Page 58 of Headcase
Atticus glanced at Asa, who shrugged. “He’s going to know it all soon enough.”
Atticus looked at Zane, his tone rigid. “My husband takes in troubled kids who need a safe space. Those boys have created a…neighborhood watch. Bad people take advantage of good people who have limited options, whether that be residential status or finances, often both. My husband…discourages those people from preying on the vulnerable in his neighborhood.”
Zane blinked. “Discourages them…”
“Yes.”
“So, Jericho does what you all do,” Zane said faintly. “He kills bad guys.”
“It’s what you do, too,” Asa said gently. “You don’t have to pick up a gun or a knife, but you’re part of this family now, and you’ll be expected to protect it, protectus, just as fiercely as we’ll protect you.”
Zane nodded, still looking a little dazed.
“And when Avi gets back, you’re going to need protection,” Atticus said. “Feel free to hide at our place.”
Zane’s startled gaze flicked back to Asa. “How long am I going to have to worry about your twin wanting me dead?”
Asa sighed. “Maybe a week? Maybe a day? With Avi, who knows. With any luck, there’s a lethal twink fashionista keeping him distracted from any murderous impulses.”
“That lethal twink fashionista is my brother-in-law,” Atticus muttered.
“The heart wants what the heart wants,” Asa intoned, earning an eye roll from his older brother. “Okay, we’re leaving. I’ll text Calliope that you’ll drop off the hard drive at the pick up spot.”
“Pick up spot?” Zane asked.
Asa nodded. “Yeah, it’s where we drop stuff for Calliope to retrieve.”
Zane frowned. “Why not just have her come get it? Or take it to her?”
“We’ve never met Calliope face to face,” Asa said.
“But you’ve met her son?” Zane countered. “Right? Dimitri is her son?”
Asa looked to Atticus. “Yeah…he is. Does this mean we can meet Calliope now? Like, do we want that? I don’t know how I feel about seeing the woman behind the curtain.”
Atticus rolled his eyes. “That’s a crisis for another day. Let’s just figure out the game and keep your fiancé alive long enough for you to make an honest man of him.”
Zane looked at Asa, his expression pleading. “I need a nap.”
Asa flung an arm around Zane’s shoulders, pulling him in to drop a kiss on his curls. “I got you, Lois. I got you.”
Zane blinked himself awake, stretching for longer than necessary before flopping onto his back and staring up at the ceiling above. Asa’s bed was much more luxurious when Zane wasn’t cuffed to the headboard. He wasn’t sure how long he’d slept, but the moonlight shining through the window bisected the otherwise darkened room.
He dragged himself into a sitting position and frowned at the pile of clothes folded neatly on the edge of the bed. They were his clothes. From his apartment. Had Asa gone and retrieved Zane’s clothes while he was sleeping? His heart did that funny thing it did whenever Asa did something thoughtful. Which was surprisingly often for a psychopath who liked hunting his bedmates instead of seducing them.
Had Thomas taught them to be this attentive? Was it all part of the…curriculum? Maybe every man should be forced to take Thomas Mulvaney’sHow to Be a Humanclass. He should send his future father-in-law a fruit basket.
The man brought you clothes, not a kidney. Is the bar really that low, Zaney?
Zane rolled his eyes. “Yeah, well, you can blame Mom for that, too. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m gonna go into his apartment-size bathroom and make use of his fancy ass shower. You’re not invited,” he said out loud to the empty room.
Once under the water, Zane realized Asa had also brought his soap and shampoo. Zane must have been tired. He’d slept through Asa’s movements throughout the bedroom. He ignored his own soap, instead lathering up with Asa’s expensive spicy body wash. There was just something about wrapping himself in Asa’s scent that made this whole situation feel more real and less like some kind of fever dream.
He leaned his forehead against the cold tiles, letting the jets beat against his skin. If this was a dream, Zane had no interest in waking up. He’d never been impulsive, not until Asa. Now, he was just allowing himself to be swept along with the tide of the Mulvaney family’s chaotic existence, and he had never been more at peace.
Asa had said he should start a YouTube channel to really start dissecting the murders. The murders his own family committed. Now, Zane’s family, too. There was an evil sort of genius behind the plan. It wasn’t like Zane would be lying. He wasn’t making up the crimes the victims had committed. The people they’d killed had deserved it.
The truth was, the Mulvaneys weren’t killers, they were karma. And Zane could be part of the problem or part of the solution. Being part of the solution meant having the career he’d always dreamed of, a man he couldn’t fathom ever having had a shot with, and a life out of a fucking fairy tale. And he was on the right side of history. There was no downside.
