Page 63 of Viktor

“You’d have to catch me first.” Mason picked up a box and shook his ass at his brother before waltzing out of the room.

Viktor’s face cracked as soon as he was gone. He bent over, and his shoulders shook from laughter. That boy. God help the woman he married.

“Your brother is quite the character.”

Viktor wiped tears from his eyes. He needed that laugh. “We love him despite himself. Now, back to you. That drive was a twenty-hour trip. No way in hell was your back handling that.”

She rolled her eyes, and he growled yet again. Why didn’t she take her health more seriously? Because her bastard ex taught her she wasn’t important. He reminded himself he was going to have to reteach her this small nugget of self-preservation.

“Don’t fucking pick up one box! Pack shit or something.” He wagged a finger at her before picking up two of the heavy book boxes. Christ, how much did this weigh? He shifted the boxes for a better grip and towed them out to the Jeep. Mason was leaning against it, checking his phone.

Viktor grunted as he slid the boxes into the back. “Mase…”

“Don’t ‘Mase’ me. I was checking my final grades.”

“You good?”

“Fuck, yeah. Made the dean’s list. It’ll look good for when they transfer over to NYU next semester.”

Mason had decided to transfer for his junior year to be near the rest of his family. It was going to be damn good to have all six of them in one city again.

“You staying in the dorms, or you need a place to crash?”

“I’m a frat boy, Viktor. I don’t dodorms.”

The arrogance in his brother’s statement reminded him so much of Nik, it made homesickness wash over him. He and Nik were closer, probably as close as he and Conner used to be. He missed his family.

“You’re gonna keep an eye on Delia, yeah?” He changed the subject before his brother started bustin’ his balls for being a sappy, sentimental fool.

“I got Princess Peach handled. Ain’t no one getting near our girl while you’re gone.”

“You really like her, huh?”

Mason cracked a grin. “That kid. She’s a sweetheart. How can you not love her?”

“Every time I think about her father, I ask myself that same question.”

Mason made a rude noise. “He ain’t her dad. He’s just a sperm donor. We’re her family.”

“He and his mother filed for visitation. At her house.” They’d gotten the hearing notice yesterday. Sara had nearly flipped her lid. He’d called his lawyer buddy, who agreed to take the case pro bono. He was going to be here on Monday to get up to speed. There was no way in hell he was letting Roger get anywhere near his kid. No fucking way.

“Fuck that shit.” Mason’s eyes went hard and cold. “I’ll off the bastard myself before I let him near her.”

“Just be on the lookout this weekend. Brad’s coming down on Monday to handle it.”

Mason started to pace, a bad habit of all the brothers when they were pissed. “Sometimes she looks at me like she can’t believe I’m real, or like I’m going to disappear in a puff of smoke. I’m guessing all that is because of the sperm donor?”

Viktor nodded. “Yeah. He made sure they both knew they were subservient to him. How anyone could treat their family like that is beyond me.”

“Motherfucker.”

Viktor agreed wholeheartedly. “Let’s get this shit done. I need to stop at the UPS store and then make it to the airport. We’re running late.”

They spent the next twenty minutes loading the Jeep and running around trying to remember everything. Rephrase…Sara ran around trying to remember everything. He had to wonder if she was this crazy every time she had a signing. It wasn’t until after Viktor got her in the Jeep and on their way into town that she actually seemed to settle down. Leaving Delia behind had been hard for her, but she didn’t want to drag her around from hotel room to hotel room this summer. Gabe and Mason being there helped. They’d keep her safe.

“So, tell me what to expect with this thing. I’ve never been to one before.”

She actually smiled. The first real smile he’d seen since he met her a couple weeks ago. It lit up her already beautiful face. Her lip was still sore, but she didn’t seem to mind.

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