Chapter 23 #3
We stay out on the patio until it’s almost time for Evander and Mateo to show up. After we moved past the possible stalker situation, it felt nice just to hang out with them. Even Ryder. I know he didn’t just fully accept me overnight, but I can breathe around him now, at least.
We walk into the house, and it’s the first time I’ve seen kitchen staff bustling around. The whole time I’ve been here, I’ve only seen the cleaning staff. I look at Alessa in question.
She shrugs. “I can’t cook.”
“You could have just ordered something, Baby,” I tell her, kissing her head and wrapping my arm around her.
“Now, what impression would that make?” Gage remarks, throwing his arm around my shoulders. I can’t stop the reaction, my whole body shudders thinking of earlier, and he just grins, walking away.
“Okay,” Alessa says. “I need to be around next time.”
I exhale a breath. “I don’t know if I’ll survive with both of you there.”
“Ohhhhh,” Alessa says, running her hands up my chest. “You don’t want Gage and me touching you at the same time?” she purrs.
“Stop,” I warn.
She laughs. “Why?”
I go to open my mouth to answer, but it’s cut off by someone from her staff.
“Evander and Mateo Perez are here, ma’am.”
“It’s Alessa, Shawna. Thank you.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Shawna replies with a smile and leads my brothers into the living room.
Alessa treats all her staff with the utmost respect, never talking down to them. Hell, she barely keeps staff here except for the guards surrounding the place twenty-four-seven.
“Gentlemen,” Alessa greets politely. “Let’s sit until the food’s ready.”
She leads us into the living room, gesturing to the loveseat in front of the couch for Evander and Mateo.
They at least listened to me when I said this is a very casual dinner and are in jeans and t-shirts.
. Alessa doesn’t make big deals out of stuff like that, and Gage told me it’s because her dad never did.
He said Luca didn’t see the point in getting dressed up in your own house for dinner.
On the other hand, Frankie made it a formal affair every night.
I sit on the couch, and she surprises me by sitting right beside me, lacing our hands together, and laying them on her lap.
“Thanks for having us, Alessa,” Evander says politely.
Alessa lets out an inelegant snort. “Cut the shit, Evander. I’m not your superior.”
“Ah, but you are,” Evander says with a grin, not bothered by that fact.
She waves her hand. “Schematics of the family lines. I invited you here for two reasons. I want to move further with this alliance, putting us on equal footing.”
“The second reason?” Mateo asks, kicking back in his seat.
“For Leo,” she says softly, looking over at me.
“You did this for me?”
She shrugs. “I unfairly kept you here, away from them. You’re a part of my life, and you’re a part of theirs.”
“How would you like to move forward?” Evander asks, relaxing a little more.
She smiles. “I want you three to attend the gala with Gage and me.”
Mateo raises his eyebrows. “To announce the alliance?”
“Exactly.” She tucks her legs under her crisscross style and leans forward, still holding my hand. “Leo needs to be announced as the new Perez heir.” She shrugs. “It will make other families follow suit if they see I can put what happened behind me.”
Evander looks at me. “Are you okay with that? Being announced as an heir?”
I’ve been waiting to be introduced as a Perez.
It’ll change the whole trajectory of my life.
Until I met Alessa, I didn’t plan on staying in California long-term.
I was going to get to know my brothers and then visit occasionally.
If they tell everyone I am now an heir to Frankie, there is no way I can go back home around Mom; too much danger followed these names.
I don’t question what I’m doing now that I have Alessa.
“I’m good with that,” I answer honestly, surprising Evander and Mateo. We’ve already talked about me going back home, but my home is now wherever Alessa is. And Gage, if I have to admit it.
“This is an invitation-only, and we don’t have one,” Evander informs Alessa. “My father made sure we aren’t welcome.”
“Consider this your invitation as a thank you for taking care of me at your bar,” she answers with a smile.
“There’s no thanks needed. You were fun,” Mateo laughs.
She groans. “I don’t even remember what I said.”
“Don’t worry. You didn’t share any trade secrets,” Evander says with a chuckle.
“Thank fuck,” she mumbles, then shakes her head with a laugh.
I love how she handles things with the most confidence in the world. She took on five uniquely different guys at the same time without batting an eye.
“Food’s ready, ma’am,” Gage says with an exaggerated flourish, stepping into the room.
“Fuck off, sir,” Alessa replies with a glare.
“Oh, Pretty girl, you can call me sir any time you want,” Gage says, waggling his eyebrows. “You too, Pretty boy,” he adds, blowing a kiss at me before walking out of the room.
Alessa loses it and starts laughing. Evander and Mateo’s eyebrows hit their hairline at the same time. it’s almost comical if I wasn’t dying of embarrassment.
Evander looks at me, and I shake my head. “Later,” I tell him.
“You better count on it,” Mateo adds.
I told them about the whole thing with Alessa, but I didn’t say anything about Gage. I didn’t know how to bring it up, and my reaction just now showed everything they needed to know.
After a surprisingly laid-back dinner, Alessa told me to spend some time with Evander and Mateo, so I led them to my new favorite spot in this house, the patio by the pool.
“Things seem to be going good,” Mateo comments, sipping the beer Alessa brought out for us.
“Yeah,” I agree.
“What about with Ryder?” Evander asks, kicking back in the chair.
“He doesn’t say much, but he stopped glaring at me.
” That’s all I can really ask for right now.
For a while, if he could kill me with his fucking eyes, he would have.
“I went on a job with them today.” Evander raises his eyebrow.
“We paid a visit to the Moretto’s.” I left out the part where Alessa shot one of them at point-blank range.
I’m not sure what I’m allowed to tell them.
“You know there’s a rumor Jerry Moretto is dead,” Evander says, tilting his head to the side. Well, I guess I won’t have to hide too much. “There’s also a rumor your black-haired beauty in there took care of him.”
I stare blankly at them and let them draw their own conclusions. Mateo laughs. “Good. He was a fucking worm.”
“I know you have to keep some things to yourself, Leo, because not even a week ago, we were the enemies, but you have to talk to someone,” Evander says, squeezing my shoulder.
I scrub a hand down my face. “I get that. I just don’t want to say something I’m not supposed to.”
He nods and looks off at the view from the patio.
There’s so much land in between that you can barely see the big ass gate surrounding the house in the distance.
There’s a giant swing on the side where you can see the entire city below.
I can’t imagine growing up in a situation where you have to be surrounded by a massive fence and guards. The same way my brothers grew up.
“What’s the deal with Gage?” Evander finally asks. He can sense my reluctance to talk about it. “We won’t judge you.”
“We might give you shit, but we won’t judge.” Mateo grins, putting me at ease.
“I can’t explain it,” I say, thinking about all the times he’s barely touched me on accident or vice versa and my immediate reaction to it. And now I’ve had a small taste of what he has to offer. “I’m attracted to him.”
“On a sexual level?” Evander asks curiously.
“Yeah,” I sigh. “Gage is happily bisexual with experience.”
“So, you’re intimidated by that,” Mateo says, and it’s not a question because he’s right.
“Well, yeah. He knows what the fuck he’s doing, and I don’t even know why I’m attracted to him.”
“Sometimes people catch our eye, and we can’t explain it,” Evander remarks with a faraway look. Is he talking about himself?
“Do you think I’m crazy for considering it?”
“Does Alessa care?” Evander asks, and it’s a fair question; I shake my head. “Then no. Do what makes you happy, brother.”
“Have either of you…?” I let the question hang in the air.
Mateo shrugs. “I have.”
Just like that, open and honest. I’ve never had siblings, but finding Evander and Mateo was one of the highlights of my life. They might try to protect me from most things, but they never hide anything.
I look at Evander, and he shakes his head. He still has that look in his eyes, a look I’ve never seen before. It’s like he’s thinking of someone, one that hurt him. I don’t want to ask and ruin the night, so I file it away to ask later.
“Things…progressed today,” I say and then sigh. “It more than progressed.”
“Are you fine with that?” Mateo asks, leaning his arm on the table.
“Yeah. I didn’t think I would be, but Gage somehow makes it easy.”
“That’s how it should be,” Evander says.
I feel a little better getting it off my chest. My brothers are the only ones I have to talk to, and I’m glad they’re open with me.
We lapse into silence then the patio door busts open. “Pretty girl,” Gage says, holding his hands up like he’s warding off a dangerous animal, and from the look on Alessa’s face, he is. This should be good.
“Don’t pretty girl me,” she says and shoves him in the chest hard enough to make him stumble. What the hell did he do?
Gage laughs and then tries to cover it up. “I’m sorry.”
“I thought we were done with the stupid pranks after you dyed Ryder’s hair pink,” she says, pushing him again.
Mateo barks a laugh. “He did what now?”
“Oh, he almost fucking killed me,” Gage says, oblivious to the fact he’s two wrong moves from going in the pool fully clothed.
“He taped a fucking air horn to the bottom of my office chair, so when I sat down, I almost shit myself.”