Callen cleared his throat.
“The other big man in the room doesn’t like this conversation, and he knows where Gene sleeps. He’s not as attached to him as the man might think.”
That was amusing. As for knowing where he slept…
They all did.
He was in their bed.
Gene just slapped Elizabeth on the ass, mostly to egg the men on because she was against him, and not them.
Half the fun was busting ass in their family, and now, he felt like he really belonged.
Walls were down, and there were no boundaries. If he wanted or needed affection, he could go to not one, but four people for it, and there was never a no to be found.
Family was nice.
His family was even better.
When Ivan walked into the room, he was in a suit, but it was crystal clear he had body armor on under it, and was packing a gun.
Old habits die hard.
Someone was on protection duty.
“Your chariot awaits, Brunhilda, and by chariot, I mean your security team to walk you to the award ceremony. The president arrived, and you don’t want to keep him waiting.”
Yeah, God forbid.
She’d be more than happy to annoy Gabe, so that was a false statement. She loved to keep him waiting, and his blood pressure up.
Ivan continued.
“Where’s the rest of your costume? Putting the horns on when you get there?” he asked, acting normally, so Gene didn’t suspect anything.
They’d all been working on this to surprise the man, and what wouldn’t they do for Ethan?
He was their family.
“Har-har, Toady. You would know about costumes. You cosplay as an actual adult in your shoe lifts.”
He snorted.
“Nice dress. It brings out the mean in your eyes.”
She walked past him and kicked out his knees from behind, making him drop.
“I know,” she said, getting the last laugh.
They all headed out of the room, and it was the one that they always had when they went to the conference center. At the elevator, half of security went first to get to the main floor before her.
As she stood there, Ethan was in position. He was holding Gene’s hand.
It was a short walk to the actual ceremony, and he needed to stall for Callen, Chris, and Elizabeth to get inside. So far, everything was running smoothly.
When the elevator returned, they all got in with Raphael and Ivan with them.
“Someone grab my ass,” Callen said.
