Chapter Eleven
After seven weeks of loud dinners, laughter, and pool parties, as much as Clay enjoyed himself, he was ready for some quiet.
It had been really nice, though. The Agafonov brothers had always made him feel like one of them.
What Clay hadn’t been prepared for was an overly relaxed Beau treating him like a son.
Truth be told, he had a secret he would take to the grave.
There was a lie he had kept up his entire life and always would.
He had always seen Beau as a father. That admission—even to himself—was a bit humiliating.
He was part of an army of people who would die for Beau.
Well, the leader of an army now. Not that his exact position mattered.
He wasn’t supposed to need a family. Clay was supposed to be one of those men who kept their emotions bottled.
But Beau had always treated him a lot like his sons, and that mattered to Clay.
Clay didn’t have Beau’s sons’ money and freedom.
But in a drunken, drug-induced state once, back when Tabitha had still been alive and Beau had gone through a phase of joining her on the high side, Beau had told Clay something he likely didn’t even recall.
Beau told Clay he loved him like one of his own.
He was sorry Clay hadn’t been given the same life as Boone and Banks, but in the heart, he thought he had ruined them by spoiling them.
They were addicts, like their mom, and didn’t appreciate what they had.
Of course, that was several years ago, long before Banks and Boone got their lives together.
The three were still trying to work their way back to each other, but they hadn’t given up.
Clay knew they would be fine. Sometimes healing took a long time.
In their case, they each had a lot to be sorry about and a ton of forgiveness to dish out.
Clay had always been grateful to be left out of that mess, but yeah.
Clay had carried that confession in his chest ever since.
He didn’t have a family. Clay wanted as much as he could get.
Tonight, he felt like a bit of an intruder. The Agafonov brothers sat in a big circle with their spouses along for the ride. It was their last night together before they left a brother behind.
Tracker stood. He held a bundle of envelopes. “It was probably shitty of me to hang on to these DNA results until the last minute. Honestly, I’m a little scared to share them. We’ve always been family without knowing our blood ties. I don’t want that to change.”
“Family isn’t blood,” Field said, cutting in.
Henry squeezed the shoulders of his massive, red-haired goofball husband. “Field is right. No amount of DNA can replace the life you all have shared. Blood won’t change what no one can break.”
A round of “damn straight” and other agreements grumbled through the room.
Tracker took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Well, here we go.” He moved from person to person, passing out sealed envelopes of results. He handed one to Clay. Clay’s name was written on the outside and everything.
His fingers automatically closed around the envelope, but his confusion couldn’t be hidden. “What’s this?”
Tracker winked. “I didn’t want you to feel left out.”
To his shame, Clay went a little dim-witted at that wink. Tracker looked exactly like a really hot news anchor. He was always dressed on point and his hair was perfectly styled. Yet he looked completely comfortable in his high-dollar casual office attire.
A nervous-sounding laugh escaped Clay. “I’m a little scared to ask how you got my DNA.”
Tracker’s smile was filled with humor. He winked again and went back to his seat, where Zeus openly waited for his return.
“On three,” Rain said when no one opened their results.
They exchanged glances, and everyone started slowly counting.
When they reached three, they gently opened their results as if equally scared of what was inside.
Clay didn’t open his. He stared over Scout’s shoulder.
It was a detailed list. He had expected a random set of numbers they would have to decipher.
Clay should have known Tracker would be more thorough.
He had broken down everyone’s results into an easy-to-read and understand document.
Before he had time to read the first line, Zeus and Ridge shot to their feet and met halfway.
To his surprise, they both had tears in their eyes as they hugged, babbling about how they had known it.
They were twins. Actually, two of triplets.
They had Edge on his feet as well when they quickly realized he was the third.
Clay couldn’t help but smile. He went back to staring at Scout’s list. Scout kind of stared into space, as if he locked up halfway through.
Clay scanned the page for Scout’s name. He matched with several names, and Clay quickly lost the plot when things turned into a rabbit hole.
It looked like Shadow, Shore, and Scout were all brothers.
He wondered if the S names were a coincidence or some deliberate way to keep track.
Tracker, Field, and Foster were brothers and first cousins to Shadow, Shore, and Scout.
Clay’s eyes widened when he noticed Shadow and Rain were twins too, making Scout brothers with Rain as well.
The lone ones out were Tidy and Crisp, who showed no relation to anyone else on the list.
Clay glanced around the room, trying to gauge everyone’s reactions.
Rain and Shadow both had their hands over their mouths while they stared at each other with tears running down their faces.
After a moment, they looked Scout’s way and then to Shore.
None of them moved. It was as if shock had rendered them useless.
Field swiped his eyes but didn’t look at anyone. Foster, who typically kept himself away from the group, looked totally unaffected.
Tidy and Crisp held hands and cried, but Crisp spoke up first. “It doesn’t matter. You’re still our brothers.”
It hit Clay. They were always on the fringes, and this further divided them from the only family they had ever known.
Field finally stood. He headed their way and went down on his knees between their chairs. Belying their earlier statement, they ugly-cried the moment Field pulled them into a hug.
Clay glanced Austen, Henry, and Mickey’s way. They looked how Clay felt—like they too had witnessed something they shouldn’t have. But then another realization nearly took him out. They didn’t have envelopes. Tracker had said he didn’t want Clay to feel left out. Why didn’t they have envelopes?
His gaze dropped to his lap, where the results he had been handed stared up at him.
Scout bumped shoulders with him. “Open it. What’s the worst that could happen?”
A nervous chuckle burst from Clay. “I could open this and find out we’re related.”
Scout didn’t roll his eyes, but Clay felt how badly he wanted to. “First off, that’s highly unlikely. Secondly, Ridge and Edge are married. They took a hell of a risk doing this test.”
Shadow leaned their way, obviously overhearing their conversation.
“It wasn’t a risk.” He looked clear-eyed and perfectly at peace.
“All of you could stand in judgment if you want. Ridge and I have been through too much. We wouldn’t give each other up no matter what these results said.
We made that decision together, and it wasn’t even hard. ”
Clay felt the power and love behind each word Shadow spoke. His husband meant everything. After half a second of thought, Clay realized he got it. “I wouldn’t have judged you. It honestly seems a little unnatural for you two not to be together.”
Shadow flashed him a bright smile. “Open the damn results.”
At that urging, Clay turned the envelope over and tore open the back. He held his breath as he pulled the paper out from inside. His didn’t look like Scout’s. It was a letter, and it was from Scout.
Clay,
I’m the one who sneaked Tracker your DNA.
While you won’t find any lost relatives tonight, you should at least have the option to find any family you may have out there in the future.
I asked Tracker not to go looking unless you wanted that.
You deserve to have a choice. I’ve always had a home country and brothers.
I won’t say they aren’t blood. We’ve shed more blood for each other than anyone born from the same womb ever could.
According to Tracker, considering the high percentage of Italian DNA, it’s possible you could have some six degrees of separation thing with Beau’s family tree.
That might be one reason you were placed with him.
Anyhow, I know it’s not much, but that’s all I could offer.
No matter how you feel about looking into your history, you’ll always still have me at the end of the day.
I’m your family. On that note, would you marry me? It’d be kind of cool if you did.
A laugh burst from Clay over that last sentence. The sound died when he looked Scout’s way. Scout held a ring and had all the hope in the world in his eyes. The collective silence had Clay casting a quick glance around the room. Everyone stared at them as if holding their breath.
Clay met Scout’s pleading stare. “As if I’d say no.
” He snatched the ring from Scout before it disappeared.
Clay was scared as fuck this was all a dream.
He stuck that ring on his finger so damn fast, he didn’t even get a good look at it.
All he wanted was Scout. In an instant, he had the kiss he wanted while clapping and congratulations went up around them.
“I really hope you want to get married tomorrow,” Clay said against Scout’s lips, trying to keep the conversation between them.
“Fuck yeah.”
Clay laughed as Scout overwhelmed him with all the public displays of affection. Maybe they were crazy. Clay gave less than zero fucks if they were. Like Shadow had said, everyone could stand on their fucking judgment if they wanted. His heart was right here. He wanted everyone to know it.
Keep an eye out for the next Killers Inc., Tracker.