He stared at Brutus for a little while longer before nodding at me. “I can cook tonight, if need be.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Brutus said as he finally pulled away from the window.
And it sure as fuck didn’t take a genius to know where he was headed.
“We’ll patrol after dinner,” I amended as I brushed by Cap.
Because as far as I was concerned, he could go kick some fucking rocks for talking to Brutus the way he did.
2
BRUTUS
“Just one more bite for me, sweet girl.”
“Oh fuck. Gee. Please.”
“Right there, right there, right there. So close. Shit.”
“I missed you so much.”
“Missed you, too, princess.”
“Ranger! You sneaky little snake!”
Cooking dinner was a breeze. Got me out of my head for a little bit, too. I threw together some pasta, some alfredo sauce, roasted off fresh vegetables and some chorizo. Nothing fancy, just a simple pasta meal they could all scoop into a bowl and take back to their partners. The smell still lingered through the air while I patrolled the safehouse, keeping an ear out and doing a mental tally of everyone that I could hear.
I tried not to let all of the sounds get to me.
Some sounds were better left not talked about. But listening to my brothers comfort their women made it painfully obvious how shitty I was at crafting those kinds of relationships. Women were either afraid of me or not interested at all. I didn’t talk much. I loomed more than anything else. Darkness suited me better than the light. And in this day and age, with the riseof violence against women more popular than ever, most just crossed the street when they saw me coming.
I couldn’t blame them, either.
I wasn’t very big on smiles.
Or so I’d been told.
After walking the outer perimeter of the safehouse twice, I slipped inside. The only people I couldn’t find were Anna, King, and that woman, but I didn’t have to look far to figure out where they were. I slipped inside through the back door, making my way toward the kitchen. And as I stood in the shadows of the doorway, I saw Anna standing there, leaning against the kitchen countertop with her arms crossed over that massive chest of hers.
Honest to God, I didn’t know how she kept herself upright.
I followed her line of sight, mostly because she had this little smirk on her face that she usually got before she stuffed her face with pickles and chased after me. I wanted to know who the unlucky bastard was that was in her line of sight. But a whimper tugged at my attention, and when I whipped my gaze to the other side of the kitchen, I found what she was staring at.
King, with a fork in his hand, holding some food up to that woman’s mouth that I tugged out of that cage.
She kept looking at the food like I laced it.
“Just one bite,” King encouraged with a voice I never heard him use before.
My gaze flickered back to Anna, and her smile simply grew.
“You first,” the woman said ever so softly.
My attention snapped back to her and I watched as King did what she asked without hesitation. He took a bite of the food, chewing slowly, and I watched her while she watched him. The fear in her face was evident. The way she curled into herself, tucking herself back against the chair, was enough for me to know to stay in the darkness.
I didn’t want to scare her any more than she was.
“See?” King asked as he opened his mouth and showed her that he had swallowed. “All gone. Now, will you let me show you that we’re here to help?” He took another stab at the pasta dish and held a bite up to her lips. “Just one bite. If you don’t like it, I’ll get you something else.”
