“Look at it this way,” Bolo offered, “now you have another reason to clean more often. That should make your weird fucking ticks happy.”
“You’re one to talk,” Flir grumbled.
“I’m not weird,” Bolo said, sounding offended. “In fact, I’m the normal one in my family.”
“Fuck you,” Relay told him in an even, passionless, tone.
“I knew it.”
We all looked over at Rue, who was grinning at the two men.
“Knew what?” Relay asked, eyes narrowing on her.
“You’re related,” she demanded. “Cousins? Brothers?”
“What makes you think I’m related to him?” Bolo asked, jerking his thumb at Relay.
“Same eyes,” she said with a shrug. “Well…mostly…”
“Yeah, mine have some life in them,” Bolo said with a snort.
“Still don’t know why you don’t introduce yourselves as brothers,” Strike said with a shake of his head. “Like it’s some big fucking secret.”
“Would you claim him?” Bolo challenged, ignoring the glare his younger brother shot him.
The two men looked different enough most people didn’t clock the fact that theywerebrothers. Irish twins. Born fourteen months apart. Bolo was a big bastard. And while Relay wasn’t small he had a thinner, more wiry build than the bulky fucker to his left. But Rue was right. They had the same eyes. Most people didn’t feel comfortable enough to look Relay in the eyes so they missed it. Well, comfortable enough to maintain eye contact at least. Fucker was nuts.
Bolo was the quintessential middle child and, according to him, Relay had been exactly what you’d expect from the baby of the family. The fact that he was how he was now wasn’t something he was born with. It was situational. It was from years of being put into the shittiest positions and having to make moral decisions that slowly eroded your soul.
Relay was forever changed, but we accepted him for how he was now. Still loved him as the man he’d always been as well as the new one he’d morphed into over the years. There were times I missed his laugh. He did it so rarely anymore.
I knew Bolo missed him even more. Those two fuckers had always been inseparable. Still were even though they liked to pretend otherwise.
“Shit, did I miss the memo?” Kilo asked as he walked in the front door. He held it open for Mercy.
“What memo?” Ruck asked.
“We having a meeting?” he asked, looking around.
“Discussing the addition of a dog,” I said with a toothy grin aimed at Flir. He flipped me off.
“Oh! Hi!”
Rue gave Mercy a hesitant smile but Mercy was as sweet as the desserts she liked to bake. She hurried over to Rue and had her arms around my girl before Rue knew what to do. Mercy’s little bump kept them a little apart, but she still managed to hang onto my gun shy woman. Rue looked at me with wide eyes over Mercy’s shoulder.
I was already learning she wasn’t the kind to ask for help—another reason it was a miracle she’d asked me that night—so I doubted she had any girlfriends. She was a loner. A do-it-yourselfer. But she was going to have to learn that in my world, we all pitched in whenever any of us had a need. These men, and Mercy, were my family. There wasn’t a damn thing that could happen that they wouldn’t be there to help with.
Rue’s arms slowly lifted and she gave the pregnant woman a soft squeeze.
“Sorry. I’m a hugger,” Mercy said with a smile as she pulled back.
“How are you feeling?” Rue asked, searching Mercy’s face.
“Good.” She awkwardly squatted down to stroke her hands over Norman’s massive head. “You’re so handsome.”
That brought the attention back to the dog. Flir pinched the bridge of his nose, but he didn’t complain again. Ruck hadalready made the decision that the dog could stay and he’d deal with that.
“Since everyone is here, we have some shit to talk about,” I told Ruck.
