Epilogue – London #2
He immediately straightens in his seat and adjusts his black satin shirt, the top two buttons undone and showing off his tattooed chest. “How’s this?
” Seven shakes his head not even four whole seconds later.
“Ah, who am I kidding?” He slumps in the chair and throws his arm over the back of the one next to him.
“I was almost impressed, Sev.” I slap his shoulder and turn toward the rest of the family as they settle into their respective chairs.
“London.” August nods a hello and thumbs something into his phone before setting it on the table and taking off his suit jacket.
Does he not realize that family dinners don’t exactly require formal attire?
Unless that’s all he owns. Suddenly, I can’t picture August in anything other than suits, even when he goes to bed, or gets in the shower, or goes for a swim in a pool.
I bite down a laugh as Ivy’s burning stare draws my attention. “Hey, Ivy.”
“I see you two resolved things,” she says, not even trying to hide her annoyance.
Archer approaches from beside her and sets a stack of plates on the table. “We have, which means you need to get that stick out of your ass, sister.”
She doesn’t get a chance to respond, not verbally—with her eyes she speaks a thousand words at once, none of them nice—because Leo comes over and opens his mouth.
“London, hey, how are you?” He doesn’t wait for an answer before turning toward Archer. “Arch, buddy, have you forgiven me yet? I could really use your help, please.”
Archer, stone-cold, ignores him and passes a plate across the table to Seven. “Here.”
“Oh, so you’re talking to him, but you’re not talking to me?” Leo blurts out.
“A word?” I grab Leo’s arm and tug him away from the table, ignoring the looks of everyone else as I take it upon myself to insert myself in business that probably isn’t mine to deal with.
His muscles bunch under my touch but he complies, letting me lead him out of direct earshot.
Leo fixes the collar of his white button-up, his entire aesthetic something straight out of rich man Pinterest. I hate how attractive he is, how attractive each one of the siblings are, especially because they’re not even actually related.
Well, Seven and Ivy are, but still, the point stands.
How is it possible to have this good of genes between this misfit bunch?
It’s no wonder people are intimidated by them, they’re nearly too pretty for their own good.
“You have to stop nagging him,” I tell Leo, hoping he’ll understand. “I know you guys are family and you have a way of doing things, but I don’t think it’s working, Leo. If anything, it’s making him want to help you even less.”
Leo sighs and runs his hand through his hair, the disheveled locks falling over his brow. “We fight. It’s what we do. He’s usually over it by now.” He narrows his green gaze. “Then you had to come along.”
I shove him playfully. “You were an asshole long before I got here.”
“Touché.” He chews on his lip and glances at the table. “I’ll try to do it your way. But could you at least put a good word in for me?”
“What do you even want him to do?”
“Track down the woman that robbed me.”
“To do what with her?”
Leo shrugs. “I just want to talk to her, that’s all…and get back what she stole from me.”
This time, it’s me that glares at him. “You’re rich, Leo. Replace whatever it is she took and I’m sure your ego will repair itself.”
“You don’t get it, she—”
“Everything okay over here?” Archer comes over and puts his arm around me like he’s marking his territory.
I lean into him. “Leo was just telling me what he wants to get you for Christmas.”
“Christmas isn’t for another couple of months,” Archer says.
“Trust the process, big boy.” I pat his chest and hope he chooses to let it go.
I don’t want to watch him get into a fistfight with another one of his brothers.
As hot as the whole bad boy thing is, I draw the line at unnecessarily destroying his apartment again.
Seven and Archer made one hell of a mess when they beat each other senseless.
Plus, the damage Archer made when he blew the wall out between my apartment and his, and we finally just got rid of all the debris in the aftermath of creating a doorway between the two.
I still haven’t figured out what I’m going to tell Camille, but that’s a problem for another day, and Archer claims he’ll handle it since he’s the one who tore it down.
I guess that’s one of the perks of having a seemingly endless supply of money—there isn’t a problem you can’t fix by throwing some cash at it.
Archer and I return to the table and slide into our chairs, him grabbing hold of the leg of mine and scooting me closer to him. He opens a box of noodles and puts some on my plate before giving himself some, too.
I give him an egg roll and take one for myself, making sure to hand him a packet of the duck sauce I’ve come to recognize that he likes.
“Thanks,” he says with a soft smile, taking it from me.
To be seen is to be loved, and boy is that all Archer ever does—sees me.
When I’m mad, grouchy, hungry, tired, happy, sad, hyper, annoying…
there isn’t a version that has turned him away, not even the one where I betrayed him.
That is a mistake I will never repeat. I was lucky Archer has forgiven me, I won’t take that for granted again.
He hurt me, too, but he was justified in what he did, meanwhile I was just being a selfish asshole.
August clears his throat and I don’t think there’s a single one of us that doesn’t tear our eyes away from whatever we were focusing on to give him our attention.
August is a man of few words, but when he speaks, he commands authority.
Not like the rest of the guys do, in a threatening manner, but in a respectful way.
“I was contacted by a gaming owner, Leo. He wanted to set up a meeting to discuss a possible merger.”
Leo shakes his head and I already know where this is headed. This is the guy who ambushed him at the gala Grace put on. The one that Leo said he’d never go into business with because of how clean he ran things. I passively suggested killing him, but apparently that wasn’t a viable option.
“My secretary informed me that he has been quite persistent,” August adds.
“Yeah, he calls nonstop. Shows up unexpectedly. Won’t take no for an answer.” Leo rummages through a few boxes of Chinese takeout, settling on some brown meat thing.
Archer, as if he can sense my energy, puts his hand on my knee.
I don’t care if people eat meat around me, but I can’t help the strange visceral reaction from time to time when I see it.
Archer stopped consuming it completely and despite reassuring him that it was okay, he insists that it isn’t a big deal.
Considering I eat most of my meals with him, that doesn’t allow for much meat consumption.
We’ve gone to dinner and have gone out with Grace, but Archer tends to make sure other people aren’t around us.
I sort of forgot what it was like to be around meat.
Still, I can’t help but think about that man my father dismembered and fed to a pig.
Archer’s jaw tenses and I put my hand on his because I know damn well he’s about to make a scene.
“It’s fine,” I whisper. “Really.”
“Why don’t you kill him?” Seven blurts out, none of which surprising any of us.
Leo chuckles. “That’s what a friend told me to do, too.” He shoots a quick glance my direction.
Seven shrugs. “We could do it right now. I don’t have anything going on. We could be done in an hour. Two, tops. Tell me his name.”
“Seven,” Ivy snaps. “Seriously? Do you have no decorum?”
“I’m going to be real with you, baby sis. I have no idea what that means.” Seven stares across the table at her. “Is that, like, a made-up word or something? You trying to act all smart? Make me look stupid? Is that what this is about? The fuck do you know about decorations.”
Ivy doesn’t soften her glare as she keeps her eyes on Seven. “Decorum.”
“Potato, potahto.”
“Can you stop talking about murder at the dinner table?” Ivy asks Seven.
“They can talk about it but I can’t? How is that fair?” Seven pouts.
“When was anyone else talking about murder?”
Leo stands abruptly, holding his finger out to silence us.
“I have to take this. Shut up for a second, guys.” He puts the phone to his ear, his gaze frantically scanning at nothing in particular.
“What do you mean? You can’t be serious.
What the fuck? How? When? Why am I just now getting a call?
Are you fucking serious? I swear to everything holy, if this is some sick prank, I will have your— Yes, yes, I understand. Okay. I’ll be right there.”
Archer remains unfazed in his spot next to me, not wanting to give in that he’s curious in the slightest at what that might have been about, but the rest of us, we’re eagerly waiting for Leo to give us any indication of what’s going on.
Leo lowers his arm and for the first time since I’ve known him, he seems truly fucking haunted. “The casino was robbed.”
“Isn’t that what insurance is for?” Seven asks a pretty valid question.
“Not for what I had hidden underneath.” Leo takes a deep breath, his eyes lingering on Archer, who still won’t look in his direction. “Even still, you won’t help me?”
Archer blinks a few times as if he’s contemplating his response carefully, and I hate that I can already tell what is about to come out of his mouth isn’t going to go over well, not with Leo, who clearly needs him.
“I told you not to mess with the diamonds. I told you not to mess with the art.” Archer rises from his seat, finally meeting Leo’s desperate gaze.
“I told you not to mess with the jewelry, the cars, the guns. What else, Leo? You never listen to me. And you have the audacity to beg me to help you? This is your mess, fix it yourself.”
Leo keeps his face straight and slowly nods. He leaves the table and doesn’t bother looking back.
“Leo,” Ivy calls out. “Don’t go. Let’s talk this out, like a family.”
Leo pauses at the door. “Seven, you with me?”
“Fuck this shit.” Seven shoves his plate forward and takes off after Leo, leaving the rest of us behind in gaping silence.
I don’t dare say a word, not because I don’t want to, but because I know it’s not my place. I’ve inflicted enough damage since I showed up here earlier this year.
My only option is to accept they’ll figure this out on their own.
Leo takes one final glance over his shoulder at the door. His sights are trained on Archer as he says, “I’ll remember this.”