Page 41 of Psycho
Adam groaned. “That Dorothy chick? I thought you were just gonna drown her and toss her in the river?”
“Yeah, well, she turned out to be a lot more trouble than predicted.”
“They usually are,” Adam commiserated. “How bad is the clean up?”
“Arterial spray bad.”
“Oh, come on, man. I hate wet work. Call Archer. Or Atticus. He owes us after the hatchet incident.”
August rolled his eyes. Adam was so lazy sometimes. “It was a meat cleaver. Besides, Archer is still at his poker tournament in Vegas, and Atticus is introducing Dad at that Man of the Year thing.”
“How many times can Dad win that thing?” Adam grumbled.
“As long as he keeps being hot and rich. All those old ladies on the committee love him. Are you coming or not?”
“Yeah, fine. Like I said, I don’t think your new man likes me anyway.”
August grinned. “I told you he’s smart.”
“Yeah, yeah. I’ll be there in thirty. Gotta swing by Dad’s to grab the van.”
“I’ll text you my location. Oh, and tell Lucas I’ll be a little late with dessert.”
Adam didn’t respond, just groaned and disconnected the phone. August grimaced as he looked down at the pale face of Dorothy Bryer.
He couldn’t believe he’d given up dinner with Lucas for this.
Lucas felt like a child. He was thirty-three years old, sitting on a couch, while a kid barely old enough to buy beer babysat him. Lucas wasn’t sure what he’d expected when he thought of August’s family, but it wasn’t his supermodel brother or his freckle-faced, cherubic boyfriend.
His anxiety spiked when he overheard Adam’s side of his and August’s conversation, especially when Adam grabbed his keys and smacked a kiss on Noah’s forehead, promising to come get him as soon as they were finished cleaning up ‘the mess.’ What mess? Was August okay? Adam hadn’t seemed concerned, more annoyed and slightly amused.
Lucas hadn’t asked. Adam wasn’t much of a talker anyway. Noah, on the other hand, seemed like he’d been waiting for an opportunity to get Lucas alone.
As soon as the door closed, he turned towards him, pulling his knee up on the sofa and leaning closer. “You get used to it.”
Lucas frowned. “Get used to what?”
Noah waved a hand. “The weirdness. The possessiveness. The acting like we’re incapable of taking care of ourselves. I have to constantly remind myself that Adam only does it because it’s his only way of showing he’s concerned about my wellbeing.”
Lucas frowned. “August doesn’t have any reason to be concerned about my wellbeing. We’ve known each other for less than a week.”
Noah snorted. “You act like time matters to the Mulvaney boys. It doesn’t. They’re like animals. Once they’ve locked onto a scent they like, whether it’s been ten seconds or ten years, you’re theirs. August won’t allow you to walk away from him. I know that sounds scary, but being around the family is…never boring. And nobody will protect you like they do.”
“Don’t I have a say in this at all?” Lucas asked, trying to maintain Noah’s casual tone.
A fond smile spread across Noah’s face. “He’ll tell you that you do. Thomas has drilled societal niceties into all of them—and they know this behavior isn’t right—but it’s like putting a fresh coat of paint directly over a cracked one. Eventually, the original stuff begins to…push through. You know?”
Lucas had seen it time and again as a profiler. Compulsions couldn’t be tamed or forgotten. Sometimes, even years of therapy was no match for the incessant, gnawing need to enact the most depraved fantasies. Eventually, the person had to meet that need and that was when things got messy. But August met that need regularly… Did that make him better?
“What do you think of him? August, I mean,” Lucas finally asked.
Noah’s gaze slid away from Lucas. “He’s funny… Intense. He tries really hard.”
That was an accurate representation of August. Intense, funny, but also charming and passionate. It made Lucas smile just thinking about August scrawling silly sayings on his morning coffee cup.
“But you like that, though, huh?”
Lucas’s gaze jerked up to see Noah studying him intently. “What?”
