"It's not cheating if you fools don't look where you're running." Apollo threw the rock up and caught it like it was a baseball. "But I guess I should be going."
Kingston clapped me on the shoulder as we all walked back to his patio. The motherfucker had wonrock paper scissors against both me and Zayn to be on Apollo's team.
Apollo gave all of us a look that made my balls shrivel a little. "Take care of my daughter. If anything happens to her mentally or physically, I will castrate you, grill them, and feed them to you."
"Dad." Wren covered her face in embarrassment.
Apollo's attention landed on me, and I nearly shit myself. It hadn't escaped my notice when Wren and I had come out of the bedroom earlier in the morning that he was glaring daggers at me. "I'll be in touch after I wake up again about helping your brother."
Thank fuck he hadn't changed his mind about it. "Yes, sir. I really appreciate you helping him."
Apollo approached Wren and pulled her hands away from her face. "I know I don't say it enough, but I'm proud of you and I love you."
Wren got teary for the second time and threw her arms around him. "I love you too."
I shifted from one foot to the other, feeling like we were intruding on a special father-daughter bonding moment. They pulled apart and Apollo awkwardly gave her the rock he had still been holding.
"Until we meet again." With a whoosh of wind and blur of motion, Apollo was gone, leaving all ofus except for Wren looking around like we'd been imagining things.
"And you guys callmecrazy." Zayn flopped down on the outdoor couch and put his feet up on the coffee table.
"He's just..." Wren looked at the rock in her hand and set it down on the table as she moved to join Zayn. "He's been alive forever, and that's a lot of life he's seen come and go. Being a little unhinged is better than being a heartless psychopath. I'm glad he seems to like you three."
"Why are you glad? I thought you didn't see him that much." Kingston sat down in a chair, and I sat down on the other side of Wren.
"I don't." Wren put her head on my shoulder and took Zayn's hand. "But seeing as I'm staying and you three are my boyfriends, my dad should like you."
There was no better feeling than hearing her say those words.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Kingston
The next few days passed slowly without any update from the coalition besides being told to stay home. I figured it would take some time for them to sort out what to do about the exposure threat, which was why I was taking a long overdue break from work. Besides a few administrative things I had to take care of, my businesses were well-oiled machines where I had people I could trust to run them for me in my absence.
At least, I hoped so.
Powering down my laptop, I left my home officeand wandered out to the living room where Wren, Zayn, and Sullivan were watching a movie and playing cards. I'd been answering emails since midafternoon and had tried my best to tune out the laughs and giggles coming from them.
Since Wren had said she was staying, there had been a shift between all of us. There was no more holding back and no more uncertainty about what we meant to her. Having the three of them comfortable in my home gave me a sense of pride I hadn't felt in a long time.
I sat down in my chair and reclined back, letting out a satisfied sigh. "The only thing that would make this even better is having the game on."
Wren snorted a laugh and let out a groan, putting her cards down on the table. "I'm out."
"For being a fox and an agent, you sure do suck at poker." Sullivan didn't take his eyes off the television as he waited on Zayn to decide if he was going to fold. "As for baseball, I'd rather not be lulled to sleep."
"Have you even watched an entire game?" Shutting my eyes, I sank into my chair. When was the last time I'd simply relaxed?
Wren shimmied into the recliner with me, and I groaned as she elbowed me. "Oops. I didn't think this through very well."
Grabbing her waist, I adjusted her, so she was halfway on me. "No, you didn't, but I'm not going to complain."
She laughed, and my heart squeezed. Damn. I was a goner when it came to her. She could have asked me to cut off one of my nuts and I'd have done it in a heartbeat.
"We were talking earlier... and when all of this is over and hopefully none of us end up locked in a cell, we thought a vacation somewhere would be nice." Wren was drawing circles on my chest, and I barely comprehended what she was saying. "I mean, if you want."
"And if you don't want to, then you can stay here and keep an eye on my ice cream. What if the freezer in my garage goes out?" Zayn was shuffling cards and then suddenly put them down, starting to get up. "I need to go check on it."
