Total pages in book: 104
Estimated words: 100608 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 503(@200wpm)___ 402(@250wpm)___ 335(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100608 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 503(@200wpm)___ 402(@250wpm)___ 335(@300wpm)
Callan sobs, his entire body trembling. Shelly and I exchange confused glances. I’m thankful as hell everyone is okay, but also shocked to discover Hank was the one who tried to kill my baby brother.
“You knew it was him, didn’t you?” I ask him. “You were afraid.”
He nods, sniffling. “He hated me from day one. It was a joke, Dante. I wasn’t really hitting on him.”
“Hey,” I murmur, gently patting his arm. “Whatever you said or did doesn’t warrant him trying to kill you. You’re a Kincaid. We deflect with humor. It’s not your fault your joke set him off.”
“I didn’t know it would set all this in motion,” Callan croaks. “At first, I didn’t know it was him, but then I confronted him.” He shudders. “That’s when everything escalated. The threats. The hateful messages. It got worse and worse.”
He hands me his phone and I begin reading through every single message. Threats to burn down our B&B with us in it. Homophobic slurs in every message. Threats to kill Callan, me, Shelly. More threats. Pictures of guns and gruesome pictures pulled from news articles clearly meant to frighten my brother. There’s a picture of Callan lying in a pool of blood after the attack a couple days ago. Then, another picture of a gun stating he’ll use the gun next, but this time on his friend Zak.
“This is disgusting,” I hiss, quaking with fury.
“Oh my God,” Shelly murmurs from my other side. “How horrible. Callan, I’m so sorry. Why didn’t you come to us?”
“Because he would hurt you,” Callan whimpers. “You two are the only family I have left.”
“We could have figured a way out of it,” she argues. “We’re Kincaids. We do things together. We’re stronger that way.”
Jax, Brie, and Officer Codex spend a solid hour with Callan, taking his confession and collecting pieces of evidence in their case against Hank. Because of the size of their police force and lack of resources, Jax told me they had to call in the Maine State Police to take over the investigation, hence Officer Codex’s presence.
Finally, they exit my office. Brie and Officer Codex leave. Callan is clearly exhausted, but he was brave and wanted to assist in providing them all the information they’d need to be able to lock Hank away for a long time.
“Zak and Cormac are waiting for you up in your room,” I say to Callan. “Try and get some rest.”
He nods, giving me a small smile before heading upstairs. When I’m alone, with Jax, I rush over to him, properly hugging him for the first time today. I cling to him, squeezing him as tight as I can, burying my face against his neck.
“Was Zak doing okay?” he asks, his voice heavy with fatigue.
“He was emotionally wrung out, like Callan, but they’ll be all right.”
This morning, after Hank was arrested, he and Zak both had to go to the hospital. Jax was stretching himself thin being both town sheriff and big brother. He’d stayed with Zak while they set in the fracture in his wrist and casted it, but then passed him off to me while he met Officer Codex and Brie back at the station. Now that they’ve interviewed Callan and got his statement, Officer Codex will be transferring Hank back to Portland where he’ll await trial for every damn crime he committed.
He nods. “Thank fuck it’s over.”
“You’re dead on your feet, Jax. Let’s get you to bed.”
Only days ago, Jax was the one taking care of me, but now he needs me to take care of him. I start a shower for us and take my time washing the grime of the day off our bodies. He slumps against me, boneless and exhausted.
“I told my parents I was gay,” he murmurs. “Before all this shit went down.”
I stroke my palms down his back. “Oh yeah?”
“I disgust them.”
“Fuck them.”
“Yeah, fuck them.” He pulls away, smiling at me. “I choose love. I choose you. No more hiding. I never want to hide again.”
His lips crash to mine and I groan into his mouth, eager to have him safely in my arms. To think, for a second, I actually considered leaving this man. Truth is, I’ll never be able to leave him. He’s it for me. And, unlike Toby, I know without a shadow of a doubt, Jax feels the same about me.
“I need you inside me, Dante,” Jax moans against my mouth, his hips bucking against me, rubbing our dicks together. “Bare.”
I pull away, frowning at him. We haven’t had sex without condoms yet. I’m clean—have been since I got tested in New York before moving out here—but I didn’t know it was something Jax wanted.
“I’m clean if you’re worried,” he murmurs. “I was checked at my last physical before we met. I haven’t been with anyone else since. I never want to be either. I only want you and I want to feel every part of you.”