XANDER (The Caine Brothers Book 2) (14 page)

His hopeful puppy-dog eyes were sweet, but had never done anything for her. Neither did the Ravagers.

“I’m good, thanks,” she said, and slammed the door behind her. She slumped into the chair at Prez’s desk.

Not long after leaving her, Prez returned with a triumphant grin. “Your boyfriend’s going to be here in a couple of hours.”

Her blood ran cold. “Why?”

“He’s coming to rescue his sweetheart.” Prez said this in a mocking voice. “Isn’t that adorable?”

“What are you going to do to him?” she asked, ignoring his ridicule.

“I haven’t decided yet, but he owes us something big for killing Bug and injuring Titan.”

“You killed two—maybe three—of his people. I’d say you’re even.”

Prez pointed an imperious finger at her. “We’re not even until I say we’re even.”

She crossed her arms and considered him. In for a penny in for a pound. “This isn’t about the brawl, is it? This is about the feud between the Huntsmen and the Ravagers.”

Prez’s lips peeled back from his teeth in a snarl. “That’s none of your business.”

He spun and left the room, slamming the door behind him.

She spent the next hour at the desk stewing about everything—her father, Hank, Lily, the stupid Ravagers. But especially she worried about what Chico had said.
You’re nothing but trouble. Get lost…

Xander must really hate her. She couldn’t blame him. The more she thought about what Chico and Prez had said, the more she had to admit they were right. If not for her involvement, maybe Mel would be alive. And Chico. And Xander’s friend. And Hank. She didn’t care so much about Hank as a person, but he didn’t—necessarily—deserve to be dead.

She didn’t want to think she’d ruined her chances of exploring a relationship with Xander, but if Chico was right, those chances were gone. He’d only been a part of her life a short time, but losing Xander left a cold, empty hole in her heart.

That didn’t stop her from worrying about him, though. She wondered where he was. She wished he’d burst in and rescue her, but she also wanted him to stay away and stay safe.

When the door finally opened again, Gracie’s nerves had got the best of her, and dozens of scenarios and plans swirled in her head. What would Prez do? What would Xander do? How could they get out alive and uninjured? No matter what she came up with, nothing seemed plausible.

“He’s here,” Dallas said.

Gracie’s heart skipped a beat, then took off racing. She came out of her chair and shoved past Dallas into the main room.

Just inside the warehouse door, she saw Xander. He looked like a god—tall and in charge. He radiated confidence and power, as if he knew nobody else in the room could ever best him. His expression could have been chiseled from granite, it was that hard and determined.

Everything female inside her fluttered that he belonged to her. Now that he was there, her doubts disappeared. Everything would be fine.

“You were supposed to come alone,” Prez said. “And you’re early.”

Only then did Gracie notice the other two men with Xander. They were clearly his brothers. Despite being vastly different men—one was taller and wore an expensive suit, the other was a couple inches shorter, but broader in the shoulders and chest. They all had the same blond hair, even if worn in three different styles, and similar enough features that they had to be related.

“You don’t think I’m stupid enough to face all the Ravagers alone?” Xander said.

“Deal’s off, then,” Prez said.

With the exit so close, and nobody watching her—their attention was on Prez and their visitors—she marched right up to them and said, “You’re right, deal’s off. There’s no deal-making at all. Xander and…” She gestured to his brothers, no knowing their names.

The taller one smirked, and the shorter one straight-up grinned. “Hunter and Colton,” Xander said. The warmth in his eyes bolstered her. Chico had been wrong. Xander did want her.

“…Xander, Hunter, Colton, and I are leaving now, and you’ll let us,” Gracie finished.

She crowded Xander, trying to get him to turn and leave, but the Ravagers had closed rank around them, and Xander held his ground.

“You’re not going anywhere,” Prez said.

“Or what?” Hunter asked. His voice was cool and assured, like he was used to people doing whatever he told them to.

“Who are these guys?” Prez asked.

“This is my brother, Hunter,” Xander said, pointing at the guy in the suit. “He’s the CEO of Caine Development. And this is my brother Colton. He’s a cage fighter.”

“You didn’t answer my question,” Hunter said. “What are you going to do to keep us from leaving?”

Prez didn’t answer. He just fumed. They’d called his bluff and cornered him, so he didn’t really have any choice. He either delivered on his threat, or lost face with his men.

“Listen, Prez,” Xander said. “I’m sure we can come to some sort of agreement. I know you want to get your hands around my throat, but you don’t have any beef with my brothers, and you wouldn’t hurt your own daughter. Let her go, and we’ll talk.”

“She’s not my daughter.” The words hissed through his clenched teeth, and slammed into Gracie.

“What?” she said.

“Mel fathered her on my wife. I raised her as mine to remind him every day that what was mine was mine
and
what was his was mine.”

“Well, that explains the feud,” Xander said.

The news didn’t seem to faze him a bit, but dizziness washed over Gracie. The room spun. Prez wasn’t her biological father. She’d just been a prop in a long-running game of hate between two rivals.

“Then since both Mel and your wife are dead, the feud is finished and you have no reason to use Gracie anymore,” Hunter said.

“Besides, she’s chosen a life without the Ravagers, anyway,” Xander said.

“Guess we’ll just be going then,” Colton said. “Nice to meet y’all.”

Colton held out his hand to Gracie and although the tension in the air had her frozen in place, Colton’s infectious grin reassured her enough to take his hand. But when she reached for it, Prez shoved her away. He pushed her hard enough she fell on her ass, knocking a grunt out with the air from her lungs.

“Hey,” Colton said, surprised.

An explosion of voices and fists followed.

Prez threw the first punch, catching Xander square in the face. Gracie ducked and scrambled on hands and knees out of the middle of the fray. Prez had lost the battle of reason, and still high on adrenaline from the earlier brawl, probably resorted to violence again because it was what he knew best. Gracie was really damn sick of it.

Xander and his brothers held their own for a while—Colton knew how to put a man down—but there were a lot more Ravagers. The tide turned and Gracie was on her feet ready to grab a baseball bat and start swinging when an ear-splitting report filled the air and brought everyone to a halt.

They all swung around to find the source of the gunshot—there was no doubt that’s what they’d heard—to find Lily standing in the middle of the room with a handgun pointed straight up. The hole in the ceiling proved she’d shot the thing.

“Just. Stop,” she said. Tears streamed down her face. She was clearly distraught and in no condition to be in charge of a gun.

“Lily,” Gracie said. “Put the gun down.”

Lily turned as if seeing Gracie for the first time and swung the gun in her direction, pulling Gracie up short. Nobody had ever pointed a gun at her, and it scared the living shit out of her. She swallowed hard and tried not to faint.

“You slept with the enemy,” Lily said.

Gracie held her hands up in front of her, hoping to stop Lily. “Whoa, Lily, he wasn’t my enemy. He’s nobody’s enemy. He’s just a man. A good man who tried to help you. I tried to help you. I couldn’t just leave you alone. Who else ever tried to help you?”

Lily ignored her and pointed the gun at Xander. “And you. You killed Hank. You took the only thing that was ever mine.”

“Lily, sweetie,” Gracie said, taking a step closer. “Put the gun down. It won’t fix anything.”

“Leave her alone. She knows her own mind,” Prez said.

Lily’s face twisted into an ugly sneer, and she pointed the gun at Prez. “You’ve done nothing but hate. Violence is the only answer for you. When things don’t go the way you want, you start hitting. You excuse it in others and you encourage it.”

“You liked it,” Prez said, looking down the barrel of his own gun with more courage—or bravado—than Gracie would have expected.

“You mean Hank?” Lily made a slobbery, tear-filled raspberry sound. “I loved the Hank I met at the beginning. The sweet man who made me laugh. You made him hateful. He worshipped you and you infected him with hate. That’s when he started hitting me, just like you used to hit mom. I thought it was normal, and I loved him so much I couldn’t leave. Besides, where would I go? I’ve been a Ravager all my life. I don’t know how to be anything else.”

“Why would you want to?” Prez asked. “Once a Ravager, always a Ravager.”

His proud smile was his last act as an animal howl tore from Lily and she pulled the trigger.

The next day Gracie and Xander visited Lily at the jail while she awaited arraignment.

“Allison hired the best defense attorney in Houston for both of us,” Xander said. “You won’t be in here long.”

Lily patted his hand. “Thank you, but it’s okay. I’m fine with whatever happens.”

Her eyes had the glazed expression of a PTSD survivor on the edge, and Gracie didn’t like it. The best thing that could happen for Lily was psychological help, and lots of it.

“We’ll take care of you no matter what, Lily,” Gracie said, holding her sister’s other hand in a fierce grip. She didn’t like seeing Lily in an orange jumpsuit. When it came down to it, plenty of the Ravagers should be wearing prison issue, and since Xander had killed Hank, he should be too. It hurt that Lily was the only one. But the attorney had said Lily’s circumstance was different. Her crime had been one of passion, but not self-defense. The attorney could probably get her a reduced sentence given everything she’d suffered, and if all went well, maybe time served plus therapy. In the meantime, it had only been overnight.

“I know you will. I want the two of you to make me a promise and do me a favor,” Lily said.

Gracie scrunched her brows together, not liking the sound of Lily’s voice. It had too much finality in it; resignation. “What?”

“First, promise you’ll always love each other, but more importantly, promise you’ll always respect each other. Don’t let anything or anyone come between you. Your love is yours. Gracie,” Lily turned her attention to Gracie. “I can see Xander’s a good man. He loves you, and risked his own life to save you. He killed Hank, but Hank was out to kill him and his friend.”

“I didn’t mean to kill him. I don’t even remember doing it. I’m sorry it hurt you,” Xander said.

“I expect you to protect my sister and love her. Treat her like a precious gift, not like a possession,” Lily said.

Xander glanced at Gracie and the adoration she saw in his eyes made her insides melt.

“No problem there,” Xander said.

Lily smiled. “Good. Now the favor I want from you is for the two of you to raise my baby as your own.”

“What?” Gracie said. “No, Lily, you’ll do that yourself. You’ll be out in no time, and you’ll be a great mom.”

“No, I won’t. I know I’m messed up and I’m in no shape to be a mother. I don’t think I can handle the responsibility. I don’t even know who I am. I need to figure that out and heal. You’re stronger than I am, and you’ll be wonderful parents for this baby.”

Tears pooled in Gracie’s eyes. She didn’t like the idea of Lily giving up her baby, but she admired the strength it took for her to do it and maybe that strength was evidence that Lily would find courage to come back from her trauma. Certainly, a baby would be an added challenge for Lily, and the baby didn’t deserve to experience whatever struggles Lily faced.

“Yes, of course,” Gracie said. The tears slipped down her cheeks. “We’d be honored.”

She’d spoken for Xander without even thinking, but when she looked at him, he smiled his encouragement. Relief flooded through her. He was even better than she could have hoped, falling for her, looking forward to a future together, and accepting the responsibility of raising her sister’s child. She could never have asked for a better man.

Xander leaned his elbows back against the bar in the Outpost and watched Pixie mingle with their wedding guests.

Pixie wore the sexiest fucking wedding dress he’d ever seen—a white V-neck lace mini-dress thing with thigh-high white tights and gray boots. He got rock hard just looking at her.

“So, Xander’s married,” Colton said. “Another Caine bites the dust.”

“We’re dropping like flies,” Xander said. He couldn’t have been happier if he tried. Neither he nor Gracie had wanted a traditional wedding, so they’d been married at the Outpost with the Huntsmen and family in attendance. Except Damian who was deployed somewhere top secret, and Lily. She’d been admitted to a private psychiatric facility for treatment pending trial.

“You better do something about that boner before you do permanent damage,” Dude said joining him and his brothers at the bar.