Page 34 of Omega

Harris emerged with a suitcase in each hand. “Don’t worry, Mr. St. Claire. I was in control at all times. Miss Campari is a natural pilot, and very careful. I wouldn’t have allowed her to touch the controls of my aircraft if I didn’t have confidence in her. She just likes to tease you, it would seem.”

“Yeah, well, Layla’s been teasing me since I was fifteen. You’d think I’d be used to it by now.” He turned back to me, and his expression brightened. He rushed over to me, wrapped me up in a bear hug, lifting me clear off the dock. “Jesus, Kyrie. It’s so good to see you. I’ve missed you. I thought maybe you’d fallen off the face of the earth for good, this time.”

“I have, for all intents and purposes.” I slapped his shoulder. “Now put me down, you ogre.”

He set me down, but kept a grip on my shoulders. “You owe me a shitload of explanations.”

I swallowed hard. “I know.”

“I mean, I haven’t seen you in, what, two years? You used to call me once in a while, at least, but then even that stopped. I mean, I get that you’re busy and whatever, and that I’m just your little brother, but—”

“Cal,” I snapped. “I said Iknow.”

He eyed me, and I saw that under the smiles and the hugs, he was pissed at me. I really did owe him a lot of explanations. “Sorry. I just—I woke up this morning and Layla was in my room, rifling through my magazines. It’s been a weird day, needless to say.”

“Yourporn, you mean?” Layla said, with heavy emphasis on the “porn”. She raised an eyebrow at him. “I mean, for real. Who actually buysJuggsanymore? And where do you evengetthat shit?” A glance at me. “You know your brother has, like, hundreds of porno mags? Not justJuggs, but pretty much every other porno mag there is. Hundreds of them. I’m not kidding.”

I shook my head. “Jesus, Layla. I didnotneed to know that about my brother.”

Cal scratched his forehead with his middle finger. “It’s a collection, and it’s not all mine. My roommate and I have both been collecting for years.”

“Wow, so you both collect nudie mags?” Layla mimed male masturbation. “Do you whack off together too?”

“JESUS, LAYLA!” Cal and I shouted, simultaneously.

She shrugged and endeavored to look innocent. “It’s an honest question.”

I turned to him. “For real, though. Why do you collect porn?”

He pushed past me. “I’m not having this conversation with you, either of you. It’s not happening.” He paused as he passed Valentine. “Mr. Roth. Nice to meet you. I’m Cal.”

“Nice to meet you, Cal. Just call me Roth.” He shook Cal’s hand. “Welcome. Your room is the second on the right after you pass through the kitchen. Make yourself at home; grab a beer from the fridge on your way. I know you have a lot of questions, and I promise you we’ll answer as many as we can without risking your safety. In the meantime, why don’t you collect your bags from Harris? He’s not a butler, so he won’t be carrying your bags for you.”

Cal stalked back to Harris, grabbed his suitcases. “Thanks for the flight, Harris.”

“It was my pleasure, Mr. St. Claire. Although, in the interest of full disclosure, most of that was Layla.”

“Even the jet?”

Harris nodded. “I did the takeoff and landing, but Layla did the level flying.”

“Well…damn. I never noticed.” He glanced at Layla. “You didn’t kill us, so nice flying, I guess.”

She shoved his shoulder. “Go get a beer and decompress, jackass. You wouldn’t be here if we didn’t love you.”

“I know. Like I said, it’s just been a weird day.”

Layla laughed. “Dude, you have no fucking clue what a weird day even is. Wake up on a boat in the South China Sea and go to bed in the Indian Ocean, and then we can talk.”

He just shook his head and made his way up to the house. I heard a distant “holyshit” as he made his way through the kitchen and saw the courtyard beyond.

“You shouldn’t push his buttons, Layla,” I said.

She just eyed me. “Have youmetme? That’s what I do. Buttons are meant to be pushed, and it’s so easy, with him. Seriously, though, Kyrie. You should have seen all the porn. It was a truly awe-inspiring collection, I will say that much.”

“Juggs? For real?” I asked.

“Juggs. For real. AndPenthouse, Hustler, Playboy…if it had naked women in it, he had every single extant copy of it.”