“Gotta stay on the low, Slater,” Lincoln says. “Fucked up, bad. Sold drugs to the wrong person, now I got people after me. Big people. Shitty people. People who are going to want blood.”

I stare at my brother, horrified by what he’s tellin’ me. “How bad is it, Lincoln?”

“Bad enough that I gotta go away for a while. Kept the trail clean, never gave my real name, address, nothin’. So they don’t know anything about me. They won’t link it back to any of you, I made sure of it.”

My chest tightens, and I glare at my brother. He’s smart, but somehow, he’s fucked up. Bad. “Runnin’ ain’t goin’ to fix it. We need you, Lincoln. Fuck me, how do you think I’m goin’ to keep it all goin’ when you’re gone. Dad is going to need money...this house...”

“I’ll have you covered, Slater. I’m fighting still. It’s bringing in the cash. Not much but it’ll be okay.”

“And is it fuckin’ worth not seeing any of us?”

Lincoln’s eyes flash. “For now, it is. For your own safety, it is. You gotta hold things up here until I can figure out what to do. I can’t be seen around any of you, if I am, they’ll link it back and I can’t have any of you coppin’ the heat for me.”

“Fuck,” I bark, grabbing my hair and tugging. “How could you be so fuckin’ stupid? I told you this would end badly. I fuckin’ told you but you didn’t hear me, and now we’re all in fuckin’ danger, and we’re losing you.”

“You’re not in fuckin’ danger, Slater!” Lincoln barks. “I told you they can’t trace it back.”

“Bull-fuckin’-shit. They’re smart. You know they’re fuckin’ smart. They’ll find out what they need to know, and it’ll be us they come lookin’ for.”

“Fuck,” Lincoln bellows.

“Running won’t fix it. Let me help. Let me help you fix it.”

“How the fuck you think you’re goin’ to help me fix something like that, Slater? What’re you goin’ to do, go and get all their fuckin’ money back!”

“Yeah, that’s exactly what I’m goin’ to do,” I growl.

It only came to me then, but it isn’t a bad idea. I can go in, sell some drugs, get some extra cash, make them happy and wipe Lincoln’s name clean.

“You fuckin’ so much as go anywhere near them, Slater, and I’ll beat the ever lovin’ fuck out of you,” Lincoln growls.

And I’ve had enough.

He can take control, if it makes him happy, but I don’t fuckin’ have to listen to it anymore. Not now. I do just as much as he does to keep this family running, so I’ll be the one to help fuckin’ fix his mistakes.

“Listen here,” I growl, stepping up to him. We’re nearly the same size, and for the first time, I might actually have something over him. “I’m not a fuckin’ kid anymore, do you hear me? You got us into this mess.”

“Not us, myself...” he hisses.

“No, Lincoln, us. Because what one of us does, has an effect on all of us. Which means we could end up in the firing line of your mistakes. IT isn’t just about you anymore, it’s about all of us, and fucked if I’ll let anything happen to Damon or Finn because of your poor fuckin’ decision making.”

“I swear to god, Slater...”

I turn, walking out, not giving him a chance to finish. He can talk all he likes. I will find a way to solve this, because I won’t let everyone sink because of his fuckin’ mistakes. I get into my truck and stop when I see Ellie coming out of the house next door. She looks over to me, and waves, her big smile melting my heart. As if I’m going to leave now. Seeing her, it makes my days better.

Being with her has been the best six months of my life.

Nothing can compare.

She rushes over and opens the truck door. “Hey,” she beams. “I was just coming to see you. Are you okay?”

Her face drops when she sees my hands curled around the steering wheel, and my jaw tight. I try to relax, but it’s hard when I’m so wound up. Lincoln walks out of the house, and I say to Ellie, “Jump in and come for a ride with me.”

She doesn’t argue, she glances at Lincoln, but she doesn’t argue. She gets in and we take off. When we’re down the road, and my fingers have relaxed a little, she says, “Are you and Lincoln fighting?”

“Yeah, guess you could say that.”

“Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, nothin’ to worry about, we’re just...butting heads. I guess we both want to be on top.”

She rolls her eyes and playfully shoves me. “I can only imagine. You shouldn’t fight with him, though. He’s your brother, and you guys are the only thing each of you have got. Don’t ruin that over silly arguments.”

My voice of reason.

My Ellie.

“We’ll get over it, just a brother fight.”

I hate fuckin’ lying to her, but there is no way in the world I’m telling her that Lincoln is in trouble, because then she’ll worry, and she’ll tell me not to try and fix it, but she has to understand, I need to. For my family. For everyone. I have to fix it. So it’s best if she doesn’t know, because there is no way I’ll ever fuckin’ risk anything happening to her.

I don’t know where I’m going to start, but I’ll find out who Lincoln is working for, and I’ll get shit sorted.

One way or another.

I will fix this.

“Are you sure you’re going to be okay?” Ellie asks me, studying my face.

“I’m fine, baby. How are you?”

Swift change of subject.

“I’m okay, just finished work.”

Ellie finished up school a little early, and went off to work. She’s been working down at a nearby café five days a week. She wants to save some money, and do a course to get a certificate of some sort. She isn’t sure what she wants to do yet, but she has a goal and that’s fuckin’ great for a girl her age. Hell, at her age, I could barely stay sober for a fuckin’ day, let alone think about my future.

She’s a damned rare find, which is why I’ll never be letting her go.

“You liking being out of school?”

She looks to me, and nods. “Yeah, I’m enjoying spending more time with you.”

I grin at her, and she reaches over, grabbing my leg.

“Takin’ you away this weekend.”

Didn’t have it planned, but just decided it then and there. I need to be alone with her, away from the rest of the worlds fuckin’ dramas that I have to deal with when I get back. The only way I can do that is to gather myself by spending a weekend with my angel.

“You are?” she says excitedly.

“Yeah, fuck yeah.”

“Where are we going?”

“Surprise.”

I don’t know exactly where we’re going to go, but I do know I’m going to make it worth her while.

I want to make her smile.

I want to make her laugh.

I want to make her mine in every way it counts.

I want Ellie to never forget me.

Because god knows, I’ll never, not for a single second, forget her.