Page 37 of The Fortunate Ones
Brooks pouted good-naturedly, not actually upset. “I knowww. All the good stuff happens when I’m not with you.”
I stalked over to him, fingers automatically lacing in his hair to hold him in place for an almost indecent kiss, given our current company. “You were in a brawl just a month ago,” I reminded him.
“Doesn’t count.” He grinned and then pecked my lips. “Can we meet our newest member in this madhouse now?”
On cue, Wes stepped out, whispering something to Everett. I could practically feel the kid’s nerves from here, but he managed to get out of the back without Wes’s help. As soon as he was, though, he pushed his back against the door, arms around himself protectively. His eyes were wide as they bounced from Matty to Brooks then back again. If the isolated boy was confused by Skye, well, that seemed to be increased tenfold by Brooks. I would imagine he hadn’t seen many people who looked like him in his life.
Today, Brooks hadn’t styled his hair, so it framed his head in messy blond curls. It was getting a little long and fell into his eyes and below his ears. He was wearing his usual tank top, this one a pink and purple tie-dye that said,You call me brat, but I prefer princess,with a golden princess crown under the words. He was wearing his day collar, obviously, but he also had on a thicker one that was just jewelry. It was made of pink faux leather and had metal spikes, like the type of thing you sometimes saw on pit bulls and Dobermans. I actually wondered if it was a dog collar. He was wearing regular basketball shorts with his high-top Pride Converse and blue knee-high socks with little rainbows holding coffee cups on them.
If Brooks was at all put out by Everett’s staring, he didn’t let it show. He grinned at the kid. “Hey, I’m Brooks. I’m the cool one.”
“O-okay. Hi. You have a lot of tattoos,” Everett blurted out, then covered his mouth when he realized what he’d said.
Brooks threw out his arms to the side, showing them off. “I know. I have a lot more than you can see now too. Pretty awesome, right?”
“Uh, yeah? I’ve never seen ones like yours. Mr. Verlice and some of his men had them, but they weren’t that colorful.”
Mr. Verlice. I made a mental note to look more into him later. We knew, from Diego’s digging, that the Crimson Rose had more or less held Everett captive, using him as their personalcomputer. How his aunt and uncle had gotten involved with them, I had no idea. I wasn’t familiar enough with the local Crimson Rose syndicate to know any of the major players’ names.
I didn’t want to overwhelm Everett with that now. I met Luca’s eyes, and we had an unspoken conversation on how to proceed. “Brooks, can you and Skye help me unload?” Luca asked.
“Sure.” Brooks turned his attention back to Everett. “I know it’s hard to believe, but you’ll be safe here.” He bounded off to help.
“This is our son, Matty,” Wes introduced. Matty flushed like he always did when we called him that, but he didn’t deny it.
“Hey.” He waved kind of awkwardly.
Everett chewed on his lip as he took in Matty. “Hey,” he finally replied.
“C’mon, let’s get you settled. Maybe Matty can show you your room?” Wes offered.
“Yeah, definitely. C’mon, Everett. I asked them to put you next to me. I thought you might feel more comfortable there. We’ll share a lounge. It’s really badass. They have all the gaming systems. Do you like playing video games?”
Matty took Everett’s hand and started to drag him out of the garage and into the house. I barely heard his response before the door clicked shut. “I’ve never played them.”
I could only imagine Matty’s indignation. Wes laughed, and the two of us followed behind the teenagers, wondering what the hell we had gotten ourselves into.
CHAPTER 14
BROOKS
As much asI would’ve liked to spend time with Luca since he’d just gotten back, it wasn’t feasible. Once Everett was secure behind the walls, Luca holed himself up in his office to try and do damage control and figure out what the fuck was happening. I went the opposite direction to help Diego and keep him from burying himself in a mountain of work.
We decided to let the guy Leo had taken prisoner stew for the night. Tomorrow, Luca and Skye would confront him, but today needed to be about getting our bearings.
When Luca didn’t show up for dinner, alarm bells began lightly dinging in the backs of our minds. They weren’t full blast yet—after all, it was only one day—but after last year, we were all on high alert for Luca falling into his old habits. We’d made a promise to each other that we’d always call him out if he started to put work before everything else. And in turn, he’d quickly reassure me if my self-doubt ever got the best of me. So, much later than I would’ve liked, I made a tray of light snacks and cocoa and went to find my Sir.
His office door was partially open, and I leaned against the doorframe, taking him in for a second. He was wearing his reading glasses, which were a sexy and adorable addition in thelast few months. Luca didn’t think so, but that was only because he wasn’t ready to embrace the silver fox he was becoming. Me? I was all the fuck about it. He was frowning at his computer screen, hunched over and completely focused, so much so that he didn’t even notice I was standing there.
I hesitated, unsure if I should bother him, but pushed my insecurities down and knocked lightly.
“Sir?” I called out cautiously. “I brought you a snack. I figured you could use a little break.” My tone was light, but by Luca’s grimace, he clearly caught my meaning.
I relaxed a fraction when Luca’s eyes met mine. The little wrinkle between his eyebrows instantly relaxed.
I exhaled. There was nothing to panic about yet. I was letting my anxiety get the best of me. Obviously, he had a lot to handle with the Everett situation, and I totally respected that. With Luca, though, it could be a slippery slope. Allowing him to lock himself away for one day could easily turn into two, then three, then four, and so on, so I decided to nip it in the bud. Besides, I was feeling needy and selfish and wanted my Sir.
He smiled warmly at me and pushed away from the desk, holding out his arms. The rest of my nerves evaporated and I happily bounded over—after putting the tray down.
