Page 57 of Our Blood, Our Pain

I continue to hang around the house, washing my clothes and tidying up. I try to repair the broken lock on my bedroom door to no avail. Jules should really repair it, considering he broke it. Speaking of Jules, it’s been a couple of hours and he hasn’t come back to the house yet. I decide to head over to the main house to see what the plan is for the rest of the day.

The kitchen is quiet as I walk in, so I walk further into the house as there is normally someone milling around. As I turn the corner out of the kitchen, I walk into something similar to a brick wall, or should I say someone?

“Sorry, didn’t see you there. Which one are you?” the mysterious hot man says to me.

“Who the hell are you and what are you doing in this house?” I demand as I move back from the beast standing in front of me. Am I in a dream? He’s fucking beautiful. He’s so tall, and I’m six foot one. His muscles appear to be made from rock, because it had hurt bumping into him. He has beautiful golden skin, deep and warm brown eyes, a closely shaved beard like Dima’s and hair as black as the night, currently tied up in a man bun. He grins at me and pokes his tongue out to lick his upper lip. God, is that a tongue piercing?

“You finished checking me out?”

“What! I wasn’t checking you out. I was trying to remember if we’ve met before, as you still haven’t explained who you are.”

He chuckles and does an unashamed once over of my body.

“I’m Ivan, Dima and Lev’s cousin. Didn’t they mention me?”

Ahhh now that makes sense. I can see the similarities, especially with Dima. He’s definitely the largest of the three.

“They did, but I thought you were arriving on the weekend,” I say, relaxing a little more into the casual conversation now that I know he’s not an intruder.

“Managed to get a flight a few days early, wanted to get here and settled. So, which one are you?”

“I’m Kai.”

“Nice to meet you, Kai.”

“He’s also Jules’s man, so I’d keep away,” Lev says as he strides into the hallway.

“Really. That’s a shame.”

Heat blooms on my face and neck, this guy is off the charts sexy and intense. But he has nothing on my Jules. My Jules? Christ, I’m becoming a sappy bastard.

“Come on Ivan, I’ll take you over to the club to get you up to speed.”

“I’m down. Catch you later, cutie,” Ivan says, and winks at me as he leaves with Lev. I’ve regressed to a teenager who blushes at any form of flirting. This is just great.

“I’d shut down the blushing, Kai. Jules won’t like it with another guy. Trust me,” Lev says as he follows Ivan out of the house.

Jules has no worries as it’s not Ivan or anyone else I want. I’m just not used to this openly obscene flirting that goes on here. What’s another guy to add to the group of crazy? If anyone has to worry it’s Lev, as Aaron will love to wind Lev up by showing Ivan attention.

I turn and start walking towards Dima’s office to see if that’s where Jules is. I know Dima will go hard on him because of me and I wish there was something I could say or do to make the situation better. Maybe some desensitizing therapy would work? Force myself to watch lots of torture and graphic movies to help with whatever it is that causes me to be on the verge of throwing up. Or to find a way to put myself into shock like the first time, as I don’t even remember much of that interrogation.

As I approach Dima’s closed office door, I can hear a raised voice that I’m sure is Dima. I should leave and just wait for Jules to finish. But because I’m too damn curious for my own good, I put my ear closer to the door and instantly regret it.

“He’s too soft, Jules. He ain’t made for this life.”

“He just needs some time.”

“Stop fucking lying to yourself and to me. He’s not in the room. He’s a liability waiting to happen and you know it.”

“Seb isn’t made for it either and I don’t see anyone complaining.”

“True. But Seb stepped up when he needed to and doesn’t pass out at the sight of blood.”

“What do you want me to do?”

“I want you to admit you fucked up bringing him here, and that he needs to leave, and you need to open your eyes that you and him will never work.”

“You’re right, I do question if I should’ve brought him here, and yes, he is too sweet in nature for this. It’s not like I knew this beforehand. I was trying to help him.”

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