Man of Honor (Battle Scars #3) - Diana Gardin Page 0,94

causes my stomach to cave in on itself. “Mikah.”

He slides his gaze away from me. Then he kisses his sister. Right before he shoves her, hard, toward me.

Pulling a revolver from the back of his jeans, he points it at Carlos. His hands are shaking, not steady at all. But the steel in his eyes? It’s unwavering. “You will never hurt her again. I won’t let you.”

In my haste to follow Mea from the Challenger, I hadn’t grabbed my piece from the glove compartment. I have a license to carry, although most of the time I don’t. I keep my pistol in my car where it’ll be safe, and where I’ll have it if I need it.

I need it now.

And I don’t have it.

28

Mea

My eyes are lying.

That’s not my brother, pointing a gun at the asshole we’re forced to call our father. Nausea boils up inside of me, causing me to clutch my stomach. Nausea that tastes like fear when it reaches my mouth, threatening to overflow from me as vomit on my grandparents’ front porch.

“Mikah.” I lose the word on my tongue. It never makes it free of my mouth. I think it’s stuck on a breath that I can’t expel.

Everything happens so fast, too fast for me to comprehend. I’m shoved backward, behind Drake, as he takes a step toward my brother.

No.

No.

No.

“Mikah.” Drake’s firm voice. “This isn’t how you do it, man. Walk away. He’s not worth you losing the rest of your life to a cell.”

When I peek out from behind Drake, I don’t recognize my brother. His expression is so furious while at the same time serene. He’s made peace with this decision. Nothing that Drake is about to say is going to change his mind.

He came here to kill Carlos.

For me.

For me.

No.

No.

No.

Mikah stands just to Drake’s left, Carlos is frozen about fifteen feet away from us. He hasn’t moved, he hasn’t taken his eyes off my brother. And then he shifts his gaze to me. Hate. Spewing from his eyes like the blackest sort of tears. It’s deplorable, the way he looks at me. Like I’m a piece of trash he tried to throw out.

“This is your fault. Remember that. All of this is because of you.”

Drake stiffens like he’s been punched. But my father’s words don’t affect me. Nothing he does from this point on can hurt me. And this is no longer about him. This is about me, trying to save my brother.

Stepping out from behind Drake, I sidestep his outstretched arm and step directly in front of Mikah. The barrel of his gun meets my collarbone. I barely register the feel of the cold, hard metal against my skin.

Only Mikah. This is about him and me.

“You have always been there for me.” Keeping my voice steady, I don’t break eye contact with my brother. “And I need you. I need you in my life. I need you in my baby’s life.”

Patting my stomach with one hand, I keep staring at my brother. Waiting. Holding my breath. Searching for him behind the shroud in his eyes. He’s in there. My father can’t have stolen him from me.

Immediately, Mikah’s eyes float down to my stomach. Then they fly back up to meet mine. He removes the gun from against me, because he never intended it to touch me, anyway. His voice rises.

“Baby?”

The strangled sound Drake makes beside me doesn’t pull my gaze away from my little brother. Drake and I can deal with this revelation later. Right now, I need to get the gun away from Mikah. Before he does something he can never take back.

“My baby. Your niece or nephew. Right here.” I grab his hand, pulling the gun from his grasp. He lets it go easily, he’s so dumbfounded by what I’m saying. Placing the gun on the rocking chair beside me, I keep focusing on Mikah.

“You’re pregnant.” His voice is full of awe. Of joy. And I watch as the darkness recedes from his eyes. Sighing with relief I realize that my brother is going to be okay.

I can save him. We can save him.

A movement out of the corner of my eye makes my head snap to my left. Carolos has lunged for the gun, moving too quickly for anyone to stop him. When I glance at Drake, I realize he took his eyes off my father when I revealed the fact that I’m carrying his baby.

Whirling to face Carlos once more, I see he doesn’t hesitate. “You were always