6. Theo
SIX
THEO
Otto
Everyone survive the snowpocalypse last night?
River
Dramatic much?
Otto
Good to know you’re alive, brother. And the snowbank is up the second-story deck of my house. I would hardly call that dramatic. It would not be chill if my girl went into labor.
Yawning, I dragged my ass downstairs as I thumbed through the slew of messages waiting for me from my crew.
I never got a full night’s sleep. Rest only found in fleeting bursts where I always jerked awake, drenched in sweat and heart bleeding.
But it’d been worse last night.
Every minute wrought with thoughts of the woman staying across the property.
Unsure how it felt like I’d come upon her for a reason.
Like I’d been destined to be there.
Realized as the sun had been breaking that it all had to be due to that trauma effect. The worry I’d felt when I’d come upon the accident somehow convincing me that her burden had become mine.
I was finally fucking seeing clearly.
I’d help get her car arranged and send her on her merry way and, just like she said, I’d never have to think about her again.
I kept thumbing through the messages as I hit the bottom landing of my place, bare feet hitting the worn wood as I headed for the kitchen so I could brew a pot of coffee.
There was no stopping the grin that took to my mouth at the antics my family had already gotten up to.
Cash
Raven’s got two months to go. She’s not going into labor any time soon.
I could almost hear Cash grunt it. Of course, he was the one who’d gifted Otto and Raven this ridiculous truck with snow tracks in place of the wheels that could plow through a fuckin’ brick wall if needed.
Just in case.
Truth was, not one of us would be taking any chances when it came to Raven and that baby girl she was brewing in her belly.
Otto
Hey, a man needs to be prepared.
Kane
Not sure what you’d be if not prepared. Maci wanted to come by to see her auntie Raven last weekend, and we couldn’t make it through the door with all the supplies you had piled high. Fifteen different brands of newborn diapers. How much shitting do you think that kid’s gonna do?
Otto
How the hell else is my Little Luna going to decide which diaper is her favorite?
For ruthless killers, my brothers had gone fucking soft.
But I guess that was the way things went down when you found someone to love and cherish with everything you had. Something I knew River, Otto, and Kane had never expected.
River raising that sweet little boy, Nolan, who’d stolen every single one of our hearts.
The kid had basically shaken up our entire existence and set us on a different trajectory. And when Charleigh had come into their lives, it had flipped everything we knew on its head.
Then Otto and Raven had finally given into the secret love that they’d kept hidden for years.
And I’m not sure what the hell else Kane was supposed to do when he found out he had the most adorable little girl, Maci.
Dude had been done for the second she and her aunt Emery had crashed into his life.
Funny how Sovereign Sanctum had a written rule that we never get attached. It was too fucking dangerous to bring someone into what we did, but the three of them had shot all of that to shit.
Now it was just me and Cash flying solo.
And there was zero chance that was going to change for either of us.
River
Only the best for Luna. And for my sister.
Otto
And we know I’m the best.
It was followed by three winky faces.
River
Hardly. Don’t know how my sister even looks at your ugly mug in the morning.
Otto
Oh, she likes looking at me just fine, but not nearly as much as I like looking at her.
A chuckle rolled out of me as I grabbed the coffee container from the cupboard.
Otto loved to rub it in that he had hooked up with Raven who was actually River’s younger sister. River had about lost his mind when he discovered the two had been getting naked, but in the end, he knew Otto was actually the best when it came to Raven.
Two of them this perfect match.
That soulmate kind of love rarely found.
River
Don’t make me hurt you. As far as I’m concerned, that kid was conceived by immaculate conception.
Otto
So, you’re calling me a god?
A laugh shot from my throat, and I shook my head as I tossed a few scoops of grounds into the filter then poured water into the coffeemaker and set it to brew.
Kane
Before River hops on his bike on a mission to gut Otto, need to interject. Emery has her big grand opening at Ivy Threads this coming week, and I want to throw her a surprise party to celebrate. Going to need your attendance. Opening is on Friday. Want to do it at the club after closing.
Otto
You’d better loop Raven and Charleigh in on this.
Kane
Already done. Just want to make sure you fuckers show.
River
Like we would be anywhere else. Emery is family.
Cash
Yeah.
Otto
Double yeah.
That’s exactly what Emery had become.
Family.
Never thought I’d have one again, and sure as hell not one that looked like this.
I’d met the guys when we’d been living on the streets of LA.
Each of us suffering and realizing we were a whole lot better off if we were suffering together.
Having each other’s backs.
Raven had been there then, too. Barely nine years old, River stealing her away from the torment of their piece of shit father.
During that time, our loyalty had been forged in the fire.
God knew, we’d gotten up to some seedy shit.
I’d gotten to the end of the thread, the last text from about twenty minutes ago, so I tapped out my own reply.
Me
You know I’ll be there.
I hesitated, wondering how the fuck to lay this out when I’d broken one of our rules. On top of it, we didn’t talk Sovereign business on this thread. We did our best to keep it to our secret meetings. But I needed to get this shit out.
Me
Also, need to let you all know that Unit B is occupied.
Took all of three seconds for the shitstorm to hit land, texts firing in on top of each other.
Kane
The fuck do you mean, Unit B is occupied?
River
How am I just fucking hearing this?
Otto
You stumble on someone who needed help?
Cash
Who? Give me the name.
Blowing out a heaving sigh, I ran a flustered hand over my face before I responded.
Me
No need to freak the fuck out. Came upon a small accident on my way back from the city yesterday evening.
A woman, her two-year-old son, and her elderly grandmother.
Car’s jacked, and they needed a place to stay.
They rode in with me and I set them up here.
It was the only unit available that could fit them all comfortably.
Cash
Those units are reserved for Sovereign business only.
Cash was one hundred percent right. I hadn’t been thinking clearly last night. But maybe I wasn’t thinking clearly then, either, since my teeth were grinding as I pushed through their disapproval.
Me
Need to get the clear that they can stay there until we get this shit with their car sorted.
Kane
We?
Leave it to Kane to pick up on it.
Me
They’re stranded without a car in a town they don’t know. Of course, it’s a we. Gonna see to it that they get things taken care of appropriately.
Otto
Ah, now I see what’s going on here.
Me
What the hell’s that supposed to mean?
Otto
Means it sounds like our pretty boy is fucked.
Kane
Selfie please. Gonna need to see those heart eyes you’re so clearly sporting.
Heart eyes? What the fuck? Guess I had it coming for giving Kane shit when he saw Emery that first night at his bar.
Me
Eat rocks. Every one of you. There are no fucking heart eyes.
Otto
Oh, I much prefer to eat something else. Something juicy and tasty and ripe.
Dude followed it up with an entire screen of winky faces.
River
I will kill you.
Chuckling, I shook my head, then pushed it a little further.
Me
So, are we good with this? Them staying?
River
And what happens if we need it?
We didn’t have anyone new in the pipeline, but that didn’t mean we wouldn’t get called in for an emergency extraction.
Me
Then I make other arrangements.
Otto
Arrangements to get her directly into your bed?
Me
Fuck you, man. She has a kid.
And they knew me well enough to know I sure as hell wouldn’t be messing with someone like that. A mother was so out of bounds, we didn’t exist in the same stratosphere.
I kept my interludes simple and detached.
Surface level.
Skin to skin.
In a place where lust and guilt couldn’t meet.
Which was all kinds of inconvenient considering my dick didn’t seem to get the memo this time. Greed lighting through me every time Piper’s face flashed behind my eyes.
Way I wanted to peel her out of that puffy white jacket so I could discover that lush body underneath.
Bring her over here and lay her out in front of my fire fully bare so I could watch the light of the flames dance over her silky flesh. Let my hands chase them down before I dove in to devour her completely.
Slake and decimate.
I scrubbed my palm over my face.
Fuck. I needed to get this shit under lock and key.
Otto
Just messing with you, man. Know your type.
Me
Yup.
Didn’t even know why I responded. Maybe I was just trying to convince myself.
Cash
And what about Alicia and Lucy being right next door?
Me
No different than the rest of the guests seeing them.
Not that they went in and out of their cabin much. Told her the safest place for them was behind closed doors. Concealed and out of view.
There’d been a few occasions when they’d come into the lobby, and honestly, it wasn’t that healthy for them to be in complete isolation. Not if they were going to fit in when they arrived at their new home.
River
Let’s put it to a vote.
Me
Tonight?
River
Yup. Say she’s good for the time being.
Kane
Works for me.
Otto
Same.
Cash
Fine.
Cash didn’t like going outside the rules. Didn’t like diverging from his perfect order.
Got it. His need to control every element.
But sometimes life fucking happened.
I guess that was exactly what he was afraid of.
Me
Good.
River
See you all tonight.