Page 16 of Hitting the Jackpot (Las Vegas Littles #4)

“Stop!” Lake shouted.

All movement stopped.

“Please stop fighting,” Lake begged. “I can’t have the two of you fighting.”

Jesse turned.

Lake dropped his gaze. He shouldn’t have yelled.

Soft hands were on his face before Lake’s chin was lifted. “I’m sorry. You’re right, baby. We shouldn’t have been arguing.”

“He’s my brother,” Lake said quietly.

“I know.” Jesse turned and was shoulder to shoulder when Lake faced his brother.

There was a small smile on Justice’s face. “Hey, little brother.”

“Hi,” Lake replied. “What are you doing here?”

Justice sighed. “You disappeared, Lake. No one can get a hold of you. Mom and Dad are worried.”

Lake snorted.

“Okay, Dad is pissed and Mom is crying.”

That sounded more accurate. “I needed a break. I can’t…” Lake took a deep breath. “I can’t deal with them.”

“What happened, Lake? Where did you go? What’s going on?” Justice demanded.

Jesse’s arm went around his waist. Dom reached forward to grasp his hand. Lake smiled. This was his strength. “This is my boyfriend, Jesse.”

Justice’s jaw clenched before he nodded. “I know who he is.”

Of course. Who in town didn’t know who Jesse was? “And this is Dom. One of my best friends. I moved into the house with him and his boyfriend.”

Justice nodded. “Okay. You moved in with friends. That has to be better than living with Jack and Brex.”

Lake nodded. “It’s where I want to be.”

“Why didn’t you tell us?” Justice asked.

Lake tried to answer but Justice held up his hand.

“That was a stupid question,” Justice said. “You had to do it this way. It was the only way to escape.”

“Mom and Dad are different with me. I don’t live up to their standards. Jack and Brex are assholes. I don’t want to be around them,” Lake admitted. “It’s my choice.”

“But you’re not alone?” Justice stepped forward. “You have people that will be there for you.”

“I have the best people,” Lake said. “I have the family that I chose.”

Instead of getting closer, Justice turned and paced away.

Lake stepped away from Jesse while releasing Dom’s hand.

Justice sat heavily into the chair.

Lake hurried over to sit beside him. “Jus?”

Lowering his hands between his legs, Justice dropped his head. “I’m sorry, Lake.”

“Sorry?” Lake didn’t understand. “For what?

Justice looked up and glanced around. “I guess we’re doing this in public.”

It wasn’t very public. Just the two security guards Tatum and Bob, him, Jesse, and Dom.

“We can take a walk around the floor. Make sure no one is causing any problems,” Tatum said as he rose.

“I’ll wait outside,” Dom said.

Jesse crossed his arms over his chest. “I’m not leaving.”

Lake hadn’t expected him to. Not after promising to stay with him.

“It’s fine,” Justice said.

Lake wasn’t sure what was going on. It was only a few minutes before the three of them were left alone in the office.

“Can they do that?” Justice asked. “Just leave the office. Don’t they have to be watching monitors or something?”

“That happens on another level of the casino,” Jesse said. He remained across the room, but his words were accusatory. “This is just a place to keep security close but out of the way in case someone causes problems.”

“I’m sorry about that,” Justice said. “But look at it from my point of view. My brother cancels at the last minute on the family camping trip, which he’s never done before.

We got back and he’s just gone. Left a fucking note that he was moving in with friends and was fine.

He doesn’t answer calls or text messages.

I was scared. I was so goddamn scared that he’d gotten mixed up with people who would take advantage of him.

I’m sure I don’t have to point out how damn kind and sweet Lake is. ”

“We do know that about him. That’s why security and everyone around here acted so quickly when you were yelling for Lake. We protect our own here,” Jesse said.

Lake had gone about this all wrong. He had his reasons, but he had taken the coward’s way out. “I—”

“Please don’t say you’re sorry,” Justice said. “I’m the one apologizing here.”

“I don’t understand.”

“I failed you,” Justice said quietly.

“What? Why?” Lake asked.

“I know how Mom and Dad are,” Justice told him. “I am fully aware what assholes our brothers are. I should have checked on you more. Been there for you.”

“No,” Lake said. “Justice. You might be my big brother but I’m an adult.”

“You were always the best of us.” Justice grabbed Lake’s hand. “Even when we were little you had the kindest heart. You were always trying to rescue stray or injured animals. First to take the blame if something got broken. And a lot of things got broke.”

Lake laughed. “Five boys. That had to be hard.”

“It was no excuse for how Mom and Dad treated you. Or for me abandoning you.”

“I don’t feel abandoned by you. You were always there to talk to me when I needed you. I appreciate you more than you know,” Lake said.

“It wasn’t enough,” Justice said. “I hardly came home. I hate coming home.”

“You do?” Lake squeezed Justice’s hand. “I didn’t know that.”

“I’m not as brave as you,” Justice replied.

“Brave?” Lake scoffed. “I literally ran away, and you had to come look for me.”

Justice glanced at Jesse. “How long have you two been together?”

Lake didn’t follow what that had to do with anything. “Not long?”

“It took awhile to get Lake to agree to a date,” Jesse said as he crossed the room. “I’ve known for months that he was it for me.”

“I can just imagine how difficult it was to get him to agree to anything,” Justice said to Jesse.

“He pretended he didn’t know but I eventually wore him down.”

Justice grinned at Lake. “I’m glad.”

“How could I resist? Have you seen how sexy my man is?” Lake whispered.

“Yeah. It seems like you hit the jackpot.”

“That was me,” Jesse said. “I hit the jackpot with this one.”

A sudden thought occurred to him. “Do you even like the military?”

Justice shrugged. “It’s not bad. At least now that I’m not being sent to war-torn countries.”

“You could leave,” Lake told him.

“And do what? Move home and work with our asshole brothers?” Justice questioned with a scoff.

“I hear there’s a room available.”

Both Justice and Jesse laughed.

“And if you do want to come home, there’s a job here,” Jesse said. “I love hiring ex-military as part of the security staff.”

“Are you offering me a job?” Justice asked.

Jesse shrugged. “And a place to stay when you visit.”

Lake nudged his brother’s arm. “He lives in the penthouse.”

Justice grinned. “I mean, I might come visit more if I wasn’t sleeping on the twin bed in my old room.”

“I’d like that.” Lake side-eyed his brother. “Would you be bringing anyone back with you? A girlfriend or…”

Justice shook his head. “There’s no one right now.”

“But there was?” Lake pressed. He could be the annoying little brother if he needed to.

“Maybe,” Justice said. “I fucked that up pretty bad.”

“Maybe instead of apologizing to me when it’s not needed, you could call someone else,” Lake suggested.

“I might need more practice,” Justice said.

“When are you leaving?” Jesse asked. “Like I said, we have plenty of room.”

“We?” Lake asked.

Jesse winked at him. “Are you really going to leave me with your brother? What if we start arguing again?”

Justice nodded. “We probably should be supervised.”

Lake rolled his eyes.

“I need to leave first thing in the morning,” Justice said.

“I’ll order dinner,” Jesse said.

“Do you think I can meet the rest of your friends soon?” Justice asked.

“Dom is outside. I’m sure we can get Remi here. I’m not sure about the rest of them,” Lake said.

“I’ll make the calls and get a head count,” Jesse offered.

“Aren’t you working?” Justice asked Lake. “Do you need to get back on shift? I really didn’t mean to pull you away. I just knew that you usually worked at night.”

Lake looked at Jesse.

“It’s been covered,” Jesse said. “He’s free for the night.”

“Cool.” Justice grinned.

“Why don’t you take your brother upstairs?” Jesse suggested. “I’ll be up as soon as I can.”

Lake rose. “Thanks.”

Jesse stood and didn’t even seem embarrassed to kiss him in front of Justice.

“Well, this is a little awkward, I can admit,” Justice said.

Lake laughed. He might not have everyone in his family back by his side, but it appeared that he did have one brother. That was enough for now. “What are you going to tell Mom and Dad?”

Justice shrugged. “I’ll tell them the truth. That I saw you and you’re fine. That you’ll contact them when you’re ready.”

“I appreciate it,” Lake said sincerely.

“Anytime, little brother.”

* * * * *

Jesse

Closing the bedroom door, Jesse caught Lake yawning. “Tired, baby?”

Lake turned and sat on the bed. “It was fun, right?”

“I like your brother.” Jesse crossed the room.

“It was nice to spend time with him. He and Remi hit it off too.”

“I think it will help so that we’ll see more of him,” Jesse offered.

“Do you think he’d consider your offer?” Lake questioned.

“If not now, we’ll keep talking to him about it. We won’t give up.” Jesse leaned over and cupped Lake’s face. “You might not have all your family back, but you have him.”

“That’s enough for now,” Lake said.

“For now,” Jesse agreed. If Lake wanted to reconnect with the rest of his family, then Jesse would work his ass off to make that happen. If not, then Jesse would be there to help Lake through it.

“Thank you. For everything,” Lake said.

“You never have to thank me, baby.”

Lake grinned. “Remi brought me some clean clothes to change into.”

Jesse nodded. Lake had removed his suit jacket and traded it in for one of Jesse’s shirts.

“Shower?” Lake suggested. “I’m pretty sure that the sound of the water would drown out anything Justice might overhear.”

“I put him in the room downstairs as far from here as possible for a reason,” Jesse said.

“Smart Daddy,” Lake teased.

“I am a very smart Daddy.” Jesse straightened before offering Lake a hand up.