All Chained Up (23 page)

The front door opened as he emerged from the Explorer. Several men stepped out onto the porch, wielding guns. He spotted Zane at the center of them. He was stockier, the baby roundness gone from his face. He was shirtless, and Reid marked the dozens of tats covering him that hadn't been there eleven years ago. Most notable was the eagle sitting atop a vicious looking skull. Most of the guys staring Reid down had the same symbol inked on their arms or necks. Once upon a time he would have been the one standing there with that eagle and skull inked somewhere on him. If fate hadn't intervened . . . if his eyes hadn't been opened . . .

He swallowed against the acid rising up in his throat and fixed a smile on his face. “Hey, little brother.”

“Holy shit,” Zane declared, hopping down from the porch and lowering his rifle. “Son of a bitch! What are you doing here?”

Reid lifted his chin and tried not to stare too hard at the emblems of hate riddling his brother. “Is that any way to welcome me home?”

Zane flung his arms wide. As if the past were forgotten. As if bad shit never went down. As if Reid could still be one of them. “Welcome home, brother.”

Zane embraced him, clapping his back hard. Reid pulled back and eyed the other men, meeting their gazes head-­on. Several looked at him with distrust. Evidently not everyone had forgotten. His brother's second in command, Rowdy, had a big grin for him, though. Rowdy reached out and clapped hands with him.

“Good to have you back.” Rowdy looked him over. “Looking fierce, man. Guessing they didn't release you for good behavior.”

“Nah. Thought I'd let myself out.”

Zane and Rowdy laughed. “Same ol' Reid.”

“You couldn't have come back at a better time.” His brother's eyes glinted with excitement, reminding him of the kid he used to be.

“That right?” Reid asked.

Zane nodded eagerly, gesturing to the cabin. “Yeah.” He shared a look with Rowdy and the other guys, and Reid got the sense that he was missing out on some joke. “Let's go inside and I'll tell you all about it.”

Reid followed him inside and did a quick scan of the living room, noting how run-­down the place had become in the eleven years he'd been gone. The place smelled of sweat and stale cigarette smoke. The upholstery on the arms of the couch had worn off. Dirty white threads tufted up as if trying to escape from the piece of furniture.

“We got something big going down, Bubba.”

The sound of his little brother using his old nickname elicited a pang in his chest. “Yeah?” Reid looked at the men standing around him, a prickling sensation crawling up the back of his neck.

Zane chuckled lightly and scrubbed at the back of his neck under hair that fell long and greasy. He needed a shower. His brother's eyes were bloodshot from God knew what drug and a patchy beard hugged his cheeks. It was hard to reconcile him to the soft-­faced boy Reid had last seen. “Why don't I show you?”

Turning, Zane headed down the dark hall to the back bedrooms. The carpet was flat and matted beneath Reid's shoes as he followed his brother. He felt the other men behind him, crowding close like anxious dogs. Something was definitely in the air. Feral and testosterone-­laced. He recognized it from prison. Right when a fight broke out. Blood was in the water and the sharks were hungry.

Zane opened the door to the master bedroom and stepped inside. Reid followed. He sucked in a breath as his gaze landed on the bed and the woman restrained there. His stomach pitched and a fresh wave of acid surged up inside him.

Her hands were bound together with a single cord that extended to the brass headboard. She sat board-­straight on the edge of the bed. Her eyes were red-­rimmed and puffy. She'd been crying, but her eyes were now bone-­dry above the gag. She didn't blink as her wide brown stare flitted over him, assessing him before flicking to the men at his back. Her nostrils flared as if scenting danger. She would be right about that. They were the wolves and she their next meal. Of that he was certain.

She tossed her head and said something against the gag. Her dark hair was loose and tangled around her shoulders, trailing long over her cream-­colored blouse. The shiny fabric was dirt-­smudged and stained, but still looked expensive. Probably the most expensive thing in this cabin. A bruise marred the flesh of her cheek above the gag where someone had hit her.

Reid still had no problem recognizing her.
Fuck
.

“Surprise!” Zane waved at her.

They'd done it. They'd abducted the president's daughter.

 

TWENTY-FIVE

B
RIAR THREW HERSELF
into her work. For a long time being a nurse was the only thing that had mattered. It gave her purpose and fed her soul. Then she met Knox and he had filled her mind with other things. Things she had no business thinking or feeling with him. She was determined to forget those things and get back to the way she was before.

When she wasn't at work, she did laundry and watched TV. The media rolled constant coverage about the missing First Daughter. She had watched in fascination initially. Until she realized they only had conjecture and no real information to report.

Then Briar took to cleaning her condo until it was spotless. She went to the store and loaded up on ingredients to cook things like lasagna and pies and cookies from scratch. Things that took concentration and time. When she was done making her pies and lasagna and cookies, she would just sit back and stare at them. And then clean and do more laundry.

But always, Knox was in the back of her mind. His face, his touch, his voice.
I could lose control. Around you, I feel that way.

She admitted that was maybe his great appeal to her. Why she was so drawn to him. Because she felt
consumed
. She felt needed. As though she was oxygen to him. He had wanted her and there had been something desperate and powerful about it. No one had ever wanted her like that. She wanted him like that, too.

And he had let her go because of it. Even confessing her love for him—­or near-­love—­hadn't mattered. If anything, it made him head to the door faster.

She sighed as she paused amid folding her laundry to take a pie out of the oven. Maybe he was right. Maybe feelings like that were unhealthy.

She set the pie to cool as a knock sounded on her door. Slipping off her oven mitt, she moved to look out her peephole. Her sister stood there alone, and she grimaced.

“I know you're in there,” Laurel said, staring back at Briar like she could see her through the peephole. “I saw your car and I can smell pie.”

“Fine,” she muttered, and pulled the door open.

Her sister stared at her a moment before sweeping inside.

“You haven't answered my calls,” Laurel accused.

“I texted you back. I've just been busy.”

Laurel sniffed the air. “Blackberry?”

Briar nodded.

Her sister moved into the kitchen to glance at the other two pies already set out to cool. “What are you so busy doing? Opening your own bakery?”

“What are you doing here, Laurel? It's Sunday.” She always had family events and activities planned in the afternoon with her family. Briar knew because she was usually there, too.

“We needed to talk, and seeing as you're avoiding my calls, here I am.” She spread her arms wide.

“You don't need to say anything about the other day. I'm not seeing Knox anymore.”

Her sister dropped her arms. “Oh?”

Briar snorted. “Yeah. He kind of agrees with you, actually. He doesn't think I should date a guy like him either.”

Her sister stared at her for a moment. “And what about you? What do you think?”

“Does it matter?” She snorted. “When one person doesn't want to see the other one, things are pretty much over.”

Laurel moved into the kitchen and examined the pies for a moment before facing Briar again. “I think you should keep seeing him.”

She narrowed her eyes on her sister. “What?”

“Date him . . . be in a relationship with him. Whatever you want to call it.” She waved a hand in the air. “The semantics aren't important. Just give this thing with him a try. I think it's worth pursuing.” She expelled a breath. “He's worth pursuing.”

Briar couldn't believe it. “Who are you and what have you done with my sister?”

“I know, I know. I said all kinds of judgy things, but that was before. You say he's not some dangerous person, and I believe you. I trust you. Look, I'm sorry about Martin. I didn't realize what a jerk he was at first, and even when I started to suspect it, I just let myself be blinded by his good job and bank account.”

“But Knox . . . he hit him at your barbecue,” Briar reminded. “Caused a big scene . . . freaked out your guests . . .”

“Yeah, because he was defending your honor. He did it for you, Briar. You've never had that before . . . someone willing to protect you. And for God's sake you deserve it. You deserve someone to stand by you. I found that with Caleb, but you've never had that with anyone.”

Briar reached out and snagged her sister's hand. “I had it with you.”

Laurel smiled tenderly at her and squeezed her hand back. “Yeah, and look what I did for you. Graduated, married Caleb, and never looked back. I left you in that house, Briar.” Her voice cracked. “I left you there for four more years, and I know Dad got worse. I wasn't there for you—­”

Briar pulled her into a hug. “Of course you had to go.” She patted her back.

Laurel pulled back to look into her eyes. “I was wrong. Knox is what you deserve, Briar.”

She smiled sadly and shook her head. “No.” He walked away from her when she would have given him everything. She had stood there, offering him her heart, and he turned his back on it. She deserved someone who wasn't afraid to love her. “He's not.”

KNOX SAT INSIDE
the prison he never thought to visit again. Of course he was in the visiting room, waiting to see if North was actually going to show. He wasn't wearing a white prison uniform. The guards hardly paid him any attention as they stood sentinel in the room.

After a week and a half in the hospital, his brother had returned five days ago. But according to the social worker, he was sent straight to segregation for his role in the riot. Knox hadn't been able to see him until now.

What the hell happened that day? North always tried to keep a low profile. He wouldn't have instigated a riot, but Knox knew well enough that it was war in here and you did what you had to in order to survive.

Inmates filed into the room and moved to the tables where their visitors sat. Knox tapped his thigh under the table impatiently, desperate to see his brother, to confirm that he was still whole.

Finally, he stepped through the door. Knox shot up straighter in his seat and he felt sick. He hardly recognized the North walking over to him.

He had lost weight. His features were gaunt and ashen. His white shirt hung off his shoulders. He was all leanness. A rangy wolf. He even had that feral look in his brown eyes. Those eyes landed on Knox and narrowed. It wasn't a friendly look. His brother was definitely not happy to see him.

Deep shadows stood out like bruises beneath his eyes, and as he drew closer, Knox saw the wound on his face. A deep angry slash ran down the length of his cheek, the skin held together with butterfly strips. It started near his eye and ran the length of his cheek, ending at his jawline.

North sank down in front of him. “What are you doing here?”

“What the hell happened in here, North?” Up close, he could see that the wound was going to leave a nasty scar. His brother was never going to be that too-­pretty boy again.

“Shit happens in here. You know that.”

“Never had a riot in the eight years that I—­”

“Then we were overdue,” he snapped, and Knox fell silent.

The familiar guilt rose up to gnaw at him, and he looked down at his hands.

“Don't do that,” North bit out.

Knox's gaze shot back to his brother. “Do what?”

“Look all fucking guilty. That shit gets old. I'm in here because I wanted to go along with you that night. That bastard destroyed our cousin. He killed her.”

Knox shook his head. “It was my idea to go after—­”

“Yeah. And I threw the first punch. Remember that?” North slumped back in his chair. “Look, I'm going to have a hearing—­”

“For what?” Knox demanded.

North stared at him coldly, so unlike the guy he'd left in here just a few months ago. “I'm facing more time. For the riot. They're holding me and a bunch of other guys responsible.”

“What?” His world spun and upended.
No. No. No
. North was supposed to get out soon. Maybe a few more months.

“How much time you looking at?” Knox asked numbly.

North shrugged. ­“Couple of bulls got badly injured. Three inmates dead. There has to be consequences.” He paused, his lips twisting. “Reid's gone.”

“Gone where? Dead?”

North shook his head. “He went to the hospital with me. No one's talking about where he is . . . if he's coming back.” He looked sideways and leaned forward, lowering his voice. “There's a rumor going round that he broke out. At the hospital.”

It all clicked then. The riot had been deliberate so Reid could escape.
God damn him.

They stared at one another, their suspicion settling on the air between them.

“How long are you facing?” Knox asked, dread pooling in his stomach.

North answered him quietly. “Few more years maybe.”

“No.” His hands curled into fists on top of the table. “We'll get you a new lawyer. You're not staying in here—­”

“Man, cool it. It is what it is. I'll be fine.”

He didn't look fine. He didn't even look like his brother anymore. He looked hard. Like a man that didn't expect to ever get out. Like a man who no longer cared. Knox needed to get North out of this place while there was anything of him still left.

North's brown eyes flicked over him. He attempted a smile. “Tell me you've been getting laid a lot for me out there.”

Knox snorted.

His brother nodded. “Well, I don't hear any denials. That's good, man. I need to hear that you're out there living and making up for lost time . . . nailing lots of ass. As soon as you leave here, go eat a big burger with a side of onion rings, too. Can you do that for me? And a nice cold beer.”

“I can do you the burger and beer, but I wouldn't say I've been banging a lot of girls.” There hadn't been anyone since Briar, and he doubted there would be any time soon. Just the thought of being with anyone else left him cold.

“Oh, no?” North arched an eyebrow and considered him for a moment. “Just one girl, then?”

Knox didn't answer, but that seemed answer enough.

North nodded. “Good. Even better. Well, don't wait on me for the wedding. Get on out of here and make me an uncle. By the time I get out, I can take the little guy to a Cowboys game.”

That idea shot an image straight to his head—­of him and Briar with a little boy. Someone sweet and pure, whose hand would feel tiny and innocent in his own. The thought made him go weak in the knees and played havoc with his heart.

“Fuck. I'm not getting married. I broke up with her.” Not that they had been official or anything.

“Why?”

“Look, I don't want to talk about this. Let's talk about your defense for this upcoming hearing. I can talk to—­”

“Shit, man. I'm not talking about that. I want to talk about you and this girl you broke up with. Why'd you dump her?”

“Do I look like a catch to you, North? I'm a fucking felon and this is a nice girl—­”

“All the better. Marry her. Take her to the farmhouse. Make it a home again. Uncle Mac and Aunt Alice would love it.”

He stared at his brother in shock. “You're serious. You think I deserve—­”

“You think I don't?” he countered, raising his voice enough for one of the guards to call out a warning. North glared at the bull and then turned his attention back to Knox. “If you don't deserve it, then neither do I.”

An uncomfortable tightness centered in his chest. Of course his brother deserved that. He deserved everything.

North stabbed a finger in the air. “I've always looked up to you, but I won't respect you for shit if you don't grab this opportunity with both hands. Trust me, the moment I get out of here, nothing is going to stop me from living the life I want. Nothing. Now don't be a fucking pussy.”

Heat crept up Knox's face. “When did you start telling me what to do?”

“Apparently when you started needing someone to.” North's gaze flicked up him and down. “You love this girl?”

He looked down at his hands again, seeing Briar's face. Seeing her that first day in the HSU and every moment in between. Seeing her when she said she might be a little in love with him. Right before he walked out on here. “Yeah. Yeah, I do.”

“Then get the fuck out of here and go get her. Don't come back again unless it's with her. Understand? I want to meet her.”

Knox wiped at his suddenly burning eyes. He'd never spent one day of his eight years in this prison crying. Not even when the pain had been so great and he thought his body was broken forever. And now here he was, blubbering like a baby in the very place where he had never shown weakness. “Yeah. All right.”