Barbarian (Jericho’s Boys #3)

17. Mal

Mal woke with a grunt as a heavy weight landed on him. He would have assumed it was Nico had he not heard him groaning in protest as well. That only left one of two people. He cracked his eyelids open to find his brother wedged between him and Nico, limbs equally distributed across both of them.

“What are you doing, you psycho?” Nico whined. “How is someone so tiny so heavy?”

“I’m not tiny. I’m…dainty. Delicate, even. But not tiny. Ever’s tiny,” Shiloh said. “Now, tell me all about your evil crime lord. Was he sexy? Was he like one of those villains in a manga? Did he have face tats and a mean-looking scar?”

Nico stretched as best he could from beneath Shiloh, then raised his head an inch to look at Mal over their guest. “He was pretty hot. Right, Bunny?”

Mal blinked a few times, attempting to get his brain back online. Would he call the man hot? Yeah, objectively speaking, the man was attractive. He was more concerned with getting to the bottom of their missing persons case than waxing poetic about a man who would have killed them just as easily as looking at them. But that went for many of the people who appeared in their lives.

“Mm,” Mal agreed thoughtfully. “If Seven wasn’t already torn between his enemies-to-lovers thing with Enzo and his unrequited love for Thomas, he probably would have been under the table trying to suck him off. Luckily, he was too busy glowering at his not-boss to cause too much chaos.”

Nico snorted. “It was all weirdly civilized, like a really boring dinner party.”

“Except, all the guests were armed and mentally unstable,” Mal added. “Why are you in our bed? Where’s your boyfriend?”

Shiloh sighed. “He went to the garage before class. He’s still pretending to be unbothered about his mom.”

“Oof,” Nico said, wiggling out from under Shiloh to roll on top of him, starfishing.

His brother sighed contentedly. “This is what I needed.”

Mal laughed softly. Their whole friend group was weird.

“I don’t know what to do for him,” Shiloh said after a while. “He’s just acting like he doesn’t care.”

“Is she really dying?” Nico asked hesitantly. “Like, there’s no miracle that could save her in her final moments?”

Shiloh winced. “No. She looks awful. She’s…yellow. Her liver is shot, she’s severely malnourished. It’s definitely the end. She’s in a coma. They don’t expect her to wake up.”

“Poor Levi,” Nico said sadly. “He’ll be an orphan now.”

Shiloh nodded. “He claims he’s always been one. Says that the best thing she could do for him is die already, but I know he’s just bluffing. I can see it in his face. I can hear it in his voice.”

Mal rolled onto his side to run his hand over Nico’s back, glancing between his boyfriend and his brother. “It’s normal to have complicated feelings like that. You know what it’s like to love someone who doesn’t love you.”

Shiloh nodded. “It sucks when you can’t even trust the people who are supposed to take care of you.”

Nico’s face fell. “Levi gave her so many chances when he was little. No matter what she did to him, he made excuses for her.”

Mal glanced down at Shiloh. That was how his brother had been with Micah. No matter how cruel he’d been when Shiloh was little, he always repeatedly made excuses for him. No matter how badly he hurt him. Something twisted in Mal’s gut. He really should have found a way to protect him better.

“What was Levi like when he was younger? You guys met in, like, middle school, right?” Shiloh asked.

Nico nodded. “Sixth grade. We’d been in the same schools forever. But, mostly, we’d just see each other around. We weren’t friends until Mrs. Hinkley’s homeroom class. Me, Levi, and Felix all ended up in the same class. How three queer kids ended up in the same classroom, I’ll never know, but thank god we did. We had a target on our backs from day one. We were all scrawny and weird. Also, really poor. And in this neighborhood, that’s saying something.”

Mal watched Nico smile softly, trying to imagine him at age eleven with his wide blue eyes and pretty ringlets.

“You probably won’t believe it, but out of the three of us, Levi was the smallest. He was teeny. Even smaller than Felix. Pretty, too.” Nico laughed. “Felix and I were going through an ugly stage. Though, if you ask Felix, he never had an ugly stage. But I was there. I had the worst skin, and Felix’s eyebrows had a life of their own back then. We got our asses kicked pretty much daily.”

“I can’t imagine any of you having an ugly stage,” Shiloh said wistfully. “You’re all painfully pretty.”

“Especially you,” Mal said.

Shiloh looked at him and laughed. “You’re an even bigger simp than me.” He sighed. “Still, he’s right. You look like a model. You’re pretty in the exact opposite way of Levi’s pretty. You’re like two halves of the same coin. But I can’t picture Levi as small. He was so intimidating the day we met.”

“Intimidating?” Nico echoed. “You made out with him.”

Shiloh’s mouth fell open. “I did not!” he protested. “We just…kissed. It just happened.” When Nico arched a brow, Shiloh rolled his eyes. “Whatever, just…what was he like?”

“He was always dirty, always bruised. Though, it wasn’t like I was much better. His mom would drink until she passed out, whether they had food or not, and my mom would forget to come home. It’s a miracle we didn’t starve to death. Felix may have been small and dainty, but he always had food. He used to sneak us some when he could. Eventually, we just started hiding out at his place. Jericho always made sure we had something to eat.”

“I just wish Levi knew his extended family. He must have had aunts and uncles on his dad’s side,” Shiloh said. “They must wonder what happened to him.”

Nico shook his head. “He doesn’t talk about his dad, really. I don’t think he remembers much about him. I told him Calliope could probably help track down his extended family, but he always shoots me down.”

“I just think he doesn’t want to be disappointed again,” Shiloh said with a sigh.

“Speaking of Calliope,” Mal said, “we need to figure out where to go next. Do we question Leo? Jason and Frankie? Those two morons who beat me up?”

Nico sighed. “I feel like we’re missing something.”

“Do you want me to call Jericho while you guys hang out?” he asked.

Shiloh pushed against Nico’s solid weight. “Uh-uh. I have to shower so I can get to the salon. I have to get my hours in if I ever want to graduate. You guys can work on your investigation. Thanks for crushing me for a few minutes.”

Nico shifted his weight toward Mal carefully, like he was still worried about hurting him. When Shiloh was gone, Nico wiggled until he could bury his face in Mal’s throat. “Morning.”

“Morning, Fidget.” Mal stared at the door for a long moment before asking, “Does it bother you?”

“Huh? What?” Nico asked, lifting his head to show his confused face to Mal. “Did you do that thing you do where you start a conversation in your head and then just think I read your mind?”

“Don’t you?” Mal asked. “Read my mind, I mean?”

“Clearly not. Or I would have known you were secretly running my life,” Nico snarked.

“It was only a secret to you because you weren’t paying attention. Everyone else knew.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. I was oblivious,” Nico said, shaking his head. “But what is it that you were asking me just now? Do I mind what?”

“That we don’t have our own place? Having to share this small space with two other people?”

Nico seemed to think about it before saying, “I’ve always just been happy to have a place at all. The hostel was great and all. Safe, too. But there were a lot of rules. No overnight guests, stuff like that. By the time Levi and I saved up enough money for this place, we felt rich just having somewhere to call our own. Before the hostel, we mostly couch-surfed in Jericho’s garage or at Seven’s mom’s place.”

Mal nodded. “Would you want us to have our own place?”

“I don’t know. I kind of like our little family. And if we get our own place, the cats will stay here. Won’t you miss them?” Nico asked.

Mal nodded. “Yeah. I would. But we could get our own cat?”

“Do you want our own place?” Nico asked.

Mal shrugged. “It would be nice not to have to worry about how noisy you are when we fuck.”

Nico gasped, then slapped his shoulder. “Shut up!”

Mal grinned at him. “What? No need to be embarrassed. I know this dick is fire.”

Nico groaned. “You’re so lame. I’m going to set your dick on fire if you don’t stop talking.”

“We have to get out of bed,” Mal prodded.

“No,” Nico whined. “I don’t wanna. It’s raining. I want to stay in bed with you and eat junk food and watch anime and have sex.”

That sounded like a great idea, too. But they needed to find Amy.

“Once we settle this case, I promise we can do all three. But I’m sure Casey wants to go home and see her mom,” Mal said, poking Nico’s ribs. “Come on, I’ll buy you breakfast.”

“Ugh,” Nico groaned. “Low blow. But fine, let’s go solve a mystery or whatever.”

They decided to eat at a little cafe across town. Nico had taken one look at their window display and dragged Mal inside with pleading eyes. What was he going to do? Say no? Besides, the place was quaint, cozy, and—best of all—quiet. There were a few people sitting at the small tables, but their conversations were barely more than a low murmur. Lo-fi music played, but it was turned low, pouring out from well-hidden speakers.

It smelled like frosting and freshly brewed coffee. It was plain to see that Nico was instantly in love with the place. It was also plain to see that the older woman behind the counter—the owner, it turned out—was instantly in love with him.

They started chatting almost immediately. Nico gushed about the atmosphere and the decor. Within minutes, she knew that Nico was in college but had no idea what to major in and Nico knew that she was a retired surgeon, who was finally living out her dream of owning a bakery.

Mal ordered a hot tea and just stood back, watching as Nico peppered the woman with questions about every single dessert under the glass display. Was the frosting buttercream or whipped cream? Did that cake have strawberries or strawberry filling? How did they get that chocolate chip cookie to sit so perfectly inside the brownies? Did they bake the bread fresh every day?

Mal had no doubt Nico would have stood there for the next three hours had more customers not arrived. His boy had never met a stranger. Nico hurriedly placed his order and apologized for holding up the line. The owner then handed him her card and told him to call her if he ever wanted a job.

Nico was practically floating by the time they reached the small little back patio with its tin roof and hundreds of hanging plants. The rain pelting softly above them made the whole patio smell like the gardenias blooming behind him. It wasn’t a bad way to waste an afternoon. At least, if they weren’t trying to find a missing person.

Mal sat sipping his Earl Grey while his boyfriend attempted to eat the largest slice of chocolate cake Mal had ever seen.

When he felt Mal’s eyes on him, Nico stopped chewing, giving him a suspicious look. “Wha’?” he asked.

Mal shrugged. “Nothing. I just like watching you eat,” he said fondly.

Nico chewed slowly, glowering at him. When he swallowed the bite in his mouth, he muttered, “Weirdo.”

Mal chuckled softly. “That’s not new information, Fidget.”

Nico stuck his tongue out at him, then dove back in for another bite. Mal just smiled, staring at the chocolate frosting smeared on his chin. He could tell him, but it wasn’t like there was anyone else out there to see it.

When Nico finished his next bite, he huffed, face forming a pout as he said, “You couldn’t have gotten something to eat just so I didn’t look stupid with this big ass piece of cake?” he whined.

Mal rolled his eyes. “Look stupid to who? The ficus in the corner? We’re all alone out here. Besides, we both know you’ve got three to four more bites left in you and then you’re gonna push it over to me and insist I eat it while you study me like you have a feeder kink.”

“You’re mean,” Nico muttered.

“You have no idea,” Mal taunted, raising his brows in a way that had Nico turning red.

“Don’t you dare get me all worked up in public,” Nico warned.

Mal just smiled. Three bites later, Nico relinquished his treat, sliding it across the table without making eye contact, slumping in his chair as he sipped his caramel latte.

Mal picked at the cake, only taking a bite when Nico started to sulk. When the plate was empty, Nico asked, “Now what?”

“We should actually start questioning people,” Mal said. “But I don’t know who to start with. All we have are vague rumors. Nothing concrete.”

Nico made a whiny noise, then sat forward, propping his chin on his palm. “I don’t know if you’re taking requests, but can you wake up tomorrow as a private investigator or—I don’t know—a psychic?”

Before Mal could answer, Nico rose to come around the table, perching on Mal’s knee before looping an arm around his neck, just resting his temple against Mal’s. He had no control over who he’d be when he woke in the morning—Plain ol’ Mal or some different version of himself. If he did, he’d probably choose to be himself. Or whichever version of himself Nico loved the most.

Still, he said, “I’ll see what I can do.” Nico gave a small nod but made no move to leave. “What are we doing?”

“Two brains are better than one. I thought, maybe, if they were closer together, it might give us some kind of idea.”

Cute.

Mal laughed. “I’m not quite sure it works that way.”

“Why did we think we could solve this? We don’t look for people. We don’t solve crimes. We just kill bad guys. I just want to go back to killing bad guys. What if the cops would have already solved this by now?”

“The cops don’t care about the people in our neighborhood. They would have said she abandoned Casey and they would have shoved her in foster care.”

“I know you’re right. But this is frustrating and I’m so tired of finding bread crumbs that lead nowhere.”

“I know, Fidget. I know.” Mal totally understood his frustration. “All we can do is keep moving forward.”

Nico was silent for a minute, then sat up with a sharp breath. “Unless we don’t.”

“Don’t move forward?” Mal asked.

“Yeah. Fuck moving forward. Let’s go back.”

Mal stared into Nico’s expectant face, hoping he’d elaborate. When he didn’t, Mal asked, “Back where?”

“Let’s go back to Amy’s apartment.”

“The crime scene?” Mal asked.

“Thomas’s men cleaned up the mess, but they didn’t take anything but the body, right? Let’s go snoop through Amy’s things.”

“It’s a good idea, Fidget,” Mal agreed. “We should have done it sooner.”

“Nah,” Nico said. “If we had looked through her apartment in the beginning, even if we found something, we probably wouldn’t have known it was important. I doubt there’s a note that just says, ‘In the event of my disappearance, X did it.’”

“That would have made this a lot easier,” Mal said begrudgingly. “Alright, let’s go to Casey’s.”

Nico kissed Mal’s cheek, then his eyelid. “Okay, let’s.”

Mal bit back a smile. Nico was always clingy after Mal fed him. He wondered if he even noticed.

They were back on the street under the awning when Mal asked, “How are we going to get in? I’m sure they repaired the door.”

Nico scoffed, finger hovering over the button to order their Uber. “We’ll break in, duh.”

Mal gave a breathy laugh. “Oh? Do you have some super secret lockpicking skills I don’t know about?”

Nico’s grin was like fireworks. “Actually, yeah. We just have to swing back by the apartment first.”

Mal loved him so much.

“Okay, Fidget. I’m following you.”