Page 89 of Entangled

I laugh openly at his accurate description.

We all had a role in our little mishmash of a family. Stef was the older brother, always looking out for us, checking in, making sure everyone was alright. Kai was the one we all treated as the youngest, despite the fact he was the same age because he was the most sensitive and, therefore, the one we were all the most protective of. But Mac…

The other two referred to us as the twins and it was an apt description, not only because we could pass for blood relations. Out of us all, Mac and I were the most alike. We were the reckless avoiders. Burying our damage under an air of indifference, constant forward motion, and a delightful little sprinkling of self-destruction just for shits and giggles. Our thought processes and way of handling things scarily similar. Which meant if you left us alone together, you would come back to one of two things. Either we would be at each other’s throats or the whole freaking place would be lit up like Vegas, bottles popping and all.

And yet… Mac understood what I truly needed better than the other two in some ways. Not what I wanted, but what I actually needed.

When I had finally broken down and tried to find Coop one day in Amsterdam after getting quite literally baked out of my mind with Kai. It was Mac who had found me, as if he could sense what was happening. He had lain down beside me in bed, slid my phone from my hand after I had made it to around Google page twenty, and just held me for a few hours while we breathed together. Then he rolled me over, cupped my face, and told me it was now time to pick myself up and rise because we weren’t little bitches who crumbled.

Stef babied me, Kai worried about me, but Mac and I were the same.

Things had gotten better for me after that day.

“Hmm. I can imagine.” I tell him, brows pulling down in worry. “Has he been putting you guys through hell?”

“He’s been working out all day and pushing us to go out every night, so you know, he’s dealing in his own way. But… he misses you.” Stef pauses and I can hear the concern in his tone mirroring my own. “It’d be good if you came home soon.”

“I’m working on it. I’ll definitely be there for the club opening.” I sigh, pulling into the parking lot at Adam’s Place and parking Franny at the front. “I’m just waiting on a file from the sheriff and have—” I clear my throat. “Have a couple more things to get squared away.”

“Do these couple more things go by the name of Jace and Dawson?”

Yvie, that little traitor.

“I was going to tell you.”

“I know.” He laughs. “Don’t worry. We’ve all stalked his social media and prepared a list of questions for when we get to meet him. Mac plans to take him surfing.”

Holy shit. Not good.

“Stefano…”

“We love you, cara. You’re our sister. Don’t begrudge us the chance to protect you this time when we couldn’t the last.”

Well fuck when he puts it that way…

I give a bratty groan to cover up the tightness in my throat. “Fine.”

“It’s true then, you’re bringing him here?”

“Yeah. I think so. For the club opening at least… after that, I don’t know. We haven’t talked about it yet.” I sigh, sinking into my seat at the weight of reality. “I just know I don’t want it to be like last time. If I’m going to have someone in my life, someone that really means something to me… I want it all to be in the light this time. You know?”

“Agreed.” He pauses. “Well, you sound better… than before, which I’m guessing Jace Dawson has something to do with so I’ll try to hold Mac at bay when he gets here.”

“Thanks, Stef.”

“No promises though,” he whispers right before I hear Mac’s voice yell in the background.

“Is that my fucking twin?”

“Yes, Macallan,” Stef drones.

“Good,” Mac yells irritably. “Tell her that I’m bored out of my fucking mind and going down to the cellar to drink her stash of Caymus. Starting with the oldest year.”

I gasp at the threat. “You tell that little asshole if he touches my Caymus, I’ll pour his oldest whiskeys down the drain and make him watch.”

Stef sighs wearily. “Come home, cara.” I hear a door slam in the background over the phone. “Shit, he really did go down to the cellar. I have to go stop him.”

I push open the door to my car, switching the Bluetooth over to my phone. “Thanks, Stef.”

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