Prisoner (Criminals & Captives #1)(62)

But it’s the middle of the night. Telling time without seeing through a window is one of those handy skills you learn in prison.

I jab my fingers into Stone’s neck. He grumbles and opens his eyes. “Hey,” he whispers.

“Who the f*ck locked her up?” I demand.

“Me.” Stone puts a hand to my head like he can tell my temperature. “How d’ya feel?”

I grunt. Of course he did.

He’s suited up in black, like he’s been outside—getting supplies, maybe. His nine is shoved into his shoulder holster.

“Nate says you’re out of the woods if you make it through the night and lay the f*ck off the shoulder.”

Even my good arm feels like lead. I gesture toward where she sleeps. “You don’t f*cking touch her, got it?”

His look is grim.

“Don’t touch her.”

He looks at me a long time; then he says, “You can’t have her.”

My whole body flares hot, like angry lightning. Every part of me answering no. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means she’s seen us. She knows where we are. There’s nothing you can do about it. Nate needed her slim fingers, or I would’ve done her last night—”

I surge up at him without even thinking. He grabs my wrists before I can choke him.

“The f*ck I can’t have her,” I growl. “She’s mine. Got it?”

“You’re supposed to kill the hostage, not drag her around by the hair,” Stone says, pinning me to the bed. Damn drugs have me weak as a kitten.

“No,” I say.

“It’s not up to you,” he says in a low voice. “I’m doing this for you, little brother.”

I try again to surge up, but he has me. I’m too weak. “Fucking kill you,” I say, but I can’t fight him with whatever Nate has me pumped full of.

I struggle some more but he’s heavy as a tank, and I’m injured, drugged.

He says, “You want to tear that shoulder and go back under the knife?”

“She won’t talk,” I growl. “And she’s mine.”

He looks me straight in the eyes. “I’ll wake her up so you can say goodbye.”

I give him a level look. I need him to see my face for what I’m going to say, what I’m going to promise.

Silence swells between us. He seems to know it’s coming.

I deliver: “Hurt her and you’re dead.”

He doesn’t say anything back; his expression doesn’t even change, but I know there’s an earthquake inside him. It was big, what I said. Stone’s always been in charge, and I’ve always been fine with that, but I need him to get how serious I am.

He lets off me and pulls out his piece, rubs a thumb along the grip.

“You understand me?” I ask after a too-long silence.

“You saying that is exactly why I should kill her.”

A feeling rises up in me, so old I almost don’t recognize it. Fear. I’m scared like I haven’t been for a long time. If I was in fighting shape, no one could touch her. No one ever would.

But I’m weak right now, and Stone knows me too well. A fight between us would be ugly, and I can’t be sure she’d end up safe. There was a time I’d never dream of raising a hand to Stone, to my friend and blood brother, but here I am.

I look over at her, so vulnerable, chained up, curled up. And it’s then I know that her vulnerability is the most powerful thing in my life—an absolute power, but not a danger. Then I realize something else. “It’s about you.”

“What?”

“She’s a f*cking danger to you, not me.”

He draws his face close to mine, nostrils flaring. “No, this is about the good of you and of the gang.”

“You just don’t like that I took her,” I whisper. “That’s what you don’t like. You don’t like that I’ve taken her for mine.” I check over his shoulder to make sure she’s still sleeping, and I lower my voice. “Somebody I’d lay down my life for and who is mine. Not yours.”

He grabs my neck and leans in, close enough to kiss me. I can feel the gun at my jaw.

“You gonna kill me now?” I grate.

“We said no to this a long time ago,” he says. “We said we wouldn’t do it. No women, except to f*ck. And definitely no taking them. And you bring a f*cking captive in front of our noses? I’m going to kill her for you, and there’s nothing you can do about it.”

He keeps me close, hand gripping my neck. I watch his eyes. Chained up there, helpless, I see the threat of her now. She’s the slippery slope we’ve all been trying to stay off of.

“I’m keeping her. Long term.”

Shock plays in his eyes. It takes a lot to get Stone to look shocked, but that did it. He jerks my head hard. “What the f*ck is wrong with you?”

“You know what’s wrong with me. You know exactly what’s wrong with me. The only difference is I’m not pretending anymore.”

“We’re not them,” he says.

“This is different.”

He twists the gun at my jaw, warm and hard. It’s killing him, her being here. But I can’t let her go, not even for him. Not even for my brother in spirit.