Draw (Gentry Boys #1)(66)

“I don’t know. Maybe.”

I exhaled raggedly, unsure whether he was serious. “Jesus, you’re crazy. Crazy, man. I don’t want to spend the rest of my life in a cage. Neither do you. This isn’t a matter of just trying to make some cash or hack our way past Benton. This is a turn down a bad path with no way out.”

He was disgusted. “Fuck you, Cord. What happened? Now you found yourself a situation and you just want to play house and cater to your dick?”

I wasn’t going to talk about Saylor. “She ain’t got nothing to do with this. We go your way and best case scenario is we’ll end up just like the old man, maybe even worse.”

My brother’s eyes were cold. Slowly, he rose and stood inches away. Creed was bigger, stronger. Always had been. But I was the more adept fighter, if it came to it. I hoped to god it wouldn’t.

As my brother and I stood toe to toe he blinked and I saw what the last twenty four hours had cost him. He was hurting bad. I knew how he felt. I was hurting too. I cleared my throat and pointed to the pieces of kitchen table which sat sadly on the floor.

“You see that? That was me teetering on the edge. I want blood too. There’s been moments when it’s all I think about. But we got to let it lie tonight.”

He looked at me evenly. “And tomorrow?”

I ran a hand through my hair, suddenly feeling the weight of the tough day and the late hour. “Tomorrow is tomorrow. Tonight let’s-“

“Send it to the dungeon,” Creed nodded. Suddenly he winced and crossed his arms, talking quietly. “Earlier, Chase was drifting in and out between the fever and the meds. He asked for Mom once. Only once.”

“No,” I froze. “We’re not f*cking calling them. It was just the pain talking. He wouldn’t want that if he was in his clear mind.”

Creed sighed wearily. “You ever wonder, Cord, how she could let it all happen? I mean, aside from being a bruised junkie, she was our mother. How does a mother sit there and watch her flesh and blood get tortured by a madman?”

I didn’t want to think about that. Not tonight, not ever.

“Go to sleep, C. I’ll keep my phone by my ear in case the hospital calls.”

Creed gave a short laugh. “You gonna be quiet for the rest of the night so that I can sleep?”

I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, I get it. We f*ck too loud. We’ll work on it, okay?”

He closed his eyes briefly. “Okay. Listen, you wake me up if there’s any word.”

“Of course. And take another shower, man. You stink.”

Creed pushed me back into the couch and started to stalk off to the bathroom. When he reached the threshold of the hallway he turned around and gave me a hard look.

“Tomorrow, Cordero,” he said, letting me know he still expected to revisit the topic of avenging Chase whether Chase wanted to be avenged or not.

“Tomorrow,” I agreed.

I sat down on the couch and dialed the hospital. A sprightly nurse named Anna told me Chase was sleeping peacefully and that his fever, for the moment, had subsided. She promised to phone immediately if anything changed for the worse.

The sound of the shower echoed through the apartment. When Creed was finished he went straight to his room and closed his bedroom door softly. I checked the time. It was after midnight. We needed to be back at the hospital at eight when visiting hours resumed.

Saylor was sitting up in bed when I returned to my room. Her long hair hung over her bare shoulders as she gathered the sheet to her breasts.

“Hey,” I said, surprised. “What are you doing awake?”

“Heard you shouting,” she answered with her head down.

“Were we?” I frowned. “That was nothing, Say. Just me and Creed butting heads.”

“Cord. What are you going to do?”

“About what, Saylor?”

She glared at me. “Cut it out. You know damn well what.”

“Look there’s some things I’m just not gonna talk to you about, okay? Any shit that goes down between me and my brothers is off limits. Hey now, don’t pout about it. I can tell when you’re getting ornery.”

She smiled a little. “Ornery, huh? Is that what I am?”

I yawned. “It’s good. I like that you have a little bite to you.”

Saylor peeled the covers back. “Come to bed. You’re tired.”

I slipped between the cool sheets and took her in my arms. “Were you writing earlier when I walked in here?”

She smiled vaguely. “Yes.”

“You figure out an ending to your story?”

“Almost. I think they have to be happy, my characters. For a long time I thought there was no way they could be. Now I don’t think it can possibly be otherwise.”

“Good.” I yawned again. “It’s good to be happy.”

“Are you?”

“Right now? Here with you? Yes.”

Saylor lightly traced the words on my chest. “You think it would be all right with Chase if I visited at the hospital tomorrow?”

“Yeah,” I said, telling the truth. “I do.”

She sat up suddenly. “Guess what? I heard Creed sing tonight.”

“No kidding. How the hell did you wrangle that?”

“I didn’t. Millie did. He should sing more often though.” Her voice was a little awed. “Music, it breathes life into him. You already knew it, huh? I never saw him like that before.”