Read Online My Brother's Keeper by Adrienne Wilder - Free Book Online Page B

bound man, but, in that moment, he felt made of stone, and the look on his face was inhuman.
    On the back of a growl, Jon said, “You listen here, you redneck, white trash, maggot. You come anywhere near my family and I won’t just kill you. I will destroy you.”
    Lenny’s smile went cocky again. “You talk big for a man with such small balls.”
    Jon pushed himself away from the table and Ellis walked with him back to Rudy. Jon shouldered his way through the gathering crowd, never letting go of Ellis’s hand. He held onto Rudy.
    Confused expressions and whispers followed them on the lips of onlookers. They broke out of the thickest part of the crowd. Jon herded Rudy and Ellis in front of him and onto the walkway between the booths.
    They stopped at the car and Jon opened the back door. Rudy got in and buckled up. Ellis started to open the passenger door, but Jon stopped him by turning him around.
    He was still scared of what he’d see, but he made himself lift his head. There was fury in Jon’s expression, yet there was a softness to his eyes. Jon cupped Ellis’s cheek and kissed him. It was just a soft press of lips, but when he pulled away, the warmth of contact lingered.
    A few people stared as the walked past. Ellis tried to follow them with his eyes, but Jon wouldn’t let him.
    “They don’t matter. Not them, not Lenny.”
    Ellis nodded.
    “I swear to you, I will not let him hurt you.”
    There were so many things Ellis wanted to say, but they were all stuck in his throat. Jon kissed him on the forehead, then opened the car door.
    Ellis got in.
    ********
    The rage turned Jon into the junkyard dog straining at the end of his chain.
    Lenny’s words, his asshole smirk, the knowledge of being powerless to put him in his place. In public, all Jon could do was bare his teeth and that bastard knew it.
    Lenny only fantasized he was a hard case when, in truth, he was nothing but a bully.
    That’s what worried Jon. Professional killers had a purpose. They didn’t act on impulse. They planned, and they had a set of rules. The rules might be theirs, but they followed them. Bullies had no purpose and they had no rules. People like Lenny were infected with a type of emotional rabies, fueled by fear.
    It left them reacting in unpredictable ways.
    Driven by delusions of grandeur, they went after their victims, thinking they were untouchable and, because they were untouchable, they could do anything.
    That, inherently, made Lenny more dangerous than any stone cold killer.
    Jon stood outside Rudy’s door. Ellis’s voice was too low for his words to carry, but occasionally Rudy would ask Ellis if he was mad. And, every time he asked, there would be a waver in his voice.
    Jon’s heart ached.
    It went quiet and Ellis stepped out of Rudy’s room. He pulled the door shut behind him.
    “How’s he doing?”
    Ellis shrugged. “As good as can be expected, I guess.”
    “How are you doing?”
    “I’m scared shitless. He threatened to kill us.” Shadows haunted Ellis’s eyes. “He meant it. He really meant it.”
    “Not going to happen because I won’t let it happen.”
    “I don’t understand it. Why does he keep getting away with this? Why does he do it in the first place? I don’t deserve this and Rudy sure as hell doesn’t.”
    “Shh—”
    “I don’t know what to do.”
    “I’ll handle it.”
    “How?”
    “Don’t worry about it. Just know that I won’t let anything happen to you or Rudy.”
    Ellis dropped his head against Jon’s chest and he shielded Ellis with his body. “How did such a good day turn so shitty?”
    Jon petted Ellis down his back. His muscles were tight under Jon’s palms. “Let’s go take a shower.”
    “I think I just want to go lay down.”
    Jon steered him to the bathroom. “Shower. You’ll never be able to sleep all knotted up.”
    “Then you can rub my back.”
    “I plan on it.”
    The size of the bathroom suggested it began life as an extra room, especially since the