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Basil and I laugh. Only Alistair with his twisted mind would threaten to shoot little boys but I’m with him all the way.
“And who are you?” I question. The little girl snickers, holding Devyn’s hand.
“I’m Gemma O’Rourke,” she replies.
Basil and I side eye each other. O’Rourke has a daughter. Who would’ve known?
“Gemma is a pretty name for a pretty girl,” I compliment her, pulling out my wallet, then handing her a hundred-dollar bill.
“Thank you,” she sings.
Snapping my fingers, I state, “Oh, before we forget. This is for you, Devyn.” Digging in the bag I’m holding I pull out a gift-wrapped box for her.
Devyn happily takes the box, then hugs me again. “Thank you, Yiorgos.”
She then hugs Basil once more. “Thank you, Basil.”
“You’re welcome,” we tell her.
“It’s about time your asses showed up,” Alistair says, joining us. “Devyn, Gemma, GeeGee wants the two of you.”
The two girls wave goodbye as they race back to the way Alistair came from.
“Good to see you too, cousin,” I chuckle, giving him a man hug.
“It’s always good to see me,” he jokes as he pulls back, then turns to Basil. “How’s Chicago treating you?”
Basil gives him the same hug, then replies, “It’s good except for last night when we were on top of the Kourakos building.”
Alistair’s eyes light up. “Oh, really and what were you doing up there?”
“We can hear all about that after we celebrate my baby boy. Plus, I’d like to discuss what happened at my club last night,” Balthazar cuts in, eyeballing me.
Alistair rolls his eyes. “Man, Zar I know they were up to some wicked shit, and I want to hear about it now.”
“And like I said, you can hear about it later. Right now, it’s all about Baby Zar,” Balthazar reiterates, stepping around him to give us man hugs. “Glad you guys could make it.”
“To meet the latest addition to the Kourakos family, we wouldn’t miss it for the world,” I respond.
“And I thank you two for being here,” Balthazar says.
I couldn’t help the urge to poke at him, so I tease, “Seeing that we are the best Greece has to offer, baby Zar should know where he came from.” I grin hard as Balthazar becomes stone faced. My statement hit a nerve but hey, I was only speaking the truth. He and Alistair were born and raised here. Other than Uncle Sebastian, Basil and I were the only ones here who were born in our homeland.
“Oh, hell no,” Alistair gripes. “Just because you were born in Greece don’t make you anymore Greek than us.” He points his finger at Balthazar, Xander, then pushes it into his chest. “We are all Greek. It doesn’t matter if our mothers had us in Athens or Chicago. At the end of the day, we’re Greek and I wish a motherfucker would say different.”
Balthazar eyes me as he tells Alistair, “It’s all right little brother. We know who we are and that’s all that matters. Come on, let’s show our cousins where everyone is at and where they can put the gifts,” he states.
I can tell by Balthazar’s tone I pushed his buttons but really, I’m happy for him. Although we try to let our past go, from time to time the competitiveness will show its ugly head. I will only admit to myself that I have a twinge of jealously. He has the beautiful wife and now a son who will carry on his bloodline. I quickly shake that shit off. I’m Yiorgos Kourakos and I could have that too if I wanted. I’m just not ready to settle down. I will find the woman that’s meant for me when the time is right. At this point in my life, I’m still making my mark on the world.
We follow Balthazar into his spacious den. Everyone is sitting around talking and laughing. When they see us, a barrage of hellos echo around the room. Most of the crew is here. Mike and Janae, Xander and a glowing, pregnant Sabre, his mother Ismena, his sister Karisa, O’Rourke and an extremely attractive woman by his side, Rory, Tech, Hendrix, Frankie and Uncle Sebastian’s freak of nature bodyguard, Jeeves. From what I learned about Mike and his men, the ones that weren’t here were probably out on a job and I don’t mean installing security systems.
“Nephews,” Uncle Sebastian calls out, walking over to us. Basil and I bow our head in respect.
“Yiorgos, I swear except for those blue eyes, you look more and more like Linus every time I see you.”
“Thank you. How are you doing, Uncle Sebastian?” I greet him with a hug.
He leans back clutching my arms. “I’m surrounded by family, so I couldn’t be any better.” He turns to Basil. “Basil, you’re not too far too far behind Yiorgos. My little brother did good with you boys,” he praises, embracing Basil.
