Fuck.
Not what he was supposed to be thinking about now.
The rage in her eyes cut him like a knife.
Before she could start railing at him again—or knee him in the nuts—he said quietly, “Luke and his wife have nothing to do with this. Neither do the guys at the garage, or the guys from Fitte. If you need someone to pin this on, turn me in. Leave them out of it.”
“I’m not turning anyone in,” she said hollowly. “You get a free pass, a get-out-of-jail-free card. I suggest you take it and run.”
“Why? Why aren’t you taking me in?”
She squeezed her eyes shut a moment then opened them again. They glittered with tears. “I just can’t. Now, get out of my way, and stay out of my fucking life. Or I just might change my mind.”
He took his hand off her car and backed away. Maybe she had actually cared about him? His head was so messed up it was hard to know what he was thinking, let alone read her.
She climbed in her car and slammed the door. She drove away without even a backward glance.
It was for the best. He didn’t run after her car like an abandoned dog, but it was hard to stop himself.
When he got back to his car, Fox was waiting.
“What?” Atlas snapped.
“She out of the picture?”
He shrugged. “I guess so. She didn’t say much.”
“She’s a cop,” Fox said, fiddling with his keys. “It never would have worked.”
“Don’t be an ass about it.”
Fox sighed. “I don’t mean to be an ass, but we all knew this was coming. Even you. Do you need the ‘there are other fish in the sea’ speech?”
“Shut up. You have no idea what the fuck you’re talking about, Fox. For once in your life just shut the fuck up.” Shaking, he got into his car and started it, then stared at the dash as Fox pulled out and drove off.
Not sure what to do with himself, he put his thumb drive in the stereo. Of course the first song reminded him of Mila. He skipped it, but the second song was worse. He yanked the thumb drive out and tossed it in the backseat.
It wasn’t enough.
He punched his stereo, then felt like an idiot, then punched it a few more times anyway. By the time he was done, he felt like an even bigger idiot. Now he had a broken stereo and his hand hurt.
The car was blessedly, horribly quiet until he reached the house. He couldn’t remember driving home.
As he got out of the car, Fox was waiting for him in the driveway.
Fuck. What now?
Fox got in his face, his eyes red rimmed and wild. “You love her,” Fox said. It was almost an accusation. “Don’t let family obligations run your life. You don’t owe me anything.”
Atlas stared at his brother in shock. Who was this man, and what had he d
one with Fox?
“Do what you have to so you don’t lose her.” Fox made a strange sound low in his throat, stalked off. He came back again, the gravel crunching under his boots. He grabbed Atlas by the front of the shirt. “Listen, if she’s the one, I’m not going to get in the way of that. You go straight, like you’ve been wanting to anyway, and Addison and I will leave town.”
Atlas tried to swallow down the thickness in his throat. Love was messing everything up. They’d been on the path to becoming like their father and uncle—old, grumpy bachelors living together in perpetuity, complaining at each other about everything. Hell, a few days ago all Atlas wanted was to get out. But now?
They’d lost Konstantin to his law-abiding friends. Luke to Ophelia. Now they were losing each other.