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"Shit," I hissed, dialing Jax’s number

If I needed to be level for anyone, it was otten away froo, I’d reported the abuse My brother’s, not mine He was taken out of that house and put into foster care, since his mother couldn’t be found

I was all he had

"I’ for hi?"

"Pick s yanked out of my car But Madoc was still here with his car, probably "Where are you?" I asked

"The hospital"

Chapter 3

"Excuse ed through the double swinging doors I was sure I was supposed to check in with her, but she could shove her clipboard up her ass I needed to find my brother

My pal up after telling me where to find hiain

"Slon, o a lot faster if we just ask someone where he is" I hadn’t even noticed that he’d followed me in

My shoes squeaked on the linoleu back curtain after curtain until I finally foundoff the side and his hand on his forehead I reached for his ponytail and yanked his head back to look at his face

"Ow, shit!" he grunted

I could’ve been gentler, I guess

He squinted up at the fluorescent lighting as I took in the stitches on his eyebrow

"Mr Trent!" a woman’s voice barked behind me, but I wasn’t sure if it was to me or Jax since we both shared our father’s na Jax Others were to blame

My brother was just a kid, and while he was only a little over a year younger than er

And he’d had a life of shit

His otten pregnant with him While he sported our father’s azure blue eyes, the rest of his looks came from her

His hair was probably black, but it looked a shade lighter and fell halfway down his back Certain pieces were braided and then everything was brought back to a ponytail mid-skull His skin was a couple of shades darker than ht smile

A woman behind me cleared her throat "We don’t knohat happened to him," she snapped "He won’t tell us"

I hadn’t turned away fro to It could’ve been a doctor or a social worker Or the police It didn’t matter They all looked at

"I’ve been calling you for hours," Jax whispered, and I sucked in a breath when I noticed that his lip was puffy, too His eyes were pleading "I thought you’d be here before the doctors called them"

And then I kneas a social worker, and I felt like a dick He’d needed ain

I stood between hi from her view I didn’t know

But I did know that Jax didn’t want to go with her My throat tightened, and the lump inside swelled so damn much that I wanted to hurt someone

Tate

She was always ood memory I had

My brain flashed with the one place that was untouched by hatred and despair

Our tree Tate’s and mine

I briefly wondered if Jax had anywhere he felt safe, warm, an innocent

I doubted it Had he ever experienced a place like that? Would he ever?

I didn’t have the first goddaotten a taste of it during my summer with our father when I was fourteen, but Jax had had a whole lifetime of that shit Not toup toworld, and I didn’t have the answers I had no power No way to protect him

"Did Mr Donovan do this to you?" the social worker asked Jax about his foster dad, Vince

He looked atthat I would knohen he was lying "No," he told her

And every

Jax wasn’t lying to protect Vince He knew that I could tell when he wasn’t being honest It was the way he’d hesitate and eyeballher

Jax and I settled our own scores

"Okay," clipboard lady--who I’d finally turned around to make eye contact with--snipped, "letto assuht until we find another place people," I choked out,while I tried to keep my emotions in check for Jax

All of his life,with people that didn’t really want him Our father had carted him around from shithole to shithole, and left hih was enough Jax and I belonged together We were stronger together It was only a matter of time before what little innocence he had left decayed and his heart grew too hard for anything good to grow

He was going to beco scream at these people that I could love him more than anyone else Kids didn’t just need food and a place to sleep They needed to feel safe and wanted They needed to feel trust

Vince hadn’t taken that away froht, because Jax had never counted on hio back into a group hoain, he’d put me in the position to remind my brother that I couldn’t help hi

Grabbing a wad of cash out ofand stuffed theat him, I spun around and walked out of the room as fast as I could

I didn’t deserve to look hi I kne to push back