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Mason rolls his eyes.
“I kind of agree, baby,” I say, which earns me a scowl from him.
“Why are you on their side?” he huffs. “You just said your father is no threat to us.”
“This has nothing to do with him, Mase. You’re one of the richest men in America, and your security is nothing short of abysmal. You should have more cameras in your parking garage and at least one in the elevator. A panic room. At least half a dozen?—”
“Okay, Sergeant Worst Case Scenario. I’ll look into a little extra security.”
Elijah looks pleased. “I’ll hook you up with our security contractor, King, and you can come up with a plan?—”
“King can come up with a plan? Formysecurity?”
“Yes, Mason,” Elijah answers. “Because if you won’t listen to my recommendations, then King will force you to listen to his.”
“Nobody better to set up security than your twitchy other half, bro,” Drake says, laughing. “Amelia has our place locked up tighter than Fort Knox.”
“Mel’s the same,” Nathan adds. “You can’t take security lightly, Mase. What happened last night might have had nothing to do with your money, but there are fucked-up people out there who will do anything to get what they want.”
“Jeez,” Mason grumbles. “I thought this was supposed to be a fun let’s-celebrate-the-fact-your-boyfriend-didn’t-die-last-night breakfast.”
Maddox chuckles. “Oh, the irony.”
Elijah ignores Mason’s griping and addresses me. “I’ll send you his number.”
“Great. Between us, we can cover all the bases and get an airtight plan in place.”
Mason pushes back his chair. “I give up,” he mutters. “Now, as much as I love you all meddling in my life, King needs to rest, and we have a cop to see before he can do that, so you all need to leave.”
“You truly do love our meddling though, little brother.” Drake grabs the last strawberry and tosses it into his mouth.
“It’s our love language,” Nathan says with a smirk.
For the next few minutes, I listen to the good-natured banter between my boyfriend and his brothers as they say their goodbyes and make plans for the weekend. They include me too, but I hold myself back enough to observe and soak it all in, enjoying being a part of this. It’s new and strange but oddly comfortable.
A tiny voice in my head warns me not to get used to it because it can’t possibly last. I tell that voice to go to hell.
Chapter
Fifty-Two
KING
As planned, Mason and I paid a visit to Charlie, and he was very interested to hear what I had to say. We also passed on the details of Nathan’s contact at the DA’s office, who had already been briefed on the situation. Charlie was confident he’d have a warrant by end of day tomorrow.
Afterward, we visited Curtis Jones. He sobbed in my arms when I told him what I’d discovered, and he’s eager to witness the public downfall of the Worthingtons. He also swore he’d take matters into his own hands if the justice system failed him, and I can’t say I blame him. While he was devastated about his little girl’s murder, there was an underlying layer of relief that he finally knew the truth and that the world would soon know too.
It was a difficult day. Emotionally. Physically. Spiritually. It’s not easy confronting the fact that your parents are murderers. I don’t know how I would have gotten through it all without Mason. He’s been incredible throughout everything.
We got back to his place a few hours ago, and he insisted on making me dinner. A delicious Moroccan lamb dish that Maddox taught him to cook, and he kindly dropped off the ingredients for it while we were out. I really could get used to this whole having brothers thing.
Mason is clearing the dishes now, having insisted I need to rest. I watch him press buttons on the dishwasher to find the right cycle and stuff my hands into my pockets—rather, his pockets, as I’m wearing his sweatpants—and admire him. The muscles in his back and shoulders flex with every move he makes, and his jeans cling to his perfect ass.
He is sheer fucking perfection. It’s hard to believe I wasted so much of my life without him in it.
But perhaps we had to go through everything we did in order to end up right here. And despite my throbbing head and injured knee and the pain of everything we’ve endured, there’s nothing I would change. I wouldn’t risk a different outcome. The butterfly effect, I’ve heard it’s called. I would do nothing to jeopardize my chance of being here with him at this exact moment in time.
He turns around and catches me staring at him. “See something you like?”
