Page 68 of Barrett

“No, you won’t,” I said. “If I find you out here, I’m calling Forest and will make up an elaborate lie about you, or I’ll tell him just how much you want to see him… naked.”

“Wow, you’re a dick,” Sheldon stated. “I was just trying to be friendly, and you got all defensive. I guess you’re the protector of the North brothers. Good to know.” He walked backward down the hall. I had no clue where he was going, but he knew the building like the back of his hand from his late-night wandering through the halls.

I raised an eyebrow. “And you’re not protective of Forest?”

“I am. I’ll poison anyone who touches him.” He said it so casually, he could have been talking about running an errand.

“That’s what I thought. Night, Sheldon.” I stepped into my apartment and closed the door.

Marshall stood in the middle of the kitchen with his eyes on me. “Did he say poison?”

“Yes.”

“Okay. Mental note, don’t piss him off.”

“I’d use that note for everyone you encounter in the building, even Irene. She knows how to withhold the delicious food she makes.”

He laughed. “Good to know. Your apartment is beautiful.” He turned in the kitchen and then walked into the living room, not stopping until he was in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows. “The view is amazing.”

“Thanks. I don’t have furniture in the other bedroom. I wasn’t thinking when I said you’d stay with me. If you give me a bit, I’ll get a bed up here. There are plenty of extras in the building.”

“You don’t have to go to any trouble. The couch is fine for me.” I would have told him I’d sleep on it, but I didn’t fit well.

“You’re not sleeping on the couch.”

I picked up my phone and called Barry to ask where I could get a bed. He told me there was already one on the way up. The man missed nothing.

It wasn’t long before Rory and Vincent showed up, carrying in the frame first, then the box spring, followed by the mattress. They both introduced themselves to Marshall, but I quickly ushered them out. I had to see Jordan and wanted to give Marshall time to get settled.

29

BARRETT

What in the ever-loving fuck was wrong with me? I’d spent years alone until Marshall came to live with me. Since then, I enjoyed having him around. This went beyond me wanting to protect him, which I still did. At least he was in an impenetrable building with Reghan.

Why was I so lonely though? I was coming out of my skin. I’d even taken to sitting out front of my apartment building in a folding chair, so I could listen for an old truck. If that motherfucker came by here again, I’d shoot him. You touch my brother, you die. Either he had another vehicle or he was smart enough to stay away. I was certain he knew who I was and what I did for a living. That probably wasn’t a huge deterrent though. He took my brother right outside of where we lived, and we still didn’t know who he was.

Marshall had tried to describe him, but the man wore a mask over the lower part of his face and had a hood up. There was only so much Marshall could make out. On top of that, my brother was afraid. He didn’t need to say the words aloud for me to witness the stark fear that rode him and the relief he felt when he was with me again.

Then there was the asshole chief who’d been on my ass about Jordan. He said he didn’t have anyone tailing me, and I believed him to an extent. He hadn’t said a word about my brother leaving with Jordan. If he had someone on me, they would have noticed them and a lot of questions would have been raised. Which left a person in the building calling it in, not that it was surprising.

If I was being tailed, they would have already called in about me sitting out front with a gun in my hand. I was slowly losing my fucking mind. At least it was dark outside, and I could slip the gun into my coat if a harmless person walked by.

It had been five days since my brother left. Five days of me spiraling.

Reghan took up a chunk of my thoughts. I missed him too. We hadn’t seen each other, but we’d talked on the phone and texted. He was busy doing stuff for Jordan. I got it. I’d been running ragged trying to find the motherfucker who took my brother, but he hadn’t taken anyone since Marshall.

So, I waited.

And waited.

A truck turned onto the block. I perked up, only to realize it was a Jeep and not an old pickup. Oh, but it wasn’t any Jeep. It was my boyfriend’s.

Wait, I wasn’t sure if I could say that. Did Reghan consider me as such? We hadn’t talked about labels.

Reghan drove down the street, turned around, and parked across from me. He shut the truck off and got out, crossing the street in powerful strides, even though he could have been walking to get a cup of coffee for how casual he was. I didn’t bother putting my gun away. It rested on my thigh as I peered up into what I knew were endlessly dark eyes. I wasn’t foolish, at least most of the time. There wasn’t a streetlight over me so Reghan was cast in shadows.

“Are you my boyfriend?” I asked.

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