting her to hinder them as they worked on Matt, though the feeling of uselessness was overwhelming. All I could do was try to be there for her.
We stepped aside as they wheeled her brother out of the room, as one of the nurses stayed behind for just a moment to let us know that they’d be taking him into surgery and if we waited in the post-op waiting room, they’d let us know once they had an update.
“Come on, love. Let’s go and wait for him.” Holding her tightly to me, I escorted her toward the door as two of my brothers joined us, the others more than likely having headed home so they could take things in shifts.
Locke and Slater looked at me in question, but other than the obvious, I had no answers for them. I didn’t know if it was internal bleeding, brain swelling, or something else entirely, and at this point I didn’t even think the doctors and nurses would know for sure until they’d had a better look or ran more tests.
Yet before we could get to the waiting room, a suited man and woman approached us, and if I had to guess, by the look of them, they were some sort of police detectives. The woman showed us her ID, but these weren’t just cops—they were Feds. “Miss Davis… If we could speak with you for a moment.”
Skylar stiffened in my arms at the agent’s request, but then turned to me, trying to reassure me that everything was okay. “I won’t be long. I’ll just meet you in the waiting room when I’m done.”
“No fucking way, Sky. I’m coming with you.” I didn’t know what the hell the Feds wanted with Sky, but I sure as hell wasn’t going to let them grill her, especially when she didn’t have a lawyer present.
“I’ll be fine. Don’t argue with me about this.” And then before I could do just that, she was walking away from me and following the agents down the hallway as I cursed out loud and resisted the urge to put my fist through a wall.
Slater shook his head and stepped to my side, though his gaze was on Skylar’s retreating form. “What the hell was that about? What would the Feds want with Skylar?”
“I wish I fucking knew.”
“What the hell, Burton? How hard is it to understand that I can’t have anyone knowing that I’m working with the Feds? You never should have come here.” I was trying not to panic, my mind racing to find some sort of excuse that would work with Finn, even as I beat back my emotions and tried not to think of what my brother might be going through.
“If you’d answer your phone and not disappear, then maybe this wouldn’t have been necessary.” Burton tossed a scolding look in my direction as she led the way to a private area, where we’d be able to speak without being overheard.
“Believe me, that was completely out of my control. But right now I need you to pick up Ray and charge him with something—I don’t care what—before someone ends up dead. It’s bad enough that my brother might not survive this.” The mere thought had my eyes stinging with tears, though I refused to let them fall, not wanting to show any weakness. “Charge him with my brother’s assault. That’s certainly got to be a half-decent starting place—maybe even enough to get you a warrant so you can go looking for the evidence you need to lock him up permanently.”
“Look…I know you’re upset about your brother, but at the moment, we have no evidence tying your brother’s assault to Ray Mitchell. Do you know for a fact that it was Mitchell?”
I was so frustrated I wanted to scream and grab Burton by the collar and shake her until she saw sense. “If you’re asking if I was actually there when my brother was getting the crap beat out of him, the answer is no. But if you think that Ray didn’t have a hand in this, then you’re insane. Because this was either his doing or he got one of his men to do it for him.”
Always a man of few words, it caught me off guard when Samuelson chimed in. “Do you know what pushed Mitchell over the edge?”
I had a damn good idea, though I wasn’t sure how much I should actually tell them. “Like you said, I wasn’t around. And Ray… He doesn’t like it when I disappear. I’m guessing he decided my brother could supply him with some answers—except that he didn’t have any.”
Burton’s eyes narrowed at me, her gaze unwavering. “Is that because you were with Finn Blackthorn?”
“Who I was with is none of your damn business.” The last thing I wanted was for them to shift their attention to Finn and his family. “Can’t you take DNA samples or something? Or say I was there to witness it happening—that he’s attacked me—if that helps your case and will allow you to get a warrant to search his home and offices. Or is it not enough that
he’s beat me on a regular basis?”
I’d just about had enough. What the hell was the point of working with them, if they were going to drag their feet and just sit back and let me deal with everything?
“I’ll appeal to the judge and see if he’ll give us the warrant, based on the fact that your brother’s life could be in danger. But there’s still a good chance that the evidence we need is well hidden or that we won’t get access to that through the warrant. That’s why we need you to keep digging around.” The hard lines on Burton’s face softened as she gave me a sympathetic look. “We know we’re asking a lot of you, and that you’re putting yourself in danger and in difficult and uncomfortable circumstances, but it will be worth it in the end if we can put him away for a long time, so you can get on with your life.”
“Except that someone’s going to end up dead before this is over with.” I fucking hated this. How the hell was I supposed to go back to Ray in order to get the evidence they needed, when there was no way in hell Finn was going to let me go—and when Ray might be angry enough to make sure I’d end up back in this hospital as a patient? “I’m sorry… But I don’t think I can go back there. You have no idea what Ray is like, and now…it’s just not doable. The evidence I got you will have to be enough.”
“The evidence is nowhere near enough. I need you to go back to Ray until this is over with—or should I shift my attention to the Blackthorns? Maybe they have a few more interesting skeletons in their closets.” Burton gave me a nonchalant shrug that made me want to hurt her for threatening the only man I’d ever loved. “This isn’t forever. Just get what we need. And once we have the evidence, you won’t have to worry about Ray hurting you or the people you care about.”
“As if you care.” I spit out the words, tossing her a sarcastic glare as I was left wondering what the hell I was going to tell Finn if I was forced to go back to Ray.
“Here. Don’t lose this one.” I took the new phone Samuelson was handing me, and stuffed it in my pocket. “We’ll be in touch.”
And then they were gone, leaving me to find my way back to the waiting room—except for one little problem.
Ray.
I ignored the looks my brothers were giving me, since I was wondering the same exact thing—what the hell was Skylar doing with the FBI? This had to be what she was keeping from me…her secret. She must be working with the FBI to try to bring down Ray.
Fuck…it’s not like I could blame her. Not when Ray was such a dangerous bastard, hurting not just her but her brother.
Yet working with the Feds and going behind Ray’s back…I didn’t even know what to think. Though my family had shifted from fixers to running Blackthorn Whiskey, it’s not as if we’d want the authorities poking around in any of our business or income, even if things were all now legal and aboveboard. Because that was all too recent an event, and though we’d always tried to stay on the right side of the law, that wasn’t always possible, and the last thing we needed was for the Feds to take an interest in our past business dealings.
No wonder she hadn’t wanted to tell me what was going on. And I hated that she felt that she couldn’t talk to me, though this time around, I couldn’t really blame her.
It’s not that I really had a problem with her ratting out Ray in order to make him go away—after all, I’d do anything to have him never bother us again. But the fact that the Feds were involved still left me uneasy.
“What do they want with her, Finn?” Slater’s eyes darkened as he gave me an uneasy look, though I had to admit that my youngest of brothers had balls to ask me such a thing, given that it was clear what he was implying.
“I don’t fucking know, now do I? But no matter what the hell you’re thinking, you can stop right there.” Annoyed, I stepped into his space, forcing him to take a step back. “’Cause if you knew the shit she’s had to endure, you wouldn’t be so quick to fucking judge her.”
Slater put his hands up to make it clear he wasn’t looking for a fight. “For fuck’s sake…I’m not judging her, Finn. I just don’t like the idea of the Feds sniffing around our business.”
“I can guarantee you their presence here has nothing to do with us.” I may not have proof, but I knew Skylar wouldn’t sell us out to the Feds, even if she was doing just that to Ray. And that was his own fucking fault. Because Ray had forced her to make desperate decisions that she’d never have considered otherwise.
My gaze scanned the hallways as I was left wondering what the hell was taking Skylar so long—and where the hell had those agents taken her? I hated feeling paranoid, but she’d been gone for close to half an hour, and I was starting to worry—not that the Feds would have any qualms about keeping her for as long as they wanted. But if they took her elsewhere, I would not be happy.
“Just do me a favor and stay here in case there’s any news on Skylar’s brother. And if she shows back up here, call me and let me know—but don’t fucking let her go anywhere.” As soon as I was sure my brothers would take care of things, I wandered down the hallway in the direction I’d seen her head in. My gaze scoured the halls, glancing in any rooms with open doors as I tried to find her, doing my best not to let panic sink in with each step.
She may still be speaking with the Feds, but there was also a good chance she took off on me—or worse, Ray got his hands on her.
Where the hell was she?
My pace quickened—and then I saw her. She ran straight into my arms, tears streaming down her face as she clung to me, looking terrified. I cupped her face in my hands, drying her tears as my body tensed, ready to go on the attack to keep her safe. “What happened, love? Talk to me…was it Ray?”
At the mere mention of his name, a sob escaped her, and it killed me that she looked so frightened and anguished. “He was here. My brother…I need to make sure he’s okay.”
“He’s still in surgery, but they’ll let us know as soon as he’s out. No one’s going to get in there and hurt him, okay? Now tell me what the hell happened with Ray. Because if he fucking touched you, I’m going to kill him.” And I meant it. The mere thought of Ray touching her again was enough to have me seething, my blood boiling in my veins.
“I don’t think he saw me, but I can’t be sure. Not that I can leave when my brother’s still in surgery.” She shook her head, looking distraught as she wiped her cheeks dry. “What if he gets his hands on my brother? Matt can’t even defend himself in the state he’s in.”
“I know, love. But it won’t do your brother any good to have you sacrificing your own life in an attempt to keep him safe. We’re doing all we can to make sure he’s protected.” I knew she wanted to be here for her brother, but I was starting to think that it might be best if she waited for news elsewhere. I ran a hand down her arm, hating trying to comfort her.
“What am I supposed to do then? I can’t just do nothing.” She shook her head, looking exasperated.
“Don’t suppose I can convince you to head home for a bit? I can have the nurses call us as soon as Matt’s out of surgery. We could be back here in just ten minutes—before they’ve even had a chance to get him settled in a room.” I tangled my fingers with hers, needing her to know that she wasn’t alone in this.
She shook her head no and pulled away from me, wrapping her arms around her body. “You know that there’s no way I can leave, Finn. Not until I know that my brother is out of surgery and I’m sure he’s going to pull through.”
“Then I’ll see if the hospital has a room where we can stay hidden out of the way. Because I refuse to have that psychotic bastard get his hands on you.” Taking her hand in mine, I pulled her toward the waiting room, hoping she wouldn’t fight me on finding a place tucked far enough away that Ray wouldn’t find us. Not that I was in the mood to keep running from him, when I’d rather we stand our ground. And yet, all that would have to wait, since I refused to let Skylar get caught in the crossfire.
“So…” She bit her lip and her brow furrowed as she pulled back to look up a
t me, her brown eyes nearly black. “You’re not going to ask why the FBI wanted to speak with me?”
“Sky…what the hell am I supposed to say?” I fucking hated this…hated that there were always so many things trying to get in our way. “I can make assumptions, though if it’s what I think, and they showed up here to speak to you—in a public place where you might easily be seen together—then I have to wonder if they truly have your best interest at heart. Because I highly doubt it, when a stunt like that could easily get you killed.”
“I know. But it’s not like they had a whole lot of choice in the matter when I’d gone MIA thanks to your little kidnapping stunt.” When she pouted, it was all I could do not to kiss her, forcing myself to stay calm, instead of hauling her out of here and taking her someplace where I know I’d be able to keep her safe from everything that wanted to tear us apart.
“And I’d do it all over again if it meant keeping you safe, and me sane. ’Cause I’ve got to tell you, love…you’re making me fucking crazy.”
I was doing my best to hide just how shaken up Ray had left me, but it felt nearly impossible—and even now, as we headed toward the waiting room, I had to resist the urge to keep looking over my shoulder. It felt like he might come after us at any moment, though this time around, I had no doubt he’d use deadly force if he caught sight of me with Finn.
And then there was the damned FBI. I couldn’t believe they’d simply shown up like they had. I couldn’t bring myself to lie to Finn about it, though truth be told, he’d been a hell of a lot more understanding than I’d expected him to be—though maybe his anger and disgust with me would surface later, after he’d had the chance to fully realize what I’d done.
Once we got to the waiting room, it became abundantly clear that Finn’s brothers knew about the Feds, and fuck, but it felt like I could die, especially when I’d known his brothers all my life, and they were now looking at me like they didn’t even know me.