Page 60 of Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea

My brother always treated me with indifference. Our relationship eked along as a series of technicalities.

When he stood up for me as kids, it happened because Gage cared, and technically,I wasRaif’s sister, so he needed to protect precedence laid down by the club.

It was never about me personally.

When Gage proclaimed his love for me, and Raif blew a gasket, that one happened because Gage never sought his permission to date me.

Rules of the club. Inside those walls, men owned all, even the women. Which meant, again technically, being Raif’s half-sister, he owned me.

It had never been about love or loyalty.

Or so I thought.

Now, though, I see that maybe I’ve been wrong. Aboutallof it. He tried to tell me—oh, god, Gage tried to tell me so many times that they’re a new Lords. That they’re a club of men wholovetheir women.Women matter.I was just too stubborn to listen.

“Her back.” Insinuating himself between us, Gage pulls me from my brother’s arms as he reminds him of my injuries.

Suddenly, and for no explicable reason as I’ve been strong all this time, my eyes begin to fill with tears and my feet falter, legs going weak.

“Come on, baby,” Gage whispers in my ear, holding me until I feel strong enough to walk. “It’s almost over.”

I bite my lip and nod as I let him lead me by the hand the twenty steps back to the van.

Hero drives. Blue sits in the passenger seat.

“Hey, guys,” I say casually with a small wave.

God, I feel stupid, like I owe them all a huge apology. But how do I apologize for having a mental breakdown?

Sorry I went crazy and you had to follow me?Whatever. I shake the thought away as Gage hefts himself inside the back of the van first. He sets the rifle on the floor, then holds his arms out to me as my brother helps me inside next. I’m positioned on Gage’s lap, so my shoulder touches his chest, and I can rest my head againsthisshoulder. Keeping the pressure off my back. Always so thoughtful. How did I ever think I could forget this man? Raif steps up inside and rolls the door shut.

Hero pulls a three point u-ie and we speed off down the road back the way they came.

Twenty minutes pass before we turn down the dirt drive of, well, it looks like a small prison. A square, cement building set back on the forested property past the gate attached to a chain-link fence. Coiled barbed wire lines the whole perimeter.

“Where are we?” I ask while craning my neck to get a better look out the window.

Hero pulls us up to the gate. I see two cameras reposition themselves—one at the van, one at Hero.

“Wherearewe?” I demand to know with a little more force.

As we park, a man emerges from a cement side building I can only see from this side of the fence. The man looks military in head-to-toe camo. He’s wearing an olive drab vest with puffy pockets filled with God only knows what. A buzz-cut head of gray hair. Boots almost exactly like the boots I’m sporting. And guns. Gunswith ans. Strapped in a holster to his leg, slung around his body by a strap.

“Where are we?” I whisper for the third time, straight up panicked.

Even though just about all Lords carry, this guy looks like the commander of one of those doomsday out-there militias. Guns in the hands of crazies, never good. I’ve had a lifetime fill of guns in the hands of crazies.

Blue and Hero hop out, followed by Raif, who offers me his hand to help me down. Gage brings up the rear. His hands to my shoulders, he positions me to face the militia man, because it’s obvious we’re supposed to meet him. Smoothly, Gage moves his arms from my shoulders to wrap around me protectively.

“John,” Raif starts. “This is my sister, Liv. And her man, my best friend, Chaos.”

John nods at me. Not to me, but at me. It sounds weird, but there’s a difference. To would mean to welcome me. At, at basically acknowledges my corporeal body standing before him, that I’m not some imaginary friend.

“You a brother?” the man asks Gage.

“Yes, sir.”

“She cook?” he bizarrely asks Gage next.

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