Something I’ll do with pride, for her.

So, I take a deep breath and say a silent fucking prayer to anyone who might hear.

I wish for my dad and Maybell to step up, because my brothers will need them more than ever after tonight.

I wish for my beautiful niece and the nephew I’ll never get to know... that they never question my love for them.

For Raven and Victoria, not to cry for me, because it’ll tear their men in two.

I wish for my... for my brothers not to hate me for this, even if I know they might, at least for a while.

I hope that they forgive me and never forget me, that they know how much it hurts to leave them.

That my girl, she’ll one day understand the choice I made tonight and why I had to make it.

That none of them feel the ache of my loss, but remember the good, if there’s good to be left behind.

That I fucking love them all with all I am.

A sharp breath escapes, a nervous, fucking petrified laugh following, but I force it away.

Brayshaws, we don’t fear, we don’t back down, and we refuse to lose.

And if there is one thing this world can’t afford to lose, it’s a soul like Brielle Bishop’s.

It would be a darker fucking place without her.

But me?

Me it can.

They can.

They’ll be okay.

My vision clouds, my cheeks growing wet.

“Tell your sister I’ll love her. Always.”

I scale the fucking fence, dropping to my feet seconds later, and when my eyes lift, my right foot planting a single step ahead of my left, they lock on to Leo’s.

He smiles wide, proud, the gun already in his hand.

It’s up to Bass now.

Leo readies himself with a grin. “I always knew you were the fool of the three.”

He pulls the trigger, firing off his last and final shot.

And my body hits the ground.

Goodbye, baby girl.

Chapter 37

Brielle

A muffled shot rings above the water right as I clasp my hand around the pole. I flip over with a loud and sharp gasp.

Leo stands wide-eyed, gun hanging in his hands.

“Brielle!” Is shouted in the darkness, and I recognize my brother’s voice, it’s closer now, but I can’t look away.

“Surprised?” I croak, slowly gliding my other hand over the pole.

Leo frowns.

“You know, you fooled me with the August/Leo thing. You got me. But bringing me here? It doesn’t take much to realize why, now that I know my brother was left to handle you.” I tip my head to the side. “Tell me, do you know what Leos fear?” I try to stay calm so I don’t sink, so I don’t black out, how I haven’t already, I don’t know, but I know it’s coming, color is already gone. “They fear being ignored, overlooked... forgotten.”

“Shut the fuck up!” He stiffens, his nostrils flaring.

“Do you know what lions fear?” I slowly swim closer to him.

“I said shut up!”

“Come on, it’s an easy one.”

“Girl, I will—”

“Human beings.”

His jaw sets, and then the lights above us flick on. His head tips back, and he squints, unable to see beyond the square he locked us inside.

The blonde from my brother’s car catches my eye at the edge of the fence line, where the light board is located, and something in me settles, the hint of uncertainty fading completely when footsteps follow.

Leo whips around to find Maddoc and Captain are standing there.

He jerks left, but more come from the other side. His head snaps right to find Micah, Mac, and Andre, but they’re all on the outside of the gate and we’re in here.

The gun points back to me.

I get a solid grip on the bar, my toes brushing the wall of the pool now. “Who will remember you after tonight, Leo?”

He growls, now at the very edge of the pool’s side.

With all my might, I yank on the pole he still holds on to, and into the pool he falls, and this time, there will be no one to help him climb out.

I quickly kick-off, spearing myself across the water so that there’s no possibility of him reaching me, but the tiny bit of relief is short-lived, because then I hear their jarring cries.

I whip around, only halfway to the edge, and my body ceases.

Royce lies on the ground.

His brothers rushing to his side.

It happens in slow motion, they fall to their knees beside him, their eyes growing wide, instant tears and deep screams following, but it’s when my brother’s wretched expression finds mine that I double over.

His jaw tight and his chin falls to his chest.

There’s a loud cry, and I think it’s mine, the screams too, but suddenly everything inside me is numb, so I can’t be sure.

I can’t even breathe.

And with my next blink, can no longer see.

The darkness takes over, and then the water.

I start to sink, and I don’t care to find my way to the surface.

Not if his eyes won’t be there waiting for me.

Not if I can no longer seek out his touch, hear his voice, or feel the depths of his heart.

Not if he’ll never reach for me again and pull me into his open and wanting arms.

Not if his love is gone.

As I sink to the bottom, and the blackness takes over, his eyes appear behind mine.

Suddenly, everything is right, because he’s right here.

He’s with me.

You die, I die, baby.

That’s what I tell him.

And tonight, under the summer moon we lay beneath, in the town we were born in, surrounded by the people that we love...

We let go of the hurt, and the pain, and the ache, and we do it together.

I love you, Royce Brayshaw.

Always.

Chapter 38

Bass

I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve cried in my life, and today, looking down at my baby sister’s beautiful face, it’s number four.

When I think back on our lives, the pain we lived, the darkness we saw, the end result, as much as it hurts to admit, was inevitable, but the path toward it, I’d never have fucking guessed.

All my life, all I ever wanted was to protect my sister, to make sure she understood how important she was to me, as a good brother would, but somehow, with those thoughts constantly sitting in the back of my mind, I dropped the ball. And this is where it brought me.

To the goodbye.

I failed her in more ways than I can count, failed myself, and I’ll never forget it.

Never ever forgive myself for it.

But I will be better for it. Because of it.

The memory of what happened here will never leave me, and the nightmares will only get worse, but I’ll find comfort in knowing my baby sister isn’t alone.

That she’ll be loved, no matter where she is.

That she’ll be safe and without fear.

That no one can ever hurt her again.

And if they tried, they’d have a hell of a fucking wall to get through to do it.

Because my baby sister... she’s no Bishop.

She’s Brayshaw.

Through and fucking through.

Chapter 39