Page 75 of Love Thy Brother
“With Orla, unless he bailed already.”
“That likely?”
I shrugged. Then shook my head. “He’ll wait.”
Couldn’t explain why. Or make much sense of Cam’s bemusement. River owned my thoughts, and the sexual supernova we’d created last night was front and centre. It was all I could think about. Fuck, evensleepingwith him was indelibly etched on my brain, which made it that much more criminal that we’d done it before and I couldn’t remember it.You didn’t fuck him back then. There’s no way.
“Listen,” Cam started, but the chapel door banging interrupted him. He glanced over his shoulder and a deeper concern knitted his brow.
He evaporated from the doorway.
I followed him to the table where Embry slumped in Mateo’s seat, breathing through his nose, face whitewashed of colour.
Shit. I knew this look. I met Cam’s gaze and nodded, then pulled up a chair and rubbed Embry’s back. “Bad day?”
Embry hummed out an affirmative, but humour danced in his indigo eyes too, letting me know it wasn’t as terrible as it looked. “I’m okay.”
“Liar,” Cam grumbled.
Embry ignored him and focused on me. “Mateo said you weren’t coming.”
“I wasn’t gonna.”
“What changed?”
“Fucking Nora.” I rolled my eyes around the sun and back. “What is it with you people? Is church not sacred anymore?”
Embry opened his mouth, but whatever was going on behind his scarred belly shut him up. I gave him space to breathe through it while Cam drifted back to the kitchen and, God love him, fetched my tea.
“You want something, Em?”
“Nah.”
“All right, mate.” Cam stayed close, his back to the door as it opened again and Saint rolled in, dishevelled and edgy.
I studied him as he took a seat, mine, and swept his restless gaze around the room, taking it all in. He expressed no surprise at my presence, but with Saint, it was hard to tell. All I knew for certain was being cooped up in this room was the last place he wanted to be right now.
You and me both, brother.
The door openedagain. Mats this time. He frowned, but his attention was quickly diverted to Embry. I vacated my seat, giving him room to be whatever Embry needed, but when I glanced back, Embry already looked better.
Love heals.
For everyone but me.
Five minutes later, Nash rocked up, pillow lines on his face. In normal times, I’d be all over that shit, but the air strained the moment we locked eyes, and he blinked first, dumping himself in the seat closest to the door.
Suppressing a sigh, I went back to the kitchen and made Mateo a coffee. By the time I came back, Alexei and Decoy were there and life had moved on.
I didn’t look at Nash again. I claimed a chair and tuned into Cam as he called order and pointed the gavel at Decoy. Business took over.Legitimatebusiness, buying me time to gather my fucking thoughts. But brevity was Decoy’s specialty. He wasn’t short of words like Saint, or choosy about who he gave them to, but he dealt in facts. He didn’t fuck around, and his update was over and done with before I could blink.
Cam pointed at me. “Your turn.”
Fuck. Where to start? I glanced between him and Saint. Had Saint told him about the blood on the walls at the garage? Unlikely, as Cam hadn’t blown up my phone, but what about Alexei? Couldn’t see Saint keeping a secret from both of them, but with the Lizard People, who fucking knew?
Assume nothing. Tell them everything.Sound advice, but Nash’s sudden fixation with the tabletop derailed me.Look at me, brother.
He didn’t.
