“Ty, I don’t care about Shift. You know that.”

He sighed. Then he stated, “Another reason to quit the game. Sometimes men f**k up, do that shit, you can’t be the man who lets it slide. Not my favorite thing to do. With Shift, he’s such a piece of shit, gotta say, I didn’t mind but the effort it took. Didn’t mess around, my message left him breathing if not standing. Delays getting my money I have to wait for the end of a hospital stay.”

“I’m surprised about that,” I said quietly to the windshield. “Ronnie usually took Shift’s back.”

“Can’t offer you an explanation, baby,” Ty replied quietly. “Didn’t hear shit about Rodriguez when I was down there, that wasn’t exactly my world but I’m at a table, I don’t care whose money I’m taking just as long as they’re good for it. Maybe he hid that shit from Rodriguez. Losin’ that bad, he’d not wanna spread that around. He’d wanna keep it quiet, save his rep from takin’ that hit.”

“Yeah, that sounds like Shift.”

“’Cause that is Shift.”

I fell silent and experienced the smooth ride of the car, listened to the growl of the engine, eyes to the wide, two lane road ahead of us, the beauty of Colorado all around thinking he’d shared. As I sat there silent, I waited but he didn’t ask for his take. I’d asked him a question, he gave me the answer and there it was.

Yes, Lady Luck was feeling generous.

Hesitantly, scared shitless the Lady would turn on me and strike, I pushed my luck.

“So, you made friends in prison?”

“One,” he answered and I felt the beat of my heart ease because he answered.

“Just one?”

“Not a social club, Lexie.”

“Right,” I said softly.

And, surprisingly, he kept talking. “Name’s Julius. Julius Champion, you believe that shit.”

“That’s a great name,” I told him.

Ty didn’t respond.

“What was he, um… in for?”

“Manslaughter.”

“Oh God,” I whispered and then I heard it.

Ty chuckled.

My eyes moved quickly to him firstly because I was shocked and secondly because I didn’t want to miss it.

It was good I didn’t miss it, his beautiful lips curved, his face relaxed in humor, amazing.

Still.

“Manslaughter is funny?”

“No,” he stated firmly, all humor gone and my heart started beating hard because, before I left Texas, I knew this one thing about Ty. Shift had shared this. Shift had delighted in doing it because that was Shift.

I knew voluntary manslaughter was what Ty had been sent down for.

And he would not find that funny.

“Sorry,” I said.

“I was laughin’, baby,” he started gently, “’cause Julius walked into his sister’s house and saw her man takin’ his fists to her. He lost his mind and beat the life outta him. You sounded scared. Men, they got reason to be scared of Julius. He’d never hurt a woman. I know this ‘cause, on the outside, he’s got three, they’re all devoted, they all visit him regularly. The bitches f**kin’ carpool.”

This was so crazy, and funny, I felt laughter bubble up and then it bubbled out. I watched Ty’s lips tip back up.

My heart again eased.

Then I looked forward and asked, “Why do men have reason to be scared of Julius?”

“He jacks cars for a living.”

My head swiveled back to look at him. “What?”

“He jacks cars for a living. Don’t know much about his business but, according to him, there’s turf wars. You wanna be successful, you gotta learn how to take care of yourself, protect your territory.” He glanced at me then back at the road. “He’s an inch taller than me and twenty pounds heavier. Man sees that and that man knows Julius knows how to use his fists and body, smart thing for any of them to do is be cautious. Smart thing for any of them who f**k him is be scared and run. Smartest thing is not to f**k him.”

I looked back at the road. “Sounds like a good friend to have.”

“He was. He took my back, I took his.”

“How does he know Shift?”

“He’s from Texas. Something happened, things got hot there, he moved his business to LA. Better trade for him there anyway. Took his family with him, he’s a family man, sister got hooked up with an ass**le. Julius took care of him and is doin’ his time. It isn’t his favorite thing to do but he didn’t complain. Worth it to him. His sense of justice is whacked. His sense of loyalty isn’t. I found the amount of loyalty he’s got balances out the other.”

“So are you going to keep in touch with him?” I asked.

“Never lose touch with Julius,” he answered. “Sucks how we forged our bond but we did it and, you got a bond like that, you don’t lose it.”

“You liked him,” I noted quietly.

“We were in prison, Lex, and he took my back. He’s six foot seven and weighs two hundred thirty pounds. That’s a good man to be at your back. But that place, it’s populated but in there, you are alone, very alone. That is, you’re alone unless you got a brother. We became brothers. We played ball together. We worked out together. We ate together. Honest to God, wasn’t for him, probably woulda lost my mind.”

My heart didn’t feel easy anymore. My heart squeezed.

“Ty,” I whispered.

“No f**kin’ with you, bein’ in there and why I was, it wasn’t for Julius keepin’ me sane, I woulda lost my mind.”

“You don’t have to talk about this,” I told him.

“Yeah, I do, baby, I don’t, I’d lose my mind. Learned that and how I did was from Julius.”

My head turned to him and I saw his arm straight, fingers curled around the wheel, muscles bunched with tension.

“It’s over now,” I reminded him softly.

“Yeah,” he agreed and those muscles stayed bunched.

“You’re going to a garden center,” I pointed out. “Free to drive your kickass car on a Sunday to a garden center. It’s over.”

“Yeah,” he repeated with no release of those muscles.

I reached out and wrapped my fingers around his bicep, saying gently, “It would suck, you bent that steering wheel into a U.”

He took in breath and when he let it out, his elbow bent and the tension went out of his arm.