Worth It (Forbidden Men #6)(107)

After she got out, shut her door, and stalked away, I stared after her, aching and wishing I really could return to being the Knox she’d once known.

But he was dead.

“No, I can’t,” I whispered and finally got out of the car too.

It was a busy night, thank God. I worked the bar with Noel, who made sure to tell me he did not agree with Pick’s decision to move Felicity and me in together. Then he warned me if I hurt her, I’d regret it. Other than that, business was too hectic for us to chitchat. Asher’s band played, and the number of female fans he’d collected in the past few weeks made the place more crowded than I’d ever seen it before. They chanted for him to play his song about the girl in the Incubus shirt, but he absolutely refused. Instead, he played something else that was new.

Felicity avoided me altogether, taking her orders to Noel. I had to admit, I hated the distance more than I was grateful that she was finally keeping it.

I couldn’t take much more of the constant tug-of-war inside me. I’d been a fool to think I could get this close to her and not be close to her.

After the doors closed, only the workers and band members lingered. I was putting away cleaned cups when the drummer approached.

From across the room and up on stage, I hadn’t gotten a good look at him before, hadn’t even paid attention to any of the other members aside from Asher. But as he plopped onto the stool across the counter from me and asked for a Bud Light in a bottle, I shook my head, unable to believe I was seeing what I was actually seeing.

I asked for his identification, and he gave me some lip about how all the other bartenders had just given him a drink without harassing him first. But I held out a hand and arched an eyebrow, because I had to see what the name would say, even though I was sure I already knew.

He growled out a sound, but dug into his wallet and handed me a piece of plastic. The name read Rock Parkinson, which made me snort.

“Nice ID.” I handed it back with two fingers. “It almost looks real.”

“What the hell?” The kid scowled. “It is real, f*cker. What’re you trying to say? You think I’m not old enough to drink a goddamn beer?”

“That’s exactly what I think,” I spit back. “Because I know you’re only eighteen...Rocket.”

His mouth fell open.

“But I guess you’re going by just Rock now. The Parkinson part, though?” I sniffed in disdain. “Honestly, I would’ve chosen something as far from Parker as possible if I were you.”

“What the...f*ck?” He shook his head, boggled. “Do I know you?”

“You should. I’m your brother.”

He flew off the stool, gaping at me as he backed away. “What? That’s not...” Then he fell to a stop before cocking his head to the side and whispering, “Knox?”

A strange elation rippled through my chest. My brother. I’d found one of my brothers. I wanted to leap over the counter and yank him into a hug, and yet a gut feeling told me to keep it cool. Distant. So I followed my gut. “Been a while, huh?”

“What...how...holy shit? When’d you get out?”

“Couple weeks ago,” I said. “I didn’t learn about...everyone until I was released. When I heard you and Cobra were still alive, I tried to find you.”

“Yeah, well...I changed my name, and Cobe ran off to Texas or some shit to join one of them Holy Roller communes. Haven’t heard from him in over a year.”

I nodded, wondering if I could locate our youngest brother after learning that. I hoped so.

“This is just f*cking awesome that you’re finally out,” Rocket went on, his eyes igniting with excitement as he lowered his voice. “Now we can get those Bainbridge f*ckers together.”

I pulled back, startled to hear him say any such thing. “Excuse me?”

I’d been expecting something more along the lines of hearing how he was doing, when he’d learned to play the drums, where he’d been staying, if he was happy. But he went straight to something like that.

He slapped the bar top in front of me. “Man, they put you in jail. They knocked up Mercy. They burned down our house. Every bad thing that ever happened to us was because of them. I say it’s time for some f*cking payback.”

I shook my head, utterly confused. “What do you mean, they burned down our house?”

Rocket snorted, rolled his eyes, and waved a hand. “Oh, the sheriff and fire marshal and everyone else on God’s green earth pardoned them, saying they all had alibis, but I know...I know it burned because of them.”

Horror filled me. My mother, Mercedes, Bentley, Speed were gone because— “Are you saying the fire was arson?”

“Well, it had to have been, hadn’t it?” Determination and a sick obsession filled Rocket’s eyes as he leaned closer. “Those bastards always wanted us gone. Well, they finally did it. But there’s two of us still left. Two of us to take them out. For good.”

I started to shake my head—the kid was batshit crazy—when Felicity appeared, only five feet away from him. “Knox. I’ve got my stations cleaned. You about ready to go?”

Tensing as Rocket turned slowly to glare at her with pure hatred, I opened my mouth but no words came. I wanted to warn her to get away from him because he wanted to do her entire family harm. But he was my brother. I didn’t want to believe he’d hurt her.