Pops had what he called “prick premonitions.” He claimed he had psychic abilities to sniff out whenever Brock was within a ten-mile radius or was planning to do something to disturb Tiana’s peace. Combined with the odd texts she’d been receiving, she didn’t like it.
She had no clue what her ex was up to, but with him, it could be anything. She hadn’t seen him since the last time she’d faced him in court for their divorce, the last thing he’d said to her was, “As long as you draw breath, I’ll make your life miserable.”
The thing about Brock was, he never kept promises that he should, like love, honor, and cherish, but make her miserable until her last breath—that was a promise she had no doubt he’d keep.
3
Niko’s fingersopened and then closed as he flexed them around the steering wheel. His plane had been delayed for five hours at LAX for weather, which was probably for the best. He’d taken a nap and felt much better after waking up.
He’d had to get changed for the wedding in the air, because as soon as he landed at RNO, he’d barely had time to grab his rental and head straight to Hope Falls. He couldn’t be late for Yaya’s wedding. He was walking her down the aisle.
Niko pulled up to his brother’s Airbnb. He’d made quite a few trips to Hope Falls lately. His sister got married about a month ago. A couple months before that was his mom’s wedding, and today is his grandma’s. Thankfully, AJ had no plans on getting married anytime soon. As far as Niko knew, his brother AJ hadn’t even had a serious relationship in his life yet. Once AJ settled down, Niko would really feel like shit. Not that he wasn’t happy for his family, he was. It was just that he was… he didn’t even know what he was or who he was. He just needed to feel connected again.
Thankfully, he had five weeks. Five weeks of living with his brother. Five weeks of hanging out with his sister, who wasmarried to Liam, who they’d grown up with. Niko had always thought of him as an older brother, now he legally held the title. Five weeks to hang out with Yaya and eat her home cooking. Yaya used to have books Niko would read called “Chicken Soup for the Soul.” That’s what he felt like the next five weeks were going to be: the real-life version of “Chicken Soup for His Soul.”
Niko parked and grabbed his bags from the back of the SUV. When he walked up onto the porch, he entered the code AJ had texted him and walked inside.
Before he’d even shut the door, his brother appeared from the hallway. When he saw Niko, AJ’s face dropped in obvious disappointment.
“Hey,” Niko greeted him, surprised by the emotion he was seeing broadcast on his twin’s face. He was always so hard to read, so mysterious, an enigma. But not now. He could feel the hurt and heartache radiating off of him.
“We have to go.” AJ spoke in a clipped tone, clearly attempting to mask his pain.
“Holy shit!” Niko’s eyes widened. “Who is she?”
AJ ignored his brother’s question. He stepped over the bags he’d dropped, then waited for Niko to follow him outside before closing the door.
Niko stared at the back of his brother’s head. “I have never seen you—no scratch that—anyonelook so disappointed to seemebefore,” Niko teased AJ as he locked the deadbolt. His brother walked past him to the driveway, where Niko’s rental was parked behind AJ’s SUV. “Youthought I was a woman. Who is it? Is it the neighbor? Liam’s baby sister? The one who had a panic attack about her house?”
“Poppy,” AJ’s voice sounded raw, pained, tortured.
Ding, ding, ding, we have a winner.
“It is her.” A slow smile spread across Niko’s face before he shook his head. “Damn, bro. How bad did you fuck up?”
He was half-joking. AJ would never fuck up. He was perfect.
“You blocked me in. You have to drive.”
Niko hit the fob, and they both climbed into the blacked-out Lincoln Navigator. He started the ignition and slowly backed out of the driveway. As he did, he saw that AJ looked like he wanted to throw up. His brother was seriously hurting, and despite Niko liking to fuck around, he wasn’t actually a dick, contrary to popular belief. Had AJ really messed up? If he had, it wasn’t on purpose. AJ being on the spectrum meant he didn’t relate to people the same way other people did. Maybe he’d inadvertently done something. “I was just fucking around, you know that. Whatever it is, we can fix it. You can fix it.”
“You don’t know that.”
“Yes, I do.” If there wasonecategory Niko knew better than his genius brother, it was women. He was sure that he could fix whatever the problem was.
“No, you don’t.”
“You are thebestman I know. You wouldneverdo anything to hurt someone intentionally. Whatever she’s upset about, I’m sure once you explain yourse?—”
“She’s pregnant,” AJ blurted out.
Niko turned to AJ, thinking that it had to be some kind of prank or bad joke. When he saw the anguish in his eyes, he knew it was not. Fuck.
He turned his attention back to the road and clarified, “And it’s yours?”
“Yes,” AJ confirmed.
“What are you going to do?” Niko questioned.
