Free Wild Card by Lora Leigh

harassment. Then he started getting ugly. He wanted the garage worse than he
    wanted her though. Tried to turn the town against her for a while, but that didn't work out too
    well. You had too many friends. Once she pulled her ass out of grieving for a man that just
    didn't want to come home, she threw herself into the business and pulled it back up. She does
    good now."
    "Keep sniping at me, Rory, and you're not going to be able to walk for a while."
    Rory snorted. He was quiet for long minutes before saying, "Grandpop went to your grave
    today. Usually he just walks out and talks to Grandma. But today, he went to your headstone
    and just stood looking down at it."
    Noah didn't want to hear this. He pushed the rage and pain back inside himself and continued to
    watch Duncan prowl the kitchen.
    "Strange thing about Grandpop, I just never figured it out until now."
    "He didn't grieve," Noah answered for him.
    Hell, he should have known better than to think he could fool the old man. Jordan should have
    known better. Grandpop had always known what was going on before it ever happened.
    "That's true." Rory nodded. "Not even once. And not like Sabella did. I used to stay up at the house some. She would wake me up every night screaming your name, swearing there was
    blood on her hands, or swearing you were hurt. Begging me to save you."
    Rory jumped to his feet. "Screw this. I'm going home."
    "She was right."
    He felt Rory still.
    "What?" his brother asked carefully.
    "She was right. I was hurt, Rory. Damned bad. And by the time I was rescued, I was barely
    alive." He watched Sabella walk into the room and smile at Duncan.
    The other man finished his wine, kissed her cheek, and they headed for the door. Duncan's
    hand was at the small of her back, touching her, leading her. Damn, Noah was going to enjoy
    killing him.
    He pulled the binoculars away from his face and stared at the house silently for long minutes
    before turning back to Rory.
    "Grandpop should have grieved," he told him, his voice low. "Because the man I was died in a cell in a rotting jungle. Her husband, your brother. Son and grandson. It all died inside me,
    Rory. I'm not the man I was, and I never will be."
    Rory gazed back at him for long moments. "That's not what happened," he finally said. "All of you didn't die, Noah. Trust me. All that stupid, testosterone-driven, arrogant-bastard pride of
    yours that you always hid from Sabella is still alive and breathing." Rory shot him a scornful
    look. "That part survived just fine."
    Noah's lips quirked at that. Maybe, in a way, Rory was right there. He'd always hid parts of
    himself from those he loved, but Rory was a Malone, he knew that side of himself just as he
    knew the side Nathan had held back. Until now. That dark inner core, the dominant arrogance
    and powerful will had always been kept hidden, toned down. He had been civilized. Noah
    wasn't civilized.
    "Follow them," he ordered Rory.
    "Do what?" Rory exclaimed, outraged shock in his eyes. "What, you want her to kill me or
    something?"
    "Do you want me to kill you?" Noah was in his face, his voice low, demanding. "Which one of us can hurt you more?"
    He wouldn't really hurt Rory. Hell, that was his kid brother. He almost grinned at the man his
    brother had grown into. He felt affection. Fondness. Where Noah had felt next to nothing
    emotionally, for years, he now felt flooded with emotions. Emotions that tore at his control,
    that made a mockery of the years behind him.
    Rory shook his head, his hands propped on his hips, as he lifted his gaze to the heavens. "I
    pray. I go to mass. I even remember to respect my elders and help little old ladies across the
    street. What the hell did I do to deserve this?"
    Noah clapped his hand on the younger man's shoulder. "You breathe, Rory. Remember that.
    When Malones breathe, shit happens. It's cosmic. It's their fate."
    "You suck, man." Rory grimaced. "Bella's gonna kill me."
    "Beats me killing you," Noah grunted. "I