“Good,” Jules murmured. “That’s how this works.”
I nodded. I was proud of my training the last few weeks. I was starting to sound like I meant what I said, and Jules said my facial expressions matched my words. “And when they get here, I’m going to show you off, especially to Beach. You’re mine.”
He smoothed his hand over my face. He’d been touching me a lot, and I enjoyed it. While human touch never did anything to me before Jules, I liked it when he doted on me this way. “He’s got nothing on you.”
I smirked. The red bell on the door jingled and Jules glanced over my shoulder. The smile he plastered on his lips told me my brothers had shown up. I turned, and sure enough, Beach and Sparrow stood inside the café. Beach was wearing a white shirt and black leather jacket, with a pair of holey jeans and riding boots. Sparrow had on a pair of black pants and shiny black shoes, and his shirt was white and long-sleeved, although the sleeves were rolled up to his elbows. I wished I could’ve rolled my eyes at Sparrow’s blue tie, but I faked my own smile instead. Practicing, that was what Jules wanted me to do. He’d also said we would be less conspicuous if we had family, and that meant reaching out to the brothers who I liked enough to not want to kill. Jules’s mother, on the other hand, was a different story. I still wanted to slice her throat.
“Ari!” Beach strutted across the café like he was on the catwalk, and I forced myself to stand, letting him drag me into a hug I definitely didn’t want. I wrapped my arms around him anyway and patted him on the back, proud of how enthusiastic I seemed, when I really wasn’t.
“Beach! It’s been a long time.”
Sparrow was right behind him, and he hugged me, too, but not as roughly as Beach.
I turned and introduced Jules, and they did some formal handshaking before we all sat down. I glanced at Jules for reassurance, and he slid his hand under the table to grab my thigh and squeeze. Pride swelled in my chest as I focused on my brothers. Beach had already taken over the conversation, talking about himself, which wasn’t anything new, and it was as though I’d never run away from home.
By the time he finally let me talk, I took the chance to show Jules off because I had a hot boyfriend and they didn’t. It pleased me knowing I had something better than my brothers, better than anyone had. Jules was one of a kind, and he was mine.
And that’s all that mattered. At the end of the day, my brothers would go home, back to their boring lives, and I would still have a Master who ordered me to kill and praised me and my art. They had nothing but the past.
“It’s good that you’re going to college,” Sparrow said carefully, lips pursed. “We have kept your inheritance in case we ever found you. We’d be happy to get the lawyer to pass it along to you.”
Beach nodded eagerly with a grin. He reminded me of a golden retriever, waiting for someone to give him a compliment so he could stick out his tongue and pant in appreciation. “It’s not much, though.”
“It doesn’t matter.” Jules wrapped an arm around my shoulders and smiled at me. “I’ll take care of him.”
“Yeah, but have the money anyway. You could need it,” Beach said.
“How much?” I asked, aware that “not much” was a lot more than Jules might expect. I didn’t think he realized what kind of family I came from.
“Twenty million,” Sparrow said nonchalantly.
Jules was taking a sip of coffee, and he choked on it. I laughed, patting his back gently. “Twenty million?” Jules’s eyes widened.
“Yeah, like I said, not much.” Beach shrugged, then winced. “Sorry. Seems like Mom and Dad owed money for some bad deals they did, so we had to pay damages.”
Jules glanced at me, and I winked.
“We’ll take it.” I kissed Jules softly on the lips. “What do you say, Master? Want a new truck?”
His parted mouth slowly curled into a smile. “Yeah, let’s get a new truck.”
I sighed happily and leaned into him. Whether it was love or obsession, or whatever else a psychologist might want to call it, I didn’t care. I liked it, and I wanted Jules in my life. With the underground fighting, murders, Jules’s cop job, my college, and clueless friends and family in the mix, our life was as interesting as it could possibly be, and I definitely fucking loved that. The thrill of the future made me hungry, and I couldn’t wait to see what lay ahead for us.
