Page 78 of Feral

“I’m not hungry. I had a snack after you arrived.”

I practically choke on my bite of eggs, coughing to clear my throat.

“You okay?” Dimi asks.

“Totally. Swallowed wrong.”

“I’m going to Lair in a bit,” Hale says. “I need to check on things and inform the staff of some updates. You can take a few nights off to stay with your brother.”

“No,” Dimi says. “Don’t let me get in the way. It’s a nightclub, right? I could always come by too and hang out. Or do you have any openings? I could work there.”

Panicking now, I open my mouth, but nothing comes out.

“You could come by,” Hale says.

I give him a hard look but he just smiles, leaning close to my ear. “Trust, love.”

I stay quiet for now, but I have no idea how I’m supposed to keep Dimi safe and in the dark if he comes to Lair.

“Cool. Can I wear jeans there? That’s all I have.”

“Jeans are fine,” Hale says.

“I’m not gonna sit around and mooch off you guys. I can get a job.”

“Don’t worry about it right now. You just got here.” I pat his back. “How far did you get in your degree?”

“Not far, and I don’t want an engineering job anyway. That’s what Dad wanted me to do.”

“What do you want to do?” Hale asks.

Dimi drops his gaze to his plate, pushing scrambled eggs around with his fork. “It’s dumb.”

“Dreams are never dumb,” Hale says, drawing my brother’s gaze up again. “What would the world be without the dreamers?”

Okay, sexy man. I practically melt as my heart flutters in my chest.

Dimi smiles shyly. “A couple of years ago I got interested in photography. I love doing portraits and capturing people candidly. I even took a class at school as an elective. The professor said I had a good eye.”

“Photography? Do you have some to show me?”

He shrugs. “I did an online portfolio just for fun.”

“Show me.”

He grabs his phone off the island, unlocking it and navigating to a website. After he hands it over, he busies himself eating.

Hale walks over and we look at the pictures together. There are only six, but they’re good. Really good. My favorite is a man standing by a bus stop. It’s raining and he has his head tilted back with a huge grin on his face as the raindrops splash down on him.

“These are amazing, Dimi. You are talented.”

He shrugs again. “Thanks. I don’t really know how to start a business or make money doing it though.”

“Maybe I can help,” Hale says. “My brothers know a lot of people in this city. They may know someone hiring or even willing to mentor.”

Dimi’s face lights up. “Really? That would be cool.”

“I’ll ask around.” He smiles. “Finish eating. I’m going to Lair.”

---