Read Online Rome: A Marked Men Novel by Jay Crownover - Free Book Online

pockets and tried to explain.
    “I love Shaw like a sister. I always took care of both you and Remy. It sucked that Shaw didn’t tell us
    about Remy, but it sucks more that he used her and she let him get away with it. I’m mad at him and I was
    mad at her and I just didn’t know what to do with any of it, so she suffered the brunt of it because I was
    leaving again anyway. We’re family, all of us, there shouldn’t have ever been secrets like that. It makes me
    feel like I was fighting for the wrong things all along, for people I didn’t even really know.”
    “Remy made his choices. It sucks he didn’t want us to know, didn’t trust us to let him live his life the
    way he wanted, but he’s gone and Shaw is here and she’s mine. I’ll protect her from anyone that wants to
    hurt her in any way, and that includes you, dickhead. I’m pissed at Remy, too, but I would rather keep the
    good memories alive, so every single day that’s what I try and do.”
    Rule had a valid point, but he didn’t understand that what I was battling against was so much bigger and
    harder to process than coming to terms with the fact that Remy and our parents had lied. I had so much
    death, so much blood in my dreams, that Rule would never be able to relate to it. No one would.
    I blew out a heavy breath and slammed my hat back down on my head, wincing a little as the interior
    scraped across my newly acquired wound.
    “I wish it was that easy for me.” I reached out and punched him in the shoulder. “Seriously I’ll talk to
    Shaw and try and lay off the doom and gloom. Being Captain No-Fun really is no fun.”
    Rule rolled his winter-colored eyes and went to reach for the handle on the glass door we had been
    standing in front of. “Ignore Cora. We do all the time. She’s a handful.”
    She did indeed look like the perfect handful, but I don’t think Rule would appreciate me saying that. I
    wasn’t even sure why I was thinking it.
    “I really am sorry about the emergency room. I was pretty drunk and had lost a ton of blood; plus it’s
    embarrassing. There’s no way some scrawny biker prospect should’ve been able to get that good of a lick
    in the first place. Speaking of which, I have to roll to the bar and make amends. The owner took care of my
    bike, and when I went to collect it he wouldn’t take a dime for the repairs to his place. He told me to swing
    by today and we could work something else out. He’s a really legit guy, so I need to make it right by him as
    well.”
    “Cool, but next time you get cut open, call me. Put the shop number in your phone so that you can get
    in touch with me during the day. I don’t answer my cell when I’m with clients. Cora can get me if you need
    me.”
    I tapped the number in my phone and regarded my brother seriously.
    “We good?”
    His eyes were so much cooler than mine, so much more guarded, and I could tell he wasn’t a hundred
    percent on board with forgiving me just yet.
    “For now we are.”
    It didn’t sound like he had much hope for me being able to act right in the foreseeable future. I didn’t
    like that at all. He told me he needed to get to his client, so we said good-bye and I found myself looking
    back through the glass to get another glimpse of the intriguing blonde. Too bad she had her back to me and
    appeared to be deep in conversation with Nash about something. I turned and went back to where I left my
    bike on the street to head down to Brite’s bar.
    I asked him the name of the place when I went to pick up my bike on the day after the Fourth, and he
    said it was called whatever I wanted to call it. The place had no official name, no signage, nothing. He told
    me most of the regulars just called it the Bar. That worked for me and it fit the simple, no-frills ambience of
    the place. So did the primarily classic rock that rattled off the old sound system Brite kept behind the bar.
    Plus he said that when most of the regulars grumbled to their pissed-off