Flashes of Madigan gazing lustfully up at him warred with images of his sister crumpling to the ground beside his best friend’s lifeless body and his horrified ex walking away like he was yesterday’s trash. He gritted his teeth against the surge of emotions pushing through his veins. Sadness, regret, and anger tangled together, twisting and knotting, making his chest constrict and his skin feel too tight. He lowered his chin, cranking up his speed, but even the roar of the engine couldn’t drown out his sister’s wails.

He drove until the pain wasn’t deafening and the past felt a little farther away, and then he drove farther. But the draw of the sister he’d practically raised clawed at him, too strong to leave behind, and as he’d done a dozen times before, he turned his fucking bike around, driving two hours back to the Cape.

He crossed the bridge, but instead of heading for his apartment, he remained in Bourne, winding through the streets of his youth, memories impaling him, their warmth annihilated by the sharp, cold reality of what had come later. Drowning in emotions, he made his way out of that residential neighborhood, driving to the place he’d never seen in the light of day.

As the dark of night gave way to a hint of dawn, he sat in front of the cedar-sided rambler nestled among hydrangeas and tiger lilies behind a white picket fence, his heart aching for what he’d never have.

Chapter Six

TOBIAS LEANED BENEATH the hood of an old Cadillac, trying to concentrate on work, but his thoughts kept trampling back to Blue Eyes, just as they’d been doing for the last two days. He uttered a curse as the other mechanic’s dog, Cheddar, a six-year-old Labrador mix, leaned against his leg.

Kent sauntered over. “Dude, did you just curse at my dog?”

“Nah, man. Coincidence.” He wiped his hands on a rag and reached down to pet the mutt, who had been hanging around him all morning. “What’s up with you today, buddy?”

Cheddar sat beside him, snout tipped up, and Tobias swore the dog, who always seemed to be smiling, was looking at him with concern.

“He’s used to you being quiet or ornery, depending on the situation,” Kent said. “But you’ve been giving off a pretty negative vibe the last couple of days, and I guess he senses it. Anything you want to talk about?”