Page 42 of Man of Lies

What I saw in his face right then was deeper and more virulent than anger. More dangerous. It was resentment. The same resentment I saw in Ben whenever I tried to help, something festering beneath the surface for so long that we'd all stopped noticing.

He wasn't just frustrated; he was exhausted. I could see it in the set of his shoulders and the way his hands shook before he shoved them into his pockets. Whatever had happened between him and Gideon, it was pushing him further away from us.

Gideon's face tightened, his mouth pressing into a thin line, but he didn't flinch. Of course, he didn't. I'd never seen anything break that aloof façade of his. He stood there like some avenging angel cast from marble, with an expression colder than I'd ever seen. After a long moment, his attention shifted to Gage—as if Dominic wasn't even there.

"Get this mess cleaned up," he ordered harshly, "before the kids see it and start asking questions."

Then he turned his back on every one of us, shoulders stiff, and retreated into the house without a backward glance.

I stood there, frozen, while the pieces of the moment slipped through my fingers. No matter how I scrambled after them, I couldn't make sense of what was happening. Growing up, we'd always had scraps and arguments. It was inevitable with five headstrong boys living under one roof, but Boone always kept us in line. He'd taken a bunch of troubled kids, lashing out at the world, and focused us on something productive. Without him…we were lost. Lost and lashing out at each other.

Silas's rough baritone pulled me out of my spiraling worries. Just like always. "You gonna behave if I let you go?"

"As long as he never comes back," Gage spat, lifting his chin and glowering across the yard at Dominic. "I want nothing to do with him."

"Likewise, little brother," Dom retorted coldly.

"You don't mean that," I said in a low voice pitched just for him. Dominic's whiskey-colored eyes flicked toward me, the first acknowledgement I'd received all night, but he didn't reply. The empty look in his eyes chilled me.

I gripped him by the back of the neck and tugged his face close to mine, hissing, "We're family, Dom. We don't have to keep doing this. Whatever's going on—we can work through it."

"You can't fix everything, Mason." There was something dark in the way he said it, a hollowed-out finality that raised the hairs on the back of my neck. I wanted to reach out to him, but I knew better. There was no reaching for something that wasn't even there.

"I can damn well try."

"You can't even figure out what's happening right under your nose."

"What the hell does that mean?" I asked, brow furrowing.

A bitter, humorless smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. I followed his gaze over my shoulder, but only saw Silas, restraining Gage with one firm grip on his arm.

When Dom spoke again, he sounded like he'd dragged the words over broken glass. "I'm done carrying the weight for everyone. You don't want my help? Fine. Figure it out on your own."

Silence rang in my ears, but I couldn't break it. None of us could. We had nothing left to say. With a derisive scoff, Dominic shook his head and walked away.

It felt like the end of an era.

I stood there, frozen, staring after his back until he slid behind the tinted windows of his black Jaguar. I couldn't chase after him even if I wanted. All I could do was watch as another of my brothers slipped through my fingers.

I was so lost in thought that I almost missed Silas's approaching footsteps until his rough voice spoke over my shoulder. "You good?"

"No."

There was no fixing it—not this time. Not with Dominic, not with Gage…and not with Ben. I couldn't do it alone anymore.

I turned and met Silas's eyes, dark and steady and filled with quiet understanding. Eyes that always made me feel like he could see right through me. And for the first time in years, or maybe a lifetime, I dared to wonder what it would be like to have someone to share the weight. Someone with a devilish grin and shoulders broad enough to carry any load.

"I'm not okay," I admitted, sucking in a bracing breath. "But I will be."

Chapter Nineteen

SILAS

The road was open,dark, and mine. Exactly how I liked it. The rumble of the engine beneath me was all I needed to stay grounded, the world around me fading away, leaving only the hum of the bike and the rush of cool air across my face. But I wasn't really feeling it. Not tonight.

Mason was splashed across every wall of my brain, painted into every corner, soaking into the building blocks of my body. Leaving him standing in the wreckage of that decrepit old mansion had gone against every instinct I had, and even now, it felt like he wasn't really gone. All it had taken was a solid twenty-four hours of his company, and now he was riding with me like a ghost. The expensive scent that lingered on his skin even after a shower with my cheap soap, and the feel of his hard, lean body pressed behind me as we rode. The further I'd taken him from the parish, the brighter that smile lit up those blue eyes, stripping most of the tension from his face.

It wasn't supposed to be like this.

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