Chapter 24
LUCERO
“Holy fuck, this is so good.” Adam groaned as he forked more food into his mouth. His moans would have made my ma smile. She loved when her food was properly appreciated. “My brother had to have married you for your cooking skills.”
I flipped over the steak and began to baste it, keeping an eye on the time. I didn’t want to make the meat dry or chewy. It was all about the timing when it came to ribeye.
“He does like the breakfasts I make him.”
“You do breakfast too?” Adam’s mouth was full as he spoke garbled French. “Un fils de pute chanceux.”
“Huh?” I shook my head. “Don't talk with your mouth full, and I just thought of a fantastic idea.” I had to be some crazy genius. How in the hell did I continue to come up with the best plans?
Adam cocked a single brow at me, giving the same look my brothers gave me anytime I told them I had an idea. More food was shoveled into his mouth. I wasn’t sure he was even breathing in between bites.
“It’s a good one," I promised.
He didn’t look any more convinced than before.
I sat the steak to the side to rest before turning off the burner.
I checked on the dish in the oven before grabbing one of the kitchen chairs and twisting it around.
I plopped down, the wood creaking with my weight, as I rested my arms on the back of it.
“You can teach me French.”
Adam paused, a fork heavy with food halfway to his mouth. “What?” He blinked at me, his thick lashes fluttering about.
“It’s perfect. You know French, and I want to learn.”
He placed his fork down and met my gaze full-on. He held eye contact all of a few seconds before looking away. "Why can’t Lo—Onyx?”
I rocked back, balancing on two legs for a second before slamming all four back down.
“It’s a surprise for him. I want to show him I’m willing to learn his first language.
” Although, I'd been trying for years since we first met.
I hadn't had any luck in keeping a teacher and learning on my own wasn't possible.
I tended to fall asleep, or at worst, forget everything I spent hours reading.
Adam’s nose scrunched up. “Anyone ever told you you're sickeningly sweet?” He took a sip of his drink before sitting back in his chair. There were only two seats, as if he never bothered to get the full set with the round table.
“Plenty. I don’t see what that has to do with anything.”
“Of course not." Adam shoved his fingers into his too long hair, he tried to pull them all the way through but got caught. He let out a frustrated grunt and yanked his hand back onto the table."Look, Lucero, as gross and loving as that is, I’ve never taught anyone before.”
“So it’s a yes. I can come over only a few times. I’ll have to plan it out when Onyx isn’t?—”
“Wait a minute.” Adam was out of his seat, he crossed his lanky arms over his chest. “I didn’t agree to anything.”
“You didn’t say no either.”
“Because that word seems to have an opposite effect on you.”
My head slowly tilted to the side. What was he talking about? “Oh, right.” I was up and went over to the remainder of the bags that hadn’t been put away. “Did you still want your haircut?”
"Don't think you can gloss over this conversation. You can’t get your way all the time."
I grinned, giving him my best smile. It always worked on my siblings. With Onyx it was a toss up, but my husband liked it better when I was begging and pleading instead.
"You enjoyed yourself today, I can tell. I have a gift for these types of things." I pointed to the dish he'd been happily slopping down. "Haircut, yes or no?"
“Maybe." He pulled at his lip, turning his flesh a slight pink with how hard he was pinching himself. "I want to eat right now.” Adam plopped back down in his seat. "Vous ferez ce que vous voulez de toute facon."
“Okay.” I went back over to the stove, checking everything I had prepared.
Half of the new Tupperware was already full and ready for the freezer.
I portioned them out so he wouldn't have to defrost an entire dish for a single serving.
"I'll label these." I waved a marker over my shoulder so Adam knew what I was doing.
My phone buzzed in my back pocket, and I had it out in seconds.
Nash: You good?
Lucero: Yes
Nash: Wife and kids?
I glanced over at Adam cleaning his plate. He happily scraped every drop of sauce.
Lucero: No. Have a few guys watch over this building.
I hesitated to tell Nash who exactly my husband had hidden away. I trusted all my brothers, but for now, I'd continue to keep Onyx's secret.
Nash: We are all running a bit tight around here but I can spare one or two. Do you need help?
Lucero: No, everything is good.
Nash: K.
"Was that Onyx?" Adam got up, leaving his plate behind.
I grabbed it up, giving it a quick rinse before placing it into the too small dishwasher.
"No, it was my brother. Don't worry, I didn't tell him about you or anything."
Adam's shoulders dropped and he seemed to have relaxed. "Oh great, you're ashamed of me too." The chuckle he let out sounded awkward as if it was forced.
"No, why would I be?"
Adam waved me off as if what I was saying was invalid. "It was a joke."
"Didn't sound like one." I watched him as he looked anywhere but at me.
He went to pull at his hair again but gave up after getting his fingers caught again.
I couldn't help but notice how different he was from my husband.
Unlike Onyx, Adam preferred darker clothes, and they weren't nearly as flashy.
It was as if he was trying to disappear into the shadows.
"How much longer are you going to stay?" Adam asked, breaking the silence that had descended.
"Well, I have one more dish to make, and then I still need to help fold the laundry."
"I can do that."
"But it will be quicker with the two of us."
Adam groaned. "We've already done so much today."
We had, but how did I explain to him that I wasn't sure how often I'd be able to come over and help? I had my own family obligations, and not to mention my duties at home. I still needed to get home and get Onyx's dinner ready.
"Okay, how about I give you a haircut and we can fold laundry next time while you teach me French."
"I never agreed to any of this." Adam massaged his temples. His sighs were even more drawn out. "As interesting as today has been, I'm really tired."
"Come have a seat" I tapped the back of the seat, scissors and comb in hand.
Adam looked to the sink and then back at the table. "You move too fast for how big you are." He was clearly avoiding sitting down. "How about you go home and I take a nap."
"Or we can go to a hair salon and get you fixed up. After that there is a nice lit?—"
"No, that sounds like torture, I’ll sit." Adam rushed over and sat down. His left leg instantly started to bounce.
"I'll cut only enough so it's easier for you to manage."
"Shave me bald." Adam twisted in his seat and raised his hands that held a slight tremor. "That was also a joke. Don't do that."
"I didn't plan on it." I turned him back around and started off with combing what I could out.
I'd grown up with a lot of siblings, and as the second oldest, sometimes that meant I had to help with things that I wasn't good at.
There had been plenty of times the twins had wanted me to brush their hair.
They had curlier hair compared to Adam's but it was all the same in the end.
I concentrated on my task, keeping an eye on my brother-in-law.
Every twitch and jerky movement gave me pause.
I had to make sure not to hurt him. Although he was like Onyx in ways, in others he was very different.
He was much more skittish and weary than my husband.
The entire day I attempted to make sure he had a good time, or at the very least, taken care of.
"You never asked me what I did to piss Onyx off," Adam said, breaking the bubble of silence that had circled us.
I snipped a few inches and made sure it was even with the others. "Siblings fight sometimes. Do you still love him?"
"Of course, it’s just sometimes being near him makes me feel… inadequate." He groaned while pressing the heel of his hand into his eyes. "Anyway, we aren't always good to be around each other. We didn't have the best childhood. Or really, I didn't, and then I ruined it for Onyx."
"I doubt he sees it that way."
Adam snatched his head away and turned to glare at me. There was anger swimming in the pools of his eyes. "How the fuck would you know?" He let out a bitter laugh, his mouth twisting in a frown. "I know if he didn't tell you about me, he sure as shit didn't tell you about what happened."
I was missing something very important here, and a part of me wanted to ask, but I also knew I shouldn't.
"You're right, I don't know." I lightly twisted him back around to get access to his hair once more.
"But I know my husband, and I know what kind of person he is.
He doesn't hate you, let alone blame you for anything. "
"Vous ne savez rien."
"Is this my first lesson? I didn't bring a notebook."
"No, it's not," Adam shot back. He sounded a lot angrier than he'd been all day. No matter how much I pushed or dragged him around, he wasn't nearly as angry.
"Sorry if I said something wrong. My family always tells me I can be careless sometimes with my words."
The silence that greeted my apology wasn't surprising.
I finished up the haircut, making sure to still leave Adam with some length.
Before I knew it, I was done. I brushed it back before taking a step away from him.
"There, go take a look." I went for the broom to clean up the mess all over the floor as Adam went to the bathroom.
By the time I finished cleaning up and storing away all the food, Adam had finally made his way back out. He looked refreshed, and with his hair out of his face, it wasn't obscuring his features. His jaw was more square and his cheekbones were prominent.