Page 10 of Rex
Rex
Aquick exploration on the upper level of the house uncovers a fully stocked bathroom as well as a fully stocked nursery. I figure Beau and Annmarie planned on putting the little girl in my arms here after they removed her from Dre’s care. Well, I guess we can be thankful that she has somewhere that’s kitted out for all her needs, considering we aren’t going to be leaving this house anytime soon.
Hopefully having this space will make things a little easier for Dre while we’re here. He doesn’t have to make do with whatever bare essentials he had to care for her while they were in the basement. Instead, he has everything he probably dreamed he had access to before on hand.
Hopefully he’ll let me help him out with this little one too. I can’t imagine this has been easy on him at all. He never could have predicted he’d for all intents and purposes become a parent while he was being held against his will. Who the fuck would ever think to expect something like that? I have to hand it to him though; despite the unexpected turns of events he experienced, he’s done a cracking job. She looks as healthy as can be, and from everything I learned about him from my research, I don’t believe he ever had any previous experience with children. He’sdone an amazing job at raising her. It’s obvious by the way he looks at her he loves her too. Can’t really blame him for that either; she’s as cute as a button.
Just as I place her sleeping body on her back in the crib, I hear movement behind me. Turning around, I find a freshly showered Dre. He looks a lot happier now he’s washed off the basement and changed into a pair of black sweats and a graphic tee I found lying around in one of the bedrooms up here.
“How are you doing?” I ask.
“I feel much better now that I’ve washed the basement off, that’s for sure.”
“That’s good. Now before we go down and hash everything out. I need to know how you want to handle things with your brother. He needs to know I’ve found you and you’re no longer being held against your will, but how do you want to handle all the information that comes with that?”
“I’d prefer to tell him everything myself. Face-to-face. We both thought they were dead. Hell, we were happy they wouldn’t be in our lives anymore. He needs to hear it all from me, and I know he’s going to handle what I have to say better if I’m physically in front of him.”
“I can understand that. The news you’re alive and okay is probably going to hit him like a ton of bricks. I think the best way to handle it might be contacting my brother Jake, who’s prospecting for the MC, and getting him to deliver the news to his face.”
“Yeah, as long as he has his best friend Shadow close when he finds out, everything should be fine. If anyone knows how to help my brother, it’s him.”
As the words leave his mouth, I realize he has no idea about the change in relationship between Shadow and Wreck. How would he? He hasn’t been around, and I haven’t had a chance to tell him. Until now, anyway.
“So, I don’t know the best way I should say this. So I’m just going to come out with it. Shadow isn’t just your brother’s best friend anymore; he’s also his boyfriend.”
I don’t know what reaction I was expecting from Dre, but I can say I most certainly wasn’t expecting him to start dancing around and silently cheering. I have to stop myself from laughing out loud at his reaction. I’ve never seen anything like it in my life.
“Fucking finally.” He says gleefully when he’s finally stopped his celebratory dance. “I’m sure there is one hell of a story about how they finally figured their shit out, and if you know it, I expect you to tell me as soon as we handle everything here. For now I say you contact your brother so he can tell mine the good news, while I set up that baby monitor over there so we can leave my little darling safely tucked away up here while we head downstairs.”
“Sounds like a plan, and yeah, I know the story. I’ll fill you in later. I promise.”
I turn away from him quickly as I start pulling out my phone to call Jake. I don’t need him to see the guilt that no doubt lingers in my eyes when I think about the story that leads to Wreck and Shadow being together. I need to be focused on my task right now and not drowning in the guilt I always feel about what happened.
* * *
The phone call with Jake was quick and easy; even though he wanted more details about everything, he accepted that Dre wanted to be the one who shared what had happened with Wreck and didn’t push. Now with that handled, and Dre’s chargeis tucked away sleeping upstairs in the nursery, it’s time to get more details from Dre about what he knows. We enter the throwback kitchen side by side, taking the seats we did before. Just like last time, I pull his chair out for him. I could tell before he wasn’t used to that sort of treatment, and I’m determined to give it to him while I have the chance.
Taking my own seat, I look over at Anarchy and Phantom. I don’t miss the self-satisfying smirk on Anarchy’s face, and I know that means he’s already taken things into his own hands. I should really have known this would happen, especially when I saw he was the one who went down to the basement to collect Beau.
“Tell me what you learned. I can tell you’re dying too, but first. Did you sort everything with their hired help?”
“Of course. We even sorted the two you so helpfully left tied up. Of course I’m dying to tell you. You’re going to fucking love this. Do you want to take a guess at who the buyer is, or would you prefer me just to tell you?”
“Just tell me. We haven’t got time to be messing about. We have no idea how much longer the little lady is going to stay asleep.”
“Hmm… Yeah, I didn’t think about that. Okay, drum roll please. Our buyer is none other than Patrick Price.”
“Fuck me. We can’t be that fucking lucky.” I say in shock.
“What am I missing?” Dre asks. There’s no missing the confusion in his tone or on his face.
Shit, I fucked up again. I haven’t mentioned anything to do with The Khaos Group at all. What the fuck am I playing at? I’m not normally this scatterbrained. I need to get my shit together.
“That’s my fault. I’m sorry, Dre. I should have already told you that we’re all employed by The Khaos Group. It’s why your brother believed I’d have a better chance of finding you.”
“What he isn’t saying is he isn’t just a normal member. He’s one of the best we have, and his family is also one of the ones who founded The Khaos Group and still run it to this day.” Anarchy says.
“Wow. I knew you had to be part of something, but I wasn’t expecting that. I had a feeling you guys could handle all this shit, but now I’m fucking certain of it. What am I missing about the buyer, though? Clearly his name means something to you all.”
