Double Heat [Twin Ties: 3] (32 page)

“I, uh,” Evan exhaled. “I don’t know how to say this.”

“We’re listening. Take your time.”

“Okay. Well, Jimmy didn’t have anything to give me the other day, when I left right after we saw Drew.”

Alek groaned, sat back in his seat. “I forgot about that. God, that must have been hard for you, and I didn’t even know.”

“You couldn’t know. But that’s not what I need to say. I... I used that as an excuse to see Jimmy, alone.”

The rest caught in his throat. He felt his face heating, more guilt pinning him down, making him small.

“But Jimmy didn’t know about Drew... Did he?”

Restless in his seat, eyes downcast, Evan let them put it together before speaking again.

“Wait,” Luka said. “He
knew
? But if he knew, why didn’t he—”

“I wouldn’t tell him names. Or places. Or ages. No specifics. Nothing he could use to find them, or go to the cops. I made him promise.”

“Evan,” Brennan started.

“Please,” Evan cut in. “Let me finish.”

“Sorry. Go on.”

Evan cleared his throat, felt awful. “I kind of had a type, okay? Way older than me, and anyone who’d treat me nice, or seemed interested in me. Jimmy was always there for me, no matter what. He never made me feel bad about anything.”

“Evan,” Alek breathed, figuring it out, finally.

“I loved him. I was really confused.”

“Did Jimmy hurt you?” Luka asked, sounding riled.

“No! That’s not...” He took a deep breath, started again. “I came on to him. Tried to kiss him and touch him. But he stopped it, and I realized...” Evan shook his head, rubbed the back of his neck. “But that’s why Jimmy knows. That’s why I’ve always told him everything. I thought you all should know. Jimmy has always wanted to find these guys, and make them pay for hurting me, but he also knew that letting me have someone I knew I could talk to about anything was just as important, because even if he found one of these guys, there were always going to be more. That’s why he didn’t like you, Alek, when he first heard about us.”

“You were fourteen, weren’t you?” Brennan asked, softly. “That’s why Jimmy feels responsible.”

“Oh my god,” Luka blurted out.

“Yeah,” Evan nodded, pushing down on his pain, sure he wouldn’t be able to get the words out, otherwise. “I tried to kill myself a couple weeks later. I just felt like I had nothing left. But he saved me. He brought me back and I know I’ll always be able to trust him.”

“I hope you know you can trust us, too. With anything, okay?” Alek said. “Thank you for telling us.”

“Yeah, don’t feel like you can’t talk about this stuff,” Luka added.

Brennan spoke next, hesitantly, saying, “And I’m sorry for going to Jimmy that night instead of coming right here. I just... I knew what I probably looked like, and I felt like Jimmy would take me in without needing an explanation. I knew you guys deserved more than I felt I could give. But that was wrong and I’m really sorry.”

Evan reached for Brennan’s hand, gave it a squeeze and held on. “From now on, we need to trust each other, all of us, first, before anything or anyone.”

Luka was glad Evan was starting to open up to them a little more, despite how shaken up he clearly was. He had a hell of a lot on his mind, but if he was letting himself lean on them a little more instead of keeping everything to himself, that was only a good thing. At least he looked better than he had the night before, and Brennan seemed invigorated by both his familiar ritual of morning yoga and the sex they’d had the previous night. Sharing a glance with Alek, Luka knew what he wanted to do, to help all of them, and give them a way to move forward in a healthy way.

Clearing his throat, he drew their attention and said, “I want to take you two to the gym.” He looked right at Brennan, then at Evan. “We’ve got a great self-defense instructor there. Her name’s Mariko and she’s super nice. I already sent her a text to check with her that she had an open slot. She does have time today to work with you both if you’re up for it. Bren, I know you’re limited in what you can do with your sprained wrist, but even if she could work on a few techniques with you, it might help you guys feel more confident in being able to handle yourselves.”

Brennan looked to Evan for his reaction before answering. Evan seemed unsure and a little hesitant, but Luka chalked that up to how overwhelming things were. Brennan appeared to think the offer over, then answered, “Sure. It’s probably a good idea.”

“Awesome,” Luka said, smiling supportively. “I’ll be there, nearby. Aleksy can come with and keep an eye on you two, maybe get some pointers himself.”

“Because you guys are our bodyguards now, right?” Brennan teased.

“Yeah, we’re very hands-on,” Alek replied with a smirk.

“I’ll say,” Even murmured, his cheeks growing pink.

“Yeah, I heard all of that moaning and stuff earlier when the three of you were going at it,” Brennan said, watching the way it made Evan blush even more.

“Yeah?” Alek countered. “So did I last night.”

Brennan shut up quickly at that, quickly looking meeker than Evan, whose head turned to figure out what Alek’s comment implied.

“What can I say?” Brennan said. “I’m a toppy bastard.”

“And I love you for it, baby,” Luka smiled.

“Wow,” Evan gushed. “Really?” He smiled hugely, chuckling a little at the way Brennan and Luka were looking at each other. Brennan had a noticeable twinkle of lust in his eye, aimed right at Luka. “That’s... hot.”

“Guess we know a new way to tell you two apart,” Alek said with a sly raised eyebrow as he stuck his fork in a piece of pancake. “Top and bottom.”

“Yeah,” Brennan agreed with a laugh as Evan groaned. The way Brennan was sizing Luka up from across the table felt like he was ready and willing to bend him over it and go for round two.

“So we like the plan of going to the gym, then? I’ll let Mariko know to block off some time this afternoon.”

“Yeah, might as well,” Evan nodded.

“Let’s do it,” Brennan agreed.

“Good. I just think it’ll help you both feel more empowered, giving you ways to respond in sketchy situations, just in case. Though I think we’re all determined to avoid sketchy situations entirely from now on. And Bren, I really want you to consider letting me take you down to Monroe to file a report. We have the medical files from the hospital. I know the last thing you want is for that jerk to be out there, hurting other people and getting away with this stuff. He needs to pay. It needs to be on his record. Alek sent Hailey a message earlier, asking her to keep an eye on what Tommy was up to for us, but it’s not enough.”

Brennan sighed, dropping his gaze to his lap. “You guys have to understand, it’s my word against his. No one else saw what happened. Just because I had injuries and he has an injury doesn’t mean they can prove he did what he did. Plus, I can’t do that drive again, and the cost of flying is too much. You guys are already covering the rent for me and Evan, and I need to save my inheritance for school, not spending it on something that’ll only piss Tommy off even more and do no good anyway.”

“Hey, don’t worry about the cost. We’ll figure it out. This is important,” Luka argued.

“It’s just going to give him a reason to come after me again if I try to get him in trouble. I just want it all to go away. I want it to be over.”

“But if he gets away with hurting you, Bren, how is he ever going to learn he needs to stop? Please—”

“Can we drop it for now? Please?” Brennan said abruptly. He pushed back from the table. Evan reached over and rested his hand on Brennan’s leg, looking worried as Brennan grew upset.

“Fine. Yeah. We’ll drop it,” Luka relented.

A little while later, while Evan and Brennan got ready for the gym, Luka’s phone rang. It was Jimmy. Luka stepped outside to take the call.

“Hey, Luka,” Jimmy said. “I just wanted to check in on everyone.”

“I’m glad you called,” Luka told him. Jimmy had been calling Luka more frequently of late, especially when Evan and Brennan could both be reluctant to take calls, depending on their mood. Jimmy could almost always get through to Luka. “Have the police contacted you?”

“They did. They were verifying Mike’s story that I came to pick Evan up from work yesterday. And I don’t...” Jimmy sighed, struggling for words. Luka felt for him. Now he knew how Jimmy had been struggling to do the right thing for Evan for over five years. When Jimmy began speaking again, he was clearly overcome with worry and anger. “I don’t want to violate Evan’s privacy, but it’s killing me to not know what happened.”

“Evan told us you know a little about his history with Drew. How much do you know?”

“I’ve pieced things together from what little bit Evan has told me. It was only recently that Evan confirmed the extent of their sexual interactions, and their ages at the time. That was when he was attempting to defend his relationship with Brennan to me, so he was a little more honest than he had been about it. I never had anything concrete to go to the authorities with. I actually stopped by the station a few years ago, saying I suspected something was going on with Drew. Maybe they spoke to him about it, maybe not. It was all hearsay.” Jimmy stopped there, pausing, then said, “He took Evan from work.”

“Yeah, and threatened him if he didn’t cooperate and keep quiet.”

Jimmy made a frustrated growl from the other end of the line, filling in the blanks again. “How bad was it?”

“Pretty bad. He didn’t injure Evan physically, but he did a lot to him. He took video.”

Sounding furious, Jimmy asked quietly, “Sex?”

“Yeah, but from what I heard, sex was the least of it. Drew wanted to put on a show.”

Jimmy growled again, then murmured a prayer. Luka couldn’t catch the words.

“Evan is doing okay,” Luka told him. “The police know everything. They’re going after Drew for the abduction, and for child pornography charges, since Evan confirmed Drew took lots of pictures and videos when he was thirteen, too.”

Everything he said only pushed Jimmy more. When Luka thought he heard a bang, like Jimmy was throwing or kicking things, Luka plowed ahead. “Being proactive about going after this guy is helping Evan and the rest of us too, but there’s still Brennan to think about. We need to report what Tommy did, but we need to go back to Louisiana to do it and we’re having trouble convincing Brennan it’s worth the cost of the airfare to go when he’s convinced the charges aren’t going to stick. He refuses to make the drive again.”

“God, they are twins, aren’t they?” Jimmy said on a sigh. “They’ve both drawn these human parasites to themselves and been exposed to such terrible things... gone through so much... What can I do to help? If I buy the tickets, maybe three of them, so you and I can take Brennan to Monroe, will that convince him to go through with it? I would love to do that for him. I need to do
something
.”

“Yeah, actually. That would be fantastic, Jimmy. I mean, I can come up with the money, but—”

“No, I want to do this. I want to help. If it’ll help Brennan worry less about the expense, then it’s worth it.”

“Thanks, Jimmy. Really, thank you.”

“I’ll look for the tickets and send you two information to confirm before ordering. Does that sound good?”

“Sounds perfect.”

“Great. Talk to you soon, Luka.”

“Bye.”

Chapter 27
Ready to Fight

Alek, Evan, and Brennan were in a private training space at Sweat Gym, with the Japanese self-defense specialist, Mariko. She was smaller than Evan and Brennan, and about half Alek’s size, so it felt a little ridiculous to be getting instruction in immobilization tactics from someone so tiny. Mariko had some ferocious energy in her though. That was apparent from the first moment she started speaking.

In a voice loud enough to make them all momentarily flinch, she said enthusiastically, “Okay! Let’s start with some general safety tips everyone should keep in mind at all times!”

Alek saw Evan blink, looking a little stunned, and stifled a laugh. Both Evan and Brennan had that teenager air about them, like they felt they didn’t need some adult telling them what to do and how to be safe, which only made Alek more glad they were there, getting some actual instruction from someone who knew what they were talking about.

“O-okay,” Evan agreed when no one said anything. “Sure?”

They were all dressed in exercise pants and t-shirts. Brennan kept raising his fists like he was going to spar with the instructor or something. Alek stayed back where he could keep an eye on the twins, for practical reasons and for his own amusement.

“You need to always be aware of your surroundings!” Mariko told them, swinging her pointed finger in a wide circle. “That means you only walk and park in well-lit areas. Keep your keys in your hand as you approach your door or you car so you don’t need to stop to find them. Vary your route and times of travel. If you make it easy to find you when you’re traveling, that puts you in danger. And make sure you have quality locks installed on your doors and windows at home. Keep them locked even when you’re at home!”

Brennan nodded, glancing around at Alek and Evan. “Should we write this down or something?”