Page 2 of Agony
I softened my features, and he swallowed thickly. “Please,” I quietly asked him.
He scrubbed his hands down his face before nodding. “Okay,” he rasped. He looked back up at me. “No matter what, Jax, you’re still our brother. Always.”
My throat burned with tears, but I forced a smile on my face.
“Always,” I rasped.
CHAPTER ONE
Jax
NINE YEARS LATER
Irolled my neck around before tilting my head back, staring up at the clear, blue sky above me. White clouds dotted the sky, but nothing blocked out the sun beating down on my skin. Humidity hung heavily in the air, making my clothes stick to my skin almost immediately—clothes that didn’t even fucking fit anymore. Even now, my t-shirt constricted the movement of my arms, the seams biting into my biceps uncomfortably.
The prison loomed behind me, towering over me like a menacing giant threatening to suck me back within its depths. Quickly, I made my way around the building and to the sidewalk, my old, worn shoes crunching over the gravel until I made it to the asphalt. I had some cash that I could use to get some decent clothes and a burner phone from the nearest Walmart. And then, I needed to call Ace.
He was the only one I still had contact with. Ace had kept me up to date on his grades, the shitty foster homes he’d been tossed to, the beatings he’d endured from some of the foster parents. And I did my best to keep his spirits up all while mine dwindled to nothing.
Those letters had been the hardest to read. Because I wasn’t there to protect him. None of us fucking were. I was supposed to be the one to stick around and keep everyone safe, and instead, I’d gotten caught doing illegal shit—stealing a car and burning a house down just to get some extra cash—and had to do nine years inside. And I hadn’t even had the opportunity to get out on good behavior.
Criminals didn’t get second chances in this town.
The good thing about Walmart was that when you walked inside looking as poor as I did, no one batted an eye. Especially not around here. I was just a normal-looking customer to the workers, so no one cast me a second glance.
I grabbed the first pair of jeans I found in my size and a t-shirt, then snatched a pair of steel-toed boots off the back wall in the shoe section. Ten minutes after waiting for someone in electronics, I had a burner phone and my clothes were rung out.
I was more than happy when I got to throw those damn old shoes and clothes into the trash. Finally, I could move my fucking arms and my jeans didn’t ride up above my ankles and squeeze my thighs.
As I was walking out of Walmart, I dialed the number Ace had given me in his last letter. It rang three times before his voice came through the line. “If you’re fucking prank calling me?—”
I chuckled, my shoulders relaxing a little at the sound of his voice. It’d been too fucking long since I heard it.
“Ace, it’s just me,” I assured him. I swallowed thickly, my chest tightening. I’d really missed him. I missed all of them. “I got out today.”
“Jax? Holy fucking shit!” he exclaimed. “I thought this day wasnevergoing to come.”
I blew out a soft breath and took a seat against the brick wall outside of Walmart—out of the way of the shoppers and the cart pushers. “Me neither,” I told him quietly. “You doing okay?”
He sighed. “About that…” His voice trailed off. My shoulders stiffened again, and I sat up straighter, my jaw tightening. “The group home I’m in is… It fucking sucks, Jax.” His words went quieter, like he was trying not to be overheard. “It’s so bad here, the state has been in and out in the past couple of weeks. There are talks of it being shut down. I think the parents are about to face charges.”
“Jesus Christ,” I swore, jerking to my feet. I pinched the bridge of my nose before smacking my hand against my thigh. “Where the hell are you going to go?”
“I don’t know,” Ace quietly told me. “Another home, I guess?” Fuck, that could be anywhere in the state of Washington. “I age out soon.”
A few months. That wasn’t soon enough for me. He needed outnow. Like yesterday. He’d gone through enough without the rest of us there to protect him. Now, I was out. I was here. I could do something.
It just would require a really tough phone call… and asking for favors that I would eventually have to pay back.
You just couldn’t pull the streets out of the man, apparently.
“Hang in there, Babe,” I told him. It was something we’d called him since the moment he got dumped into a group home with us. He’d been afraid of being touched and always ready to bite someone’s head off if they came at him wrong. He was our baby—the one who needed protection the most. “I’m going to pull some strings.”
“Jax…” Worry filtered into his tone. “Don’t get yourself back in trouble,” he snapped, that attitude he was known for coming forward. I had to bite back a smile. As long as Ace kept that fight in his soul, he’d make it. He would be alright. “I can’t lose you again.”
“You won’t,” I promised him. And he knew I didn’t break my promises. “Just give me a couple of days, alright?”
He sighed. “I swear to God…” he muttered. “Fine. Two days, Jax.”