“Yeah, give me a few hours and I’ll get back to you when I have something.”
Thomas disconnected Calliope and stood. The others did the same, following his lead as always. Atticus caught Jericho by the upper arm, saying, “Can you meet me at the truck? I need to talk to Avi about something really quick.”
Jericho looked at him and then looked to Thomas, a hint of something flashing across his face. “Yeah, sure, Freckles. Do what you gotta do.”
Atticus watched Jericho follow his father out, then turned to his brothers. “Avi, can I talk to you?” The twins exchanged long glances until Atticus said, “I hate when you two do that.”
Avi sighed, closing the distance between them. “What’s up?”
“I need a favor.”
Avi narrowed his gaze, suspicious. “What kind of favor?”
Asa leaned in, suddenly very interested in the conversation. Atticus ignored him, directing the conversation towards Avi. “One that involves your label.”
“Since when do you care about fashion?” Avi asked, gaze raking him from head to toe, implying he had no fashion sense.
“I don’t care about fashion. But I care about Jericho, and his little brother, Felix, is a fashion design major. He hates me.”
“Well, he’s got good instincts,” Asa teased.
Atticus let the snarky comment roll off him. “Would you consider taking him on as… I don’t know. A paid intern? I’ll pay his salary myself.”
Once more, the twins exchanged meaningful looks. “You really like this guy, huh?” Asa asked.
Atticus closed his eyes, sighing deeply. “Yes. I really like this guy. And I need his brother to like me because Jericho is all he has and Felix is very…territorial.”
Atticus waited for the hazing to start. But Avi just shrugged. “Yeah, I got you, big bro. Just have him call the office to set up a meeting.”
Atticus couldn’t hide his astonishment. “Thank you.”
“It’s just an internship and if his designs suck, he’s going to be strictly a coffee boy.”
Atticus snorted. Good luck getting Felix to be just a coffee boy. “A word of warning. He looks dainty, but he’s definitely a force to be reckoned with. He’s killed. More than once. He has a look that tells me he wouldn’t hesitate to do it again.”
“Stop, you’re turning me on,” Avi snarked. “I work in fashion, I know my way around feisty twinks.”
“I never said he was gay.”
“Is he?” Avi asked.
Atticus nodded. “Yeah. I’m pretty sure he is.”
Avi gave a superior smirk. “I can handle him. But he better not fall in love with me.”
Yeah, like that would be a problem for anybody.
Atticus rolled his eyes. “I’ll let him know.”
Jericho left Atticus with his brothers, but he didn’t go to the car. He followed Thomas down the hallway until he noticed Jericho followed. Whatever look he saw on Jericho’s face had him glancing back down the hall before saying, “Let’s talk in my office.”
“Let’s,” Jericho said.
Thomas led Jericho across the enormous house and down another short hallway. With the exception of the desk in the corner, the room looked more like a library or study than any kind of office. Lots of dark wood, rich leather, and dusty books.
“Anybody ever read these?” Jericho asked, motioning to the shelves.
Thomas grinned, looking around at the thousands of books. “Only August. I’m almost positive he read every one of them cover to cover before he was ten. His appetite for knowledge was voracious.”
