1. Colton

Chapter one

Colton

I ignored Sean’s pleas for Layla to change her mind as I aimed the gun. I waited until just before the door shut to pull the trigger. As the sound of the gunshot echoed around the room, I looked into Sean’s eyes.

His astonished eyes.

“Did you seriously just miss?” Zach asked, dumbfounded.

“You really think I’d miss?” I asked him.

“I’m confused,” Drew said.

“I think we all are,” Tyler replied. “Colt, what the fuck are you doing? She said to kill him.”

I set the gun down and began cutting the ropes that tied Sean to the chair with my knife. “Technically, she didn’t give that order. It was assumed,” I replied.

“Seriously, bro. What the fuck are you doing?” Zach asked. “He doesn’t fucking deserve to live!” Zach snatched the discarded gun from the table and pointed it at Sean.

I jumped in front of the man before he could pull the trigger. “Listen to me. He fucked up. I know this. But I... I trust him. I trust him now the same way that I trusted him in the warehouse.”

“Thank you, Colton,” Sean said.

I turned and punched him in the face. The satisfying crunch of his nose breaking eased a piece of my soul as blood spurted from his nose. “Understand one fucking thing, asshole. While I might trust you, that doesn’t mean I fucking forgive you. I didn’t do this for you. I did this for Layla. Because contrary to how she feels right now, there will come a time when the weight of what she did will become too much for her. She’s going to regret having you killed, and when she does, I’d like to have a way to make it better.”

I turned back to look at my brothers to make sure they understood why I was doing this. “This is going to fucking kill her, and then we’ll all lose her,” I said, my voice breaking. “I can’t let that happen. I won’t.” They nodded in understanding, and Zach put the gun back down.

“So what’s your plan?” Drew asked.

“Layla is going to be pissed when she finds out,” Tyler commented.

“I can handle her being a little mad at me for a while if it means making her whole again,” I replied. “Here’s what’s going to happen.” I turned back to Sean. “You are going to stay at our apartment down the road. We never got rid of it. You will not leave the apartment. Tyler has cameras all over that building. We will be watching, and we’ll know if you do. What you are going to do is start figuring out how you’re going to redeem yourself with Layla. Just because she will be relieved you aren’t dead does not mean she will forgive you. And don’t expect any of us to help smooth the way. You fucked up, so you can clean up your mess.”

“And while you’re doing all that thinking,” Zach added, “try to remember that Layla isn’t the only one you betrayed. You’re on our shitlist too.”

“For how long?” Sean asked.

“For as long as it fucking takes!” I barked.

“How are we getting him to the apartment?” Tyler asked.

“Drew, you go take care of Layla. Keep her upstairs and out of the way,” I ordered. “Tyler, the house should still be pretty empty. Make sure that anyone lurking around the first floor disappears. Tell them to go home. We can’t let anyone see Sean, or it will get back to Layla.” They both nodded and left the room. When the door opened, I could hear Layla’s sobs in the hallway, and my heart broke for my girl. They also told me I made the right decision by sparring Sean’s life.

“Zach, can you pull a car to the garage door with one arm?”

Zach shot me a look that told me I had asked a stupid question. “Of course I can.”

“Do it.”

He left the room as well. I didn’t hear Layla this time, which meant Drew had gotten her upstairs. I turned back to Sean, alone at last. I sucker punched him in the gut, and he doubled over and dropped to one knee as the air was forced from his lungs.

“Understand something,” I said softly. “Just because I didn’t kill you today doesn’t mean I won’t later if I feel you don’t deserve to live. This is a stay of execution, nothing more. I suggest you use your time still breathing wisely and don’t piss me off.”

Sean nodded. “I understand,” he gasped. “I will. I promise.”

We waited for the all-clear to move Sean in silence. There wasn’t much for us to say, which was probably a good thing. I was still royally pissed off at him, and any conversation would have resulted in me beating on him some more. Not that he didn’t deserve it, he did, but there were better uses of my energy, like getting him stashed away and checking on Layla.

The door opened, and Tyler stuck his head in the room. “The house is cleared, and Zach has the car pulled up.”

“Let’s go,” I said to Sean, grabbing his arm and shoving him toward the door.

Tyler pulled his gun out as Sean passed by him. “If you try anything, I promise I will shoot you,” he growled. I chuckled to myself as I followed them down the hall. Tyler has always been quiet, with his nose glued to a screen twenty-three hours a day. It makes him unassuming, but the man could be lethal and downright cold when he needed to be. I know I wouldn’t fuck with him. Sean went to the garage without any trouble and climbed into the backseat. I climbed into the passenger seat while Tyler stayed behind.

“Are you sure we can leave him there without a guard?” Zach asked as he drove the short distance to our apartment.

“Tyler will keep an eye on him. Plus, Sean isn’t stupid enough to leave. He’s already reached his quota for dumb shit for his lifetime, haven’t you?” I asked, directing my question toward him in the backseat.

“I’m not going anywhere,” Sean replied. “Layla is too important. I know I fucked up, but I’ve changed.”

“That won’t bring our baby back,” Zach growled.

“I know,” Sean replied sadly. “I’ve wished every day since that day that I could somehow go back and fix it, but I can’t. All I can do is be better going forward, and I vowed that I would never do anything that would put Layla or my family in danger ever again. I hope one day you will all be able to trust me again.”

Zach didn’t respond; I could tell he wouldn’t forgive Sean anytime soon. None of us would. We trusted Sean with Layla, and he betrayed that trust with a devastating outcome. It would take time for us to move past that. Zach parked in the underground garage, and we exited the car. Sean followed us to the elevator, and we took it to the top floor.

I unlocked the door and held it open so Sean could enter the apartment. “Make yourself at home. I’ll have groceries delivered. Don’t try anything when the delivery guy gets here. The TV works, but you won’t have any way to communicate with the outside world. Right now, as far as anyone is concerned, you’re dead.”

“Understood,” Sean replied.

Zach poked him in the chest and then pointed at his bedroom door. “That’s my room. Don’t fucking go in there. You aren’t welcome.”

I rolled my eyes but didn’t comment. If Zach needed to ban Sean from his room like they were twelve-year-old squabbling siblings, then so be it. I went to the closet, pulled out the dry-erase board we had stored there, and positioned it in view of one of the cameras. “If you need anything, write it on this board, and we’ll get around to it when we can.”

Zach was still glaring daggers at Sean when I shoved him toward the door. “Let’s go, killer.” We left without another word to Sean. He understood what was expected of him, and I wasn’t worried about him going against my orders. His life hung in the balance. One toe out of line, and I would kill him. If he couldn’t prove to me that he knew how to follow orders and do what was best for Layla, there wasn’t any point in keeping him around. Layla already thought he was dead, and there wasn’t anything to stop me from making that a reality.

“You’re sure about this?” Zach asked as we returned to the car.

“I am. You heard Layla in the hall. Sean’s death is going to tear her apart, but she also isn’t ready to see him alive. I hate that we have to keep this secret from her, but it is for her own good,” I replied with an exhausted sigh as I rubbed my face. It had been a long day, and I was ready for it to end.

“And you think we can trust him?” Zach asked skeptically.

“I do. We’ve all seen the change in Sean since Layla was kidnapped. We just didn’t know the reason behind it until now,” I reminded him.

“It doesn’t change what he did,” Zach argued.

“No, it doesn’t. But nothing will, brother.” I reached across the center console to squeeze his arm comfortingly. “I hate what happened just as much as you. It hurts to know what we’ve lost, but I have to believe it happened for a reason. Can you imagine if Layla was pregnant right now?” With everything we were dealing with and the close call we just had, the very thought terrified me. By the way Zach turned ghost white, I could see it terrified him, too.

“I didn’t think about it like that,” he admitted. “We would have to leave the country just to keep Layla safe until the baby came. And then we’d also have a baby to protect and still have to deal with Anton.”

“Exactly. So, try to keep in mind how terrible the timing would have been. It’s still a tragic loss, but the risk would have increased tenfold,” I replied as Zach pulled into our garage.

We went inside and straight up the stairs to our bedroom. Layla was sandwiched between Drew and Tyler, but they shifted toward the edges of the bed so that Zach and I could slip in next to her. Layla rolled to face me, and I brushed the hair out of her red and puffy face.

“Is it done?” she croaked.

I kissed her forehead softly. “I did what needed to be done,” I replied. It wasn’t exactly a lie, but I knew she would assume I meant that I killed Sean.

“Thank you,” she sobbed as she buried her face in my chest and wept.

I met Zach’s eyes over her shaking body, and he nodded. I had made the right call, and she might be upset with us later but would at least be whole.