Page 73 of Deception

He didn’t answer when I called, so I texted instead.

Me: How was your trip? Miss you xx.

He didn’t respond, and after a few minutes, I drifted off.

Chapter30

Lucius

I sawEverleigh’s missed call and message as soon as we landed and turned my phone back on. It was two in the morning by the time we made it back to San Diego, but I had to see her. Hold her. Tell her I’d met my family. A family I didn’t know I had.

“Can you drive me up to Thea’s house?” I asked Santino, who was once again driving. This time because it was his car, an old Jeep he’d picked up for cheap and fixed up.

“Need help to get inside?”

I scoffed. “I think I can get into one measly mansion.”

“They hired Gunner to beef up their security.”

I shot my best friend a look, and he chuckled. We both knew that wouldn’t even make us have to try very hard. Of course, I could have knocked on the front door. But I didn’t want to wake everyone up. And getting past security undetected had the added benefit of pissing Gunner off.

Gunner was the best, but we were better. That wasn’t arrogance, but years of cruel training that had forced us to become the best or risk losing a finger. Or worse, a whole limb. Maurizio didn’t tolerate insubordination.

The mansion was lit up when we pulled up. No dark corners to hide in. Smart. I also noticed additional cameras, and the fence had been raised.

Santino stopped in an unlit part of the street. “Sure you don’t want me to help?”

“I’m good. Worst-case, they catch me and wake everyone up.”

He drove off, and I walked the perimeter, checking for weak points. There were none, so over the wall I went. There were a few dead spots the cameras couldn’t cover, and I made it to the patio door without raising the alarm, silently slipping inside.

I’d been here a few times and knew where the guest room was that Everleigh would be in.

The door opened without a sound, and I walked into the dark room. Sofie was snoring softly, lying on the bed like a starfish. Everleigh was curled up close to the edge, her face relaxed in sleep.

I pulled Sofie over to the side, kissing the side of her head and pulling the covers back over her. Then I undressed down to my boxers and T-shirt and lifted Everleigh up, putting her in the middle of the bed.

She curled into me as soon as I lay down. Despite the thoughts churning in my head, I fell asleep almost instantly.

“People need to stop breaking into my house.”

I woke with a start, blinking at Thea standing in the door, hands on her hips, glaring at me.

“Sorry, Thea.”

Everleigh stirred and looked at me with a sleepy smile. “What are you doing here?”

I kissed her nose, relishing the length of her body pressed to mine. “I didn’t want to spend the night without you.”

Thea made a gagging sound. “You guys are disgusting.” She waved at Sofie who’d woken up as well. “Come on, monkey. You can help me make breakfast.” She turned back to us. “You have thirty minutes. And we wait for no one.”

Sofie climbed over Everleigh, a blinding smile on her face. “Daddy, you’re back.”

She collapsed on top of me, giggling when I rained kisses on her head. “Missed you, preciosa.”

As soon as I released her, she jumped off the bed, racing over to Thea and taking her hand. “Can we make pancakes? And waffles? With bacon?”

Thea tugged on her hand, smiling. “Of course we can.” They left, closing the door behind them, their happy chatter fading in the distance.

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