Page 85 of Up in a Blaze

But the stuff was bitter. I hummed and nodded. “Good.”

Arlo beamed.

Hell, did I do the right thing by lying?

Henri snickered silently behind his hand, and Sawyer looked away to hide his mirth while Miss Cora grinned like a maniac.

She nodded. “Yeah, you’ll do.” Her gaze dipped to my clothes. “You want some clean stuff? My dear late husband, God rest his pain-in-the-ass soul, wasn’t as big as you, but I’m sure I can find something.”

I shook my head. “We’ll head off soon.” I looked at Henri and Sawyer. “We’re just waiting in here until Adrick’s men come to… tidy up.”

“Why are they coming?” Henri asked.

I glanced down at Arlo.

Miss Cora noticed. “Arlo, come into the kitchen, and we’ll find some cookies.”

“But—”

“Come, child.” She stood with a groan and made her way out of the room with a pouting Arlo following.

“What is it?” Sawyer asked.

“The guy lied about who his boss is when he used Adrick’s name.” Their gazes went wide. I nodded. “Adrick doesn’t know who these thugs are. So, I think they used Adrick’s name to try and instill fear in me and Loyal because their own names wouldn’t be a deterrent to stop us. Obviously, they’ve heard of how Adrick runs things and thought it’d be good to drop his name.” I shrugged. “We’ll have answers in the end, but I’m guessing your parents did owe these guys money, and they saw how far you’d go to protect your brother, so they used that to get what they want. But it’ll stop from now on.”

Tears filled his eyes. “Really?”

I nodded. “Still….” I started, already hoping Sawyer wasn’t put out by this.

“What?” he asked softly.

There was a knock before Loyal stepped in. He waited by the door and said, “All cleared. Dimitri will be in touch.”

Dimitri was Adrick’s right-hand man. He’d definitely get the answers we needed.

I tipped my chin his way just as Sawyer asked, “Blaze, what were you going to say?”

“I think it’s best if you and Arlo come stay at our place for a while, and we’ll need to get Miss Cora somewhere too in case these guys are stupid or have other idiot friends that’ll come here.”

“We… we need to leave?”

“Chéri, Blaze and I would love to have you and Arlo with us. You’ll only have to share the room at our place for a little while until we get a bigger house where we’ll all fit.”

Knew I’d guessed right.

Sawyer jerked his head back and sat straighter. “You’re asking us to move in with you guys?”

“Oui. It’ll be cramped for a little while, but between all of us, we can work around everyone’s schedule to make sure someone is home with Arlo all the time.”

Loyal cleared his throat. “While you guys find a bigger place, I have room at mine. I even have a self-contained unit out the back that the old lady could use. My house has two living rooms and three bedrooms, so the brothers don’t have to share.”

Sawyer stared up at him, mouth gaping, eyes wide. “N-No?—”

“I think it’s a wonderful idea,” Miss Cora announced as she walked back in. “Thank you, young man. The kids and I will move in until Henri and Blaze have a bigger house for the boys to go to. Then once things are settled, I’ll come back here.”

“Don’t feel you have to,” Loyal said. “The unit is yours to use for however long. Used to be my dad’s, but he passed away a couple of years ago.”

Sawyer let out a strangled sound. “Miss Cora?—”