16 Asher
“The universe gives you moments worth protecting. It just doesn’t promise you’ll get to keep them.”
Today has been perfect. I have all of my brothers under one roof, which hasn't happened in a very long time.
Between assignments, travel, and life constantly pulling us in different directions, getting all four of us in the same place is rare.
On top of that, Scarlett is safe. We're getting closer to finding answers.
Grant said Cipher is digging into everything we've uncovered so far, and if anyone can put the pieces of this puzzle together, it's him.
Zariah has been forwarding anything important she hears or sees immediately so he can add it to his investigation.
So far, other than Celeste being her usual bitchy self, nothing seems out of place.
Honestly, pulling Scarlett out of school was one of the best decisions we've made.
It took her out of the line of fire. Thomas still doesn't seem to know where she is.
More importantly, he hasn't put together who we really are.
As far as we can tell, he still hasn't connected the dots that we're the Knight brothers.
I pull up the security app on my phone and quickly scan the cameras positioned throughout the property.
Everything looks normal. Just like it always does.
“Will you put the damn phones down, all of you?” Harper complains as she dramatically flops onto one of the lounge chairs. “It's a beautiful day. Who knows when we'll get another one like this? Pittsburgh weather sucks. I swear, as soon as I can, I'm moving south.”
“Please do, as far south as you can go” Roman says. “The rest of us deserve peace.”
Harper throws a pool noodle at his head. He catches it without even looking. I shake my head and slip my phone onto the table beside me. Then Scarlett walks over and sits next to me. Every coherent thought immediately leaves my brain.
Jesus Christ.
She's wearing a deep red one-piece swimsuit that somehow manages to be both elegant and unbelievably distracting.
The neckline dips low while the high-cut sides make her legs look endless.
Her hair is piled messily on top of her head, loose strands framing her face.
She's beautiful, absolutely breathtaking and she has no idea.
My eyes follow her as she settles into the lounge chair beside me.
“Hey,” she says softly.
I lean over and kiss her.
“Hey, yourself.”
The smile she gives me should honestly be illegal.
“Come here,” I say, reaching for the bottle of sunscreen sitting beside my chair. “You're going to burn.”
“I do not burn that easily.”
Red.
“Okay, maybe a little.”
“Exactly.”
I squeeze some sunscreen into my palm and start rubbing it into her shoulders. Her skin is warm from the sun and soft beneath my hands. She relaxes immediately, leaning back while I work the sunscreen over her arms.
“See?” I say. “Responsible adult behavior.”
“You carry enough weapons to invade a small country.”
“That's different.”
She laughs.
“Sure, it is.”
I move behind her and gently spread sunscreen across her shoulders and upper back. Then Harper decides peace is overrated.
“POOL!” she screams.
Before anyone can react, she sprints across the patio and cannonballs into the deep end. Water explodes everywhere.
“Harper!” Hannah yells.
Roman immediately stands.
“I’m gonna kill her.”
“You say that every day,” Declan calls from one of the lounge chairs.
“You should let me once.”
A second later Harper surfaces laughing.
“Come on, losers!” Scarlett looks over at me. I already know what she's thinking.
“No.”
She grins.
“Yes.”
Red.
“Asher.”
I sigh dramatically.
“Fine.”
Ten minutes later we're all in the pool. Somehow it turns into a game of chicken. Grant remains behind at the grill, refusing to participate while keeping an eye on the food.
“Somebody has to make sure you idiots don't burn down the house,” he says.
“Party pooper,” Harper yells from Roman's shoulders.
“Focus on staying alive.”
Unfortunately for Roman, Harper is approximately one hundred pounds of pure chaos.
She immediately starts trying to shove Scarlett off my shoulders.
Water splashes everywhere. Harper loses her balance and Roman drops her.
She disappears beneath the surface and three seconds later she pops back up sputtering.
“You did that on purpose!”
“Absolutely.”
The next half hour is spent with everyone laughing, splashing, and trying to dunk one another.
Even Hannah relaxes enough to join in. Though every time Declan gets near her, she immediately forgets how to function.
By the time Grant finally announces that lunch is ready, we're all starving.
We climb out of the pool and gather around the large outdoor dining table.
The smell alone is enough to make my stomach growl.
Grant and Roman really outdid themselves.
Burgers fresh off the grill. BBQ chicken covered in Roman's homemade sauce.
Twice-baked potatoes loaded with cheese and bacon and topped with sour cream.
Corn on the cob dripping with butter. Fresh salad.
Warm rolls. The entire table looks like something out of a magazine.
“Holy shit, we can’t possibly eat all of this” Harper says.
“Speak for yourself, Tempesta. We are growing boys; we need to eat.”
Roman walks by her and takes a seat. We spend the next hour eating and talking.
It's loud and chaotic but exactly the way family dinners should be.
I look around and realize that this is what this is.
In the short week we have been here, we have made a small family with Harper and Scarlett.
At one point I catch Scarlett smiling while listening to Harper and Roman argue about something ridiculous, and something in my chest settles.
After years of killing and being used by the military I honestly never thought that I would ever have this.
I never thought I would be stable enough to settle down and find peace.
The night she fell into my arms it all changed for me, and I couldn’t ask for anything else.
After everyone finishes eating, the girls decide to relax on the lounge chairs while the guys clean up, or at least that's what they think.
Roman looks at me, I look at Declan, Declan looks at Grant.
Grant sighs.
“You're all children.”
“That's not a no.”
Five minutes later we move into position. The girls are lying by the pool talking, completely unsuspecting. Roman signals for us to go, and we charge. The screaming starts immediately.
“NO!”
“ROMAN KNIGHT, DON'T YOU DARE!”
Harper takes off running, and Declan scoops Hannah up before she gets three steps. She shrieks and starts laughing simultaneously. I grab Scarlett around the waist.
“Asher!”
“Sorry, baby.”
“No, you're not!”
“Not even a little.”
Then all three girls are launched into the pool. A giant splash erupts. Then three soaking wet women emerge from the water looking murderous.
“Oh shit,” Roman mutters. The retaliation is immediate.
Water starts flying and Grant comes up from behind and tosses Roman in the pool.
“Hey, what the hell man! Your one of us.
“What can I say, when it comes to you getting what your deserve, I’m on their side” Grants says as he laughs and walks away to finish cleaning up.
Scarlett splashes me directly in the face and Hannah somehow manages to push Declan into the pool. Even Grant isn't spared when Roman and Declan get out of the pool and tag team him and throw his ass in the pool. For the next twenty minutes the entire backyard descends into absolute chaos.
We are all laying around in the pool, the girls on rafts and the guys just chilling. Harper made some mixed drinks for the girls, which had Grant arguing with her but in the end, she won out as usual. I never met anyone that could win an argument with Grant, but Harper wore him down and he gave in.
“These drinks are going right through me. Scarlett come to the bathroom with me?” Harper wines
“Is there a reason you girls always have to go the bathroom together; I always wondered that.”
“It’s so we can talk about how annoying you are, and so I don’t fall in the toilet because I think I made these drinks just a tad too strong.” Harper laughs as she falls off the raft trying to get off and into the pool.
“Do you need me to go with you guys? Are you okay to walk?” I look questionable at Scarlett.
“Yea, I didn’t have a lot, maybe only half a drink.” She climbs off the raft proving she is a lot better off than Harper and helps her out of the pool.
“I’ll go and help them, I should probably use the restroom also” Hannah goes to get off her raft, but Declan lifts her up and sets her on the side of the pool. “Thank you” she says with her cheeks turning that red color they always do when he looks at her.
The girls go into the house, and I turn to look at Declan.
“Dude, don’t go there with her. She looks as innocent as they come and you are the furthest thing from innocent. Grant any word from Cipher or Zariah today?”
“Last I checked, Cipher was still digging,” Grant says as he wipes water from his face. “He thinks he may have found something connected to Laura’s death. The more he looks at it, the less he believes it was an accident.” That gets everyone's attention.
“What do you mean not an accident?” Declan asks.
Grant’s expression darkens.
“I mean there are inconsistencies. Missing reports. Witness statements that don't line up. Financial records that disappeared after her death.” He glances toward me. “I messaged Zariah to see if she could look into things from her end, but she never responded.”
That's unlike Zariah. She always responds. Grant frowns and reaches for his phone.
“Actually…” He taps the screen. “Shit.”
“What?” Roman asks.
“My phone's dead. I swear it was almost fully charged when I came outside.”
“Probably because you're eighty years old and refuse to replace it,” Roman says. Grant ignores him and climbs out of the pool.
“I'm gonna grab a charger. Be right back.” He disappears into the house.
For maybe thirty seconds, we sit there talking about the girls and then everything changes.
“FUCK! GET IN HERE! NOW!” Grant's voice rips through the house.
Every hair on the back of my neck stands up.
The panic in his voice is enough, because Grant doesn't panic.
I'm out of the pool before my brain fully catches up.