SafetyInNumbers-Final Read Free

again so he’d have to find a way to fake it.
    One thing he’d come to realize about his brother was that helping others was a mission and while the men who were going through the halfway house were grateful, their interactions were mostly with Jared. When they left, it would be Jared they thanked, his advice and support they would have relied on, and Bull would be nothing more than the name on the bottom of their paperwork. Not that he was doing it for the gratitude, or at least Owen didn’t think he was, but Bull deserved that gratitude from his brother. As for Billy, when Bull extended that helping hand further and offered him a job in his garage, something he hadn’t done for anyone else at the halfway house, it was a huge show of trust.
    Being trusted was something Billy desperately needed, even Owen could see that, and he lived in fear of fucking up every day. It was part of why he was floundering, because he didn’t see how dependable, reliable, and trustworthy he was. Even in the gang, he was the one they could count on to do his job, never to snitch, and to take the fall without complaint. It didn’t matter that it was for the wrong people in the worst possible circumstances, at the heart of it Billy was steadfast to the core. If he could learn to trust himself to make the right decisions, choose the right people to support under worthwhile circumstances, he’d be a force to be reckoned with.
    Owen looked at Maddie and Kieran’s house and knew these were the right people under the right circumstances. The issues he had were of his own making, not his parents or his siblings, and they were the perfect people to give Billy purpose. “I know I haven’t been the reliable one in this relationship, but I promise you that this is where we’re both supposed to be. We’re not the same men who went to prison and those people in there aren’t going to look at us like a couple of ex-cons. Not because I’m their brother, but because they are just good people with accepting hearts. I don’t want to let them down, do you?”
    “No, I just...no, but that’s what I usually wind up doing.”
    “That’s why we’re doing it together. Look, I know I was the last thing you were looking for in prison and taking care of me has been a full time job. I don’t have many ways to return that favor, but I can share my family with you.” Owen smiled at the immediate scowl on Billy’s face. He would deny it with his last breath, but Owen knew he’d clung like a leech to the man and that he’d taken so much more than he’d given. Before Billy could object, Owen leaned in and pressed a chaste kiss to that frowning mouth. It wasn’t sexual—they had already tried and discarded that as a potential part of their relationship. It was comfort, plain and simple.
    “You’ve brought no end of trouble since you came into my life,” Billy grumbled even as he grabbed Owen by the back of the neck and brought him in close. With their foreheads pressed together, he could see the effort it took for Billy to come to terms with their new reality.
    “I know.” Billy might have been joking, but Owen knew it was the truth. “Now let me bring you some peace.”
    “Owen, you know I was teasing.” Billy hated when he put himself down and he really tried not to do it in front of him. It would be giving himself too much credit to say the he tried not to do it at all, but doing it for Billy felt more important than doing it for himself. “Whether I was looking for you or not, you’re really important to me.”
    “No matter what happens, this friendship will be the one constant we can count on.” Owen felt that promise in his bones. They were rebuilding from scratch and even with the support of his estranged family, the task felt daunting at best. The only thing he was sure of was that he and Billy made a good team and if they held each other up, they’d have a better chance of surviving this new life they’d been given. Truth was,