"He's my brother," he insisted, but God -- she didn't have any reason to lie. She looked up to Joseph just as much as he did. Maybe even more so, since there was no real blood between them, no real chance for petty sibling rivalries. But -- but this was Joseph -- he wouldn't. He couldn't see him as dangerous. His worst vice was the drinking, and even with it he wasn't a threat, and his occasional streaks of bad temper? They weren't that terrible -- his bark was worse than his bite.

He sunk back against the wall he'd been leaning against, voice nothing more than a whisper now as he repeated himself. "He's my brother."