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Then Sylvester screamed the highest-pitched shriek I’d ever heard come out of a man’s mouth.
I jumped. “What? What’s wrong?”
Sylvester extended an arm out dramatically to point in our direction. His arm was shaking. “Is that – are those – is that – engagement rings?”
Ria looked at her own hand as if she’d already forgotten. “Oh. Yeah.”
Sylvester glanced between the two of us like his head was going to explode. “What is wrong with the both of you?”
“Oh my god, Ria, congratulations!” Jenni ran forwards to embrace Ria. She glanced at me over my fiancée’s shoulder. “You too, Forest.”
“Thanks. Glad to see you’re alive.”
Sylvester had switched to sulking during the brief interruption. He was frequently disappointed that his brothers weren’t as dramatic as he. “Yeah, well, I’ve got a surprise for you, too, Forest.”
“Oh?”
“Ta-da.” Sylvester listlessly gestured to the doorway to the right of the group.
Jude and Winston walked through.
Ria piped up, possibly to cover for my shock. “Wow, the whole gang.”
Sylvester tilted his head to the right. “Figured getting evidence enough to possibly put Apollo behind bars was a momentous occasion enough to merit a gathering of the brothers.”
Winston gave a short wave. “Hey Forest.”
“Hi, Winston.”
Jude was more cautious. “Forest...”
I could only echo him. “Jude...”
The last time we’d spoken had obviously not gone well for either of us. There had been radio silence between us since. The feud had been informally confirmed when Sylvester hadn’t invited Jude to the ‘hear how much Forest has fucked up his life’ meeting he’d called during my mopey stay at his apartment.
We stared at each other. I had no idea what to say.
Luckily, Jude went first. “Come here, Forest.”
I crossed the room and was in his arms by the time he’d finished his sentence. We added a few hefty pats on the other’s back to retain our masculinity, of course.
Jude went first with the apologies, too. “Sorry for not trusting you.”
My eyes were a little bit blurry with tears. “Sorry for being untrustworthy.”
He shrugged. “Hey, it paid off in the end, didn’t it?”
I pulled away from him. “It did. But that’s down to Ria and the twins. Not me.”
Then Winston piped up. “Are those engagement rings?”
And everything descended into chaos again.
Until somewhere at the very far back of the room, Helli’s apathetic monotone managed to rise above the chaos. “Are we going to finish our business here or are we going to gossip like teenagers until Apollo sends a nuclear missile to obliterate all of us and, by extension, the entire planet?”
All of us hushed, thoroughly admonished. I for one was glad for the interruption. I still had tears in my eyes – manly ones, of course – and was quickly becoming emotionally drained from all of the... feeling that was happening in the room. Beside me, Ria squeezed my hand.
“Yes, right.” Sylvester sobered up fast, like a naughty schoolboy threatened with the principal's office. “Well, I can take Jenni and Helli into my protection for now while they figure out what to do with the evidence. I think it’s only right we leave it in their hands – and Ria’s – since they did all of the work we’ll be benefiting from. That is, unless you want one of us to take it off your hands?”
