Page 81 of Love Thy Brother
“Jonsey? He doesn’t work for anyone. He’s just an idiot with a few extra bags in his pockets.”
“Where does he get them?”
Way back when, I’d have had a rough idea. The club had never sold product at street level, but we’d—they’d—controlled it for as long as I’d been alive. Now, though, if Cam and Rubi were telling me the truth... fuck, it could’ve been anyone. “There’s no top boy in Porth Luck. Wherever Jonsey gets his re-ups from, it isn’t local.”
Embry hummed and drummed his fingers on the crate. “Cam thinks it’s county lines and whoever it is came for Rubi for messing with their man.”
“No one would do that. Jonsey might not know who Rubi is, but other people do.”
“Jonsey knows you’re alone,” Embry countered. “And even if his suppliers know the club, they might not give a fuck. We’ve been out of the game for a while now.”
“Not long enough for anyone around here or Porth Luck to start that kind of beef.”
“Then they’re not from around here. They’re outsiders who see a builder’s yard and a haulage firm. And that’s if they even bothered to look, right? You and Rubi could pass for blood. Maybe they think he’s a protective older brother who needs to mind his business.”
“Story of my fucking life.”
Embry started to smile, but he was cut off by the door banging open.
Mateo appeared, fiery stare sweeping the garage until it landed on Embry. “What the fuck are you doing in here?”
“Nice.” Embry unfolded his body from the crate and rose to his feet. “You talk to your mother like that?”
“You said you were on your way back. I was fucking worried.”
Mateo reached Embry’s side and curved a hand around his neck, gazing at him with such ferocity that I had to look away.
Embry murmured something.
Mateo cursed again, but it was sweet.
Loving.
A world away from the man I’d helped Saint prospect all those years ago.
Before I left.
Unwelcome emotion bubbled in my gut. For so long, I’d been sure it was the right thing to do. Theonlything. But what had it fixed? Cam had still got shot. Saint still nearly burned to death. And me? I was as chaotic and angry as I’d ever been.
And that was before I considered the diabolical fucking mess of me and Rubi.
There is no you and Rubi.
But, fuck, there was. There had to be, or I’d jump in the sea and stay there.
The morbid thought made meyearnfor him, an ache in my gut that made my hands shake and my chest tighten. Working on bikes had always been the only therapy that wouldn’t kill me faster than missing him so much. Taking them apart and putting them back together a better machine than before. Yeah, the irony was ridiculous, but it worked.
Not with Embry’s, though. There was nothing wrong with it that an oil change wouldn’t cure.
“Hey.” Mateo waved his hand in front of my face, breaking my stare off with the Tiger. “You sabotaging that or what?”
“Leave him alone.” Embry nudged him, his gaze on me. “Cam wants you to come to church before we figure out how to deal with whatever the fuck’s going on in Porth Luck.”
“Another summons?”
“An invitation.”
“Yeah, okay.” I wiped my hands on an oily rag. “Like last time? No, thanks.”
