“I’ve gotten a concussion before, and this feels nothing like it. Just a bit sore. And pissed off. But I’m fine. Here.” I hold out the ice pack I’ve been periodically pressing against my tender skull and sore cheek. “Husband privileges. You get to handle the ice.”
His long fingers accept the cool compress, and he lays it on the area where I direct, holding it in place.
“Can you tell me what happened?” he asks in a low voice that has me complying, though I’d rather forget the whole mess.
I run through the events that transpired after I woke up in my childhood bedroom. Charlie keeps quiet through the tale, but I watch his reactions in the tightening of his lips and burn of his eyes.
“I’ll kill him,” he says at the end.
And once again, his violent impulse comes off as utterly sweet to me.
“Come on. We both know if a guy needs killing, I’m better equipped on the follow-through.”
“Nah,” comes a deeper voice to my left, and I realize Leo has stepped into the kitchen. “That’s my job if it ever needs doing.”
Again, I find it strange to hear my twin come to my defense. It’s been so long since we were on the same side. But I’m happy for it even if we’re both planning patricide.
Okay, I’m notreallyplanning it. Just daydreaming about it.
“Well, now we have a waiting list. But with Uncle Mike in the know, I don’t see Bill being a problem anymore. Harder to sneak around when your watch dog knows what to look for.”
“He can’t get away with what he did to you,” Charlie growls.
Then there’s a sharp cluck of a tongue from Rosa. “Son, you listen to Luna when she tells you to let it go. She knows best how to deal with her family. Besides, she just told you she loves you. That’s what you should be thinking about.”
Charlie snaps his mouth shut, returning guilty eyes to me, as if he thinks I’m about to rescind my love.
Not a chance.
“Sorry,” he murmurs while carefully arranging the ice pack against the back of my head. “I’m dense. I love you too. You know that, right? Hell, I’m obsessed with you.”
His words drive away all the darkness of the day, and I grin up at him so hard that my face hurts. But Charlie is here to soothe away all my pain.
Leo shoves his hands in his pockets and ducks his head. “I’ll head out,” he mutters.
“Oh, no, you won’t.” Rosa glares at my brother, and I watch his face go pink. “I told my husband to put a steak on the grill for you. You’d better stay and eat it.”
“I …” He trails off as our eyes meet across the kitchen.
That’s when I realize it’s been over a decade since the two of us have shared a meal together. Leo used to be the person I was closest to in the world. The person I trusted more than anyone.It was his abandonment, more than our parents’, that cut me so deep that I never expected the wound to heal.
But he’s here, and I have Charlie by my side.
Yes, Leo might leave again. He might choose the wrong road and not tell me he’s going or why.
But I won’t be alone.
“I want you to stay,” I say. I’ve always wanted him to.
And now, if he goes, at least he knows the truth.
Leo presses his mouth in a tight line and offers a jerky nod.
Charlie keeps the cool pack against my bruise as he leans in to place a kiss on my forehead.
And I begin to know what it feels like to be settled.
CHAPTER 55
