Page 5 of Cursed Luck
Edward stared at his brothers and brother-in-law. He was truly surprised they had been aware of him. So much had happened, and he hadn’t been around for a lot of it. Unlike some of them, he had no defensive powers that could help in some standoff with a demon, werewolf, or whatever else existed. He always stood on the outside looking in, and the last year had caused him to become more distant.
“Eddie,” Junior said, using his nickname growing up. “You’ve always been the loner of the family, and we’ve always respected the space you need. But don’t think for a second it’s because it’s what we want. We’ve missed you, and it’s time you quit hiding.”
Thin arms wrapped around his waist before Debbie’s head peeked out from behind him. “What these buffoons are trying to say is we love you, Edward.”
He couldn’t stop the grin as he pulled her tightly against him and kissed the top of her head. “Love you too, Debs.”
Andrea snuck under his other arm and smiled up at him. “No more hiding.”
He nodded. “No more hiding. Love you.”
“Love you too. Now does anyone else think a certain lady would be kind of perfect for our Eddie?” Andrea giggled.
“Baby! I told you not to!” James snapped.
“You did, and I never agreed to shit,baby,” she said with a roll of her eyes. “Plus, dead or alive, we can’t ignore what your dad said.”
Edward tensed at her words and the room stilled. “Dad?”
James sighed as everyone faced him. “Dad comes by often. Most of the time, he doesn’t say anything, but a few weeks ago, he told us the final mate was found. At first, I thought it was Vanessa,” he said, with a nod toward Carter’s girlfriend who was watching them from the couch with Claudia. “But it didn’t make any sense because, as far as I knew, Edward hadn’t met anyone.”
“I’ve also been having dreams and visions,” Ethan replied, his voice barely above a whisper.
Edward stared at them and shook his head. “Look, I’m thrilled all of you have found your other halves, but love outside this family is not in the cards for me, and I’m okay with it.”
“What’s your power?” James asked, his voice hard.
“Luck. Well, notmyluck. Luck for others. It’s why I’m so good at what I do. I make others money and help them improve.”
Movement under his left arm made him peer down at Andrea, who was shaking her head vehemently. “No, honey. Luck isn’t really a power, but you know what is?”
“What?” he snapped, wishing for the first time that he’d left rather than stay for their bullshit.
“Intuition,” Ethan said. “Your power is sister to mine. I may dream and see things, but youfeelthem. When you help your clients, you justknowwhat to do for them. It’s like a hulked-out version of a gut feeling. After Dad died, you told me you woke up and just knew he was gone. You thought it was a weird feeling and asked me how you could have known. We didn’t know then what we know now. Even I was aware I could use my ability to check up on you guys, but I wasn’t willing to share it with you at the time.”
Edward remembered that day vividly. Or, rather, that night. It had been the strangest sensation to feel someone you loved passed without actually knowing it to be true.
“You were the one who said I’d be a great PI,” Junior said.
“You bought the café because you wanted Brandy to take it on,” Ryan said.
Andrea moved to James’s side. “You told us flipping houses would be the next big thing because people wanted to stay closer to downtown.”
“You got into business because you offered some men advice on companies you thought would succeed, and they came back and hired you.” Junior chuckled. “Don’t you see, Eddie? You’ve always guided this family through your intuition.”
“Now use it to find your mate, because she’s out there,” Ryan stated as the back door opened and Brandy, Serena, and Mia stepped inside.
“What’s going on?” Brandy asked, pushing into the circle.
“Nothing, just a family chat,” Ryan said and pulled her against him.
“Where’s Gia?” she asked, looking around.
“I got her,” Claudia called.
Brandy nodded before staring at Edward. “If this is a family chat, you should have called us in.”
Edward moved to her and kissed her forehead. “Everything’s okay. Calm down.”
