Page 76 of Wraith

“Time to think, or time for him to convince you not to do the right thing?” Evan’s eyes flick past me to Wraith, then back. “June, you’re a witness to a federal crime. You could help put these bastards away. Keep other people from getting hurt the way you got hurt.”

“I know what I am.”

“Then do something about it.” His voice softens. “Look, I’m not trying to pressure you. I’m really not. But the Devils can protect you. We’ve got resources. Contacts. Officer Alvarado’s good people — she’ll make sure everything’s handled right. And you and Wraith, you can both stay with me until we figure out the long-term plan.”

Stay with him. Let him take care of me. Let him fix my problems and arrange my life, and be responsible for keeping me alive.

Again.

“That’s what you want?” I say. “For me to move in with you? Disrupt your whole life? Make you responsible for me all over again?”

“You’re my sister. You’re not a disruption.”

“Yes, I am.” The words come out sharper than I intended. “I’ve been a disruption since I was a little girl and Mom and Dad died and you had to give up your future to raise me. I’ve been nothing but a burden.”

“June, that’s not true.”

“You’re smart, you had potential, but instead of going off to college or whatever, you stayed home and worked construction and got involved with stuff I probably don’t even know about, and you did it all to take care of me because that’s what good brothers do.” My throat is tight. “And then I got kidnapped, and you had to do god knows what to get me out. You’ve spent your entire adult life cleaning up my messes, and I’m not going to ask you to do it again.”

Evan’s face does something complicated. Pain and frustration, and love all tangled together.

“That’s not how I see it,” he says quietly. “You’re family. That’s what family does. We take care of each other.”

“And I’m taking care of myself now.” I force the words out with more confidence than I feel. “I’m capable, Evan. I can handle this. I can make my own decisions and deal with my own problems, and you don’t have to fix everything for me.”

“I know you’re capable. That’s not what this is about.”

“Then what is it about?”

“It’s about me not wanting to lose you again. It’s about me being terrified that the next time the Sons find you, I won’t be able to help because you pushed me away trying to prove you don’t need anyone.”

The words hit me square in the chest.

I can feel Wraith behind me. Can feel his attention like a hand on my shoulder, even though he hasn’t touched me. And when I glance back — just for a second, just a flicker of eye contact — I see it.

The look.

It’s so subtle that Evan wouldn’t catch it. Goldie definitely wouldn’t. Just a slight narrowing of his eyes. A tiny shift in his expression that I’ve learned to read like a second language.

Don’t accept. Don’t give them leverage over us.

My stomach twists.

I turn back to Evan and step forward and wrap my arms around him. He hugs me back immediately.

I love you,” I say against his shoulder. “And I know you love me. But I can’t put this on you. You’ve done enough. You’ve done more than enough. I’ll take care of this myself, because you deserve to have your own life that isn’t constantly being interrupted by whatever disaster I’ve gotten myself into.”

“June, you’re not a disaster.”

“No, I’m not. Because I’m a New June now.” I pull back and look up at him. “I’m responsible. I’m capable. I’m handling things. And part of being responsible is not making other people clean up after me when I’m perfectly able to do it myself. Wraith and I will figure this out.”

Evan’s jaw tightens. He looks past me to Wraith, and I can see him wanting to argue. Wanting to point out that Wraith is part of the problem, that trusting my ex-boyfriend who used to control every aspect of my life is maybe not the best example of good decision-making.

But he doesn’t say it.

Instead, he reaches into his pocket and pulls out a wad of cash. Bills rubber-banded together. More money than I’d expect him to be carrying around.

“Take this,” he says.