Page 28 of Kennedy

Lewis blinked. Had the woman done it on purpose? Why? They’d just been wondering about Seymour cheating on Jimmy, and now, they seemed to want to help him.

Seymour made a beeline for Lewis, who quickly hugged him. Lewis clung to him for a moment, doing his best not to dump his coffee on his brother the way the woman had done to Wallace Senior.

“Why did you do it?” he asked when Seymour stepped aside. “I could have introduced myself and made it obvious that you have a twin.”

“I didn’t want to subject you to the man,” Seymour explained. “And I don’t really care that he thinks I’m cheating on Jimmy.”

“Neither do I,” Jimmy said as he gently hugged Lewis. “Knowing about you wouldn’t change anything. Right now, this is what my father’s clinging onto, but he’d find something else if he couldn’t anymore. Don’t worry about me, Lewis. You don’t have a reason to.”

“You’re my brother-in-law,” Lewis pointed out as a strong arm wrapped around his waist.

He sighed happily and leaned against Kennedy’s side. Kennedy kissed his temple, and something in him finally settled down.

Things were going well with Kennedy, which was why Lewis had organized a date for them later today. They would spend the morning with Seymour and Jimmy, but the afternoon would be dedicated to their relationship. Kennedy didn’t know it yet, and Lewis hoped he’d like what he’d organized.

Or maybe it was a stupid idea. Lewis didn’t know a lot about Kennedy. Kennedy might hate what Lewis had come up with, and what would Lewis do then?

He could always shimmer his mate home, he supposed. It would be a mess, but it wouldn’t mean the relationship was over. Besides, Lewis needed to have some faith in himself and in Kennedy. So far, Kennedy had seemed delighted whenever they spent time together. Today wouldn’t be any different.

Even though it had started in such a bad way.

“Don’t let him ruin our day,” Jimmy said with a smile.

“I won’t.”

“Besides, he’s not your problem,” Seymour added. “He’s ours, and I’m sorry you were pulled into the middle of this.” He glanced at Jimmy. “Maybe you should tell your father that I have a twin.”

“He wouldn’t believe me unless he saw it. I’m not about to call him, anyway. I want him out of my life.”

“That’s going well,” Kennedy commented.

Lewis elbowed him in the ribs. “It’s not funny.”

“It’s a little bit funny,” Jimmy admitted. “Look, if I didn’t laugh about this, I would scream in rage, and that’s not what I want to do. I hate that my father has so much influence on my life, and I’m working to stop him. I want to get to the point where I can just turn around and leave whenever he confronts me. I know it’s probably never going to happen, but I can hope, and I can focus on the people who are important to me, like the three of you and Wallace. My father’s panicking because he lost his control over me, and he wants it back. I’m not going to allow that to happen. The best way is to ignore him, but I understand it’s hard.”

“And if he ever corners you like he did with us, call one of us,” Seymour added. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s gotten a room in town and was stalking us.”

Lewis didn’t think that was the case because if he was, he’d know Seymour had a twin, but anything was possible, and he didn’t claim to know what was going on in Wallace Senior’s mind. He didn’twantto know. The man didn’t deserve children like Jimmy and Wallace, and the less time Lewis had to spend in his company, the better.

“I do wish I could see his face when he finally finds out about the twin thing,” Kennedy said.

Lewis supposed he understood why they were trying to find humor in the situation, but he couldn’t. So far, what Wallace Senior had done was more annoying than anything else, but something told him that things wouldn’t stay that way if they didn’t intervene.

The problem was that he didn’t know what they could do. So far, Wallace Senior hadn’t done anything but talk, which anyone could do. They couldn’t report him to the council, even though, technically, he was trying to separate a couple of mates. It would be his word against Jimmy and Seymour’s, and since the two of them were still very much together, it would be easy for Wallace Senior to argue his innocence.

“Now that we’re all here, we should stop thinking about my father,” Jimmy said as he turned to Seymour. “You’re the one who organized this outing. What’s next?”

Seymour smiled, and something in Lewis relaxed. Wallace Senior was definitely a problem and wouldn’t stop being one, but Seymour was happy, and Lewis wanted that to continue. He wanted to be as happy as his brother, and he was getting there. He just needed to have a little more faith in himself and in his mate.

* * * *

THE REST OF THE MORNINGwent much better. The four of them got more coffee before heading out to the park, wanting to enjoy what was a bright, sunny day. Kennedy stuck close to Lewis, just in case, but Wallace Senior had vanished by the time they left the coffee shop.

Kennedy had heard the gossip in the shop and had noticed the staring. He wished he could whisk his mate away from all of this. He kind of wanted to do the same for Jimmy and Seymour, but unfortunately, there was nothing Kennedy could do for any of them.

The only way to get Wallace Senior to stop harassing them would be to introduce Lewis to him, but even then, Kennedy was sure he’d find another way to get to his son. Maybe Seymour was right when he said it wasn’t worth involving Lewis and putting him in Wallace Senior’s path, but Kennedy couldn’t help but wonder what would happen if Wallace Senior stumbled onto Lewis in town one day. He didn’t seem like the kind of man who bought flowers for anyone, but what if he saw Lewis at the store? What if he decided to confront him when Lewis was alone?

Kennedy would have to talk to Jimmy about this, maybe even Hawthorne and Bennett. Something had to be done before Wallace Senior hurt someone.

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