How long has it been since I’ve seen my brother? Almost a year? Since I’ve actually had a phone call or a text? Proof of life, at least.

  I can’t fucking believe that in the last few weeks, Tim had been in touch with his friends, but not me. His flesh and blood. His younger brother. When he left, he left me with nothing. A business that was about to get taken by the bank. No way to earn a living.

  No assets, no credit, no cash. Nothing.

  If Morris hadn’t kept me employed at the shop, I would have been out on the fucking street.

  As much as I love my brother, I don’t care what he’s snorted or shot up his arm. If Josh makes good on his promise to invite Tim to dinner, I’m gonna let that motherfucker have it.

  Goddamn him!

  My morning only gets worse as I run a diagnostic on this Caddy. Someone who didn’t know what the hell they were doing tried to fix it before they brought it in to me.

  Amateurs.

  They always make it more expensive. My gramps used to love that phrase. He’d bust it out every time some cheap-ass came in, wanting him to “just” do this or do that to get a car running again.

  You think hiring a pro is expensive? Try hiring an amateur.

  My gramps’s motto is the story of a mechanic’s life. But today, this kind of bullshit is gonna fray my last nerve.

  “Leo.”

  Lia’s voice breaks me out of my funk.

  I lift my face from the mess under the hood. “Yeah.” I try to shake the rage from my voice as I meet her eyes.

  She looks worried, but she’s bouncing up and down on her toes, which I know means she’s literally about to burst with excitement.

  “Oh fuck,” I say, “tell me. You had your call?” I look up at the old clock on the wall of the repair bay. It’s almost ten. “What happened?”

  She bounces through the shop and settles on the top of my grandfather’s old metal desk. That thing has to be close to fifty years old. Knowing my granddad, he didn’t buy it new. I watch as Lia settles her ample ass on the cool metal desktop. She’s so excited, and now that she has my attention, I can see the outline of her nipples growing hard as she gestures her arms while she talks.

  “It was so great,” she says. “The program is one year long if I take it online, but if I come in and do what they call practical hours in the school’s grooming bays, I can finish in closer to six months.”

  “Yeah?” I close the hood of the Cadillac, making a note that I’m going to need to call the owner and let them know it’s probably gonna be another day before I even know what parts I need to undo whatever the hell they tried to do under here. “That’s great.”

  I wish I could rally a little more enthusiasm. I hear how flat I sound about the whole thing, and I know how important this is to Lia.

  “Yeah,” she says. “It could be great. It’s not cheap, Leo. Tiny said he’d pay for the whole program.” She gives me a little, wistful smile. “The guilty dad card doesn’t seem to have an expiration date. I didn’t ask him to, but if I do the whole pet CPR certification and everything, the program’s gonna be like five grand.”

  I nod. “That’s okay,” I say. “Let Tiny be a dad. He wants to do it, let him.”

  I can’t help wondering if maybe that’s part of the stress Tiny’s feeling about money. Yeah, the club needs paying tenants in the strip mall, but as far as I know, Tiny has only ever worked for the MC. I have no idea where he’d get that kind of money, or if he has any money at all to help Lia.

  This dog grooming certification is something she wants to do so badly. Seeing how happy it makes her talking about it takes a little bit of the edge off my rage.

  “This could change everything for me, Leo,” she says. “Not only a doggie daycare, but grooming and even some basic training. It could be the start of something really big. A franchise in the future if I get really successful. Canine Crashpad, coming to a city near you.”

  When she talks about it like that, she sweeps her arms wide. Her hair floats around her shoulders, and she looks like a sultry angel in short shorts. I’m proud of the way she’s jumping into her dreams. Lia’s really tight-lipped about her past, about her upbringing. She doesn’t have much. Like me, I guess.

  I have the MC and her. She has Tiny and me.

  Thinking of it that way makes me want to be more supportive. The money shit is between her and her dad, but if my role is to help fill the space with a tenant and that can somehow ease the pressure on Tiny to pay for Lia’s schooling, then that fixes it. I’m not going to let her down.

  “So, what do you think?” I ask. “You goin’ for it?”

  Lia doesn’t even hesitate a moment. She squeals and runs up to me. “Hell yeah, I’m gonna do it. Badass businesswoman, here I come.”

  She gives me a quick hug, holding her body firmly against mine. The touch is intimate, her hips pressing against mine, her tits flattening against my chest like they do when she lies on top of me in bed.

  The moment is too real, too personal.

  Too something.

  I squeeze her back and release her quickly.

  She knows our drill.

  We don’t show affection at work.

  We don’t touch each other away from what we do in private at home.

  The sad look on her face reminds me that I’m not in a good place.

  I’m overthinking this shit. I mean, if somebody walked in and saw me hugging my roommate, so fucking what? She has good news to share. And being a supportive roommate isn’t the same thing as admitting to the world we’re fuck buddies.

  Even still, I can’t keep holding her, or the steel in the front of my work pants is gonna give everything away. The last thing I need is Tiny or Alice walking into the shop while I’m sporting a hard-on for Lia.

  She takes a minute before she pulls away. She lingers close to me, looking into my face. She’s trying to read me. I know she is. I can smell the berry scent in her hair and the clean, fresh smell of some fruity lotion she uses on her skin. It’s like I can never get away from her fragrance. It’s in the bathroom we share at home. It’s on her sheets. It’s in her hair as she walks past me in the kitchen.

  She’s everywhere.

  I close my eyes and breathe it in for a second, losing myself in how she makes me feel. It’s the only good feeling—Lia is the only good feeling—I’ve had over the last year.

  Even compared to the MC, which is important to me.

  The MC means something to me, especially now that I know I can’t count on my actual brother. I mean, fuck. I need a brotherhood now more than ever, but nothing makes me feel the way she does. Even if the feelings and what we do and how we do it are all wrapped up in a secret.

  “Leo,” she asks. “Are you okay? Be real with me.”

  I step back from her all-too-knowing look. “Yeah,” I say. “You mean about Tim?”

  She nods, a shadow crossing over her eyes. “I know we haven’t talked about it much,” she says. “But, honey, he’s your brother. I can’t imagine what you’ve had to deal with, not hearing from him all this time. With everything that’s gone on with the business and now to find out that he’s out there. He’s talking to people…”

  “He’s not fucking talking to me,” I fill in.

  “Yeah,” she agrees. “That. I’m so sorry, Leo. I can’t imagine—”

  I cut her off. “Don’t worry ’bout it. Let’s focus on you. You have good news, great things are ahead. Your dad’s helping you out with school. You have a lot to be happy about, a lot to celebrate. And who knows? If Tim comes to dinner tonight, if Josh gets ahold of him like he said…”

  “What are you thinking?” she asks. “Are you gonna kick his face in?” Lia is quiet for a moment. “What if Tim wants to move home?”

  I hadn’t thought about that. I mean, up until a few minutes ago, I’d pretty much been assuming my brother was dead. I don’t know if alive and a total fucker is better than having him be gone forever. Dead. That’s not a thought I wanna linger on too long.

  “Don’t worry about that,” I reassure Lia. “Fuck him. He lost the right to live in that house a long time ago.”

  I feel strong as shit about that. Tim’s not going to come back into my life after everything he’s left me to deal with and kick out the one good thing I’ve managed to pull out of this shitshow—Lia.

  “Leo, good to see you again, man.” Josh grabs my hand and pumps it. He’s got a backpack slung over one shoulder.

  “Arrow.” I hold open the door and wave him in. “Just one for dinner?”

  I knew it.

  I mean, I have to admit, I hoped…a small part of me hoped that Tim didn’t show for dinner. I wasn’t sure I wanted to see him, to take out the last year’s emotions on him the way I knew I’d have to if he came through that door. But since he isn’t here, I don’t have to worry about what I might be tempted to do.

  “Sorry, man,” Josh says. He nods. “I texted him, but…”

  I nod. He doesn’t have to say any more. “Don’t worry about it. Have a seat.”

  I lead Josh into the living room. It’s fall, so I’ve got the windows of the house wide open. It’s cool outside, and I have chicken marinating in the fridge.

  “You want something to drink?” I ask. “I asked Lia to pick up more beer on her way home. She’ll turn up in about an hour, and there’s a chance she’ll remember the beer. I’ve got a couple cold ones, though, if you’re drinking?”

  “I’m all right, man.” He looks uncomfortable. He hasn’t sat down, and he’s looking around the house like he’s not really in the mood to be here.

  I jerk my chin at him. “What’s up? Something on your mind?”

  He sets down the backpack and starts unzipping it. “I’m not planning on staying for dinner, Leo. This is a business call.”

  “Business?” I drop down onto the couch and motion for him to sit. “We talkin’ about the office space?”

  Arrow shakes his head. “’Fraid not, man.”

  “I’m not following.”

  “I’m here as a courtesy,” Arrow says. “I feel really bad for you, Leo. I want you to know none of this is personal.”

  I’m not sure where this is going, but when he pulls a manila folder out of his backpack, my blood starts running ice-cold.

  “What’s that?” I ask.

  He holds the folder out for me to take.

  I grab it and flip it open, starting to look through a stack of paperwork. I see a lot of names and information I recognize—and a whole lot of shit I don’t understand. “Fuck me. This is about Tim…” I’m finally piecing it together.

  He nods. “Leo, again, man, if I’d had any idea about everything going on… Well, this shit would have gone down different. Tim called me a while back. He was in trouble, arrested.”

  That explains a lot.

  That asshole was in jail this whole time? But Arrow is sounding like this is the beginning of a story I am not going to like the ending to.

  “He got himself into a lot of trouble, Leo. Serious shit. Seems like your brother was caught up in a small-time drug operation. He was dealing some new drug college kids are going crazy for. Tim got pinched. That’s when he called me.”

  I finger the business card stapled to the inside of the file folder.

  Joshua Aronowicz

  Licensed Florida Bail Agent

  Holy fuck.

  “All right. I know my brother’s a junkie. I didn’t know he was in business, though.” I’m looking through the paperwork, and I’m reading it. But I can’t fucking believe what I’m seeing. “So, what does all this mean? What does this have to do with you?” I ask.

  Arrow rubs his forehead, grimacing. “I need to find your brother, Leo. You need to find your brother.”

  I can hardly make out what Josh is saying. He’s saying the words and he’s explaining, but the blood rushes in my ears, making them ring, and it’s like I hear every other word.

  “Tim called me. He couldn’t post bail. He put up the house as collateral.”

  That’s the only word I need to hear to completely understand the gravity of the situation.

  Collateral.

  That’s how this all came down on my doorstep.

  That’s why Arrow showed up at the shop this morning. My brother gave Josh—not his old high school buddy Arrow, but fucking bail agent Josh Aronowicz—a call when he got arrested and couldn’t make bail. And he used the deed to our house as a get out of jail free card. He put up the house as collateral.

  “So, what…what happens now?” I ask. “Are you here to take my fucking house?” I ask the question, but my fists are clenched. I’m not about to be put out of my own goddamn home. The only thing I have left in this world. Not without a fight.

  Josh holds out his hands. “No, Leo. Calm down, man. We’re not there. Not yet. Let me explain.”

  I try to listen as Josh tells me what’s happened over the last few months.

  No wonder I haven’t heard from fuckin’ Tim. He got pinched and put the house up as collateral against $150,000 bail. A hundred and fifty K. I literally can’t believe what I’m hearing. Last I checked, our house was worth one-seventy, tops.

  “Do you take the whole house?” I demand. “What if it’s worth more than the bail?”

  Arrow shakes his head. “Won’t matter. When the house is put up as collateral, part of the deal isn’t to protect the accused’s assets. You won’t get a dollar-for-dollar refund if the house is worth more than Tim owes. If he doesn’t show up to court and I seize the house, you’ll get nothing.”

  God fucking damn my brother.

  “Why’d he call you?” I ask. “How did he even know to call you?”

  “Occupational hazard,” Arrow admits. “Most of us who are good at what we do, it’s not hard to find us. I’m sure when Tim got arrested, all he had to do was have his wife ask around. Bars, even the jails. You name it. The only place you’ll never find me is social media.”

  He tries to crack a joke, but it ain’t gonna land. I’m still tripping on something he said.

  “Wife?” What in the actual fuck? “Man, Tim’s not married. Or at least, he wasn’t.”

  Just when I stopped feeling like I needed to smash Tim’s face in, I wanted to smash Arrow’s face in. Now, I’m back to wanting to kill my brother again.

  “The marriage is legit, man, or at least as legit as a courthouse deal gets.” Josh shakes his head. “I think she’s his mule, honestly. I think he probably married her so she couldn’t testify against him. She’s the one who found me while Tim was locked up. But listen, Leo.”

  I lift my chin and grip the folder of paperwork in shaking fists.

  “There’s still a chance to save your house.”

  He makes it sound like a good thing. Like there’s any reason to feel hopeful in this mess.

  “Part of the deal when you work with a bail agent is doing whatever they require. Tim was supposed to check in with me twice a week, every single week, until the trial. When I didn’t hear from him Friday afternoon like I was supposed to, I called. Then I texted. But when he didn’t respond, that’s when I showed up at the building.”

  “Wait…” I look Josh over. “If Tim put up the house, why did you come to the strip mall? Why didn’t you come here first?”

  “Well, I didn’t know he didn’t own the place anymore. He told me you guys still had the shop and were working together.”

  That trips my interest. Tim had to know the building was about to be seized when he ran off a year ago. Why else would he have left? He may have been dealing drugs and on the run from me, but if he didn’t put up the building, he had to know that it wasn’t his anymore to stake against his bail.

  If he offered up the house, that meant he also had to know I was still here. And the way Josh explained it, it sounds like Tim might know I am still working at the shop. Unless telling Arrow we were both still working at the shop was an outright lie?

  It grates the shit out of me that this guy I haven’t seen since high school knows more about my brother and his business than I do.

  Josh looks apologetic. “I figured if he was still working, he’d be at work. That was my first stop.”

  “What if you hadn’t found me there? Then what?” I don’t think I want to know, but I have to ask.

  “Look, Leo. If I’d found Tim at the shop this morning, I would have checked in with him and reminded him of his duties until that court date. That would have been the last of it.”

  “Right,” I grit out. “But he wasn’t there.”

  Arrow nods. “This isn’t the first time someone lied to me to protect someone they love from the consequences of their actions.”

  “What are you talking about?” I stifle the urge to kick this asshole out of my house—while it still is mine.

  “Tim has to know that when he didn’t check in, I’d come looking for him.” Arrow shrugs. “He’s either sniffing around and will show up at some point, or he’s in the wind for good now.”

  Fucking great.

  “If he’s sniffing around, I think I’d know about it,” I said.

  Arrow shrugs. “Maybe. Maybe you would but wouldn’t feel right telling his bail agent about it.”

  “Are you fucking kidding me, man? You think I’m hiding Tim from you?”

  Arrow doesn’t say anything, but he looks me in the eyes, a challenge there.

  “I’m not gonna lie. I’m trying really hard not to bounce your ass out of my house,” I say. “But I’m acting civil because you’ve got the information I need. If you hadn’t shown up tonight, I might never even know that he’d put up the house. After what I’ve been through this last year, you can bet your ass, if I see my brother, you’ll be the first call I make.”

  Correction. The second.

  The first call would be for an ambulance. Somebody’s gonna need to stop the bleeding when I punch my brother in the face.

  “Look, Leo, I get that you’re hot right now, but there’s still a way to save the house.” He explains how the collateral against the bail bond works.

  It all makes sense to me, what Josh is saying, where he’s coming from. But there’s a problem.