Chapter 8
Chapter
Eight
“ N ow that we have most of the bad stuff out of the way and we have been able to laugh at Ram’s expense. What’s for dinner, Sanem?” Cowboy asked, rubbing his hands together in glee while Sanem barked out a laugh, and swatted at him.
Kade smacked Cowboy in the gut. “We’re not here to stuff our faces, you dope.” He gasped. “Were you raised by wolves?”
Cowboy feigned being hurt. “How could you say that, Kade? I’m a big boy. I need fuel.” The sarcasm dripped from his voice.
Kade aggressively rolled his eyes behind his shades, knowing his buddy would understand the gesture. “You ate in the car on the way here, and before we even left.” Kade reminded him.
“So?” Cowboy asked slowly. “Did you miss the part where I said I was a big boy who needs fuel?” He leaned into Kade’s side and poked him on the forehead.
Kade growled. “Go away.” Shifting away from him, Kade huffed.
Cowboy laughed and kissed Kade on the cheek, narrowly missing the hand that would have smacked him in the face.
“Fuck off, you brute!” Kade grunted, his hand connecting with Cowboy’s thick shoulder. “Valk eat him for me.”
Ram grinned when Valk just yawned and laid his head down in response to his master’s order.
Sanem chuckled. “I’m making a traditional Southern meal of fried chicken, Mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, and green beans.” She waggled her brows at the men and wink at her husband.
Both Ram and Bram groaned as their stomachs growled.
“Fuck me, thank god you married her cuz I would have if you didn’t.” Ram mumbled. His mouth was already watering just thinking about the food. He loved Sanem’s cooking. He loved the woman herself, but damn did his brother hit the jackpot with her ability to feed them into a coma.
Bram laughed at his brother. “And how would that have worked? I couldn’t imagine you being the father of my kids.” He cocked his head at his brother. “Being gay kinda puts a damper on that, don’t ya think?”
Ram grimaced and looked at Sanem. “Yeah, there wouldn’t have been kids, but I would have made sure you were satisfied.” He winked at her and she snorted, smoking his shoulder as she blushed. While she knew what he did and was into, he usually didn’t push it on her. Her traditional Turkish background made her uncomfortable around the more kink-based topics and he loved and respected her too much to make her uneasy around him, but now and then he loved to tease her.
Bram grabbed Sanem and pulled her close, crawling into her lap, and holding her tight. “She’s mine. I licked her! You can’t have her.” He screeched, throwing one of the throw pillows at his brother’s head as his children laughed at them.
Kade grinned at Ram’s loud laughter. He hadn’t heard the man laugh in years and then it had been over the phone. It was so much better in person. Deep and rich it made goosebumps travel down his arms and tingles down his legs and straight into his balls, making them tighten. Kade shifted to help ease the sudden discomfort. Fuck him, he hadn’t gotten an erection in weeks and fucking laughter damn near made him bust through his zipper. He shook his head at himself and tried to pull himself together.
“That sounded so wrong.” Ram wheezed, his voice rising with his laughter.
Bram gasped and threw another pillow at his brother. “Get your head out of the gutter, idiot.”
“Get off me you heathen.” Sanem grumbled dumping Bram onto the floor, much to the enjoyment of her children who laughed at him.
“That was mean as hell, baby.” Bram pouted from his spot sprawled out on the floor.
Sanem raised a brow and smiled down at him. “I’ll make it up to you later.”
Bram grinned as his sons made gagging noises behind him. “Oh shut up, that’s how you came to be, and Ram, don’t be thinking about my wife like that, you jerk.”
Saint snorted. “You started it, Dad.” He laughed as he moved over to Leo. “Hey bubba, can I talk to you for a minute?” He waggled his brows.
“Yeah, I’ll be right back. We’re just going to the kitchen.” Leo told Torres as he stood.
Torres narrowed his eyes on the brothers. “What are you up to?”
Leo looked everywhere but at Torres’ knowing brown eyes. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Saint shrugged. “Me either.” He pulled Leo after him. “I’ll bring him right back so calm down, you Neanderthal.” Saint griped.
Leo coughed out a laugh. “That was mean.”
Saint pulled Leo further into the kitchen, making sure they had space to make sure they weren’t overheard.
“What do you have?” Leo asked beside himself with the suspense.
Saint handed Leo the file and watched for a response as he looked through it.
Leo closed his eyes. “Fuck, Gabe is his son.” He raked a hand through his hair. “How is that possible? Do you think that they had an affair?”
Saint shook his head. “No, that’s not Torres’ style, plus he pretty much hates the woman, and I can’t really blame him for that. She’s a cunt.”
Leo looked at his brother, shocked. “What? Why?”
Saint shrugged. “He doesn’t talk about it, but I think it has to do with how she treats his brother. They struggled for years to have kids and after each failed attempt, she got worse.”
Leo thought about that for a moment. “So how could she have gotten pregnant with Torres’ son if he doesn’t like her?”
Saint shook his head at a loss. “I don’t know, but I have a feeling it’s not going to be good.” Saint sighed as he leaned back against the counter. “Are you going to tell him?”
Leo looked at his brother at a loss. “I don’t know. I don’t want to hurt him. I also don’t want him to be mad at me for wondering.” He sighed and ran a hand down his face. “Do you think I should talk to Kade first?”
Saint mulled that over for a moment. “Probably couldn’t hurt. He may have more advice than I could give you. Want me to go get him?”
Leo nodded. “Yeah, let’s get this over with that way. If he hates me, we can end it now before I get in any deeper.” He wrung his hands as they tingled with nerves.
Saint clapped his brother’s shoulder. “It’ll be ok Leo.” He hugged him gently before he went out to find Kade. “Hey Kade, can I talk to you for a second?”
Kade cocked his head, hearing the little flair of unease in Saint’s voice. “Yes, of course.” He stood and moved slowly towards Saint. “Where?”
“About ten paces to you’re one o’clock.” Saint said easily.
“Is everything ok?” Torres asked.
Saint grinned at him. “Yeah, I just have a question for Kade about something.”
Torres nodded, but his gut was telling me Saint was lying to him, and he didn’t like that feeling one bit. Where the hell was Leo?
Saint pulled Kade into the kitchen. “Ok, we have a problem.”
Kade’s brows furrowed. “What’s wrong?”
Saint made sure Torres was distracted before he turned to Kade. “I may have done a DNA test on Gabe and Torres and found that Gabe is Torres’ son, not his nephew.”
Kade’s brows rose in shock. “Ok, I’m shocked you did that, not that Gabe is a mini Torres. Why?”
“Leo got curious.” Saint shrugged.
“Could he have donated sperm to them?” Leo asked softly, wincing. Maybe he shouldn’t have done this.
Kade shook his head. “No, he would never have done that, he doesn’t want kids of his own but after all the shit his brother and family put him through, he would never have voluntarily helped give them a kid.” Kade raked a hand through his hair as he leaned against the wall.
“Are you saying…” Leo’s voice gave out.
Kade sighed. “I hope not, but Torres drank a lot when he still lived there. It’s a possibility.” If it was true, he would take care of the woman for daring to touch his friend.
“Do I tell him?” Leo asked, at a loss for what to do.
“Yes, don’t keep this from him. He’s always loved Gabe in a way he doesn’t even know how to describe. He deserves to know. I’m not exactly sure how he will take the news though, because none of us know how it happened.” Kade said.
“Should I wait to tell him or tell him now?” Leo asked nervously. He didn’t want to put Torres on the spot or ruin his night, but he had a feeling that if he waited, it would be worse.
“Bring him in here to tell him. I’ll stay here to offer support.” Kade told him as he leaned on the counter next to Saint.
“Same, I’ll be here for him.” Saint nodded.
“I don’t want to ruin his night.” Leo said softly. “He seems so happy tonight. I don’t want to be the reason that changes.” He told them softly. Thinking back to Daegan, his heart sounded. Daegan would freak out at any unsuspecting news.
Kade shook his head. “Telling him the truth as soon as you know is the best way to deal with him. It will show him he can trust you and that even though something might hurt him, the fact that you’ll tell him the truth will make him respect you more.”Kade grinned. “Although he’s been infatuated with you for a long time, Leo, he won’t react badly to you. He may react badly to the news, and I can understand why, but he would never take that out on you.”
Leo nodded as he moved towards the living room. His chest felt tight and his hands shook, he was so nervous he didn’t want to hurt Torres and he was afraid this would deal a massive blow to his sweet man’s mind, his emotions, and his stance with his family, this could fracture everything Torres’ knew. “Hey.” He tried to smile but the frown marring Torres’ handsome face and the confusion in his dark eyes left too much concern to form one.
“Hey, baby.” Torres replied. Leo looked a little pale, his eyes dancing back and forth, and his hands shook. “What’s wrong?”
Leo cleared his throat. “Can I talk to you for a minute in the kitchen?” He half-hoped Torres would say no.
“Of course.” Torres nodded and followed him into the kitchen. He raised a brow at Saint, who was looking at him with an unreadable expression. “What’s going on?”
“Um…I may have done something?” Leo croaked as he looked to his brother for help.
Torres looked around, bewildered. “What did you do?” He made sure to keep his voice safe and calm. Leo looked like he was ready to throw himself out of the window if he so much as raised his voice.
Saint nodded to Leo.
Leo sighed. “So when we went to your parent’s house for dinner I noticed a few things.” Leo started uneasily.
Torres snorted. “That’s a polite way of putting it, don’t you think?”
Leo let out a wary chuckle. “Point taken. What I noticed was about Gabe, not your whole family.” He swallowed hard. This was it.
Torres’ brows furrowed in confusion. “What about Gabe?”
“Well, for one, he looks nothing like your brother or his mother.” Leo groaned in frustration. “Gabe looks just like you Vince, so much so that I may have taken some hair from him and given it to Saint to run a DNA test to see if it matched yours.” He said in a rush, then slammed his eyes shut.
Torres was shocked. “What?” He asked uneasily.
Leo passed him the paper. “Gabe is your son.”
Kade moved closer as silence answered Leo’s statement. “It’s true Vince, I read the reports myself biologically, Gabriel is Catherine’s and your son.”