Better When He's Brave
Page 75
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I knew Bax was somewhere in the cavernous compound. I had called Dovie earlier to ask her where I could find him. She told me he was going nuts sitting at home, and since the contraption holding his jaw in place had been removed, he went back to work. She sounded frustrated and I knew exactly where she was coming from. Though Titus’s injuries were less serious than Bax’s in the grand scheme of things, he was still laid up with a broken knee and some busted ribs. The cop was a terrible patient and he was making me insane with his bad mood and surly attitude while he thumped around the house in his cast. My personal opinion was that the rest was good for him. He deserved some time off after everything he had been through, but Titus wasn’t the kind of guy that unwound. He stayed coiled tight, listening to his police scanner and constantly on the phone with his fellow cops talking about work and unsolved cases. Even hobbled and banged up, the guy was a force to be reckoned with, and the same could be said for Bax.
He was sitting behind his big, metal desk in his office. His wrist was still in a heavy plaster cast but he had his broken ankle up on the edge of the desk and it was encased in a bulky, black walking boot. He was still too skinny and the sharpness in his face made his glower all the more intimidating as I took a seat across from him without asking. He still emanated badass and don’t-mess-with-me even though he looked like he had been on the losing end of his last fight.
Dovie had given me the codes to get into the compound and through the massive gates in the first place since there was no chance in hell I would ever be invited. I wasn’t welcome and the fact was evident on Bax’s hard features.
“What are you doing here?” He tapped his fingers on the knee of his lifted leg and I glanced around the office. I was trying to figure out what seemed different about him besides the weight loss when the old smell of cigarette smoke snuck into my nose.
I lifted an eyebrow at him. “You don’t have a cigarette in your hand.”
The vein by the star inked on his face twitched in annoyance. “I have enough shit trying to kill me every day. I figured I didn’t need to help matters along. It was a bitch to try and smoke through all the wires and shit that were holding my face together until a couple of days ago. What are you doing here, Reeve?”
I pushed some of my long hair over my shoulder and cleared my throat. “I know you don’t like me, that you don’t trust me and want someone else for your brother.”
He didn’t say anything but his chin dipped down in a barely-there nod. “None of that is a secret.”
I locked my fingers together in my lap and forced myself to meet his dark gaze and the animosity that lived deep in the depths. “Look, I know I screwed up with Dovie and she got hurt, but I saved Titus’s life, so that has to count for something. I’m not going anywhere and you know you can’t do anything about it without hurting your brother. I want some kind of truce, Shane. Like it or not, we’re part of the same family now.”
He didn’t say anything. He rocked back in his chair and steepled his fingers in front of him while he considered me. It took every ounce of self-control I had not to wiggle and fidget under that heavy and deep look. It was like the entire night sky was landing on top of me.
“What are you going to do with Titus in the long run, Reeve? He’s always going to be a cop and you’re always going to be a chick with one foot on either side of the law. Are you going to make him choose between you and who he is, what he has always been?”
I shook my head slowly. “I’m going to love him and take care of him like he has always done for you, Shane. He needs someone to care for him and I promise that I won’t ever compromise him. I told Nassir that when I agreed to stay on at the club. Everything is aboveboard and legal, and it stays that way or I walk. Maybe it’s not the most morally pristine job for a cop’s lady to have, but it pays well and I like being able to take care of the girls. Strippers are mostly good women just doing what they have to in order to survive out here. I understand that better than Nassir or Race ever will. It’s not like you can judge anyway. I know what all those cars sitting on your lot are for. Out of the two of us, you’re the one that tests his resolve to be who he is, not me.” I got to my feet and put my hands on the edge of the desk. I leaned forward a little so Bax could feel my own heavy and deep gaze as it landed on him. “And he wasn’t always a cop. He was a kid stuck just like you were. He is a man that has had to make the hard choices just like you. Don’t force him to make another one, Shane. Find a way to make peace with the fact I’m here and I’m here to stay.”
I wouldn’t beg him. I had too much pride for that, but I would fight him if he made me. Titus needed both of us in his life and I wouldn’t let Bax reopen the gap that had separated them for so long. I pushed up off the desk and turned to head back out the door. Bax’s gravelly voice stopped me just as I was pushing the lever to open it.
“When you say ‘here to stay,’ are you talking babies and a ring? Traditional shit that makes no sense in this place?” He sounded baffled by the concept.
I just shrugged my shoulder. What happened next hadn’t exactly come up in conversation with the cop, but he didn’t seem at all concerned that birth control had gone out the window. Well, once the feds had officially cleared out and there was no longer the threat of possible jail time hanging over my head, birth control had fallen by the wayside. Babies and the Point didn’t really mix, but when the mother was willing to do anything, and I do mean anything, to keep them safe and happy, I think Titus and I realized bringing a life into this messed-up world was a risk we were both willing to take. And as traditional and serious as the man was about family, I had no doubt that at some point in the future he would want to make all the more between us official.
“I’m here for all of it. Whatever it is.”
He swung the bulky contraption holding his ankle off the desk and got to his feet. He crossed his arms over his chest and we had a stare-down. When I didn’t look away he gave that tiny little nod again and let his mouth twist up into a smirk.
“We’re fine for now, Reeve, but if you ever hurt anyone I care about again, there won’t be a place far enough away that you can hide to get away from me.”
“We care about the same people, Shane. I won’t make those kinds of mistakes again.”
I walked out before he could say anything else. It was a shaky truce at best, but it would do for now. Bax was never going to be my biggest fan, but as long as he tolerated me and understood I would never let anything hurt Titus, I was a happy girl.
He was sitting behind his big, metal desk in his office. His wrist was still in a heavy plaster cast but he had his broken ankle up on the edge of the desk and it was encased in a bulky, black walking boot. He was still too skinny and the sharpness in his face made his glower all the more intimidating as I took a seat across from him without asking. He still emanated badass and don’t-mess-with-me even though he looked like he had been on the losing end of his last fight.
Dovie had given me the codes to get into the compound and through the massive gates in the first place since there was no chance in hell I would ever be invited. I wasn’t welcome and the fact was evident on Bax’s hard features.
“What are you doing here?” He tapped his fingers on the knee of his lifted leg and I glanced around the office. I was trying to figure out what seemed different about him besides the weight loss when the old smell of cigarette smoke snuck into my nose.
I lifted an eyebrow at him. “You don’t have a cigarette in your hand.”
The vein by the star inked on his face twitched in annoyance. “I have enough shit trying to kill me every day. I figured I didn’t need to help matters along. It was a bitch to try and smoke through all the wires and shit that were holding my face together until a couple of days ago. What are you doing here, Reeve?”
I pushed some of my long hair over my shoulder and cleared my throat. “I know you don’t like me, that you don’t trust me and want someone else for your brother.”
He didn’t say anything but his chin dipped down in a barely-there nod. “None of that is a secret.”
I locked my fingers together in my lap and forced myself to meet his dark gaze and the animosity that lived deep in the depths. “Look, I know I screwed up with Dovie and she got hurt, but I saved Titus’s life, so that has to count for something. I’m not going anywhere and you know you can’t do anything about it without hurting your brother. I want some kind of truce, Shane. Like it or not, we’re part of the same family now.”
He didn’t say anything. He rocked back in his chair and steepled his fingers in front of him while he considered me. It took every ounce of self-control I had not to wiggle and fidget under that heavy and deep look. It was like the entire night sky was landing on top of me.
“What are you going to do with Titus in the long run, Reeve? He’s always going to be a cop and you’re always going to be a chick with one foot on either side of the law. Are you going to make him choose between you and who he is, what he has always been?”
I shook my head slowly. “I’m going to love him and take care of him like he has always done for you, Shane. He needs someone to care for him and I promise that I won’t ever compromise him. I told Nassir that when I agreed to stay on at the club. Everything is aboveboard and legal, and it stays that way or I walk. Maybe it’s not the most morally pristine job for a cop’s lady to have, but it pays well and I like being able to take care of the girls. Strippers are mostly good women just doing what they have to in order to survive out here. I understand that better than Nassir or Race ever will. It’s not like you can judge anyway. I know what all those cars sitting on your lot are for. Out of the two of us, you’re the one that tests his resolve to be who he is, not me.” I got to my feet and put my hands on the edge of the desk. I leaned forward a little so Bax could feel my own heavy and deep gaze as it landed on him. “And he wasn’t always a cop. He was a kid stuck just like you were. He is a man that has had to make the hard choices just like you. Don’t force him to make another one, Shane. Find a way to make peace with the fact I’m here and I’m here to stay.”
I wouldn’t beg him. I had too much pride for that, but I would fight him if he made me. Titus needed both of us in his life and I wouldn’t let Bax reopen the gap that had separated them for so long. I pushed up off the desk and turned to head back out the door. Bax’s gravelly voice stopped me just as I was pushing the lever to open it.
“When you say ‘here to stay,’ are you talking babies and a ring? Traditional shit that makes no sense in this place?” He sounded baffled by the concept.
I just shrugged my shoulder. What happened next hadn’t exactly come up in conversation with the cop, but he didn’t seem at all concerned that birth control had gone out the window. Well, once the feds had officially cleared out and there was no longer the threat of possible jail time hanging over my head, birth control had fallen by the wayside. Babies and the Point didn’t really mix, but when the mother was willing to do anything, and I do mean anything, to keep them safe and happy, I think Titus and I realized bringing a life into this messed-up world was a risk we were both willing to take. And as traditional and serious as the man was about family, I had no doubt that at some point in the future he would want to make all the more between us official.
“I’m here for all of it. Whatever it is.”
He swung the bulky contraption holding his ankle off the desk and got to his feet. He crossed his arms over his chest and we had a stare-down. When I didn’t look away he gave that tiny little nod again and let his mouth twist up into a smirk.
“We’re fine for now, Reeve, but if you ever hurt anyone I care about again, there won’t be a place far enough away that you can hide to get away from me.”
“We care about the same people, Shane. I won’t make those kinds of mistakes again.”
I walked out before he could say anything else. It was a shaky truce at best, but it would do for now. Bax was never going to be my biggest fan, but as long as he tolerated me and understood I would never let anything hurt Titus, I was a happy girl.
