25. Gage

Chapter Twenty-Five

GAGE

I was staring so hard, my eyeballs felt ready to pop. The room had faded to a blur of background noise. No one else existed—just Ben. I couldn’t look away, but I was afraid to look directly at him. Terrified he’d see the guilt and joy and fear written all over my face.

If I’d been stronger, none of this would have happened. I could’ve killed my father with my own bare hands. Fed Vanderhoff his teeth. Confessed and forced Wyatt to arrest me in Ben’s place. Anything to keep Ben out of prison. He was worth more than I ever could be.

My head snapped to Wyatt, but if I expected to see a look on his face that matched the terrible guilt knotting my chest, I didn’t find it. There wasn’t an ounce of regret or hesitation in his expression, just happiness—and not for himself. He was lit up like a Christmas morning, like Ben’s return was the greatest gift he’d ever been given…and it was all for me.

God, I loved this man.

Worthy didn’t even begin to describe him. In one way or another, I’d been loving him for most of my life. I’d never be able to stop now. Even if he turned his back on me tomorrow, I knew I’d die loving him with my last breath.

When my paralyzed legs finally caught up with my brain, I leaped to my feet so fast my chair toppled backward. Dominic beat me to him, grabbing Ben in a hug so fierce his arms shook. He palmed the back of Ben’s head in one big hand, curling his fingers into his brutally short hair, and whispered something in his ear.

Nobody moved.

Watching a man like Dominic crack wide open felt intrusive.

Mason hung back, looking wrecked. The strain on his face had aged him a decade, but he was smiling, basking in the moment he’d worked himself to the bone for.

Ben finally pulled back, gasping for air, wearing a wry, crooked smile that hit me like a wrecking ball. That’s when he noticed me.

“Damn, little bro.” His voice was hoarse. “You sure filled out. Been hitting the weights, huh?”

I blinked furiously, fighting the burn in my eyes. “Take a look in the mirror. Prison didn’t make you any smaller.”

Ben’s grin widened, and some color returned to his washed-out cheeks as he yanked me into a bone-crushing hug. He smelled different and felt different, but none of that mattered. All the fear and guilt melted away the second I felt how solid he was.

“Missed you, man,” I muttered into the soft fabric of his shoulder.

Ben’s rumble was low and reassuring in my ear. “Missed you, too.”

I couldn’t let go, and Ben let me have my moment, but I felt his patience stretching thin. Then Wyatt’s warm, grounding hand touched my back, and I found the strength to pull away. I turned into Wyatt’s embrace. He wrapped an arm around my shoulders and extended a hand toward Ben, who stared at it for what felt like an eternity.

“I’ll understand if you don’t take it,” Wyatt said calmly.

Ben hesitated, throat working as he swallowed, and then he finally reached out to clasp Wyatt’s hand. “You were just doing your job,” he said quietly. “Can’t hold that against you.”

“I can,” Dominic interjected.

Ben glanced his way but ignored him, turning back to Wyatt with a faint smile tugging at his lips. “Keep looking after Gage, and we’ll call it even.”

Wyatt’s arm tightened around me. “Always,” he promised.

The moment was shattered by a sudden cry, and Loretta burst into the room, tear-streaked and wild-haired. “My boy!” she sobbed, throwing herself into Ben’s arms.

Dominic plucked a serving bowl from her trembling hands before it shattered, setting it wordlessly on the table. She was too busy weeping into Ben’s chest to notice. Ben held her gently, stroking her hair clumsily with his big hands. My heart twisted at the sight. I glanced toward Gideon, who sat silent, white-knuckled hands clenched on his thighs. He looked like he was physically holding himself back—and losing the fight.

Dominic peeled Loretta away and into his own chest. With her cradled safely in Dom’s arms, Ben stood awkwardly, hands fluttering at his sides like he didn’t know what to do next.

“Go on,” Dominic said, nudging Ben’s ankle with the toe of his polished shoe. “You know he’s been waiting for this longer than anyone.”

Ben moved toward Gideon heavily, like each step was taking all his strength. Gideon watched him, eyes burning with something so raw the hairs on my arms stood on end. Slowly, he extended his hands, palm up, and commanded, “Come here.”

Ben dropped to his knees in front of Gideon’s chair. He pressed his forehead to Gideon’s knees, shoulders shaking, and rasped, “I’m tired, Gideon. So damn tired.”

“You were never meant to carry this burden alone.” Gideon’s voice was steady, but his hand shook as he rested it on the back of Ben’s head. “Let it go now. You’re home.”

Ben didn’t reply. All I could hear was his shaky breathing as Gideon cradled his head like he was a child. After the first year in prison, Ben had broken off contact with all of us. Even Mason. Gideon was the only one he’d kept in touch with, capable of taking Ben’s sins and fears and carrying them like they weren’t too heavy.

It felt like I was intruding on confession, so I turned away and caught Wyatt watching me with dark, compassionate eyes.

Loretta’s loud sniff broke the moment. “Dominic Beaufort! You spilled my gumbo!”

Loretta broke the moment with a loud sniff. “Dominic Beaufort!” she scolded, swiping at her cheeks and swatting at him like he was sixteen again. “You spilled my gumbo!”

Dominic raised a brow and glanced down at the serving bowl he’d set on the table. “I guess I did,” he said, accepting the blame without a hint of remorse.

“Chicken and sausage, right?” I asked, dread filling my every word.

“Comfort food,” Loretta confirmed, wagging a finger in my face when I grimaced. “We all need a little comfort tonight, and you’ve been eating gumbo since you were knee-high to a crawdad!”

“That’s the problem,” I groaned, untangling myself from Wyatt and dropping back into my chair. The rest of the family followed, though Gideon had to prop a hand under Ben’s elbow to get him moving. “You let Dom learn the recipe, and now I’m traumatized for life.”

“It’s a favorite at Saxa Fracta for a reason,” Dominic said smugly, pouring himself a glass of whiskey at the sidebar before taking his own seat. “People love it.”

“Yeah, well, I’d rather eat a boot.”

“Dom would put that on the menu too if he thought it would make money,” Mason quipped, dry as a bone.

Without looking, Dominic shot him a casual middle finger. Still, he behaved himself through dinner, and even waited until the plates were cleared before asking, “So, how’d you do it?”

Mason sighed and dabbed at the corner of his mouth with his napkin.“It wasn’t just me,” he admitted.“I tried going it alone for years with no results.So, I turned to a higher power.”

I glanced at Gideon, who smirked and cocked a brow back at me.

“Not that power,” Mason corrected, amused.“One from the Attorney General’s office.”

I frowned.“What’s the AG got to do with appeals?”

Mason’s gaze flicked briefly toward Wyatt and then back to me. "Not the AG himself," he clarified, choosing his words with care.“A friend of mine from law school is an investigator there.Colton Langford. We've been working together on a statewide anti-corruption task force for the past year."

Ben was staring hard at the tablecloth, allowing Mason to do all the talking like he didn't even have a dog in this fight, but it was Wyatt who caught my attention. His back had stiffened, and a muscle in his jaw twitched like he was grinding his teeth. Bracing himself for something I didn't understand.

Dominic didn’t miss his reaction.His eyes were fixed hawkishly on Wyatt.

“What’s this got to do with Ben?” I pressed, wiping my damp palms on my thighs.

Most days, I was fine with not being book smart like my brothers, but tonight, I felt like the only man at the table who didn't understand what the hell was going on.

Mason set his napkin aside and laced his fingers together on the table.“Colt looked into the case as a favor to me. We all know the gun Gage's father pulled on them didn't get up and walk away. Colt found it."

"Where?" Wyatt asked sharply.

Mason's attention shifted to him, but his cool expression didn't change. "Tagged wrong and hidden in a dusty corner of the old evidence locker nobody uses anymore. Conveniently misplaced to paint Ben as a cold-blooded killer."

Sick heat churned in my stomach. Bile crawled up my throat until I felt ready to puke. I only remembered that night in flashes: my father showing up at the door like he'd spawned straight out of my nightmares, him slamming me against the wall,and Ben flying down the stairs like an avenging angel. I'd overcome so much, but even after so many years, the hatred in my old man's eyes reduced me to a little boy again.I remember the sound of heavy breathing and the bone striking flesh as the scuffle spilled out onto the lawn. Then the crack of my old man's neck breaking.

I never saw the gun, and it haunted me.

"Well, that's quite the revelation," Dom drawled, taking a long sip of his whiskey and watching Wyatt over the rim. "And you wonder why people take the law into their own hands, Deputy? The corruption starts in your own house."

“It stops at my door,” Wyatt said flatly.

"You've turned a blind eye for years."

“Stop pushing him, Dom,” I warned. My hands itched to grab him by the collar and shake. This wasn't the time for one of his pissing contests. Not tonight. Not with Wyatt, the man who'd saved me—the one who'd seen me. The first man to touch me with anything but violence.

Dominic raised his glass in a lazy salute. “I’m just pointing out the irony. Whoever hid that gun is still with the sheriff's department. Where do his loyalties lie?"

I slammed my fists on the table, rattling the silverware, and snarled, “Where the hell do you think?”

Wyatt’s knee was between mine, commanding me to hold steady, but I ignored it. Dominic wasn't done.

"You're a hothead, Gage, but you forgive too fast. Whether he knew about the gun or not, shouldn't the man who slapped the cuffs on Ben take his share of blame?"

I was on my feet before I realized it, but Ben's voice froze me in place.

“Don’t lay that on him, Dom.”

He'd barely spoken all night, but his quiet words stopped Dominic cold. He turned on Ben with fire in his eyes, but it was snuffed out instantly once he caught a look at the exhaustion in Ben's face. He snorted and sat back in his chair, surrendering...for now.

“Who broke the chain of custody?” Wyatt asked intently.

Frustration drew Mason's mouth into a tight, thin line. "They're still looking into it. As Ben's attorney, I'm not privy to the official investigation, so I've been relying on whatever crumbs Colt drops me. They've found a partial print?—"

"Vanderhoff?" I interrupted eagerly.

"You'd think, huh?" Mason gave a humorless chuckle. "But it doesn't match Ben or Vanderhoff.Could be whoever made it disappear, but it might just belong to the person Gage's father got the gun from."

"Strange that it turned up right when the AG started digging," Gideon said, stroking his chin thoughtfully.

A muscle in the side of Wyatt's jaw was ticking, and his eyes were narrowed, like he was trying to fit pieces together in his head. "What are the conditions of your release?" he asked.

Ben lifted his head and grimaced. "They're not gonna like it."

Mason planted his elbows on the table in a move that would have had Loretta smacking him with a spoon if she'd caught him. "The conviction's vacated but not overturned," he said, looking like he'd tasted something bitter. "The court recognized procedural errors in the original trial, but they can still retry him."

"Wouldn't that be double jeopardy?" I asked.

He shook his head. "Not in this case. Vacating the conviction means the original trial basically didn't happen. It gives the state a chance to build a stronger case. But the DA's under a lot of pressure from the AG's office. Colt managed to get the case folded into the larger corruption investigation, and he's gunning hard for both Vanderhoff and the DA. Until something shakes loose, Ben's under conditional release."

"What exactly does that mean?" Gideon asked with narrowed eyes.

"Pre-trial supervision. Ankle monitor. Colt volunteered to house him. It'll keep him safe from Vanderhoff and give him as much freedom as he can expect under the circumstances."

"Jesus Christ," I muttered, tilting my head to peek under the table. If Ben was wearing an ankle monitor, it was hidden beneath the cuff of his poorly fitting pants.

"What about this investigator?" Dominic cut in acerbically. "What does he get out of babysitting?"

Ben's face clouded at the description. He opened his mouth, but Mason silenced him with one swift look, saying sharply, "Nobody has a better motive to keep Ben safe. Especially since we can't trust local law enforcement. Vanderhoff despises us, and the DA made his name prosecuting Ben.”

Wyatt looked at Ben again, his gaze softening just enough to reveal the weight of his concern. “How long do we have before the DA makes a move?”

“Not long.” Mason’s expression turned grim. “They’ll want to rebuild their case quickly, especially with the AG breathing down their necks. Colt’s keeping us informed, but we need to stay ahead of them. If they find a way to discredit him, it’ll all fall apart.”

Ben shifted uncomfortably. “I don’t like the idea of someone putting themselves on the line for me.” His voice was quiet but resolute. “I’ve lived with this for years. If I end up back in prison, so be it. I’ll deal with it.”

“You’re not alone,” I said so fiercely my voice shook. My hands were clenched into fists beneath the table. “We’re family, dammit. That means we’re in this together.”

Ben’s smile was brief and affectionate, but I could read him like a book. He didn’t agree, and he didn’t want to piss me off by saying it. Too late.

“There’s no going back now,” Mason said, shooting Ben a look that said he knew exactly what he was thinking. They were twins, after all; blood brothers in a way the rest of us would never be. He could read him like a book. “As the lead investigator, Colt’s involved either way. If this case blows open, Vanderhoff and the DA both go down with it.”

Dominic smirked, downing his glass in one vicious swallow. “Now that’s something I’d pay to see.”

Wyatt's gaze was turned inward as he drummed his fingers on the table. He didn't look happy, but none of this could have come as a surprise. He knew things weren't right in his own department. Now he finally had a chance to prove it.

So why didn't he look happy?