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“I already have legal papers drawn up claiming breaches of contract, et cetera,” Einstein said, giving me a look as if I should’ve known that was what Dare had meant.
I held her stare, pancake suspended in the air. “That sounds boring as shit. My version’s way better.”
“Your version is how we get found out and ruin the lives we get to live,” Dare said, turning his dark stare on me.
Right.
Low profiles to stay off law enforcement radar and remain unsuspecting to the tiny town we lived in. Honestly, I had to hand it to Dare because he’d managed to accomplish that when the generations before him had done everything to make sure the world knew what and who we were.
Not only that, but we’d had three years without any kind of attack or threat from outside enemies. Before then, months couldn’t pass without blood being shed between us and rival mobs. Now? Everyone was living their lives and having kids because they were getting comfortable as more time passed without incident.
Except me.
I refused to pull someone into our lives. Refused to bring them into the darkness of our world. Refused to make them my biggest distraction and weakness because that’s exactly what they would be. My focus needed to be on finding and eliminating threats, not worrying that someone I loved would end up as a target.
“Then I’ll take the boring papers,” I reluctantly conceded as I pushed my plate away from me.
“I’m going with you,” Einstein said, pausing from where she was closing her massive book when Maverick mumbled, “No.”
One of her brows lifted. “Excuse me?”
“I’m going with him,” he said, his tone holding no room for discussion. “He and I have to talk, and I can’t trust him to keep you safe if shit goes south.”
“Excuse the fuck out of you,” I said, only partially teasing. “Where’s the love? You’re supposed to be nice to me on my birthday.”
“Our birthday,” Maverick corrected.
“Your birthday was yesterday,” Einstein interjected as if that changed anything.
I gave her a look to assure her it didn’t. “Pretty sure it’s law that people need to celebrate you for the entire week of your birthday.”
“Pretty sure you’re wrong.”
“Regardless,” Maverick said over me when I started firing back at Einstein. “I’m going with you because you can’t tell me your head’s on straight.”
“Not sure if I should be offended by that,” I muttered dryly because he clearly already knew my thoughts were somewhere else.
“Maverick’s going with you,” Dare said with a decisiveness we weren’t allowed to argue with. “Einstein, give Maverick whatever papers you created. Twins, go now and call me when it’s over.” After a meaningful look at my brother, he slipped from the booth and headed for the back office of the café we were in—and owned—where his wife was working.
“Great meeting. Go, team,” I mumbled as I followed him out of the booth and cut in the opposite direction, taking me to the front door.
I’d barely set foot outside when I felt my brother come up behind me.
I never had needed him to make himself known. Our entire lives, I’d known when he was near. Something that had been damn helpful for me when we played hide-n-go-seek as kids. Not so much for him.
His loss.
“I know you plan on waiting for me to start talking, but I’ll wait you out for the rest of our lives,” I said as I started for his truck. “Might as well just ask.”
“Where’s your head at?”
I sent a sly grin over my shoulder as I rounded the front of the vehicle. “Literally or figuratively?”
“Diggs...” I practically felt the disappointment and worry rolling off Maverick in waves, but he didn’t say anything else until after we were in the truck and I’d told him the cross streets of where we needed to go. “You’ve been distracted the last couple of weeks or so, but it’s more than that. Lily went all out for our cake this year, the cake you demand every year, and you barely touched it.”
“Bullshit.”
“Everyone noticed, man,” he said before I could continue defending myself, shooting a glance at me before looking out the windshield again as he pulled out of the parking lot. “We spent days getting the theater room ready for this weekend. You wanted it to be the best fort yet. Once we got all the kids settled for the night and started piling in there, you were nowhere to be found.”
