Page 78 of Dropping In

“Where is she?” I ask.

Both of them stay silent, flanking me while we walk across the street to where Hunter’s Scout is parked. “Where is she?” I ask again, teeth gritted.

Brooks finally glances at me. “With Jordan and Isa. Forget it,” he snaps before I can tell them to take me to her. “Before you get anywhere near her, you’re going to talk to us and explain why the fuck we just posted bail for you. Because Nala said something about assault, and then she saidhisname, right before she shut down.”

He yanks open the door, motioning for me to climb into the back. I stay where I am, fists clenched. “I need to see her.”

“Then you shouldn’t have gone fucking rogue,” Hunter spits out from the driver’s seat. “You want to see your girl? Don’t let her get fucking blindsided while she watches you get arrested.”

All three of us are seething, and even though I want nothing more than to punch someone or something, I don’t. I get into the backseat, slamming my foot against the console a few times when my cast makes it awkward and difficult for me to get situated.

“Going to beat someone else up without telling anyone?” Brooks growls from the front seat.

“Bite me,” I shoot back.

We ride the rest of the way to my house in silence. I’m hopping over the side the minute the Scout stops, and not a second later I hear their footsteps behind me.

“Don’t bother coming in; I’m not staying.”

“You try and go anywhere near her, you’re going to make it worse.”

I key in the code to the Challenger. Brooks slams his hand on the door before I can open it. “Back the fuck off, or I will put you down.”

“At least this time I’ll know you’re in a fight.”

“Is that why you’re so mad? Because I didn’t send you a text and tell you my plans?”

Brooks slams his hand into my shoulder, knocking me hard enough I have to work to catch myself. “No, you prick, I’m mad because you went alone.”

“What did you expect me to do, sit around and wait six years to see if someone else stepped up?” I shove him back, pleased when I see the verbal blow strike him with the physical one. “Sorry, brother, I don’t work like that. Someonehurther,” I shout, the rage that’s so familiar spewing out with every word. “How could you expect me to do nothing?”

“Is that really what you think I did?Nothing?” He roars, and I see Jacks put a hand on his shoulder. Brooks shoves it off, stepping even closer. He’s taller, but we’re evenly matched otherwise, both able and willing to take and throw as many punches as needed. It’s been a long time since we threw more than one, but nothing would make me feel better right now.

“Do you know what it’s like to give someone what they want, Malcolm? Not what you think they deserve, not what you think they need, but whatthey want?” Something tingles at the back of my brain, mixing in with the rage. His words…they make me think back to Nala’s words again.

I only want you to think about me…I want you to love me anyway.

Jesus Christ.

“She only wanted to feel better,” Brooks says, his eyes on me because he knows—he can see—that I’ve just figured it out. “She didn’t want to forget—she knew she wouldn’t be able to. But she didn’t want to be sad anymore, she didn’t want to be scared anymore. She didn’t want to hurt anymore.”

My body threatens to give out with those words. I stand still, barely breathing, trying to ignore what he’s saying, what I’ve done, and what it might mean.

“So no, I didn’t go find Ezra Shields, the twenty-six-year-old junior partner atShields, Simmons, and Linseky. Yeah, I lied to you. I knew who he fucking was. I made it my goddamn mission to know, just like you,” Brooks shouts when my eyes widen. “But unlike you, I didn’t beat the fuck out of him for hurting Nala, for raping her, for making her feel like she somehow deserved what he did.”

A large roaring fills my head, and I wonder if my chest has actually just ripped open. Brooks doesn’t flinch, not even when Hunter says his name.

“You know why, Malcolm?” He steps closer, barely speaking above a whisper now, the deadly quiet of his voice more powerful than the yell. “Because I love her enough to think only of her. Even if it means shoving my own needs to the side and living with the burning rage that consumes me every time I think about it.”

Brooklyn turns and walks away, pausing one last time as he gets to the Scout. “You know what being a part of a family means? It means you call and tell your brothers when you’re about to beat the shit out of someone—because you’re supposed to trust them enough to go in with you, to help you, to keep you from getting fucking arrested.” He yanks open the door, swinging in.

Hunter does the same on the driver’s side, and Brooks delivers one last blow for the night. “You want to live on your own, Mal? Do things your way without anyone else? Go for it. But you better fucking remember that this was your choice, no one else’s.”

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