“Did Duke tell you Brian is moving back?”
My teenage crush. He was a man who had graced my dreams more times than I could count. I loved seeing him any chance I had, and now that he was moving back to Boston, I was both excited and a tad apprehensive. In my mind, his return could mean he was going back to his criminal days of working for the cartel.
He bobbed his head. “Yeah, do you think that’s a bad thing?”
“I don’t know. Fran worries that her dad might regress. Apparently, he’s dumped a lot of his cash into the restaurant, but he hasn’t made the money back. What if he?—”
“He wouldn’t.” Dillon scrubbed a hand along his chin. “Duke would stop him from taking up his drug empire again. Duke won’t let Brian fuck up his life. Nor would Duke ruin his own, not with a wife and kid.”
“You’re probably right. Still, I can’t help but think Duke will have Brian’s back no matter what.”
“It’s not for us to worry about. And you have enough on your plate. Though…” He smiled broadly. “Do you still have a crush on Brian?”
I nearly choked. “Where did that come from?”
Dillon was the only one who knew my secret, but we weren’t discussing my love life.
“Talking about him sparked a memory,” Dillon said, settling beside me.
“You never told Duke, right?”
I had first met Brian when Duke brought him home one day. I was twelve at the time, and I fell in love the moment I laid eyes on Brian. At nineteen, Brian was charming, handsome, and cool, and when he told me I was the prettiest girl he’d ever seen, I’d gotten all warm and gooey inside.
“Of course not. You told me that in confidence. Besides, it’s none of Duke’s business who you like.”
I regarded Dillon like he had lost his mind. “Duke would argue otherwise. Besides, Brian would never see me as anything other than a little girl.”
“Maybe not. But he wouldn’t dare break the bond between him and Duke,” Dillon added. “It’s an unspoken rule between best friends.”
I laughed, knowing Dillon was right.
“You and Dominic have had an on-again, off-again relationship, but are you completely done?”
Dillon was the only brother I could confide in about my love life or lack thereof.
“Yeah, he’s always been more of a friend-brother-type guy. And he has a steady girl now.”
Dillon grabbed my hand and squeezed. “You’ll find that person to fall in love with. Someone who will treat you like gold, delicate and gentle. And if it turns out to be Brian, then so be it.”
I rested my head on his shoulders. “Dom treated me with gentleness.”
“Sure,” he said. “But he came into your life at your lowest moment and when you needed help the most. He was more of a crutch and someone you could lean on because you were too frightened to ask for help from me and Duke.”
He didn’t bring up Denim because our brother had been behind bars on a murder rap at the time.
“I was embarrassed, mostly that you and Duke would look at me differently, and you both did. I don’t mean that badly, but Dom was an unbiased person, and I needed someone like him who was levelheaded to help me put Miguel Rivera behind bars.”
Growling, he draped an arm around me. “I still want to strangle that motherfucker for kidnapping Maggie in exchange for you.”
I shivered at the memory of what had gone down that day. I’d been ready to give myself up to Miguel so Maggie wouldn’t suffer on my behalf.
“Ted assures me Miguel is still behind bars, so he can’t touch anyone,” I said.
“Speaking of bars, it will kill me to see you in jail.”
Anxiety gripped my insides at the thought of my potential incarceration, and I didn’t want to think about that right now.
“Do you think Brian would treat me well? You know him.” I held my breath, even though I didn’t need approval from any of my brothers, but I would feel better knowing they supported me.
