Page 175 of Brutal Collateral

Isit in my livingroom waiting for the budget vote. It’s being broadcast on C-SPAN. The senators are busy gathering in the chamber, talking and making their deals.

Ares showed up and has been quiet as usual, when he’s not leaving the room to take calls.

Shane and Connor arrived a few minutes earlier. Shane looks worried because he’s pragmatic, and likes things in order. I can’t read Connor, who I worry if this fails, will get on our plane, fly to DC, and start murdering people.

Me? I’m staying neutral as my eyes drift to the only thing that matters right now.

Ava. And the baby she’s carrying. Mine.Bothof them. I only want what’s best for her.Sheis my family.

We’ve not announced the pregnancy and my brothers also don’t know that I’ve taken my promise to let her go in three months off the table. I think they can tell I’m head over heels for her, so it won’t be much of a shock when we make our announcements. For now, it’s our secret.

I’ve not kept many secrets from them. But I’m not their brother first anymore. I’m Ava’s husband.

“They’re starting,” my wife says, cranking the remote so we can hear.

The muted hum of C-SPAN fills the air, and the steady roll call of senators present to cast their votes echoes a symphony of names I don’t know. This is just another vote for these lawmakers. To me, today is a culmination of months of meetings, kissing ass, and veiled threats.

But whatever the outcome of this vote, nothing will change what Ava and I have. What we built together in the last four months as a couple. What we smashed down our walls for so we could come together and admit we need each other.

I sit on the edge of the white leather sofa, my fingers steepled under my chin, watching the screen. The room reaches a suffocating palpable tension, the weight of this vote pressing down on every breath around me.

Ava sits next to me, her hand slipping between my legs, gripping my inner thigh. Her posture is soft though, like she’s also going through the motions, pretending to care about this. Her sable eyes flick between the screen and me until she finally rests her head on my shoulder.

Connor and Shane sit perched in armchairs, coiled energy radiating from them. Their eyes are glued to the television. But opposite my brothers, Ares stands, a study in controlled emotion.

The success of the Greek Mafia, now firmly in his hands, depends on this vote as much as ours does. It is the vehicle of lasting peace for the next few years while we manage this project together.

Ares isn’t watching the vote, though. His eyes are squarely set on Ava and me. How close we’re sitting, her hands on me, how she looks like she adores me.

His jaw ticks and his dark eyes sharply watch us until a faint smirk builds on his lips. Only, I’m not sure what he’s happy about. That we’ve fallen for each other? Or that he thinks because I’ve fallen in love with his sister, he can use her against me.

Me? I’m not worried about that. At. All.

He appeared to enjoy thrusting a woman I didn’t want at me. I twisted that. It will be interesting to see how he handles love when it’s his turn.

The roll call starts, and when it reaches the M’s, my gut tightens. Shane hacked into the Senatewhips’ computers for each side and concluded this would come down to a tie, with only one undecided.

Kyle Miller.

The man tipping the scale in either direction is a career politician and the father of our enemy, Rand Miller.

The vote starts as a camera perched high up in the rafters stays on the Senate President pro tempore. She uses a podium to call out senators’ names in alphabetical order.

“Mrs. Ahern?”

“Aye.”

“Mrs. Ahern votes Aye.”

I look at my brothers, inwardly chuckling that they use ‘aye’ for yes in theUnited StatesCongress.

“Mr. Azir?”

“No.”

“Mr. Azir votes No. Mr. Bronson?”

“No.”

---