Page 33 of Revived
“Alright, out with it.” I roll my eyes.
“So, does her Dad know yet? Do our brothers know? How are things going? And you’re a little bitch for not telling me first.”
“You done?”
“Not yet. Does it feel like you’re boning our sister… I kind of feel like it would.” He shrugs and dodges when my pen flies at his face at warp speed.
“Hey, so I’d be really sad if you died, right? But also, mention ‘boning’ my girlfriend again and I’ll cut your heart out of your chest with a butter knife.”I smirk at him with no humor in my expression.
Flynn’s eyebrows raise, “I can’t tell if you’re serious or not?”
“Oh, make no mistake, brother. I’ve never been more serious in my life.”
He throws his hands up in surrender, “Got it. Forget I mentioned it.”
I nod in appreciation, “No, our brothers don’t know. I have no idea if her Dad does or not, but he hasn’t called me yet, so I’m assuming no. Things are going great so far, and I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you first. I didn’t really have much time between us deciding we were going to give it a shot and you taking off on a plane to go play around the country.”
He thinks about it for a few long seconds. “I understand that, but the next time I have news, I’m waiting to tell you just because Iamthat petty.”
“Yeah, yeah I know. You off the rest of the day?”
“Yeah, how has everyone been with me gone?” He smirks like we couldn’t possibly have normal lives without him all up in our business. I mean, we can’t, but I can’t let him know that.
“Good, X and Dom are out of town, and obviously you know Knox is gone for training. Elle’s sugar levels have been all over the place today.” I thrust my hand through my hair. “She had got her numbers pretty steady for so long, and now it feels like they’re constantly out of control all of a sudden.”
“Well, she’s training harder, so she’s working herself to the bone. I’d guarantee she is only eating enough to get by right now, and let’s not forget her stalker is back. I think that’s reason enough for her shit to be everywhere.”
He makes valid points, but that doesn’t mean my anxiety calms any. “Yeah, speaking of the creep. I’ve got to call Mac in a few days when I’m off shift and ask him what the fuck that’s all about. Since when does he not get the right guy? And since when does shit happen and he keeps it from us?” Barely contained rage simmers just barely under the surface.
“Since never. Could it be a copycat?” He thinks before answering himself. “No, that doesn’t make any sense. It was never a knownthing. Also, why did we never know about the Mac thing? Why was she so secretive?” Flynn thinks out loud like this frequently. It’s best to just let him ramble on until he comes to his own conclusion. Only his conclusion sucks every drop of air out of the room, “Something else happened that she’s never told us. Why else would she get Mac involved?”
***
My phone rings while I’m trying to wrangle my way inside of the front door. I just finished up a shift and I need some sleep. Making the mistake I tend to make way too often, I answer it without checking.
“Sullivan.” Rowan’s disapproving voice rattles down the line.
“What’s up, Roe? I’m just getting in from a particularly shitty night. If it’s not an emergency–”
“You want to tell me why my son just told me about punk ass kids beating the shit out of him? Or better yet, why I’m finding out after his bone head Uncles knew about it?”
Fuck.
“Oh, that. Listen, he came to us with it a few weeks back. We told him we wouldn’t say anything as long as he told us if it happened again and he told you as soon as school was out. Good to know he kept his word.” I try to lighten my tone, but it falls flat.
“That’s mySON,Sullivan. Not some random kid getting pushed off the swings at the playground. He’s your nephew and my child. He’s being ridiculed for being deaf, and beat up because kids are dicks. I thought you of all people would come to me with this.” He’s barelyholding his temper in check. I already know from three states away that his face is red and the vein in his forehead is throbbing. Rowan Byrne never plays, but especially not about his wife and kids.
“I’m sorry. You’re right. We just wanted to be the uncles that he felt like he could come to when he was struggling. That wasn’t our place. We were wrong. Is he okay?” At this point it’s the only thing I can say. He’s right, we fucked up by not telling him. We just wanted Rhett to trust us, but that shouldn’t have come at the cost of his safety.
He huffs out a gust of tension before responding in a calmer tone. “Yeah. He’s fine, and I’ve got a meeting with the main boy's father tomorrow. I already gave him a heads up on what it’s about, and he was apologizing profusely and asked me to bring Rhett with me. So I’m sure it’ll be interesting.”
“Of course he does. He knows if his punk ass kid is the reason we go to war with the Russians again, his organization is going to flip.”
“We aren’t doing anything. I am. Look, I appreciate you guys and the bond you have with my kids. I don’t ever want that to change, but if it has to do with something like that, your loyalty to me trumps your loyalty to him. Got it?”
“Yeah, Papa Bear. I got it.” I use the goofy nickname that our family uses for him when we’re all together to try to thaw his anger just a little more.
“Thanks, Sul. I’ll let you get some sleep now. Tell Flynn to answer his damn phone every once in a while.”
