Chapter 29 Brooks
brOOKS
I carefully placed the dish of mashed potatoes on the table.
I had gotten out of the fucking sling a few weeks ago and was slowly able to bear weight on that arm.
The whole rehab process was too fucking slow if you asked me, but my PT and all my men swore I was doing well and making amazing progress.
Luca’s arms wrapped around me once the dish was safely out of my hands. “Don’t push yourself too hard, trouble.”
I rolled my eyes and then twisted around so I was facing Luc.
“I’m fine, Sir. I’m sticking to my weight limit and being extra careful.
Believe me, Mav and Wes wouldn’t let me near the kitchen if they thought otherwise.
” He was looking extra silver foxy today in his black slacks and long-sleeved, plum-colored button-up.
He had the first two buttons open, giving me a tease of chest hair.
Nestled right about that was a gold change and two keys.
One was for my cock cage and the other my collar.
It wouldn’t be obvious for those not in the know, though, and it made me feel all gooey inside to see him wearing them proudly.
“True. They are a little overprotective, aren’t they?” I managed to hide my snort. Like Luca wasn’t as bad, if not worse, than they were.
“Hey, don’t throw us under the fucking bus, like you don’t want to wrap him in several blankets and lock him in your room until he’s completely healed,” Maverick bit out as he came out of the kitchen with another tray of food. Luca laughed before releasing me with another kiss.
Mav was also dressed up and looking sexy. He had on dark jeans with an emerald-green cashmere sweater. I wanted to run my hands up and down it, and not just to feel up his muscles, either, thought that was a side benefit.
It was Thanksgiving! And we were having it here with all the families joining us. After the hellish last couple months, I was looking forward to it. We needed a day where we could eat a bunch of food, drink spiked punch and eggnog, and forget about all the bullshit.
The aftermath of the attack on our home had been insane. We’d braced for retribution and had even prepared to leave the estate for our own protection.
Thankfully, it had never come to that. Someone, definitely not Diego and Ari, had anonymously leaked everything they’d found when they’d gained access to Crimson Rose’s servers.
And I meant everything, from the lowest grunt to who led the organization.
And those were some big fucking names. The heads of all the world’s major crime organizations, two billionaires, and a couple top politicians.
That was just the leaders. The people connected to them had the entire world scrambling to save face.
There’d been many, many resignations recently.
It might not have been the quietest way to handle this, but no one was worried about us or Everett when they were dealing with rioters and losing billions.
Of course, some had managed to get away, they always did, but we were systematically finding those who’d gone into hiding and taking them out.
I was hopeful that one day Everett would have a semblance of a normal life.
The upside to the chaos was that hundreds of victims of the Crimson Rose were being found and saved. Every day, new reports came out about survivors of the abuse who’d been too afraid to speak and were finally coming out.
So in addition to hours of painful rehab and healing, we had all been busy dealing with the consequences of our decision.
Matty and Everett were closer than ever, and Matty’s friend Harley had seemed to really bond with Everett as well.
The three of them were inseparable, to the point that Harley and his family were also coming over for Thanksgiving.
I was glad they had each other because Matty and Everett were struggling with everything that had happened.
Matty had the extra burden that somehow, despite everything, his bio dad was still in the wind.
I had faith though. He couldn’t hide for much longer.
“Hey, brat, help me with the rest of the dishes?” Maverick asked, bringing me out of my thoughts. He grasped my chin, tilting my head his way before kissing me. Then he pulled away with a smirk and walked back into the kitchen.
The meal was a combo effort between Maverick and Wes and a caterer. Luca had wanted to cater the whole thing, but Mav had put his foot down because he wanted some home-cooking. His mom had even spent the night so she could help first thing.
Matty, Everett, and I were mostly on prep duty. I was a fucking pro at potato peeling by this point. I should enter a competition. That must exist somewhere, right?
The kitchen was full of life. Music was playing softly from a speaker. Maverick’s mom Maureen was stirring something in a pot. Wes was humming quietly to himself while finishing up a salad. Everett and Matty both had their arms full of platters that they were carrying into the dining room.
Wes smiled as we walked in. “Are the guests all here?” He’d also gone for the black slacks and button-down vibe, but his was a dark gray, and he had his sleeves rolled up, showing off his forearms.
“Just about. Beckett and Riley sent a text in the group chat that they were running a little late but would be here soon. Everyone else is getting drunk in the sitting room.” I couldn’t believe I lived in a house with a damn sitting room. What was this, Downton Abbey?
“Good. Do I need to drag Diego out of his office?”
I laughed, though it wasn’t really funny.
My brother had always been a workaholic, but he had gone into hyperdrive over the last few months.
He wouldn’t even listen to me anymore when I tried to get him to stop.
Only Wes ever got him to leave the office, and that was when he went into ultra Daddy mode and put his foot down. It was pretty fucking hot.
“No, surprisingly. My mom dragged him out half an hour ago and has been holding him hostage with the family ever since.”
Maverick chuckled. “Your mom is a badass.” She really was.
The three of us brought out the remaining dishes and met everyone in the dining room.
As soon as we walked in, I immediately sought out my guys.
Wes took a seat next to Diego, who was next to my dad.
Diego was wearing a black Henley, black pants, and had his hair pulled back in a band at the nape of his neck.
Skye was the only one of us who hadn’t dressed up—I even had on a dark purple sweater and light grey chinos.
I’d swapped out my sneakers for Doc Martens and had styled my hair back and out of my face.
Skye was in a T-shirt and jeans as usual, but his shirt said, Leftovers is for Quitters with a turkey on it, so it was still on brand for the holiday.
Regardless, we all looking fucking good.
I would have to get someone to take a picture of all of us together. We didn’t get nearly enough of them.
Once we were all seated around the huge dining room table, I took a minute to take in my blood and found family.
Everyone I loved was there. Besides the six of us, there was Matty and Everett, Wes’s kids, Beckett and Riley, my parents, Maverick’s parents, and his siblings and nieces and nephews.
Leo and about half of his team were here as well.
The rest had families that they were visiting.
Unfortunately, some had to stay on duty—we had tripled our security after the information leak just in case—but the guards would swap and there was plenty of food that we’d help hand out.
Dominic, Ari, and Gideon were all seated, as well as Dominic’s boyfriend, Jamie, and Jamie’s brother, Bailey.
There was light chatter as we all got settled and passed around the dishes.
Maverick’s brother teased him, while Skye was chatting up my dad.
My mom seemed to get Jamie, who was usually pretty quiet around this many people, to smile and participate in the conversation.
I was settled between Luca and Maverick, which was perfect.
Once thanks were given and it was time for food, I served Luca and Mav before me.
It was autopilot. Something I tried to do often, but since my accident and the near invasion of our property, I had been doing it more consistently. Little chores like that settled me.
“Thank you, sweetheart,” Luca said with a soft smile as I set his plate in front of him.
“You’re welcome.” The Sir was implied, but we tried not to slip around it in front of our families.
Once everyone was served, I settled back, appreciating this moment.
It was something I’d never take advantage of again.
The last few years had been both the best and most intense ever.
I’d found the loves of my life, found a place where I finally felt like I belonged.
But I’d also never been in more danger, and there was constant underlying worry, not so much for myself but for my family, for everyone I loved.
But today, I refused to let my anxiety get the better of me.
We were safe. We were doing important work, saving countless lives while helping to systematically unravel the world’s biggest secret organization.
I was proud to be part of it, and even prouder to spend the day with my loved ones.
We still had a lot of work to do, a lot of shit that needed to be solved, but that could wait. Today, I was going to stuff myself with all the sides and be happy.