Page 80 of Dead Serious with Benefits
“What?” Milo complained. “Moira, no! I’m supposed to go out with Marshall and Eli tonight!”
“Then I guess you had better get moving,” she said without an ounce of pity. “Now!”
“C’mon,” Eli said, and while he wasn’t protesting, I didn’t hear any regret in his voice. “You know she means it, let’s get it over with.”
“Ugh.”
“Drama queen,” Mason chuckled. “It’s their own fault for not learning.”
A woman strode up to the bar, her thick heels thumping the carpet as she approached and leaned on it. She was tall, a little broad in the shoulders and definitely in the hips, but that was by no means a mark against her. She had short hair, not quite a pixie cut; it was more ordered and layered, but it suited her stronger features. I didn’t need to know her name to know she was Mason’s sister. They might have been fraternal twins and different genders, but the similarities, especially when standing less than a foot apart, were impossible to miss.
“You can’t learn when you refuse to change,” she said in annoyance. “They don’t want to learn. Correction: Milo refusesto learn, and Eli lets himself get pulled into Milo’s bullshit. Always has, always will. It’s even worse now they’re together.”
“I recall you saying you were happy for them when they announced their relationship,” Arlo said, and I didn’t have to turn around to know he had that secretive smile.
“Yes, and if I’d known it would make them even more stupid, I might have said otherwise,” Moira said, glancing over and straightening when she saw me. “Oh! I am so sorry, Mr. Reddington. I didn’t realize Arlo was going to bring you straight here after he called.”
“Reddington?” Mason asked, peering at me. “The Governor’s no-account son?”
“Mason!” Moira hissed, but I laughed.
“He’s not wrong, though it’s been a while since someone said that to my face,” I held out my hand. “You can just call me Ward, please. I’m not going to pull out the line that Mr. Reddington is my father, but...it’s certainly not me.”
“Of course,” she said, taking my hand. “Arlo explained everything over the phone. I’m sorry I wasn’t here when you arrived.”
“Please, don’t...the last thing I need is someone giving me the presidential treatment,” I said with a wince. “I appreciate it, but all things considered, the rest of your family has already given me the right welcome; don’t go professional on me.”
“That you referred to them as giving you the ‘right’ welcome tells me a lot,” she said with a sigh. “Since you want that, then I’ll be blunt...please tell me you do not intend to use our rooms to host one of your infamous parties?”
Movement from the corner of my eye caught my attention, but I kept my eyes on Moira. “I did not intend to, no.”
“Mason,” Arlo hissed. “Cut it out, cease and desist or?—”
“I’maware,Mason,” Moira said in a low voice. “You don’t have to...don’t do that.”
I glanced and saw Mason jerk his hands behind his back, but not before I realized he was sticking his index finger through his curled other finger. “Ah.”
“Children, I’m surrounded by children,” Moira sighed wearily, then leaned around me. “Not you, Arlo. You’re wonderful, I love you, and I don’t want you ever to change.”
“She clearly doesn’t play favorites,” Mason grumbled. “I shared a womb and a childhood bed with this space hog for years, but it’s Arlo she dotes on.”
“Arlo has not done anything to raise my blood pressure the entire time I’ve known him. Whereasyoudo it with every word you speak, usually intentionally,” she said with a glare. “Now if you’d like...Ward, I can show you what we have to offer, and you can decide if we’re right for you.”
She could have shown me a broom closet, and I would have agreed, just because Arlo had offered to bring me here to help me. Apparently, I was a sucker for earnest help being offered, especially when it came from a good-looking man who could fuck like a rock star. But I didn’t think Moira needed to hear that...Mason would probably love it, but I wasn’t looking to create more chaos than there already was.
“Fine, fine, leave me all alone,” Mason sighed as we followed Moira. “But don’t think Dom didn’t tell me how you scarred him last night!”
Arlo sighed as he followed me. “Remind me to tell Dom I used to trust him to keep his mouth shut.”
“In this family,” Moira said with a snort, “there’s no such thing as a secret. The only reason you haven’t got a bigger reaction for dragging a guy in here is because Milo is oblivious, Eli doesn’t prod all that much, and Mason had decided that you were strictly straight and stopped looking closer.”
“You’re not surprised,” Arlo said as we followed her to the elevator at the back of the lobby.
“I knew, and so did Dom, and I’m sure you knew he knew; you two have always been pretty close,” she said as we stepped into the empty elevator and she pressed the button at the top of the display. “Mom also knows, but...not the same way Dom and I know.”
Arlo glanced at her. “Meaning?”
“Angela.”
