There’s so much I need to say but she isn’t ready to hear it. I fear that if I say anything, she’ll snap, fraying from the tattered nerves I myself have played a role in causing.
“Hunter, you’re needed in the study,” Matt bellows from the hallway, oblivious to the happenings of this room.
“This isn’t over, Mel.” I withdraw my fingers before licking them clean, raising a brow at the defiant look she throws me. Such a spitfire, my girl.
Mel rights herself, lowering her dress, but the dazed look on her face isn’t something I miss.
Quickly clearing her throat, she looks toward the door. “It is, so you best get going. Looks like you have more secrets to discuss.”
I scoff. If only she knew. These are things I would never wish on my worst enemies, let alone the woman I love.
Without saying another word, because there’s nothing left to say, I step out of the room and toward the sound of shouting. God. It seems the day I’ve feared has finally arrived and it’s time to face the music.
With unhurried steps, I cross the threshold to the study and take in the scene before me.
Austin is at Jack’s throat, his fist balled up in his shirt. “You knew? You fucking knew, and you didn’t tell me anything?”
Jack’s eyes flit over Austin’s shoulder and back to me. Here goes nothing.
“No, he didn’t know. I did. Technically Jace and I, but he’s already laid out, so if you’re needing to take it out on anyone, take it out on me.”
“Motherfucker!” Austin whirls, his feet sprinting to me before he throws a punch, the fist landing right against my jaw and sending my head flying back. “How could you? You! I thought you were my brother!”
Wiping the blood that’s spilled from the corner of my mouth, I turn toward the man I will always consider kin, regardless of what a piece of paper says. “I am your brother, and that’s why I wanted to protect you.”
Austin’s lip curls up in a snarl. “That isn’t your fucking job, Hunter. The moment you found out who my biological father was, you needed to tell me. It’s my fucking life. It’s my fucking choice.”
Jesus, where have I heard this before? Maybe they’re right and I’ve been wrong this entire time, trying to take on shit that doesn’t belong to me just to keep those I love safe.
“There was no ill intent, brother. You have to know that.”
Austin shakes his head, the look of disgust never leaving his features. “No. I don’t. I don’t have to know shit. The way I see it, you robbed me of that knowledge. All those years that I dug for information, all that time in Mexico.” With these words he drops to his knees. “Oh god. Blanca. If I’d known then what I know now, maybe Blanca would still be alive.”
My stomach turns, knowing there’s probably some truth to that. Despite that bitch being a two-timing whore, she didn’t deserve to die the way she did.
Jack, always the voice of reason, steps in. “Hey, Austin. We don’t know that. Fuck, we didn’t even know that you’d been digging into the cartel in the first place. We all thought you were just having a family vacation, not going full vigilante on us.”
“Exactly, that’d be like the pot calling the kettle black when it comes to keeping secrets,” Matt chimes in.
“Ha!” Austin chokes out from his crouched position on the floor. “There’s a huge fucking difference. Hunter’s secret was about me. It was information on me.” He turns to face me, his emerald eyes searing into mine with an intensity that has me looking away. “But my secret? I didn’t even know what the fuck I was looking for. Could have been about all of us, or could have been nothing at all.”
Jack, being the mediator he is, walks past me, stopping only once he’s in front of Austin. “Hey, nobody could’ve predicted what was going to happen in Mexico. And just like we didn’t know what you were up to, I’m sure Hunter had his reasons for keeping what he did to himself.”
“There’s no reason. No excuse.” Austin shakes his head as his hands fling to his face in cover. “Fuck. Blanca. The kids. The poor kids.”
“Blame me if you need to, but know that it was never my intention for anyone to get hurt.” I take a couple of steps toward my brother, crouching down until I’m face to face with all of his sorrow. “Look, I wasn’t sure if the information I had was accurate. There’s no way I was going to drop such a big bomb on you without securing its veracity.”
Austin scoffs as he stands, his six-foot-two towering over my still crouched position. “That’s no excuse. You should have told me as soon as you found out, trusted me with that information and given me the choice to find out right along with you. But you robbed me of that. Robbed Blanca of a life she will never have. Robbed the kids of their own mother.”
A tightness settles over my chest, the pressure threatening to squeeze out every drop of air in my lungs. Maybe he’s right. Maybe all those things are my fault.
“No. You are no longer my brother. A brother wouldn’t do what you did.”
His last words haven’t even registered before Austin is walking out of the study, the loud thud of the door slamming behind the only sound audible in the room.
Seconds tick by before I’m standing to my full height and Jack’s hand is clapping against my back. “Give him some time, brother. He’ll come around. Nobody could’ve predicted what happened with Blanca. And even if we could, there’s no telling it wouldn’t have happened regardless. She had her hand in all of this too.”
I nod, but I’m not so sure. Austin’s words sound so similar to those of my girl’s. Maybe, just maybe, it’s time I start letting people in. Stop carrying all of this bullshit on my own.
“Hate to break it to everyone, but this nightmare isn’t over. Raul is still on the loose and we don’t have a plan on how to deal with Catherine,” Matt says as he pours three tumblers of whiskey before handing them out.
“Right. She doesn’t know that her partner is dead.” Jack takes the proffered rocks glass, before continuing. “I’d say we wait until Jace wakes up to make a decision as to Catherine, but we definitely need to move forward with locating Raul. Just because the lying bitch will no longer be looking for the will, it doesn’t mean that El Jefe’s brother won’t.”
“You’re right. And until we get him into custody, then none of us are safe.” Mel isn’t safe is what I really want to say.
“Fine. We’ll get with the men of WRATH and see where they’re at as far as his last known location. At least he’s been spotted. That gives us something to go off of.” Jack nods toward the door. “In the meantime, I think we just let Austin breathe. He’s been given a lot of info that he needs to let sink in.”
Matt snorts. “Yeah. Imagine finding out that your real dad is the notorious cartel leader who possibly offed your adopted father.”
I growl, “Not ‘possibly.’ There’s no doubt in my mind that it was his men who ran our parents off the road.”
Jack hums in agreement. “But that’s neither here nor there now. We’ve got shit to do and dwelling on the past isn’t going to fix it.”
“Amen, brother. Amen.” I nod before taking a substantial sip of Tortured Crown, needing the liquid fire to numb the pain of my mistakes. If only it were that easy.
But just like I’d thought before, there is no amount of booze that could bury the shitstorm my secrets have caused.
