Nash Brothers Box Set - Carrie Aarons Page 0,63

outside, and there is no one in a room I’m guessing is supposed to be the living room that I walk into. Quietly, I walk farther in, pausing when I hear what sounds like stomping feet from somewhere within.

Another two rooms passed through, and a voice catches my ear.

“Well, what do we have here?”

I turn to see a man, taller than Keaton but thinner than me, his two gold front teeth gleaming from a wicked, evil smile.

“I’m just looking for my boyfriend and his brothers.” I try to stand my ground, but when he advances, my instincts have me stepping back.

Alarm bells are sounding in my head when this man, dirt caked on his clothes and hands, smiles at my retreat.

“Boyfriend, huh? Bet I can show you a better time than he does.”

As he comes closer, I can see the red, enflamed blood vessels in his eyes, and the way his arms won’t stop twitching and moving. I step back again, not wanting him to invade my space any further, but he isn’t stopping. When my back hits the wall, I go to twist away and run down the hall, but his large hand captures my wrist.

“Hey, baby, where you going so fast?” He leers at me.

I bring my other hand up, prepared to hit him and run whichever way I can when someone else beats me to it.

“Get your hands off of her!” Keaton growls, pushing the guy, whose state has him falling over and stumbling into a chair.

“Keaton …” I start for him, wanting him to catch me in his arms, but he puts a hand up, holding me steady by the shoulder.

“I can’t do this with you here.” His eyes are stone-cold, angry.

I’ve disobeyed him and probably made this situation that much worse.

“What the fuck, man?” The creep stands up, and another man I don’t recognize walks into the room.

“Do we have a problem here?” This man is cleaner and doesn’t seem to be high like his cohort.

“Just came for my brother.” Keaton’s face is void of expression.

I see Bowen in the background, down the hall, dragging a half-conscious Fletcher by the upper arm.

“Your brother owes me money. And I don’t need word of this place getting out. You understand that, right?”

The tone of this man’s voice lets us all know that isn’t a question … it’s a threat. My blood is ice in my veins. What the hell has Fletcher gotten himself into?

“How much does he owe you?” Keaton grits out between bared teeth.

I’ve never seen the man I love so incensed. Keaton Nash is a level-headed, kind, amiable doctor. He shouldn’t be in a place like this, dealing with people like this. His loyalty to his brother has landed him here, and anyone in the room can feel the fury rolling off of him in waves.

“Three grand.” The director of this … drug house—I don’t want to say meth because I know nothing about it—flicks his coat to the side.

I see the flash of the gun at his belt, it’s unmistakable.

Keaton calmly pulls out his wallet without taking his eyes off the man. “Here is five hundred dollars. You have my word that I’ll be back tomorrow with the rest. Now we’re taking my brother.”

Bowen walks past us, Fletcher lolling all over him, as Keaton steps between me and the two strange men. I slip my hand into his, not because I want him to know I’m okay, but because I feel the wrath of what’s about to come down over us. These men might not harm us, but I know I just made some mistake. I can feel it. And when he leaves his hand limp instead of curling it around mine that fear is confirmed.

“You better be back tomorrow, Nash. Don’t forget that this is a small town, a small county. I know where your mother lives, and I can find out where your pretty redhead here lives, too.”

My lungs seize, the air I don’t let out burning from within them.

Keaton pulls me toward the door. “You have my word.”

34

Keaton

“I told you to stay in the car.”

I breathe in and out of my nose, trying not to scream at Presley. I’m not even sure I could, with the exhaustion and adrenaline downshift flooding my bones.

My car has long since been shut off, put in park in my driveway, but we haven’t gotten out. If we did, I’d have to invite her inside to have this conversation, and I don’t know what I want