Page 28 of Wild Card (Foster Bro Code #2)

Axel

“Pizza delivery!” Holden called as he came through the junkyard gate.

Banshee leapt to her feet and raced toward him, doggy grin in full force. Loki and Oreo loved a good chase, so they ran after her, circling around Holden and nearly tripping him up.

Matteo hopped up from one of the flimsy camp chairs where we’d just collapsed after a big job breaking down a truck for parts. An auto shop in Lincoln had called in an order that would pay our expenses for a month, so he’d worked late to help me do it.

“Thanks, man,” he said as he took the pizza box. “What do I owe you for my share?”

“It’s on the house. Perk of working overtime.”

Matteo sat down and flipped open the lid, pulling out a piece. “I should work late more often.”

“I forgot to get vegetarian for you,” Holden said. “Sorry, man.”

Matteo lifted out a greasy sausage-and-pepper slice of pizza. “It’s okay. I’d eat anything tonight.”

I smirked. “Famous last words.”

Flames crackled in a fire pit I’d set up near my RV, spitting out just enough warmth to counter the early November chill. A few beers did the rest of the work.

“Don’t eat all that,” I warned as Matteo inhaled his first slice like a fucking anaconda swallowing prey whole and reached for a second.

He handed me the box, cheek bulging. “Sorry. Starved.”

When the heavenly scent of sausage and peppers hit me, my mouth started watering, and I took a bite big enough to rival Matteo’s. “Damn, that’s good. You better get in here, Holden, before we eat it all.”

Holden chuckled and shook his head. “That’s all right. I got a Hawaiian for Bailey over at the house. I’ll just eat some of that.”

“You sure? You know you love sausage as much as Gray and me.”

He snorted, catching my innuendo. “You’ve got no evidence of that.”

“Not yet,” I said with a wink.

Matteo glanced down at his pizza as if it had betrayed his heterosexuality. “Liking sausage doesn’t equal…”

Holden laughed. “It’s just food. Ignore my dumbass brother.”

I smirked. “Although the way you’re swallowing it down makes me think you could have a real future as a gay porn star.”

“Oh my god,” Matteo muttered, face turning bright red. The guy was straight as they came—and fully in love with Allison—but he was sure fun to tease.

“I gotta get back to the house,” Holden said. “I’ve got a phone call I can’t miss. See you.”

He turned and started walking toward the gate. I pulled out a third slice of pizza and handed the box back to Matteo to finish off.

“Does he really have a business call this late?” Matteo wondered. “He works too much.”

“I don’t know what it would be,” I mused. “He’s been taking a lot of calls after dinner lately. He’s been going out less too. Always too ‘busy.’”

I used finger quotes because I wasn’t sure why Holden was avoiding nights out. At first, I’d thought he wanted to spend more time with Banshee. He’d taken to keeping her most evenings that I went out. But tonight, he could easily hang with her here, so she wasn’t the reason.

Whatever. I wasn’t my brother’s keeper. Sugar set her big head on my knee, looking at me with soulful eyes. Begging eyes. I gave her my last bite of pizza.

Taz danced around Matteo’s feet until he, too, received his reward. When Matteo set the pizza box aside, he got a lapful of Chihuahua, but he didn’t seem to mind.

The other dogs came trotting back from the gate—minus Banshee; she must have gone with Holden—and nosed at the empty pizza box. I threw open the lid so they could lick at the grease stains.

“Sorry, guys. You snooze, you lose.”

Matteo stood up, holding Taz in one arm. “Want another beer?”

“Yeah, thanks.”

He jogged over to the RV and went inside to fetch two more from my fridge. I watched the flames crackle and dance while he was gone and tried not to wonder what a certain deputy might be up to right now.

He’d texted me a few times about meeting up tonight, but I wasn’t sure it was a good idea. Things were getting too serious with that man, and I wasn’t boyfriend material, no matter what my brothers said about it.

“Here.” Matteo handed me a cold can.

“Thanks.” I cracked it open and hunched a little closer to the fire. “So, where’s Allison tonight?”

Usually, Matteo was out of here the second he clocked out, to grab dinner with her. I was fairly sure wedding bells would be ringing soon.

“Girls’ night with Sasha and Chelle,” he said.

“Surely, you can find someone better to hang out with than one of your bosses,” I drawled.

“Nah, I don’t have many friends,” Matteo admitted. “Had to ditch the old crowd when I got out of prison. Didn’t want to risk them dragging me into any more trouble.”

Friends could certainly do that. I had half a dozen texts from Jett about setting up the next poker game. I was reluctant to do it while Dalton was up in my business, which was why I’d been ignoring texts from both of them.

Matteo shifted in his seat. “Actually, I wanted to talk to you about something. When I was in prison, I had this friend.”

“What kind of friend?” I asked, perking up.

Every clip of prison porn I’d ever seen played through my head. Which was better than the steady reel of deputy porn starring me and Dalton that persisted.

“Not that kind,” Matteo said flatly.

I slumped in my seat. “Boring. Go on.”

“We were cellmates, and he had my back. The way you and your brothers are with each other. I trusted him with my life, you know? And he’s getting out soon.”

“That’s good news.”

“Yeah, he wants to come to Riverton. He wants a fresh start. But I don’t want him to struggle to find a job like I did. Having a job, a purpose, is really important to living right.”

“You want us to give him a job?” I asked. “You’d have to talk to Holden about that.”

It was doubtful we could support two employees. We’d had to cut back Matteo’s hours more than once to avoid overextending our finances.

“Yeah, I’ll talk to him, but I wanted to talk to you first because this concerns you more.”

“How is that?”

“Allison has been helping me get a grant to set up an ex-con work program. Basically, it would help finance the employment. Businesses would pay fifty percent of the income, and the grant would match that.”

“So they get cheap labor,” I said. “That’s smart.”

“I wanted to ask if you’d sign on. We need a few businesses lined up to get the grant. I’ll figure out the money part with Holden. Even if it means you all need to let me go…”

“We’re not letting you go,” I said flatly.

Holden was the one who made those decisions. But I wouldn’t sit back and do nothing. If nothing else, I’d hire Matteo to work at the junkyard and everyone else could fuck off with their opinions.

“This program is more important than my job,” Matteo said earnestly. At my raised eyebrow, he added quickly, “I really like working here. You all went out on a limb for me, and I appreciate it so much.”

“But?” I prompted.

“But making a difference for ex-cons like Flynn is more important,” he said. “I want to help him. Help them all.”

“What does this have to do with me?”

“These guys aren’t gonna have the skill to help in the shop. But out here, you could use the extra hands.”

I nodded slowly. “There’s always more work that could be done.”

A huge smile broke out on Matteo’s face before I could mention that more employees meant more money, even with the grant helping offset some costs. But hell, we could swing something, surely?

Matteo was so passionate about helping these men find their fresh start.

It wasn’t so different from how I felt about the stray animals I took in. Only…Matteo was being proactive and creating a program. I’d run from that idea like it was a swarm of bees. I’d been so afraid of fucking it up somehow that I hadn’t even considered it.

But if Matteo could step up, why couldn’t I?

Maybe I should text Allison and at least get more details about what sort of grant programs were out there.

“I should get going,” Matteo said, setting a disgruntled Taz down by his feet and standing. “But you’ll think about it? I promise it won’t be too much hassle for you. I’d manage everything.”

I got up and tugged him in for a quick hug and back slap. “Nothing to think about, man. We’ll make it happen.”

“What about the money part?” he asked. “That’s Holden’s say, right?”

“Let me talk to him about it.”

The gate squealed, and we both turned toward the sound. Dalton stood in the opening, a six-pack of beer dangling from his fingers, a distinct downturn to his mouth.

His gaze flicked between me and Matteo, still standing close. “Am I interrupting?”

I half turned. “What if you are?”

Matteo took a hurried step back. “I was just leaving. Thanks, Axel.”

The dogs ran over to Dalton, an overly aggressive welcoming committee. Matteo slipped out of the gate while they were distracted.

Dalton lowered his free hand to pat Sugar on the head and tug at Oreo’s ears in a way that made her tongue roll out happily.

But his eyes never left mine. “You trying to make me jealous?”

“Nothing for you to be jealous about,” I said. “This shit is casual.”

“Like hell it is.”

He strode toward me, expression dark and thunderous. My heart leapt, all that intensity sending a thrill through me. But no, I was supposed to be sending him away. Ending this shit before it got too complicated.

“You can’t just barge in here,” I said. “What if I had a hookup?”

Dalton reached me, snaking a hand around to grab the tail of hair at the back of my head. He yanked my head back painfully, which only made my cock hard. Not the goal right now, damn it.

“We fucked bare, or did you forget?” he growled into my ear.

I shivered. Damn, how could I forget the delicious heat of Dalton’s insides hugging my fucking dick. It had been exquisite. Still, I couldn’t tip my hand too much.

“I might remember something like that… Maybe. I hook up a lot.”