Chapter Four
Maverick
“Are we going to have issues in Texas?” my brother asks over the phone.
“Nothing Franco can’t handle,” I admit, leaning back in my chair. “A new biker club wants to establish themselves in Dallas.”
“Are we letting them?”
“Franco is going to look into them. If they appear legitimate and won’t disrupt any of our businesses, he’ll set up a meeting so I can speak with their leader.”
“You hate Texas,” Stefano reminds me.
“Not as much as you hate New York,” I remind him. “I’ve been thinking about switching you places. You’d like it here, fratello. I already know you get along with the Shadows.”
“Don’t brother me, Maverick,” Stefano says, his voice sharpening. “I know your play. You’ll try to guilt me into thinking it’s what you want. But you love Palm Springs. You love your home there, and you love the Shadows. You don’t want to leave.”
For a moment, I say nothing.
Because he’s right.
I do love it here.
I love the quiet mornings before the estate wakes. I love the children’s laughter echoing through halls. I love the way the Iron Shadows treat me like a man instead of a title.
I love having something that almost feels like peace.
“Maybe not,” I admit. “But I can’t let you live the rest of your life playing Don when I know you want nothing to do with the empire.”
“All I am is a face here, brother,” he tells me. “There isn’t much else I have to do.”
“Lies,” I sigh.
We go silent.
There was a time when silence between us was easy. When we were boys, silence meant comfort. It meant we were together and nothing else had to be said.
Now it carries fifteen years of distance, duty, and choices neither one of us should have had to make.
“Okay,” I say, softer this time. “What if we ask Vito or Angelo if either of them would be interested in heading up New York? You could come live here.”
“Mav.”
“I miss you, Stefano.”
The words leave me before pride can stop them.
And once they’re out, I don’t take them back.
“I miss my brother,” I continue. “Not the face standing in for me. Not the man pretending to be Don because our enemies are too stupid to know the difference. My brother.”
Stefano exhales on the other end of the line.
“Maverick…”
“You’ve done enough,” I say. “More than enough. Let me give you a life outside of my shadow.”
A quiet laugh slips through the phone, but there’s no humor in it.
“You mean outside of our face.”
I smile faintly.
“Yes,” I say. “That too.”
“I miss you too,” he says quietly. “But a transition like that would cause challenges. You know this city is full of people just waiting for the opportunity to take down our name so they can take over whatever part of our operation they want.”
“I know,” I admit. “But I also know neither Vito nor Angelo would allow that to happen. And if things get rocky, I’ll simply make a visit, give out a few threats, and kill who I need to kill to get the pecking order back where it belongs.”
“Simple as that?”
“As simple as that,” I agree. “You’re not living, big brother. Come to Palm Springs. I’ll even have a house built for you so you don’t have to live in the main house.”
“Curse you, Maverick,” he sighs. “You’re playing at my heart.”
“There are some very sexy men here,” I tease.
“Not that it matters,” he says with a laugh. “You told Skip I wasn’t into men. He made sure to thank me for my interest in all things apart from his cute little man.”
I toss my head back and laugh.
“His man made a comment about how attractive I was,” I explain, “and Skip said he was fine with it because I was into women. I corrected him, and he became horrified. He hasn’t let me in a room alone with Eli since.
When we came to New York, he was mortified that he had to fight two of us for Eli’s attention, so I told him you had no interest in his parts. ”
“Well, I can’t wait to see his face when he realizes the truth,” Stefano says, laughing. “Eli is pretty cute. I might turn my flirt up when I arrive. I’ll get to see him blush and Skip lose what little sanity he has left.”
“Does that mean you’ve agreed?” I ask, holding my breath.
“I get my own house on the estate,” Stefano says.
“Agreed,” I say, my heart beating faster.
“I’m bringing my staff with me.”
“Done.”
“And I don’t want bodyguards.”
Silence stretches between us.
“Maverick,” Stefano warns. “No guards.”
“I can’t do that,” I admit, my chest aching at the thought of a loss that hasn’t even happened. “Regardless of where you are, Stefano, we have the same face. People will use you to get to me. And I promise you, fratello, if someone holds your life over my head, I will give in.”
He says nothing.
Neither do I.
Because we both know I mean it.
There are very few things in this world that could make me bow.
My brother is one of them.
“Fine,” he sighs. “But I’m bringing my own. I don’t want the twins as my shadows.”
I release a breath and relax back in my chair.
“I’m okay with that,” I say. “As long as they’re employed by us, since I know their backgrounds will clear.”
Stefano takes a deep breath and releases it slowly.
“Okay,” he says. “Let’s do it.”
For one second, I can’t speak.
Then a smile spreads across my face so wide my cheeks hurt, and a cheer tears out of me loud enough that I’m sure the entire estate hears it.
“I’m coming home, Mav,” he says, laughing.
My chest tightens because he’s right.
Home has never been a location for us. Stefano is my twin. The other half of who I am. I am his home, and he is mine.
“Yes,” I agree, my voice rough. “We are.”