Page 36 of Outcast
Holden wanted a better plan before he told Axel and Bailey. He wanted to protect them. But knowing my brother, it was also his way of controlling the situation. He couldn’t erase the debt, but he could manage how it impacted the people around him.
At least until they found out the truth.
“Axel…” Holden started.
“He’s our best hope?” Axel said, jabbing a finger at me. “He’s back for a week, and suddenly, he’s your favorite brother?”
Whoa. So this wasn’t about the debt, then.
“Myfavorite?” Holden snapped. “Grow the fuck up. I’m not Daddy, and he’s not my favorite kid. We’ve got a business to run, and Gray brings some skills we need.”
“Sure. Right.” Axel’s tone dripped hostility. “More than Bailey or I bring to the table. The old man made sure of that, right?”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“He wouldn’t teach us,” Axel said. “We weren’t you. I don’t know what went down between you, but he was never the fucking same. None of us were.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Too little, too late. Holden might forgive you because you can be an asset to the business, but I don’t.”
He spun on his heel. Walked away from me.Again.
“He deserves to know,” Holden said. “What are you waiting for?”
My heart thudded. My palms grew sweaty. I hadn’t had to come out in a long time. Not to anyone who mattered, anyway. But Holden was right. WhywasI waiting? Why hadn’t I told Axel that first day I arrived?
A ball of nerves tightened my stomach, making it grumble for a reason other than hunger. It was fear this time, and I suddenly knew. I hadn’t run away from homeonlyto protect my brothers.
I’d been afraid they’d look at me the way the old man had. With nothing but hate and disgust.
Leaving them before they could leave me had been easier.
Bailey came in from outside, tucking a vape pen under his T-shirt. “What the fuck did you say to Axel? He looked ready to do murder.”
“Gray just has that effect on him,” Holden joked.
He was covering for me. Again. And that wasn’t fair either. He already had the future of the business on his shoulders.Thiswasn’t his burden to carry.
I lurched forward, stumbling a little as my brain signals tried to hold me back and send me forward at the same time. “I need to talk to him. Did he head for the junkyard?”
Bailey’s forehead creased. “Yeah, where else?”
“And how many of those dogs does he have out there?” I asked, wondering if I’d survive an altercation.
“Uh…”
“Never mind.” I broke into a jog as I left the garage. “If you tell me, I’ll just chicken out again.”
“Come on,” Holden said behind me. “We’re going with Gray. You’re gonna want to hear this too, Bailey.”
The junkyard was a few hundred yards down from the shop. The trek there gave me a chance to better organize my thoughts. This was why I’d come back. To make things right with my brothers. But part of me wanted to turn away, to run all over again.
A tall fence topped with barbed wire ran along the perimeter of the junkyard. Axel was just ahead of us, closing two large, rusty gates.
“Ax!” Holden called. Good. I couldn’t find my voice just yet. “Hold up. Gray has something to say.”
“I don’t want to hear it.”
