Page 111 of Love Thy Brother
“It’s your house.”
“He’s working, Orls. Protecting you. It’s his job to stand outside and get wet.”
Orla scowled.
Rubi dead-eyed her. “Locke’s tough as they come. He ain’t gonna get pneumonia from a bit of rain, but I’ll make sure he gets a plate, okay? Just like Saint always does when he’s guarding Cam.”
“As if Cam would leave Saint out in the rain.”
“As if Saint would give him the choice.” Rubi mussed Orla’s hair, then jerked back before she could take an eye. “And Locke wouldn’t give it to you either. No one forced him to take your detail.”
The fierceness in my sister’s gaze faltered enough that I stepped between them, my back to Rubi, and gripped her hands. “What is it? Are we missing something?”
Orla shook her head. “Nothing I can tell you. I just... I don’t want him to be treated like he’s disposable.”
“We don’t do that,” Rubi said.
Orla fired a glare over my shoulder. “Of course you do. But not him, okay? Promise me.”
“I promise.” Rubi sounded as confused as I felt. “But I don’t make the decisions, so maybe you should have this conversation with someone else.”
Or maybe she wanted Rubi to do it for her, but the moment passed without Orla elaborating, and she stomped through us to sit with Liliana and Embry.
Rubi sighed and tugged me into the kitchen.
The whole world was in there, minus Mateo.
Cam, Saint, Alexei, Nash. Ivy’s dad, whose name still didn’t fit with how I saw him.Decoy. It sounded conniving. Manipulative. But the man curling his daughter’s blonde locks round his fingers seemed far simpler than that.
Cam was messing with a big pot.
Rubi hustled him out of the way and took over, and for a moment, it was so like old times that I felt ten years younger.
But my ma wasn’t here to break it up. Instead, Saint and Alexei watched on with expressions so unreadable I wanted to scream, and Nash—kind, funny, reliable Nash, stared at the floor like he wished it would swallow him whole.
This is bullshit.
I opened my mouth to say so.
Outside, an earth-shattering explosion cut me off.
20
RUBI
The world was in motion before I caught up.
En masse, we spun into action, a well-oiled machine too accustomed to drama to break down in the face of disaster. Except, for once, it wasn’t ours. As dust rained down from the obliterated house down the street, mine remained standing.
“Gas,” Locke shouted. “I can smell it. Get the kids out of here.”
Decoy was already steering them out of the house and to his car, shielding Ivy with his body.
Embry and Orla flanked Liliana. I couldn’t even see her. But it wasn’t enough. Two brothers, three girls. And Locke was already gone, sprinting towards pandemonium without looking back.
He’s a firefighter. He can help.
Cam let him go and caught Saint’s arm, pushing him towards the car. “Take River and guard them. In case this was a fucking distraction.”
