Page 3

by Avril Ashton

Is felt something for her. Therefore Reggie had to take his ass out of the equation.

He hated that he listened to his head and not his gut, because it turned out that chick was a traitorous bitch who almost got Is killed.

Reggie balled his fists until his knuckles hurt. He was still freaked out, still fucked-up at the thought of how close he came to losing Is. Yet the man had no clue. None.

The cabin door banged open and he jerked his head up. Is walked out onto the porch wearing dark blue boxers, yawning, scratching his naked torso as muscles rippled under his dark skin.

Reggie looked away.

Obviously he was a glutton for punishment.

The jetty creaked and he turned back to see Is walking toward him, a grimace on his face.

“Dis is ah death trap, bredren.”

Reggie grinned. “You got something to say about my jetty?”

Is reached him and mimicked Reggie’s posture, sitting next to him on the edge, legs swinging as he looked out at the water. “Wha gwan, Reg? We cool?”

Reggie licked his lips and stared off into the distance. There was nothing he could do about what he felt or didn’t feel for Is, but he could control it, hide it, and maybe it would go away. “We’ll always be cool.”

He heard the smile in Is’ voice when he asked, “Does that mean I can expect breakfast soon? Maybe some ackee and saltfish, or banana porridge?”

Reggie snorted. “Means you can go fuck yourself.”

“Some kind a host you are, bredda.”

“I’m not your brother.” He didn’t mean to snap at that remark. Reggie sighed and faced Is. “Look. Is. I’m just…Sorry, okay?”

Is stared at him, brow wrinkled. “Are we never going to talk about why we’re fighting all the time now?”

Reggie rolled his eyes. “We’re not women, Is. And we’re not fighting.”

“Then what the fuck is happening, Reg? ’Cause I’m lost, man.”

“I know.” He did know. “I’m…working through some things, but it’s not a big deal.”

“This have to do with you and your pops?” Is lifted a brow. “I know you used to come here with him. The memories must be overwhelming.”

“They are.” Reggie nodded.

“You’ll be fine.” Is grinned, showing the chipped front tooth he got after Dima Zhirkov pistol-whipped him. He pulled Reggie into a loose one-armed hug. “You got your bro Is here, and you know I got your back.”

“I know.” Reggie cleared his throat. “I know.” He pulled away and pointed to Is’ mouth, trying not to let his gaze linger. “You gonna get that fixed or what?”

“Eh.” Is shrugged. “Thought about it, but Tawnya said she likes it.” His eyes twinkled. “Might leave it in for the ladies.”

Every time Is made comments like that he shredded Reggie, but he’d learned to expect them, learned to accept the pain that blossomed in his gut when Is mentioned his women. He reached up and tweaked the tip of Is’ nose. “The scars on your face are healing.”

“Yeah.” Is nodded. “Almost better.” His features turned questioning and Reggie realized he hadn’t moved his hand. He snatched it away and fisted it behind his back.

“Do you miss her?” he asked to mask his lapse in judgment, praying Is didn’t take note of the rough quality in his voice.

“Who?”

“Ilana.” Reggie jerked his chin toward Is. “I know you had feelings for her and that doesn’t go away just because she— What?” He frowned at the confused expression on Is’ face.

“Have feelings for her?” Is laughed. “Dude, I never had feelings for Ilana. She was a regular fuck, nothing more.”

Now it was Reggie’s turn at confusion. “But… You told me you had feelings for her.”

“Never happened, Reg.”

Reggie grabbed Is’ arm. “That time we fucked her, when you got drunk at the party after. You were fucking faded, Is. You told me you got jealous when you saw her with me. That wasn’t a lie.”

Is stiffened under Reggie’s hold. Reggie stared into his face, watching him try to relocate those memories. “That— I don’t remember that.”

“Like I said, you were drunk.” Why was Is lying about having feelings for Ilana? “Did you stop caring for her once you found out what she’d done?”

“I never had feelings for Ilana.” Is ripped away from Reggie and backed up.

“Is—”

“Drop it.”

Reggie halted at the snarled words and threw both hands up in surrender. “Okay. It’s dropped.”

Chapter Three

“I’ve seen Reggie watch you, and I’ve seen you watch him.” Ilana’s eyes mocked him over the rim of her beer bottle.

“What?” Is froze in his place next to her on the couch in her apartment. Where the fuck did that come from? “Are you serious?”

She smiled, amusement dancing in her too-wide eyes. “Dead serious.”

He put down his beer—the bottle was empty any damn way—and grabbed her by the throat. Trying to get her to take back those fucking words because they made no sense. “That’s my best friend, bitch. My fucking brother. How sick are you?”

She just gazed at him with the knowing look on her face. “A woman can tell when she’s the third wheel.” She licked her lips. “It doesn’t matter that you didn’t touch him or he you. You wanted to touch him. When he touched me you wanted to take my place.”

“Shut up.” He shook her, hard enough that her head snapped back. A wave of dizziness hit him and his hold faltered. He blinked down at her as his skin flamed. What the hell? He lost his balance and toppled forward, crashing into her coffee table. Had that bitch drugged him? “You drugged me?” His voice was high-pitched and slurred.

She laughed. “Just how sick are you, Israel, for wanting to fuck the man you call your brother?”

He’d blacked out then, mercifully, because he had no answer to that fucked-up question. Sometimes Is wished he didn’t remember that night. Sometimes he wished he could take back that first request he’d made to Reggie. It’d been in jest, but Reggie had said yes to sharing a woman. The next time Reggie had been the one to suggest it, and by then Is couldn’t say no, because something had tripped inside him. That switch had flipped and he’d liked it, liked watching Reggie get and give pleasure. Sometimes he wished he could mute the words Ilana had whispered to him right before she’d drugged him and handed him over to his enemies.

Wishing didn’t make any of it real, though, and he had to live with this knowledge. If he didn’t think about it he might mistake what occasionally flashed in Reggie’s eyes for something else. There absolutely was no mistaking the response he felt. Inside. Deep. Where he’d buried that shit.

He paced the cabin, rubbing the back of his neck. Reggie didn’t follow him back inside and for that, Is was grateful. He picked up his phone and called X.

“What’s up, cuz?”

Fuck. He sounded happy. Why did he sound happy? “I’m guessing you and the fucked-up Russian worked things out?”

X chuckled. “We’ve arrived at an understanding, yep.”

Is didn’t even want to know what that meant. “So I can come back now, right? I mean you’ve exiled me and shit, but I can come back now.” Because he needed to get away.

“When was the last time you took a vacation, Is?” X asked. “Why don’t you just relax and enjoy the time? Let your boy take care of you.”

“He’s not my boy,” Is snapped. “And I can’t relax, I’m not in the business of relaxing. I’m in the business of making money and every day I stay away is a day I lose money.”

“You and Reggie still haven’t worked things out?” X conveniently ignored everything else Is said.

“What is there to work out?” Is spun around, spying Reggie standing alone on the busted up dock, his shoulders hunched. “I have a business to run.”

“No,” X said. “The business runs fine in your absence. This isn’t the first time you’ve left town, won
’t be the last. Stop finding excuses not to lay your ass down.” He paused. “Or is there something else going on that I don’t know about?”

“You do know you’re no longer my partner, right?” Is growled. “I mean, you do remember giving everything to me to go run after that homicidal fucker you say you love.”

X laughed. “I may not be your business partner anymore, but I’ll always be your cousin. Your older cousin. So I say take some time to heal, you were busted up pretty bad.”

Is scowled. They weren’t even cousins by blood, he and X. “Yeah, all thanks to that idiot of yours.” He sidled up to the window and stood to the side, peering out at Reggie. He looked sad and Jesus, that hit Is in the gut. “I still owe him a bullet and don’t think I won’t deliver.”

“You can try, after you rest up.”

Is snorted then jerked away from the window when he saw Reggie headed back to the cabin. “I gotta go.”

“Keep in touch,” X said.

“Yeah. Aight.” He ended the call as Reggie walked inside. Is stood there with his phone in his palm, fidgeting from foot to foot. This awkward shit was fucked. He had no idea how to fix it, how to fix them without thinking or talking about what he didn’t want to think or talk about.

“I’m gonna make something to eat.” Reggie didn’t look at him as he walked directly into the kitchen. “You want?”

Is licked his lips. “I can help.”

Reggie didn’t answer. He simply lifted a shoulder that Is took as agreement. He chucked his phone down and followed Reggie into the kitchen. They’d brought groceries with them, but he hadn’t paid any attention to them. Now he rocked back on his heels as Reggie opened cupboards.

“We’ve got eggs and bread and…” Reggie spun around to face him then scowled. “You wanna go put on some clothes?” He fixed his gaze to somewhere up at Is’ neck and kept it there.

Is should put on clothes, the boxers he wore hid nothing, but he still bristled at Reggie’s tone. “You’ve seen me like this a million times, Reg. What’s the big deal?” He couldn’t make his words not sound like a challenge. He couldn’t get his eyes to move from Reggie’s throat, from the Adam’s apple that moved when he swallowed.

Reggie’s nostrils flared and he narrowed his gaze. “The big deal is that I don’t want you walking around naked in my kitchen. Go put on some fucking clothes.” And he gave Is his back, a clear dismissal that pissed him the fuck off.

“I’m not naked, Reg,” Is said. “If you’d get over yourself and look at me you’d know that.”

Reggie made a scoffing sound. “You know what, Is?” He turned around. “I have done nothing but look at you and I’ve decided you can find yourself something to eat on your own.” He slammed a cupboard shut then stalked toward Is. “I’m out.”

Except Is stood in the narrow doorway, blocking Reggie from leaving the kitchen. Is didn’t budge, and Reggie glared at him.

“Is.” His chest heaved. “Move.”

“Why is every fucking thing an argument with us?” Is asked. “Swear to God, I’ve never had this much problems with a woman.” He knew that was the wrong thing to say when Reggie’s eyes bulged.

“The fuck did you say?” Muscles bunched in Reggie’s forearms when he fisted his hands. “Did you just compare me to your stable of bitches?”

Christ. Is swiped a hand over his face. “Reggie, man. Will you calm the hell down?”

“Wow.” Reggie shook his head, but his eyes were…pained. “Let me—” His voice dropped a couple octaves. “I need to get out of here.” He tried to step past, but Is grabbed his arm.

“Reggie. Wait.”

Reggie growled. “Don’t touch me. Do not fucking touch me, Is.”

Is fell back, dropping his hand at the venom in those words, and Reggie brushed past him and out the cabin.

“Fuck.” Is knocked his head against the wall. “Fuck.”

Everything was a mess. Turned upside down. Maybe it would be fixed if they just put it out there on the table, but Is couldn’t. He couldn’t put voice to whatever the hell was rioting inside of him. It didn’t make sense. It didn’t belong. Not with him. Not to him.

When he made himself get up and peek outside, he noticed the vehicle was missing. He snatched up his phone to call Reggie, find out where he was, but stopped himself. What would he say over the phone that he couldn’t say when Reggie was there beside him, face to face?

As he stood there, contemplating what to do, the phone rang. “Tek, talk to me.”

“We’ve got problems, man.” Tek blew out a breath. “Big ones.”

Is sat on the couch. “What’s up?” He’d sent Tek to Atlanta to handle the money being laundered via the stores Is owned down there. The money made from the streets divvied up between the restaurant, auto body shop and coin Laundromat Is had set up for this very purpose.

“Mackie is dead,” Tek said.

Is jumped to his feet. “Bloodfire!” Mackie oversaw the three businesses and was Is’ point man in the A. He’d been acting shifty though when Is called to let him know Tek was on his way down. What the fuck?

“Local PD says it was a random robbery.”

Like hell. “Had to be Vega.” Southeast Atlanta was Vega’s territory. Problem was, Is had set up his own shit there long before Vega even appeared on the scene and he refused to move. Vega was doing his damnedest to bully him into doing just that. “Where did they hit him?”

“At his home,” Tek said. “But get this,” his voice lowered, “his wallet was gone, yeah? Car keys, all the keys to the businesses were on one key ring. They’re missing. I wouldn’t be surprised if they’ve already hit the businesses.”

“He was targeted.” Shit. “What do you know?”

“Not much,” Tek admitted. “I might have an inside source at Dekalb PD, but I’ll have to work on that. Gonna take a bit more time.”

“I want to know whatever the hell they know as soon as you hear anything.” Is took a breath. “Tek, watch your back, mi bredda.”

“Always do. Later.” Tek hung up, and Is dropped back onto the couch.

Well, fuck. He didn’t have to guess who hit Mackie, but he still wanted to wait before he retaliated. He had to prepare himself. An unprepared man was a dead man in his world.

“Fuck.” He pounded his thighs. The last thing he wanted was a battle, especially with an outfit in Atlanta. His businesses were vulnerable in that area. Damn it. He didn’t want Tek down there without any substantial support, either. Tek wasn’t technically part of Is’ crew. The Chinese-American had turned his back on his own family’s bloody legacy, but he still had the mentality. Tek could handle himself, but Is didn’t want him to have to, not when he’d simply been doing Is a favor in the first fucking place.

Normally Is would be the one doing this, the one traveling to Atlanta to handle his business, but he’d had to delegate when he decided to come up here. He’d have gone himself if he could, but he trusted Tek to do this for him. They weren’t boss and employee. He and Tek were friends, not as close as Is and Reggie, but they’d known each other for a very long time and trusted each other just as long. You couldn’t go through what they’d been through in Riker’s Island and not forge a bond. Since Tek’s uncle owned a Chinese bus company that traveled between New York and Georgia, Is occasionally used it to bring his product and money between the two states. Security was a joke on those buses.

He tried to stay busy by fixing something to eat. He made scrambled eggs and toast then washed that down with orange juice as he waited for Reggie to come back. He’d found himself sharing everything about his business with Reggie. It just seemed right, and Reggie had a way of helping him work things out, helping him find solutions to whatever problem he had to deal with. He couldn’t imagine a time when he didn’t need Reggie’s advice or input on something business related since they’d become fast friends. Even now his fingers twitched as he contemplated picking up the phone to tell Reggie what was happening.

Dam
n it. Is left the kitchen and grabbed a shower. Reggie shouldn’t be so integral to him, yet he was. Is didn’t know what to do with that. Could he let it all go?

By the time he finished his shower and dressed in a pair of jeans and red t-shirt, he was antsy and Reggie was nowhere to be found. Had he left? Is discarded that quickly. No matter how mad Reggie got at him, he’d never leave Is stranded up in the fucking mountains. Still, he paced the cabin, end to end, until Reggie finally drove up three hours after he’d left.

“Where the fuck have—”

Reggie held up a hand as he spoke into the phone at his ear. “Mom, I’ll have to call you back later.” He walked past Is. “Yes, I know. I won’t forget.” He shook his head at something his mother said as he toed off his sneakers and kicked them off to the side. “I realize that, but it doesn’t concern me, does it?”

Is watched him, taking note of the way Reggie avoided his gaze.

“No, Mom, I don’t—” Reggie sighed. “Pop, what’s up? Yes, you heard right. I’m up at the cabin. Yes, with one of my friends.” He rolled his eyes. “Yep. Got it. Noted. Now I’ll tell you again, I’m a grown man, Pops. Bit late for that. I gotta go.” He ended the call. “Fuck.”

“You good?” Is asked cautiously.

Reggie shrugged. “Been better.”

Is walked over to him. “Where were you?”

“Out.” A tick began at Reggie’s left temple. “About. I needed to…”

He didn’t finish the sentence, but Is got the gist of it. He nodded. He should say sorry or something, but it just stuck in his throat. “Your folks giving you a hard time?”

Reggie scrubbed a hand over his face. “Not really. They’re just…my folks, and that doesn’t stop just because I’m thirty-five.” He blew out a breath and looked around the room before coming back to stare at Is. “Do you want to leave?”

“What?” Is gaped at him.

“I’m exhausted, Is. I’m tired of arguing, and the fucked-up back and forth between us. If you want to leave, tell me and we’ll head out in the morning. I just—” He shook his head. “I’m tired.”