Ford's Rise - L. Ann Marie Page 0,50

all harder than Crow. Everyone thought the same thing, Cort is next. Poor Jinx and Brinks couldn’t sleep unless they knew he was back at the Club. I couldn’t either. I had the As to keep safe and knew I didn’t know how to do that. Cort did.

When we moved to the Club, I was relieved and so fucking nervous. If the Brothers would try for Jinx, what chance did someone Anton’s size have against the sick Brothers.

Falcon, Raid, Vick and Beacon kept watch with me. They helped teach the As and me what Brotherhood looked like. They protected us when we couldn’t protect ourselves. I love my Brothers. Cort made sure we had everything. All his questions about everything and he never asked about the As or how I ended up in the Club. I was afraid of him for years. He sees everything and is so smart, everyday I was waiting for the questions I didn’t know how to answer. Crow said he’d never ask. He didn’t need the details to keep us safe, he just needed us to be his Brothers. He patched the As in to make sure Cort never asked.

I was terrified when Deacon cornered Cort at the Club. He just got out of the hospital, Billy was shot and the Officers were every fucking where. Not one was with Cort. As soon as Deacon was down and Cort walked away, Beacon and Vick had me and the As moving back to Crow’s house on the reservation again. It was nine months of hell. The As were scared, I was scared, Cort was gone and I was afraid we’d all die right there. Rex kept us connected but didn’t sound hopeful. Raid said it was long enough and got Cort back, or back to our President with the hundred mile rule thing.

“It was a great day. It worked out. Today you have your Brothers, an ol’ lady, Alpha-Bits see you as great. Be happy in the now, Brother. It worked out and you’ve learned you can be so much more than a geek with a bunch of albinos.”

I hug Mucimi getting a laugh. “Thanks. It was good memories that are mixed with dark. The good is what I take. I love the fucking Brotherhood is where it all leads.”

He smiles. “There’s good and bad in everything. I let the dark go. It’s too hard to see the good shine through.”

I laugh. “The Badass shines through. It always does, Brother. In everything that’s happened since Crow drove us to the reservation, Badass shining through is a given.”

He smiles looking young. “It is.”

Alexia is done and Alpha-Bits are leaving. They want to play with their new pets or have shifts. Ranger has a group going to the pet store with him. I make sure to hug them all before they run. Ranger starts getting the Rs corralled to change them. Today has been so good. My little Brothers are happy with paint, pets and people today. They didn’t have one single issue in the warehouse community. It was a good day for them.

For me too, but I’m a guy and will always want more, especially from the blue-eyed beauty in a bikini standing in front of me. I take the step that puts my front to her back and my arm across her stomach.

She smiles up at me. “Can we go see the IT building? Alder said I need to see it when it’s dark.”

It’s still light out now. I nod. “I can work with that.” Her little shiver has me thinking of those snakes and huge, ugly spiders we saw today to keep my dick in check. It works well.

The forty-minute swim was filled with excitement over potential pets. I get Bits into the locker-room and help the Rs dry and dress then take my girl to the IT building.

They’re fucking crazy. The paint has a faint glow to it. It’s like a dream of the dark sky or something. The whole building looks darker than it did today. Earlier it matched the daytime sky perfectly. How the fuck do they do that?

“Is the binary moving?”

I smile. “I thought so today, it doesn’t move. It looks like its scrolling, doesn’t it?”

She looks at her ring then the building again. “Protect. I like that it matches.”

I look at her ring then the building. It takes me a minute to go through the alphabet. I smile. “They’re fucking incredible. You read binary faster than I do. My sexy