Page 4

“Butt, eh!” Rami laughs, and I feel a strange lightheadedness as I giggle at his joke.

“Raph is coming too,” Michael declares, putting away his phone. Of course he is. He can’t stay too long away from his husband.

“Mademoiselle,” Lori calls the waitress. “Two more pitchers of mimosas please, and a few more glasses.”

“And a slice of each pie on the menu,” Rami orders.

“That sounds great. I couldn’t make up my mind,” I tell him happily.

“Oh, Sully is calling!” Ollie exclaims happily before answering his brother’s call.

“Beautiful.” Michael is looking down at Lori’s pink leather bag.

“My Chanel Hobo is gorgeous, right? Gabe’s gift. My men know how to keep me happy.” He suddenly jumps in his chair as he grabs my forearm. “What about the custom-made lingerie online shop I told you about?”

“Fly on Honey,” I say remembering the name.

“Yes! The owner is a sweetie. I chat with him from time to time. Did you check his pieces? They’re to die for.”

Lori grabs his phone from his bag and swiftly taps on the screen, moving closer to me to let Rami—who is seated on my other side—see as well.

“This blue corset with the garter belt looks amazing. Grizzly loves to look at my body in lace.”

“What about feeling the fabric and testing the drape?” I ask Lori. He’s dragged me to more than a few shops around Chicago with that statement in the past.

“Don’t go frugal, go big. You can buy from both physical and online shops.”

“He can sew your boo’s name on your ass! I mean that could earn you a pounding.” Rami gives me a suggestive look that makes my cheeks warm. The phrase blush like a virgin can be literal in my case. Twenty-five, and still I haven’t gone beyond third base.

The air surrounding me suddenly changes, charged with electricity. The doors open, and Uri walks in—followed by Hunter, Gabe, and Raph.

His eyes move around the room, I only let go of my breath when they find me, his stare always so intense.

He starts prowling toward us—this is definitely the word for how he moves.

Slowly, purposefully, and confidently. His tall build stands out, sculpted from constant swim training and very malicious intent.

His long caramel dreads swing with every step he takes.

His ears sport multiple piercings as do his lower lip and eyebrow.

He’s wearing a blue shirt, the top two buttons undone, showing some smooth skin, an open cardigan, and a warm-looking sherpa denim jacket.

The dark jeans covering his long legs look well-worn, in contrast with the pair of pristine black boots.

Uri likes to follow fashion trends and make them his.

As a result, he’s always cool, slick, and stylish.

He seems approachable due to his easy way of smiling—although it can turn terrifying in a heartbeat. But the truth is that he is the most closed-off person I know, and I’m including my brother Gabe in the list.

He’s been my best friend for seventeen years.

I know everything about him. Or at least, I was sure I did.

That thought brings a little lip tremor with it.

Our relationship has always been a little too intense, without enough boundaries.

My attachment to Uri is complex. It developed with time, creating layers of multiple kinds of love and need.

I used to see him as someone to look up to, someone to go to when in need.

That sentiment morphed into something different as we grew up.

Which made me feel off balance and embarrassed, considering the fact that Uri never showed interest in me, not in the way I wanted.

I’m special to him, like a precious possession would be—since a sociopath can’t feel love.

There’s no attraction on his part, though.

So, I tried to put some distance between us—not easy when he’s part of my family—and then the truth about him having a biological brother came out.

Our relationship is a mess of epic proportions now.

For me at least. Pushing him away was the best option.

And yet, I’m incapable of not feeling happy whenever he’s near me, despite all the confusion and anguish he creates whenever he’s close.

He’s ineluctable. Impossible to fight or pull away from.

Maybe because this—not only physical—distance between us feels foreign to me.

I’m used to having him around all the time.

The near absence of boundaries was caused by his sociopathic nature but also by my inability to say no to him.

The absence of firm definitions of our respective roles, though, that’s all Uri.

At the end of the day, ending that kind of codependent relationship was a good decision. Even though there’s still a part of me that feels perpetually cold without him.

Is a little of him better than a lot of nothing? I’m not sure.

“Super Model is here,” Lori teases Uri. “Does that mean we have to stop having a blast talking smack about him?”

Uri reaches the table. His eyes remain firmly on my face as he replies, “Lori, you’re like a human boomerang, always coming back with more shit.”

“My Grizzly!” Rami’s exclamation takes my attention away from them. He greets Hunter with a kiss, a bit too French for a public place.

“Little Wasp.” As soon as he hears his nickname, Lori jumps and runs to Bez. Uri swiftly takes the chair next to me. His arm falls on the back of my chair, fingers playing with the end of my braid. I suck in a breath. Why am I always so aware of him?

Ollie finally hangs up his phone.

“How is Sully?” I ask, trying hard to distract myself.

“Preparing to move to college. He looks okay. I’m the one apprehensive as fuck.”

“But it was his decision to live on campus, right?” Michael asks as he sits on Raph’s lap.

Seeing my brother so possessive of someone else always makes me smile.

Raph and I were the only ones legally adopted by Meg and Linda because we had no relatives alive.

We lived only the two of us in Meg’s huge house for roughly six months before the others moved in with us from the group home.

We also started Bear-Stone Labs together from scratch.

He’s the second brother I’ve shared most of my life with.

The first will always be Uri, even though I have never really thought of him as a brother.

How could I ever have these kinds of…reactions to a brother?

Ollie nods. “The therapist said it will do Sully good to leave his comfort zone and go be with people his own age.”

Lori steps behind him and grabs his shoulders. “We will all check on him, right, Reacher?” Lori looks at Rami. He has funny nicknames for all of us. He calls me Angel… If he only knew the dark desires I keep inside.

“Yes,” Rami tries to reassure Ollie. “Serena is on it. Don’t worry.”

“I know. It’s just…it’s been so hard for him since he was taken and…” Ollie still feels guilty about his brother’s kidnapping. It almost broke both of them.

“We know. But Sully-doo is a fighter, strong and resilient,” Michael reminds him.

“Ren is going to the same college.” Raph looks at Hunter. Ren is one of the triplet boys who live with him and Rami.

“Yeah, he’s trying a few classes. He’ll help Sully out.”

“They’re both studying veterinary medicine, and they’re already chummy chums. Experiencing college will be good for Sully-doo. I can attest to that,” Lori adds. He’s studying to become a lawyer, since his paralegal work at Gabe’s law firm doesn’t satisfy him anymore.

“Dare can help to keep an eye on him as well. He’s become my mini-me hacker, working for Hunter’s PI agency.” Rami takes a sip of mimosa.

“Does he cover his junk in lace, too?” Lori smirks shamelessly.

The spray of mimosa couldn’t be better aimed, and I gasp as I witness the scene unfurling in front of me. Rami turns his head as the drink spews from his mouth, hitting Gabe, who is standing on his right. He coughs hard as he bends over to catch his breath while Hunter pats his back.

“Are you on glue?” Rami coughs out. “Making me think about Dare like that!”

“Quit your bellyaching nonsense,” Bez grumbles, looking down at the wet spot on his suit. I’m not sure who he is talking to.

“Better being the one to spit than being soaked in someone else’s saliva.” Gabe is wiping himself with one of the napkins from the table, trying to get the combination of spit and mimosa off his suit—while Bez growls furiously.

“Well, I’m more of a swallower than a spitter.” Lori winks at him. Then he grabs his suit lapels and pushes himself on the tips of his toes. His face is still far from Gabe/Bez’s since he’s tiny compared to them. “Need me to remind you?”

I hear Rami muttering, “I wish I was a fly.”

“Ugh,” Ollie elbows him with a disgusted face.

“Training a few would be great. Flies would make great detectives,” Hunter states. He is so big and handsome.

“They already are. The first recorded use of flies in a criminal investigation was in 13th-century China. By studying the fly population and their larval stages at a crime scene, the buzzing creatures help forensic scientists estimate the time of death.” Michael is addressing us like he would in one of his college classes.

They’re always filled with students. He’s a great teacher.

I add, “The species most helpful in forensic investigations are house flies, blow flies, and flesh flies.”

“I want to say wow, but I’m going to say eww.” Lori scratches his nose as he turns toward the table, wrapped in Gabe/Bez’s arms.

“Talking about investigations.” Hunter sets on the table a transparent plastic bag with a pair of blue panties and a letter inside. They were in a package sent to the lab with my name on it.

I cringe at the sight of them. The love letter is quite disturbing, since the person professes his undying love to me, talking about belonging together and fated mates—which I don’t really understand. It wasn’t handwritten, instead they used an old typewriter.