Liam gave his own sideways look.“You would know, right?”
Josh shrugged.“Believe it or not, I didn’t see Danny drunk that often.He was pretty good at hiding it, and—” He sighed.“—I think he saved the worst parts of it for Felix.Thinking back on it now, I can see he was so lonely.After we got back from Europe, he’d check me out of school sometimes and take me on field trips—museums, plays, ballets.It was like his entire life, when he was my age, he’d been poor and ignored, but once he had means, the only person he had to share those means with in public was his son.I-I see that cottage, the one Tor and Marco live in, and remember when Danny would get back from trips and they’d stay there.I wasn’t allowed—and I don’t think it was all because they were having sex.It was because Danny was… detoxing, I guess, from the loneliness of traveling without Felix.Fights, tears—whatever.I was never exposed to the worst parts of the situation.Which, you know, good parenting, but also….”
“Hard,” Liam said.At that moment, the cab turned off into what had once been an industrial area, but just looking at the shiny scrubbed sidewalks and artful store fronts showed it had been recently gentrified.
The cab let them out in front of what had been an erstwhile warehouse but had now obviously been parsed into units, and the two of them grabbed their luggage and made their way through a makeshift lobby and down the hall to the elevator.
Liam took in Josh’s expression in the elevator and laughed.
“The units are better from the inside, trust me.”
Josh hadn’t wanted to say anything, but the heavily scored concrete, low ceilings, and fluorescent lights had put him off a bit.He was very aware that not everybody could afford a mansion in Glencoe, but he and Grace had also made do with a modest allowance when they’d had their student apartment in the city, and they’d worked hard to make the place livable within their budget.He had to admit he was a little bit like Grace in that he was a hedonist and liked comfortable things.
“That’s a relief,” he said, and then Liam opened the door to his apartment, and he gasped.
The apartment itselfwasmuch nicer than he’d anticipated.Designed with a completely open floor plan, with the exception of what was probably a long narrow bathroom that literally took a slice off the big square space, almost the entirety of one wall was consumed with a bank of windows that Josh had seen wrapped around the building.The floor was still concrete, but Liam had buffed it to a shine and covered it with thickly padded, colorful wool rugs, both big and small, that marked spaces.A seafoam-green patterned rug sat under sturdy, plain, and comfortable-looking furniture in the center of the space that was obviously a living room.Another rug, this one turquoise blue and much more washable, sat under a small dining table of thick, bare wood, with matching chairs, each one featuring a cushion on the seat.
And in the back corner was a queen-sized bed with a fluffy white comforter and a few brightly colored cushions on top.
“Better?”Liam asked, before peeking in himself.
“Yes,” Josh said, sincere but also laughing.“But I wasn’t expecting it to be furnished with people as well as chairs.”
Liam did a double take and rolled his eyes.“Robert,” he said, sounding pleased to see his brother.“And Molly and Grace.You two got here quick.”
Robert looked a lot like Liam—the dark freckles across the cheeks, dark brown hair without the curls, and a slightly crooked smile.But Liam’s jaw was square and firm where Robert’s was rounder and more boyish, and Liam—when he wasn’t slouching in a corner, trying to be inconspicuous—had an upright posture and broad shoulders as well.
Robert’s slighter frame wasn’t unattractive—but it wasn’t Liam, and Josh had grown quite fond of Liam’s body of late.
“Sorry about that,” Molly said cheerfully.True to her promise, she’d dyed her hair a wheat gold, keeping random streaks of mermaid pink.Then she’d straightened it and had practiced keeping it in a French braid down her back to her waist.The effect was actually quite lovely, Josh had thought, and while the streaks of color made her appear young and carefree, the straight wheat blond was almost plain compared to the spectacular sunset curls.“Chuck was flying with Lucius’s pilot as his second.I didn’t think Chuck could, you know, push the envelope in the air like he did on the ground, but I swear Lucius’s guy was absolutely cloud white.”
Grace’s laugh was positively evil.“They’re catching a sleep at Lucius’s London condo and taking off tomorrow early, if Lucius’s guy doesn’t quit first.”
“Poor Graham,” Molly said, but she didn’t sound sympathetic at all.“I really don’t think he’s got the stuff somebody like Lucius needs.”
“Which is why they’re not sleeping together,” Josh said dryly.“I thought we were going to meet up tomorrow too.”
Molly and Grace gave each other sly smiles.“See?”Molly said.“You see what I was saying?”
“He’s trying to get rid of us?”Grace sulked, and Josh was tempted to massage his temples.
“No,” he said slowly, “I just have dibs on the bed.”
The two of them broke into raucous laughter, and Grace gave Josh a roughhouser’s hug, shaking him while relieving him of his carry-on at the same time.
“You’re so polite!”he laughed.“No, honestly, we just thought we’d check out Liam’s family, torment them, freak them out about how scary we are, and then fade away to a hotel.We’ve got a room checked out in your name.It’s all fine.”
“My name?”Josh asked, absolutely positive they wouldn’t be that stupid.
“J.D.Morgan,” Molly corrected.“Don’t worry, Josh, we’ve all done our homework.”She gave Robert a cheerful grin.“But everything else is pretty much correct.We wanted to scope out Liam’s family.Is this it?I thought we were promised siblings out the ass.”
“I try hard to keep my siblings very muchoutof my ass, thank you,” Robert said with a grin.“And no, I’m the second in line.Meg is next, Caleb is fourth, Patricia fifth, and Tanda is our youngest and our best.”
Grace tilted his head.“Sorry, Liam, I guess your little sister is the pride and joy?”
“I don’t know, Grace,” Liam said, his accent growing thicker—probably with discomfort.“How excited wouldyourfamily be if you became a copper?”
Grace snorted.“Myfamily does not actually give a rat’s ass if I live or die.Josh’s family can vouch for that, which is why I live there now.But I do see what you mean.It would be a disappointment.”
