Page 95 of The Beat of My Heart
Chapter 33
-With a Little Help from My Friends, The Beatles
Loki
3 Months Later
Fuck, my leg is throbbing today. Black’s fucking sidekick did a number on me before I could escape. It was worth it, though, because all the people I care about are safe. Or they were until this latest intel came through.
“What the hell could Romero need Trevor for so badly that he is willing to risk his life to get in touch with him?” I whisper to an empty room.
Not that I’ll ever let that happen. I vowed to keep these guys safe the day I found out my own flesh and blood were trying to ruin them. It’s what sent me this route. I’d always thought I’d be a surgeon. The thought makes me laugh now.
I threw plans for becoming a surgeon by the wayside the second I heard my older half-brothers discussing how best to take down the Princes of Waverley-Cay. It didn’t take long to figure out they were talking about my three best friends. At fifteen years old, I didn’t know yet that my family was dangerous. I didn’t realize I was being groomed to one day help take over the wicked world of my father’s business. I definitely didn’t know that because I was my father’s bastard child, they’d turn on me the first chance they got.
I’d hoped Miles was different. That he had been young enough to be spared, but combing through the file on my desk, I now know that was wishful thinking on my part. The only way to ensure the innocent lives of my friends and their new families is to take out the rest of my own.
Is this a lonely life? Yes. But it is one that I chose to keep innocent people safe. Dexter and Trevor often talk about chosen families. They, along with Preston, are mine. Since I have now inherited their wives and children as well, the pressure is on. I’ll stop at nothing to ensure their safety. They never asked for this life, they never did anything to deserve what my family wants to do to them either.
I’ll admit, the girls are a hiccup I wasn’t expecting. Lanie and Julia, yes. I orchestrated every part of their current relationships. I wasn’t prepared to find out that one of their own, Lanie’s near-identical cousin, was engaged to my half-brother, Miles Black. This is a complication that needs to be handled delicately. I just haven’t figured out the best way to do it yet.
What I do know is that I need to speak with Trevor as soon as possible.
Chapter 34
-Monsters, Eric Church
Trevor
“Trevor!” I hear Julia’s exasperated voice, “He has to feed himself. You cannot keep doing everything for him,” she explains, again.
I know he needs to figure things out on his own, but I’ve missed so much. Perhaps I am overdoing it a little, though. Placing his pasta on the tray of his highchair, I step back with my hands in the air. “Okay, okay, you got me,” I joke.
Walking to me, I open my arms and embrace her. Our life is remarkably normal right now, and I’ve never been happier.
“What do you have going on today?” she asks.
“I have to go see Loki, but I should only be gone about an hour,” I tell her.
Loki finally made it home a few weeks ago, but won’t talk about where he was or what was going on. He’s walking with a slight limp now that most people wouldn’t notice, but those of us who love him do. Whatever he went through, his body hasn’t fully recovered yet.
“What about you, Angel? Are you going to the hospital to see Lanie?” I ask.
“Yeah, Preston and his mom are coming by to watch the kids, and my parents will come over in about an hour, then I’ll head over. Can you believe the babies will get to come home soon? I’m so thankful they’re doing so well,” she says.
Lanie has had a brutal pregnancy. Guilt eats away at me every time I think of Julia going through that without me. She promises she had an easy pregnancy, but I’m learning my Angel has a way of taking care of everyone else and sugar coating her own needs.
Kissing her head, I say, “Me too, Angel. Give them all kisses for me. I’ll be back in a couple of hours to help with all the kids.”
Between Lanie and Dexter’s three at home, their two recent additions, and Charlie, this property is exploding with children. I keep meaning to talk to Julia about getting our own place, but we’ve been putting it off. There’s too much happening around us at the moment. Soon, though.
* * *
Pullingup to Loki’s building, I give the security guard my name and he lets me through. Parking next to his car, I take the elevator up to the tenth floor. Preston lives in the penthouse of this building, which always makes me laugh. These two could not live more unconventional lives if they tried.
Raising my hand to knock, Loki opens the door.
“Do you have cameras in every inch of this building or what?” I ask. “You know its creepy as fuck when you do shit like that?”
