Well, the man did get something in the form of his life flashing before his eyes.
He dropped his phone and whipped around while glaring daggers at me after he’d finally calmed down enough to settle back into his own skin.
Why me?
Because Easton was doubled over in his seat, unseen from where he was now hiding.
The biker bent over to pick up his phone, looked at the cracked screen, then glared harder at me.
I licked my lips nervously as I punched Easton in the side.
He groaned and sat up, and I couldn’t even feel bad about hurting him.
The moment that Easton popped up, the biker’s eyes traveled to him and changed.
One second, he was pissed as hell and likely about to kill me, and the next completely relaxed.
As I was watching the change take over him, Easton bailed out of the truck and rounded the hood, stopping in front of the biker to throw his arms around him.
“Does the man actually have broken ribs?” I wondered idly.
I got out, finding the two still in an embrace.
Come to find out, a brotherly embrace.
“Where you been, bro?” Trouper asked, surprising me with his words.
Brother.
Trouper and Easton were brothers.
Holy shit, I could see it now in the strong builds of their jaws. Their noses. And their facial features.
“Workin’,” Easton supplied. “What are you doing here?”
And his words sent my stomach to my knees.
“We got a tip,” Trouper said as he looked at me curiously. “That a girl driving a tricked-out black eighteen-wheeler was trafficking child victims.”
A sourness entered my stomach that scared me.
“Are you fucking joking right now?” I found myself asking, despite knowing he was as far from joking as a single person could be.
“No,” he answered. “We had it narrowed down to your truck and another truck.” He hesitated. “We had another guy checking the back of yours. That’s why I was in front. To keep you from driving away.”
I hadn’t even seen the person at the back of the truck.
But now that I was paying attention, I could see that my damn doors were open on the trailer.
“Fuck. I should’ve known. Based on all the looks we were getting inside from all the truckers.” Easton shook his head as he stared up at his brother with a grimace. “You’re not going to like this, but… it’s Sareen. Yesterday, she had a cop checking, too. If that’s what he was checking for, though...”
“Then he deserved to be mad,” I finished for him. “It’s completely justifiable to be upset that someone’s getting away with possibly sex trafficking someone.”
The horror.
The thought that anyone, even some cop that I’d probably never see again, thought that I was that kind of sick person…
“What?” Trouper asked. “Sareen? Really?”
The way Easton’s brother said it meant he didn’t believe him.
Which pissed me off.
Because Easton never lied. He was an upstanding member of society and an adult. What would he have to lie about?
He grinned at the sigh that I’d inadvertently allowed to slip out, then turned to his brother and started talking.
It didn’t start with a few days ago, however, when he’d been hurt.
It started earlier than that. Earlier than me. Or, at least, what I’d been aware of, anyway. Apparently, I’d been his object of obsession for some time.
Which warmed my heart even more.
“Bruno. Trouper. This is Banger. Banger, this is Bruno, and my brother, Trouper.” He sighed. “It started with you introducing me to Sareen, then us going out on a date, yeah?” Easton raised his brow as if he was waiting for confirmation that his brother was clear on where this story was starting.