5. Levi
Chapter 5
Levi
I take a sip of the coffee my best friend offers me and nearly spit it out right into his face.
"Brody, what is this shit?"
He laughs, his shoulders bouncing as he fills his own mug.
"If there's anything I took away from the service it was how to make shitty coffee," he admits, walking over to me, cane in one hand, his coffee mug in the other.
"What happened to that French press I gave you three Christmases ago?"
I attempt another sip but it's a lost cause.
"That was for making coffee?"
He pulls the chair out next to me at his kitchen table, leaning the cane against it.
His service dog, Milo, dutifully follows his every move. He huffs out a sigh as he takes his usual place at my friend’s feet.
Brody’s maid is busily cleaning cabinets behind us.
"I gave it to Maggie, who gave it to her grandson, who I think uses it to press the water out of mud. Ain't that right, Mags?"
The woman in her sixties turns to give Brody a smirk.
"Remind me never to gift you anything ever again," I say, grabbing a cookie off the plate before giving it another thought and setting it back down. I push the plate of baked goods away from my reach.
"Still watching your figure?" Brody asks, picking up the cookie I had put down and popping it into his mouth, shamelessly.
"It's about the only thing I can control these days."
"Ah, the ever cool, calm and collected Levi " The Ace" Steele."
Brody's the only one still left that would know about that nickname. The only one who still uses it in private.
The only one, until Sienna Riley, that is.
"I need to ask you something."
"Yes," he says with a kurt nod. "You are an asshole. I've been meaning to have this talk with you."
I punch him in the shoulder and he pretends it hurts, rubbing it and making a pouty face at Maggie who has no sympathy for his antics anymore.
He may be hobbling from his old injury, but that doesn’t mean the man can’t take a hit. He’s just as brawny as he was back when we joined the service. Maybe even fitter now that he does mostly upper body workouts.
"No. I met this woman last night."
Brody instantly regains his composure.
"A wo-man?" He stretches out the word as if trying to remember how the word is supposed to sound.
"A woman," I say again.
"And this woman," Brody lowers his voice so that Maggie can't hear, though she obviously can. "You slept with her?"
"No." Although, I might have if I didn't stop things. It definitely was going in that direction. We both wanted it.
I won't tell him that.
"And why not?" he presses, annoyed by my restraint, as always.
"All I say is the word woman and you automatically assume I want to sleep with her. We're talking about me here, not you."
"First off, ouch. I'm not like that. I am a gentleman," he says with a hand on his heart.
"Mmhmm," I say as a response, watching as Maggie shakes her head at his remark.
She'd know better than anyone that's not true considering she's the one who has to clean up his messes.
"Second of all, why wouldn't I automatically assume you'd want to sleep with a woman? It's been long enough."
I give him a look.
"What? What's it been? Like five years since Evie left?"
"Six," I say.
"Exactly! Long enough. Not that Evie seems to remember," he mumbles before finally takes a sip of his coffee and coughs as he tries to swallow it down. "Yeah, that's shit."
If anybody knows me and the whirlwind that is my life, it’s Brody King.
Serving together since we were both around Theo's age will do that. We've formed a tie that goes beyond blood, it's a bond that's forged in war. The kind of bond that's not easily severed. And considering, my own brother annoys the ever living shit out of me… Brody's the only one who truly gets me.
"Alright, so this woman…" he attempts to continue.
I motion over to Maggie who has her back to us as she continues to dust off the same cabinet she's been working on for the last five minutes.
Breaker's Isle is a coastal island town. I wouldn't call it a small town, per se. But does everybody know everybody's business? Yes. Somehow word always manages to get around.
Brody looks over at his maid and then back at me before giving me a nod.
"Hey, Mags. You mind grabbing something for me?"
She turns to look at him. "Sure, Mr. King."
"In my closet upstairs, like deep in there, probably on the top shelf so you'll need that step ladder that's in the laundry. There's a little black notebook labeled NO in all caps.
"No?" She repeats.
"Correct. Can you bring that down for me? Pretty please, Mags."
She gives me a questioning look and I just shrug, grabbing my coffee and taking a sip, forgetting I hate it.
"Sure, Mr. King. I'll be right back."
She drops her feather duster on a table at the bottom of the winding staircase and once she disappears upstairs Brody turns his attention back to me.
"That'll keep her busy a while," he says, a sly grin plastered on his face.
"Yeah, she's onto you. You're not slick. What's that notebook have in it anyway?"
"It would have the names of the women I've had the displeasure of meeting over the years and would never want to run into ever again. But I don't have a notebook labeled NO. That shit is all in here."
He taps the side of his head. "Now, this woman..."
"She's new in town. A friend of a friend of Theo’s. Someone he started hanging out with when he took that Art class at the college a few months ago."
"So she's young," Brody catches on.
"She's young."
"And would you say she’s attractive?"
"She's not, not attractive. That's not the point though," I say.
"This is how I know you’ve been out of the game too long, man. That is always the point, brother."
I roll my eyes and lean back in my chair.
"You ever tell anyone how I got my nickname?"
He cocks his head to the side. "No. Why would you even think that?" By the way he asks me that, I know he's telling the truth.
I sigh. "She called me Ace."
"This new girl?"
I nod.
"Could she be somebody's daughter maybe?"
"She said she heard it once on the show."
His brow knits, as he thinks. "You think it was—"
The doorbell rings and we both look in the direction of the front door.
"Damnit. That's probably the commercial broker." He looks at his watch. "He's early. Look, I gotta go grab my laptop since I sent Mags on a wild goose chase.”
“Serves you right,” I tell him.
He shakes his head, “Mind getting him settled?"
I nod.
I’m not too excited about this meeting. But this is what it's come down to.
Steele King's Customs is no longer making enough money to justify keeping the doors open. We have less than three months before everyone that works for us will be out a job.
Brody's bailed us out time and time again. He has what seems to be an endless supply of capital but I can't let him do it anymore.
Which is why I took out a second mortgage on the house I share with my brother and Theo. Brody has enough on his plate to have to also keep the sinking ship that is our passion project, afloat.
But now with my family home on the line, selling and cashing out might be the only option.
That or a miracle, which I stopped believing in long ago.
The doorbell rings again and Brody pushes his chair back, picks up his cane and Milo instantly gets up to follow him. The golden retriever is always on duty.
Together, they disappear down the hall into his office.
I make my way to the door and swing it open. But much to my surprise, it's not the agent standing there.
Green eyes, even brighter now with the sun beaming down above her. Thick, red hair.
Why is she here?
Today, she's dressed in oversized jeans that hang low on her hips. The black crop top band tee hugs every curve. And my stupid body reacts in the same way it did when I first laid eyes on her last night.
"Sienna?"
She looks just as confused, panicked even.
"Levi?!" She shakes her head. "That can't be right."
She looks down at the paper in her hand. Confusion written into those beautiful features of hers.
"What are you doing here?" I step out onto the porch and look back to make sure Brody can't hear us. "Are you following me?"
Her eyes snap up to mine.
"What? Are you crazy? No, of course I'm not following you,” she nearly spits out, clearly offended. “Wait… do you live here?"
She motions to the house behind me.
"And if I did?" I tilt my head, stuffing my hands into my pocket.
She slowly closes her eyes and shakes her head.
"Please tell me that's not true."
The door swings open behind me and we both turn to a puzzled Brody. His gaze flicks between us.
"You're not the agent."
"She's not," I say.
Sienna's eyes widen as she takes in Brody.
"Do you live here?" she asks.
Brody’s brows furrow. "Who's asking?"
"I…” She clears her throat and tries again. “My name is Sienna Riley," she says.
Brody straightens before repeating, "Riley?"
Milo gives me a look as if to say should we know this person? I shrug at the dog’s silent questioning.
Sienna nods. And I feel like I'm living in a dream. Everything is moving slowly.
What is happening?
Brody takes a step back and opens the door wider.
"Please… come in."
Sienna steps in front of me and follows Brody and Milo inside.
What the actual fuck is happening?