Page 176 of Sire
“Itistrue,” Sire answers, “but it won’t be easy. I made a deal, and therewillbe a fight.”
“Here we go,” Grant mumbles.
“Damn, right.” Sire lifts his stare from Axel, ordering his other brothers, “Here we fucking go. All of us. For our nephew. Our mom. Our wives and kids. You better fucking believe we’re about to go.”
“Go where?” Jace nods his chin, ready.
“I—” Sire starts to explain, but the cutest kid’s squeal explodes through the air, like sparkling, happy fireworks, turning our heads toward the playroom door.
Sire glances through its glass window and smiles. “Lev’s here.”
All step forward but Axel.
He doesn’t move.
He can’t move.
I’ve never seen a menacing man look so damn beautifully afraid.
“Come on, brother. Just me and you.” Sire reaches for him, leading him. “We’ll play with him. He’ll warm up. We’ll?—”
“We’ll scare him,” Axel worries. “He doesn’t know me.”
“He’ll love you.” Ruby lifts on her toes, kissing Axel’s cheek. “You’re going to be a great father. Twice.”
“Here.” Sire reaches into his suit pocket, pulling out a pink Ring Pop. “Give him this and he’ll be your best friend.”
Sire turns to grab the doorknob, but Axel yanks him back.
For a moment, I fear he’ll punch Sire. It’s everything Sire’s feared. Axel’s pain. His rage. His anguish. All the years with Lev that Sire can’t give back to Axel. It’s not Sire’s fault, but my man was born to bear a cross. For his family, he’ll carry it, standing tall.
But Axel wraps Sire in a hug. “You fucking dick.” He squeezes him tighter. “Thank you.” He whispers through tears. “I love you, man.”
Huddledaround the open playroom door, we’re like a huge family in front of the window of a hospital nursery.
Except there’s only one little smiling boy, sharing his hot pink Ring Pop with a jacked and tatted man, while his other little hand scribbles doodles on the man’s face.
His father’s face.
His father’ssmilingface.
The little boy’s uncle, all jacked and tatted, too, sits in a tiny red plastic chair. Strumming his guitar, he softly sings about a bullfrog and “Joy to the World,” before he looks over … and gives me a sexy wink.
Hey, Dolly, we’ve come a long way since the last time we stood in the doorway like this.
The proof?
Mr. Muscle hovers beside me, mumbling, “It had to be apinkRing Pop for my badass nephew?”
I backhand Jace’s chest. “Shut up.” It’s like backhanding a Mack truck.
“Pink is sexy for a man, no?” Delphine corrects him.
“I look hot in pink,” Loch boasts.
Grant laughs. “Wearing it or fucking it?”
“I heard both.” Nick piles on.
