Chapter 9
Gus
“So, you’re quitting on us now after you decided to play chicken with a wall and failed?” Kane asked, and I flipped him off.
“Aren’t you the one who fell out of a moving car?”
On the other side of Kane, Kingston snorted, shaking his head.
“I did not fall out of a car. I was getting out of the vehicle when Noah decided to move forward without telling me. I was fine. I didn’t fall out.”
“No, you sort of tumbled into a roll.” Kane ducked his cousin’s fist.
“You guys are ridiculous.”
“Maybe. But we’re your favorites.”
“So, are you staying?”
“Of course, I’m staying. I love this job. And I can somewhat handle you guys.”
Kane just rolled his eyes. “Thanks. We try, Gus-Gus.”
“Please, don’t call me that. You know how long it took me to get rid of that nickname after elementary school?”
“At least I’m not the kid who was named after a mouse from Cinderella,” Kingston said.
I flipped them both off. “I can’t believe I drunkenly told you that. My mom loved that fat little mouse.”
“Well, that fat little mouse helped save the day.” Kane nodded sagely as he said it.
“You know, I have a cousin named Gus, too,” Kingston added.
“You have a cousin named everything. There are no more names out there when it comes to Montgomerys. You have taken them all.”
“That is true. Have you met Gus? Is it a Gus-ception if you guys do meet?” Kane laughed at his joke, while Kingston and I just shook our heads.
“I might have met him. It’s Sebastian’s brother, right?”
“Yep. So, technically not either of our cousins. We’re second cousins with him.”
“Please don’t make me do your family tree. I don’t have it in me. I will throw something,” I said, not quite joking.
“It’s true. He will throw something. And it will be all your fault,” Kingston added.
“So, you and Jen?” Kane put in, and Kingston led out an audible groan.
“Oh, God. Are you just asking all the tough questions without thinking about the consequences? Come on, man. You don’t want this guy to kick your ass. Because he could.”
“That’s so true. And I can.”
“No, you can’t. We all know I’m the stronger one.”
Kingston and I snorted at the same time.
“No, I could totally take you!”
“We are in the parking lot of our building,” Kane said as he held up his hands.
“Are you not entertained?”
“How many times have you seen that movie?” I asked.
“Enough I can quote it word for word. Come on, Gus-Gus. Let’s see how you roll with those stitches.”
“If you pop one, it won’t only be Jen that kicks your ass. Daisy will, too. Hell, all of us will kick your ass.”
“He’s not going to pop a stitch because I can take him.”
“What is up your ass right now?” I asked, and Kane just shook his head.
“I’m fine.”
“I’m going with women problems,” I said softly toward Kingston, who nodded.
“Huge women problems. Big-time women problems. So, who is she, and what the fuck did you do to ruin it?” Kingston asked.
Kane sighed and waved his arms between us. “It’s not women problems.”
“Well, then, why are you asking about Jen? Trying to put the attention on me rather than anything having to do with you? I see how it is.”
“I’m not. I promise. I was just wondering. We like Jen. We like the two of you together. You two have been tiptoeing around each other for a fucking year. I thought once you two slept together, things would be different, but no, you just got weirder.” I froze, looking at Kane and then at Kingston.
“Excuse me? How do you know we slept together?”
“Well, the way you acted around each other was different. Still scorching chemistry, but like it was soothed a bit because you got it out of your systems,” Kane replied.
“Plus, you didn’t delete all the backup tapes,” Kingston said with a wince.
The blood drained out of my face before I put my hands on my temples and rubbed.
“Please, tell me you deleted that. And no one actually saw… You didn’t show everyone…
Because I’m going to have to kill you, and then I’ll go to jail, and it’ll be a whole thing.
I really don’t have it in me to go to jail for killing you. ”
Kingston cleared his throat. “It was my turn to go through the logs, I only saw the kissing and the shirt pulling. Then I deleted as much of it as I could.”
“What do you mean by that? As much of it as you could.”
Kingston winced again. “I deleted a chunk of time before and after. When Noah and Ford do the audit, I’ll deal with it.”
“So, no one saw anything, and you didn’t watch?”
“Of course, not. You know I love Jen, she’s like a sister. So much like a sister that I really didn’t want to see her having sex. I don’t want to see my friends having sex, voyeurism is not my kink. And no, I’m not talking about my kinks,” he blurted before anyone could ask.
“Anyway,” he said, trying to change the subject. “I also don’t need to see your hairy ass.”
“Excuse me, my ass is not hairy. It is pristine. And I can out-squat all of you.”
“Please tell me we’re not going to have a squat-off.” Kane pinched the bridge of his nose. “Of course. Now, I just want to say squat-off again because it’s so fucking ridiculous.”
“Thank you for deleting it,” I said, my tone low.
“No problem. And, seriously, I’ll deal with Ford and Noah.”
“Why?”
Kingston ran his hands over his face. “Because I’ve already had to delete video from them.
It has apparently become my role in this company to delete the office porn from the security tapes.
We’re going to need to have a lovely seminar about having sex in the building.
Because, my God, if I have to see one more hairy ass—”
“My ass isn’t hairy!”
“If I have to see one more hairy ass,” Kingston continued, “I’m going to strangle someone. Or I’m just going to whack off on camera and force everyone to watch it. You know, make my own porn. I’d be good at it.”
“I’d be better,” Kane joked, and I just rolled my eyes.
“You guys are ridiculous.”
“We really are. But don’t worry. Your privacy is safe. And I didn’t see anything. Not even your hairy ass.”
“Stop talking about my ass. And it’s not hairy.”
“Speaking of hairy situations.” Kane winked. “See what I did there?”
“Not even a little subtle,” Kingston mumbled.
“You and Jen? Are you together? Are you not? Tell us. Give us all the details.”
“Would you like me to braid your hair as I do?”
He brushed his hand through his long locks. “It is getting to the point where you could braid it. Maybe one day.”
“I don’t know. We’re partners. We’re figuring things out. But well…fuck.” I let out a breath. “I love her.”
Both men stopped joking around and stared at me.
“You love her? Really?” Kingston asked.
“Really. I don’t know when it happened, it just did. And I don’t know what we’re supposed to do about it. But I love her. So now, here I am, trying to make sure I don’t screw everything up by being who I am.”
“What do you mean by that?” Kane asked.
“By being demanding or overprotective. By letting my instincts rule and throwing myself into every situation to protect her. This job is dangerous. And I love her. Fuck. I love her. I’m in love with Jen.”
“I don’t know if you should say that any louder because then everybody in our family who happens to be in this building will hear you,” Kingston said quickly.
I sighed as I rubbed my temple. “I don’t know what to do about it. But I’m going to figure it out. We’re going on a date.”
“You put the cart before the horse. Nice.”
“Well, since you love her, and you’ve already slept together, I suppose a date would be helpful,” Kane put in.
“I can’t believe I’m getting advice from a man who has never actually had a real girlfriend.” I fist-bumped Kingston, but Kane just looked at us and shook his head.
It seemed I’d hit the target—the secret he didn’t want to tell. But I wasn’t going to push.
Since I was keeping a big secret. A huge fucking one.
I was going to be a father.
That didn’t even seem real.
It was unexpected, but I couldn’t call it an accident. Not when it was the most beautiful fucking thing ever.
And it was with my best friend. The person I trusted more than anything.
My partner.
And we weren’t just a hope. Weren’t just a maybe. We could be something far more.
I just had to convince her of that.
“There’s something going on behind those eyes of yours. Some a-ha moment. Talk to us,” Kingston ordered.
“I need to get her to fall in love with me. I love her and don’t want to lose her because I’m too chickenshit to do anything about it.”
The two cousins looked at each other and then back at me. “You can’t force someone to love you,” Kane started, and the way he said it made me worried. What the hell was going on with him? But I knew he wouldn’t tell us. He didn’t seem ready.
“Just be yourself. Take her out.”
“Come on, let’s go get some coffee, then we’ll head into the office.”
I looked at Kingston and nodded. “What do I say to her? What do I do?”
“You be who you are,” Kingston said with a shrug.
“You should be talking to Noah or Ford, anyone who actually knows what to do in a relationship. But if you want to be with her? Then prove you’re worthy of her.
Because Jen is one amazing woman. And hell, Gus, you’re a great guy, too,” he said, and I laughed.
“You two have always worked well together. You guys just click. So, trust the process. Don’t chickenshit out of it. Do something about it.”
I nodded, knowing he was right. And we were doing this all backward. I would find a way for her to love me. To show her it could work. That I could be the guy for her. And along the way, we’d figure out how to be parents.
We would follow a path—one a little curvier than I ever expected.
I put my hand on the door of the coffee shop, but the sound of a gunshot stopped me in my tracks.
People screamed and ran, but I was moving right alongside Kane and Kingston. We knew where the sound had come from.
I ducked into the gap between the tattoo shop and the security office as Kingston and Kane took cover on the other side of the pillars because the man’s back was to us for now.
I gestured toward them, and they nodded. We looked at the door where Mr. Davis stood with a gun in his hand. My thoughts froze.
Because Jen was in there.
I didn’t know who else, but I saw her car.
Jen was in there.
With a man who had a gun we just heard fire.
Part of me wanted to move, to take him out, but I didn’t know anything about the situation. I didn’t know who else was in there and could put everyone in danger.
But the part of me that wanted to keep Jen safe, to keep our child safe, was telling me to ignore my training.
And that was the part Jen hated.
So, I pushed it down and looked toward Kingston. He had his phone out and was looking at the security feed. I froze, my blood turning to ice.
Because Kate, Daisy, and Jennifer were all in there, standing in front of a man with a gun, and there was nothing I could do about it.