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The chill running through me warms several degrees and I smile back, offering my hand to my new employer. “Call me Tate. I, er, wasn’t sure where you lived.” I rub at the back of my neck, hating how my cheeks burn hot. “I ran into a snag at the address you gave me.”
The man behind me snorts. “Jude’s address?”
Nathan frowns, turning to look back at the monstrous house that should have been condemned decades ago. “He didn’t let you in.” Not a question. A statement. He expected this. Lovely.
“And he fired me,” I grumble.
The other man laughs, deep and clearly amused by this thought. Nathan pins him with a sharp glare that could cut through someone like me, so I’m glad it’s not aimed my way.
“Callum,” Nathan says, “talk to your brother. He actually listens to you.”
Callum—hottie in a suit—steps out of the house to stand beside me. His scent is expensive and spicy. My mouth waters and I quickly banish any salacious thoughts because I’m supposed to be a professional here—not foaming at the mouth when surrounded by hot guys.
“Jude does what he wants,” Callum replies, shrugging. “Who’s the kid?”
Kid?
I bristle at the condescension dripping from his words. I’m twenty-seven, not seventeen, despite my youthful features.
“Family therapist,” Nathan cuts in, saving me from having to explain myself to this prick. “And he needs a place to stay now apparently.”
Shifting on my feet, I mutter, “I can stay at my apartment and commute—”
“Nonsense,” Nathan huffs. “We need you here full time. You’ll stay with my other son.”
“Hugo?” Callum asks, voice tight.
“You,” Nathan says with a smirk.
“You hired him,” Callum growls. “You take him in.”
Wow. This job is going to be super-fun. Not.
“Look at him.” Nathan flicks his fingers my way. “Gemma won’t leave him alone. I won’t have my teenage daughter pregnant by Christmas.”
What?
“I, uh, I’m not going to—”
Callum cuts me off, stepping closer to his father, shoulders tense. “I’m supposed to let some stranger live in my house? Willaispregnant, for fuck’s sake.”
Who do these people think I am?
Some psychotic rapist?
“Callum, this isn’t up for discussion. Either you convince Jude to take Tate in or he stays with you.”
It’s like I’m not even here.
These two have some serious beef if the thick tension in the air is anything to go by. Makes me wonder if I’ll get to dig into that soon in a session.
“I’m gay,” I reveal with a sigh. “Your daughters and wives are safe.”
Callum’s head jerks my way and he smirks. It’s not a cruel, teasing kind of smirk—at least, not toward me. I realize my words will soon become ammunition based on the evil glint in his gaze.
“He could room with Dempsey,” Callum taunts, his eyes cutting back over to his father. “Since Gemma would be safe and all.”
Nathan, thankfully, doesn’t take the bait. “It’s settled. He stays with you.”
