Chapter 15 Anna
ANNA
I felt the sun first, but the second sensation made my stomach curdle.
Brutus was gone.
I sighed heavily as I flopped over in bed, my arm dropping against the spot where he should have been. The cold made me shiver as my gaze slowly focused on the ceiling above me.
Why did they always leave?
I rolled over onto my side before faceplanting right into the pillow he used. It smelled like him, and the comfort took me by surprise. I nuzzled against it, inhaling the scent he left behind before leaving.
He stayed until you fell asleep.
It was more than any other man had ever given me before.
I replayed Brutus’s anger in my head like a movie reel.
I still didn’t understand. My brother was the most protective person I knew, and even he agreed that my place was the best place to put everyone, at least for now.
I slowly blinked, trying to pull my body out of the heaviness of sleep that it sank into the night before.
I wished he would have stayed.
“Stop it,” I grumbled to myself as I threw the covers off me.
Anna Ronchetto didn’t fawn over a man. Anna Ronchetto broke men’s hearts. I didn’t get left, I did the leaving. So I dragged myself to the bathroom and repeated my morning mantra to myself while I washed my face and brushed my teeth.
“Penises are for use, not for decoration. They’re not supposed to hang around.”
I tried to ignore the ache in the pit of my gut.
The small part of me that wanted to roll over and bump right into the living berth that was Brutus.
I spat my toothpaste out and finished my morning routine before heading to my closet.
I didn’t grab many things out of my room before Cap and Ariel snatched it up, but I grabbed my basics.
I pulled out a pair of shorts that I rolled up a bit and a baggy shirt that hung off my shoulder before braiding my hair back out of my face.
Before the smell of breakfast lured me to the kitchen.
The fuck?
Just as I made my way into the kitchen, I saw Brutus standing there in clothes I’d never seen him wear before. He had on a white t-shirt of all things and a pair of regular denim pants.
I wasn’t sure I’d ever seen him in anything other than black.
“You getting ready for a costume party or something?” I asked.
His chuckle was warm and hatefully delightful as he turned with a tray in his hands. “Perfect timing.”
I looked down at the steaming tray of food and nodded at it. “That for me?”
He lifted it a bit. “You really like to sleep.”
I gave him a smile before I gave him the finger. “Thanks for breakfast.”
He chuckled as he walked over to me. “Anytime, Anna-mine.”
The word crawled over my skin and tucked its way into the fabric of my heart.
The damn thing slammed against my sternum so hard that I thought it would burst through completely.
I peered over both of my shoulders, finding ourselves alone in a kitchen that should’ve been hustling and bustling with people elbowing one another out of the way to get to breakfast.
Because Brutus could fucking cook.
“Thanks,” I said as I reached out to take the tray.
However, he just pulled it back a bit. “Come on, I’ll get it to your room.”
I tilted my head and studied his shirt. It was only with him turning around that I realized the white shirt had a phrase on it.
“Bingo, bango… bongo?” I asked.
We fell in step with one another, heading back to my room. “It’s a Fallout 4 reference.”
I blinked. “What’s Fallout 4?”
He just chuckled again.
I hated how the sound affected me.
Sort of, anyway.
We made our way back to my bedroom where he sat the tray down on my bedside table.
I crawled back into bed, happy to be back in some semblance of a normal, safe environment.
I had to admit, seeing Brutus freaked out like he was yesterday had my waking mind spinning with things I didn’t think about before.
It wasn’t until he placed the tray on my covered lap that I was ripped out of my trance.
“You all right?” he asked as he perched on the edge of the bed.
I reached for the orange juice and took a sip. I grimaced at how it tasted since I just got done brushing my teeth.
“Yeah,” I said as I set the drink down, “just still waking up.”
I watched a shadow move over my food and whipped my head up, only for his finger to trace along my forehead. He smoothed away a lock of hair, tucking it behind my ear, and I couldn’t help but to let my gaze fall to his lips.
Goddamn it, he was a good kisser.
“Eyes up here,” he said.
My gaze ripped back up to his playful brown eyes.
Since when were his eyes playful?
“Ass,” I muttered as I looked down at my food.
“You have a nice one, yes.”
I practically choked on my own tongue as my cheeks burned with a blush.
What the hell was happening to me?
“And to answer your question about my garb from earlier,” he said as he picked up the fork and handed it to me, “I have to go into Redd Valley to patrol businesses today.”
I stabbed at my eggs, but furrowed my brow as I looked back up at him. “I thought King and the guys were doing that?”
He nodded. “They are.”
“And you’re having to help them… why?”
That was when he stopped answering.
“Something’s happened,” I said.
He stayed silent.
“Brutus.”
“Anna-mine.”
My heart skipped a beat. “Stop calling me that.”
He tilted his head. “Why?”
“Because.”
He grinned. “Because…?”
“Because that’s not my name.”
“It’s called ‘a nickname.’ You may have heard of them. It’s why you call me ‘Bee.’”
I rolled my eyes and ate the eggs I stabbed at, but I couldn’t let go of it.
“Why are you all of a sudden having to help my brother? Has something happened to one of the crew?” I asked.
“No,” he said with a shake of his head.
“So my brother’s all right?”
“Yes.”
“Then why do you have to help?”
And again, silence.
“Bee.”
He chuckled. “Anna-mine.”
I sighed. “Stop it.”
“Never.”
I groaned, and it made him smile. Really genuinely smile. It peeled back and crinkled his eyes closed, and for a moment, he almost looked boyish. I studied his smile like it was a final test for a class, and I noticed that he had a bit of a snaggle tooth.
I couldn’t help the smile that spread across my own face before I dipped down and took another bite of breakfast.
I heard my brother bark out.
“Anna!”
“In here!” I called out.
Brutus’s head snapped to the door like the damn thing was on a hairpin trigger. I saw my brother’s shadow beneath the door before he charged through it, the door practically slamming against the wall.
“I need your—”
He paused, his gaze flitting between my food, me, and Brutus.
Fuck.
“Could you have been any louder?” I asked as I took a bite.
He narrowed his eyes at Brutus before slowly sliding his attention to me. “I need your help today.”
That made Brutus stand. “No.”
“What?” King and I asked in unison.
Brutus glared at my brother. “I know what you’re about to ask. The answer is no.”
I scoffed. “Was he talking to you?”
King just folded his arms across his chest. “What she said.”
Bee’s shoulders rolled back. “She’s not helping you. She’s staying here where she’s safe.”
My brother scoffed. “And here I thought you were trying to convince her yesterday that she wasn’t safe anywhere.”
When Bee took a step toward him, I placed the tray to the side and stood. “All right, before we try to slug one another again, Kay,” I said as I looked over at my brother, “what do you need my help with?”
“Nothing,” Bee said.
I shot him a look. “Are you Kay?”
He looked down at me. “No, but I’m the one protecting you.”
I folded my arms across my chest like my brother. “Since when?”
“Since this entire mess started. Everyone under this roof is charged with my protection.”
“She’ll be protected with me while she helps,” my brother said as he turned his attention to me. “Anna, there’s been—”
“Nothing,” Bee snarled.
I slapped Bee’s arm. “Interrupt my brother again and the next love tap will be to your balls.”
I watched his hands fist at his sides as King chuckled, but I turned on him, too.
“Shut up. Quit antagonizing the man. Spit out what the fuck you need.”
Brutus snarled. “You’re not helping him look for that kidnapped fucking woman. It’s dangerous.”
I gawked as I looked back at my brother. “There’s been another kidnapping? Where!?”
My brother’s face hardened into stone. “In our territory. We could use your skills.”
“Skills?” Brutus asked. “What skills?”
“Just because you think you know everything about me,” I said as I walked toward my brother, “doesn’t mean you actually do. Tell me everything you know, King. Start from the beginning.”
He just shook his head. “I don’t know much, that’s the problem. The only reason we know about the kidnapping is because she was reported missing this morning. The Chief of Police called me.”
“Fucking hell, let me change,” I grumbled.
Brutus caught my arm. “What skills?”
I slowly panned my gaze up toward him. “Let. Me. Go. Or I will make sure my brother ensures that you do.”
He held me like that for a long time. Our eyes connected. His hand tightened around my upper arm. It wasn’t until my brother damn near growled like a goddamn animal that he finally let me go.
“What skills?” Brutus asked, turning to my brother. “How can she help?”
“For starters,” King said, “she’s in good with the homeless population around here. If there was a kidnapping off the street, they’re gonna know about it, and she’s the only one they’ll talk to.”
“I’ve got baggies made up in my room, if you can pry Cap and Ariel out of it long enough,” I said as I raced to the closet for some decent riding clothes. “Under the bathroom sink, in the totes I always use.”
“I’ll get ‘em,” my brother said.
“Baggies?” Brutus asked.
“She makes bags of things for the homeless. Snacks. Food. Toiletries. Gift cards,” King said.
I slipped into the closet long enough to pull some pants over the shorts I had on. I ripped a hoodie over my head and came out of the closet, rebraiding my hair for the helmet I’d surely have to put on while I rode on the back of someone’s bike.
“Who am I cruising with today?” I asked.
“Me,” my brother said.
I nodded as I reached for my purse. “Fair enough.”
“I don’t like this,” Brutus said.
“We know,” my brother and I said in unison.
“I’m going with you, then,” Brutus said. “Someone has to—”
My brother pointed at him. “You already have your orders from your president to cover our asses with your businesses in Redd Valley so that we can sniff out what the hell is happening in our own territory. You want me to go get Cap?”
Brutus’s teeth pulled back into a snarl.
“Can it,” I said before he could make a sound.
“Hey, Brutus,” Ghost said as he stuck his masked face into my room. “We’re all about to leave. You coming?”
I looked up at Bee. “Yeah. You coming?”
His brown eyes panned down to me before he placed his hands on his knees and dipped down to my level.
“You better watch your damn back out there, Anna,” he grumbled. “Because if I come back and you’re hurt in any way, you don’t move from this house until I give the command, because this is my territory so long as Cap says it is. Your home or not.”
And before I could get another word in edgewise, he stalked out the door while slamming his shoulder into my brother’s in the process.
“Real big of you, Bee!” I called after him.
I practically felt the middle finger he fed me down the hallway, even though I couldn’t see it.