It wouldn’t have been... unheard of, either. We hadn’t grown up in the best part of town, and I knew Bobby had friends who had landed themselves in jail for various reasons. Oh, Bobby definitely wouldn’t have him killed or whatever Dylan seemed to believe. All the same, I couldn’t help but worry.
And that worry was impossible to hide from my brother at our weekly dinner together.
After our drinks were brought to us, he frowned as he sat across the table. “You look upset,” he said flatly. “It wasn’t that asshole Dylan, was it?”
I tried not to smile as I shook my head. “No, of course not,” I said.
“You’re lying,” Bobby replied immediately. I knew better than to try to lie to him. Thankfully, Bobby didn’t jump to his feet to go find the other boxer. “What did he do?”
I sighed, staring down at the table and wondering where to start. To be honest, I didn’t want to reveal too much to my brother. Not because I was afraid of how he might react but simply because I wanted to keep our fling to myself. It felt more special that way. Besides, if I told Bobby that I was upset because Dylan clearly didn’t care about me the way that I did, he would only remind me that I knew better than to go chasing after some dumb boxer.
I looked up at Bobby and, before I knew it, the words spilled out of my mouth, “Are you or are you not involved in”—I waved my hand vaguely, trying to clue him in—“some sort of bad shit?”
Bobby stared at me for a long moment in complete silence and I wondered if he was furiously trying to come up with a lie to give me. He looked absolutely shocked that I had said anything. “What kind of bad shit are you talking about?” he finally asked, his tone serious, and my heart sank.
“God damn it, Bobby,” I said, starting to feel emotional—but whether I was sad or pissed off at him was anyone’s guess. I looked away from him, staring angrily out of the window. “I know you want to look out for both of us, but how could you get involved with something like that?”
“Like what?” Bobby asked flatly, clearly trying to figure out just how much I actually knew.
The truth was, I didn’t know much or anything, really. I wasn’t sure that Dylan knew more than I did, but he had said something about getting offed.
“Are you in a gang?” I asked him flatly, staring into his eyes. I knew that he would never be able to lie right to my face. We knew one another too well.
Bobby looked shocked by my accusation. “What?” he asked. “Of course not, Luce! Jesus, where the hell did you get that idea?”
I frowned at him. Was it possible that he was a better liar than I was giving him credit for?
Bobby rolled his eyes. “Come on,” he said. “You know me better than that. I swore I’d never go down that road.”
“Then what kind of bad stuff are you involved in?” I immediately shot back. Because there had to be something, or else he wouldn’t have been so cagey when I first started to question him.
“Not the kind of stuff that I can share with you,” he said firmly.
“Bobby,” I said warningly.
“Fine,” he snapped. He leaned in close. “I rigged the tournament, okay? I mean, not really, I just rearranged my fights so that I get all of my toughest competitors after they’ve come off a hard fight while I’m coming off an easy one.”
“What?” I asked in surprise. It was nothing that I would have expected, but it wasn’t the terrible things that Dylan believed him capable of.
Bobby shifted in his seat, looking embarrassed. “I know I shouldn’t have, but it’s the home crowd, and you know they’d like to see me win.”
I rolled my eyes. “You could have won fair and square,” I pointed out.
“I dunno, Luce,” Bobby said, shrugging. “I’m getting older. I’m starting to think about retirement.”
I stared at him for a moment and then burst out laughing. “Sure,” I said. “I’ll believe it when I see it.”
Bobby cracked a smile at that.
But there was something about all of this that still didn’t sit right. Why had Dylan been so sure that Bobby was involved in a gang? I doubted that he would have just made that up as a way to keep from seeing me again. After all, he had been sweet when I first showed up at the hospital. It didn’t seem like he was just trying to push me away.
Suddenly, a thought came to me. Was it possible that Bobby was the one who had started that rumor, to keep me away from Dylan? It would’ve been an easy way to drive him away from me. Look how well it had worked…
I recalled storming out of the hospital. I had rushed over, so worried about him, and I hadn’t even stayed long enough to check the scans and confirm that he was all right. I had just run away, refusing to listen to him. Yes, if this had been Bobby’s plan, it had worked flawlessly.
“Why are you so against me seeing Dylan?” I asked.
My brother grimaced and refused to meet my eyes. “You can do so much better than him,” he groaned.
“I like him,” I said firmly. “Anyway, it’s none of your business who I want to date. I’m an adult. I can make my own decisions.”
“I know you can,” Bobby said, trying to placate me. “But you know I’m always going to look out for you. You’re my sister.”
“Sure,” I said. “If he does anything, I’ll
