“I need to write a will first because Greg is going to go nuclear,” Walker muttered.
“Why should I risk my neck for you?” Liam asked, flopping down on my couch.
“Because we’re family.”
“I don’t like you all that much,” Carl said.
I blew out a breath. I had known it wouldn’t be that easy, but I had hoped. Still, I had one more card in my back pocket.
“I’ll give you three free babysitting sessions, max of one per week.”
“That is not enough to face Greg’s wrath,” Mike countered.
“Yeah, we need free babysitting for life,” Liam chimed in.
Fuck.
“One day a week max, of course,” Mike said. “We’re not monsters.”
What choice did I have?
“Fine,” I said, holding out my hand to shake. “Deal.”
I’d hadCarl check Greg’s schedule. He wasn’t going to be back at the tower until the HOA meeting that evening. That gave me and my brothers plenty of time to campaign.
My first stop was Vera. I looked down. I had taken off my shirt for the occasion. I had to use the big guns. I couldn’t let Tess go without a fight.
“Did someone call the stripper gram?” Vera hooted when she opened the door to her unit.
She grabbed my arm and dragged me through the condo that was jam-packed with stuff and out onto the terrace, which was jam-packed with senior citizens in various stages of inebriation.
“Are you here to convince us to vote for you and your hot brothers?” One lady, who looked like a relic from the Victorian Age, toasted me. “Because any guy who shows off pecs like those has my vote!”
“No, ma’am,” I said. “I actually wanted to ask if we could have your support for a different candidate.”
“A different one?”
“Would any of you like to run for president of the HOA and other board positions?”
“I can be a great president,” Vera boasted.
“No, she can’t,” another woman shot back. “All she does is drink all day.”
“You need to be the treasurer,” Vera told me, batting my arm. “We need more young people on the HOA board.”
“Fine,” I said, “but who wants to be the president?”
“Tess can do it,” Vera suggested to cheers from the crowd.
“Uh… sure…”
I couldn’t very well explain to them that Tess wasn’t here because I had been an idiot and run her off.
“There’s a big yoga session before the HOA meeting,” Vera said. “We’re pregaming right now but meet us up there in half an hour, and we’ll help you bring out the vote!”
I triedto keep my body language relaxed when Greg walked into the large room where we were having the HOA meeting. Now that it was almost time for the vote, and Greg was here, I knew I was in for a world of hurt from my older brother. But I couldn’t lose Tess. I just needed the painting, and then I would be able to bring her back.
While Greg was busy talking to one of the residents, Belle waved me over. I followed her into a side hallway. She opened a cabinet, and there it was, ugly as ever—Tess’s painting.
