Lucky Boys (Il Fortunato #1)

46. Brooks

CHAPTER 46

brOOKS

I stumbled into the kitchen, still half asleep, and not paying attention to my surroundings until I crashed right into something, or should I say someone.

“Oh shit.” I scrubbed my eyes, trying to get my bearings, and realized it was Matty, who was now pushed up against the counter, and looking terrified.

“I’m sorry!” He rushed out.

Well, hell, great job Brooks. Barely up for five minutes and already traumatizing the kid.

“It’s okay. It’s totally my fault. I wasn’t paying attention to where I was walking.”

The kid squeezed the side of the counter so tightly his knuckles were white and he was looking somewhere in middistance. Not at all with me.

My mind raced back to all the techniques my parents and Diego’s therapist taught us when he first came to live with us. I was young, but most of it still stuck with me at least subconsciously. Sometimes we still needed those techniques when D got lost in his own head.

“Hey, Matty? It’s me, Brooks, remember? We escaped that building together? You’re safe. We’re far away from them and in Luca’s mansion.”

Nothing. I walked closer, but careful not to get totally in his space. So far he hadn’t seemed too freaked out by touch, but I didn’t want to put that to the test. “Matty? Can you tell me five things you can see?”

“Um, a cage, white walls, chains…”

I took my own deep breath. “Matty, you’re not there anymore. Look please, really look. You’re in Luca’s mansion. In the kitchen. Can you see that?”

He blinked. Fucking yes. “The kitchen?”

“Yeah. The kitchen. What do you see here?”

His eyes cleared as he looked around. “Um, a table?”

“Good. What else?”

His eyes scanned the place. “A—red toaster. A coffee bar. A basket of fruit, and um, the fridge?”

I relaxed. “There we go, you’re back to me. I’m sorry I scared you.”

Matty shook his head, his arms wrapped around him. He was wearing a sweatshirt that was like six sizes too big for him, and I had to wonder if it was Maverick’s. The sweats looked like they fit. He had only been here for one night, after spending a couple nights at the hospital. I didn’t know all the specifics of what he went through or what was wrong, the doctor spoke to Maverick, since Luca was still being treated, and I went home to Diego, but physically there wasn’t any permanent damage. He only had to stay as long as he did because he was extremely dehydrated.

Mentally, I was sure it would be a much longer battle, and Maverick already set up for him to have a virtual therapy appointment. Unfortunately, right now, until we knew he was safe, he was stuck on the property and wasn’t even allowed to the tell the therapist his true identity. Too many loose ends that still weren’t resolved. I couldn’t imagine how terrified the kid was right now.

“It’s not your fault. I’m just—I hate how jumpy I am.” He finally responded, his voice weak.

“Try not to stress about it, all those things take time. You’re in a brand new place after going through hell, with virtual strangers. I’d be more worried if you weren’t jumpy.”

Matty just shrugged. Sighing I backed away from him and over to the fridge. I didn’t want to make him feel more nervous than he already was.

“I was just gonna grab myself something to eat. Want something?”

It was the wrong question. His eyes got wide and scared again. “I—um.”

Shit. “Hey Matty? I have no idea what you went through, besides the very basics, so I may say or do something that triggers you. Like maybe asking that question?” He didn’t respond. “If I do, it’s okay to tell me. I won’t be mad. None of us will. We just want to help.”

“I’m sorry.”

“You got nothing to apologize for. And, I’m guessing here, but no one is going to ever withhold food from you, or use it as a way to trap or trick you. If you’re hungry, eat. And Mav said the doctor said you were a little undernourished, so please, don’t ever be scared to eat whatever you want. Luca is bougie as fuck and has a chef come a couple times a week to prepare food for us. The fridge is always filled with stuff that only needs to be heated up.”

“Back at home—at Lewis and Michelle’s,” he corrected with a wince. Apparently, Larsen had told him the truth about his parentage right before handing him over to Vlad. He also told him that Lewis was paying Larsen to keep him hidden to avoid a scandal, so on top of everything else, the poor kid was dealing with that too, “They had a chef come in every day because Mo-Michelle refused to eat reheated food.” He rolled his eyes, “It was one of the things I liked best about living with Damian, that we cooked our own meals. He-um even taught me how to cook a little.”

It was the most Matty had spoken to any of us about anything that happened to him. Not that I expected him to spill all his trauma to us, but I was honored that he felt comfortable sharing anything.

“Yeah? That’s cool. I can’t cook worth shit. I’m a beast at cutting vegetables though. That’s what I do for Mav when he cooks for us. I heard Wes is a pretty good cook too, but he hasn’t made anything for me yet, so I can’t vouch for him.”

That caused Matty to smile a little. Digging in the fridge, I saw that the chef had pre-wrapped bagel sandwiches. I pulled out two. “Do you like pork roll egg and cheese?”

“I never had it.”

“What? Yeah, no. We have to remedy that right the fuck now.” Then I stopped. “You’re not a vegetarian or anything are you?”

He made a little face that was adorable. “No. Definitely not.”

“Cool. Then sit. I’ll get these heated up. Trust me, you’ll be blown away.”

Matty didn’t seem so sure, but he still sat down.

Once they were ready, I took the seat across from him and handed him his sandwich. He froze again, staring at it. I wish I had a fucking clue what was going through his mind. I also wanted to know what bastard messed with him so much that he was afraid to eat. I learned some interesting torture techniques watching Skye and Maverick that I wouldn’t mind trying out.

When I realized he wasn’t going to start, I took a big bite of my sandwich, totally hamming it up, pun most definitely intended. “Eat up.”

He still seemed unsure, which broke my fucking heart, but eventually he took a small bite, then watched me. When I didn’t do…whatever it was he was afraid I’d do, he took another bite, then another.

“It really is good.”

“Told you.”

He gave me a real smile then, before digging in. He picked up the pace, almost eating too fast, like now he was sure I wouldn’t take it from him or punish him, he wanted it down his throat before I could change my mind. I wonder if this helpless feeling was what Mom and Pops felt like with Diego and even me when they found us. It fucking sucked.

It reminded me that I had to call them. I talked to them briefly after we got home, just to let them know we were safe. Mom still listened to all the gossip and I did not want her to find out I was in a fucking shoot out from someone else. But I wanted to talk to them about Matty, and my men. I missed the fuck out of both of them and I couldn’t wait for them to get home.

We ate together in silence, both lost in our thoughts, but once he was done, I could tell he wanted to say something.

“What, um, will happen to me now? I know Maverick said I’ll be here until they can make sure I’m safe, and it might be a while, but after? Am I going to have to go back to live with Michelle and Lewis?”

I considered this. Honestly, I had no idea what would happen. Eventually Luca was going to have to deal with the Covington’s. We managed to keep Matty’s name out of the news, as well as Il Fortunato, so Covington wouldn’t know we had him. Luca had told him that we found Larsen dead and ran into dead end after dead end so we were coming home to discuss a new plan and an adjusted payment when we returned. Covington didn’t seem all that surprised or upset that the child he raised was missing, which all but confirmed the theory that he only hired us to make sure Larsen and Matty weren’t going to cause trouble for us. I still thought he might know more than he let on, but we had no way to prove that for now.

If I had a say, no fucking way would those assholes get anywhere near this kid. I wasn’t sure how much my opinion mattered though. “Do you want to go back to them?” I asked instead of answering, taking the technique right out of my Pop’s handbook.

“I mean, after everything I learned? Not really? They honestly were never the best parents anyway, and I was happiest when I was away at school. But I don’t know where else I can go and I still got a year and a half before I’m eighteen.

“Hey,” I told him softly, “You don’t need to worry about all that yet. Okay? One day at a time.”

He looked down at the table. “Yeah, okay.”

Footsteps alerted me that someone else was coming into the kitchen. Two someone’s as Skye and Maverick entered.

“Hey kid,” Skye said sitting in the chair closest to Matty, “How’re you holding up?”

“Okay I guess.”

“Yeah, I’m sure this is all scary and overwhelming. I’d tell you not to stress, but I doubt that would help you at all. Have you checked out the game room yet?” Completely changing subjects.

Matty cocked his head. “Game room?”

“Yeah. We got two. But the one is boring crap, like poker tables and stuff. The other has all the gaming consoles, VR, a big ass air hockey table, and all kinds of cool shit. You wanna go check it out?”

Matty looked at me like he was looking for permission, which was wild. Me? I’m the one who looked at other people for that. “Go ahead if you want. It’s pretty awesome.”

He turned to Skye. “Yeah, okay. Some of my friends at school had all the video games, but my parents never let us have any of it. They had a game room too, but it was just a pool table and we weren’t allowed in there.”

“Yeah, that’s bullshit.” Skye replied bluntly. “You can go here whenever the fuck you want. Come on, I’ll show you.”

Matty stood up, actually looking excited, but he turned to me, “Are you coming?”

I looked at Maverick for permission, much like Matty did to me. I had a feeling that this set up was for a reason. It was way too orchestrated. “Brooks can maybe meet you later,” Maverick told him, confirming my theory, “I gotta talk to him for a little bit first, okay?”

I smiled, letting Matty know it was fine, and eventually he nodded and left with Skye.

“What’s wrong?” I asked as soon as they were out of ear shot.

Maverick took a seat next to me. “Nothing. Luca and Wes are almost home. I thought you might want to spend some time with Luc.”

I leaned into Mav, who immediately wrapped his arms around me. I burrowed my nose into his chest getting a good whiff of his woodsy scent.

“Thank you. I do. What about you and Skye?”

“Don’t worry, we’ll all get a chance to reconnect. All six of us. I think need that. But you and Luc need to have a conversation. He made a lot of promises to you he hadn’t lived up to.”

“We were busy. I understand.” Didn’t mean it didn’t hurt though. Maverick filled into the role, giving me some of the structure I craved, but Luca kept dangling this dream relationship over my head like a carrot, and I was desperate to get it. Plus I felt bad that Mav felt obligated to get in the middle of our crap. It made me want to downplay it.

“Don’t let him give you that excuse, brat. You’re part of this relationship as much as the rest of us are. Don’t ever forget that.”

“I won’t.”

“Come on, let’s go ambush them at the door.”

I rolled my eyes, but still jumped up and took Mav’s hand. “And you call me the brat.”

He laughed. “Someone has to keep Luca on his toes.”

Diego was already by the front door when we got there. I wasn’t sure if they told him too, or if he saw on the security cameras. He was doing much better than he was when I got back that night. It was a long night, that we spent lying face to face, our fingertips touching, while we talked about everything that happened in the few weeks since we last saw each other. He explained how he pushed Wes away and forced him to leave. They had talked some, but I was glad they’d finally have their chance to air everything out too. Diego really fucking cared about Wes, and I could tell Wes loved Diego, or was getting there. I wanted them to work. D deserved that. And if they could really figure out a Daddy/boy relationship that D was comfortable with, then even better.

The door opened. Wes walked in first. He gave me and Mav a warm smile, but then his eyes found Diego leaning against the wall, arms crossed, and he was gone. It was like the rest of us just disappeared, and I fucking swooned. Especially when D got all red and embarrassed. My swooning hit an all-time, kick my feet and giggle level when Wes asked if he could hug and kiss Diego and my brother said yes! Yup, I almost fucking collapsed from shock and happiness when Wes lightly cupped his cheek and kissed his lips.

It was totally innocent, but D melted into the kiss and touched Wes’s arm and just kept smiling as Wes whispered something in his ear. It was beautiful, and I was so wrapped up in the scene, I almost forgot why I was here. That was until I heard, “Hi trouble,” in that deep smoldering voice. I whipped my head toward Luca, no longer a voyeur to my brother, but once again the main character in my own smutty romance when he said. “I’ve missed you.”