by AJ Sherwood
Brannigan opened the door on the passenger side for Kyou, riveted by this account. “Was he using a different name?”
“Different name, different photo on the website. He’d burned too many people, see, and he had to change up his profile and do everything remote so people wouldn’t put it together. But of course, we did. Thankfully before the job was done.” Kyou eyed him holding the door open. “Are you seriously opening a door for me?”
“Because I’m a gentleman.” Brannigan said with amusement. “No one’s ever opened a door for you?”
“Well, no.” Kyou slid into the car with the air of a man who expected a snake to leap out and bite him.
Brannigan let this go. He’d get Kyou used to being taken care of at some point. It was just a work in progress at the moment. Jogging around, he slid into the driver’s side before prompting, “So you didn’t finish the job with the broker.”
“No.” Kyou clicked his seatbelt in place and settled back into the conversation. “Technically, we’re supposed to deliver the goods to the broker, and the broker turns that in and collects the payment from the client, then disperses our take to us. But see, that’s what went wrong last time working with the guy. He didn’t give us a fair cut and took the lion’s share for himself. There was no way in hell we were going to turn anything over to him. So Ari and Carter delivered the painting back to the client themselves. I handled the money transfer. We did pay Emura—the broker—because we didn’t want to get in trouble with the job site admins. They keep things regulated and fair, and it’s bad news if you do a double-cross. But I did report Emura and explain what he’d done. The site admins were not happy. He’s now permanently banned from posting or taking jobs. I don’t think he even has viewing access anymore.”
Brannigan looked both ways before pulling out of the parking garage. His mind churned as he took in this story, putting all the facts together. “So, in other words, Emura can’t work as a broker anymore.”
“Well, he can, but he’s having to work with some seriously sketchy people. People I wouldn’t touch with a ten-foot pole and a loaded gun. The site admins make sure there’s a layer of…protection? Rules, anyway, to keep things from getting really gnarly. Emura doesn’t have that safety net anymore, and he’s completely on his own. It’s the sort of lifestyle that leads to coffins in short order.” Kyou sighed wearily, head turning to look aimlessly out of the window. “Cutting him out of a quick payout was bad enough, but he’s apparently more upset that he’s now banned. No more easy jobs or marks for him to scam. I know he’s been looking for us ever since that job. Tricksy reported to me he’s been really digging the past two days. We made enough of a wave up here that people picked up on the story. I’ve taken precautions against him finding us, but…”
“But you think he’s going to find us anyway.” Brannigan frowned. That didn’t sound good at all. “What can he do?”
Kyou snorted. “What can’t he do? Depends on how mad he is. And how far he’s willing to push things to get revenge. I’m having a hard time tracking him right now because he’s staying very, very low profile.”
“So what you’re saying is, you’re not sure where he is, what he’s planning, or what his resources are.”
“Basically. You can see why I’m a little worried. And I suspect he’s the very guy who’s been ghosting, looking for us.” Softly, Kyou pleaded, “So let’s take some precautions, okay?”
“We’ll take precautions.” Brannigan shot him a firm look. “But that doesn’t mean either of us are hiding. We can’t turn ostrich every time a boogeyman starts making threatening noises.”
“I know, I know. I’m not suggesting that. But I do want to put in some extra security measures, just in case. I really don’t know when or how this guy is going to hit us.”
“That’s fine. We’ll talk about what to do after dinner tonight.”
Kyou looked around and seemed to realize in that moment that they were in his parents’ neighborhood. His expression changed from worried to slightly panicked. “Oh. Um…”
“You were so focused on the other problem that you didn’t think about the dinner tonight,” Brannigan guessed wryly.
“I, uh, maybe did that? Bran, with all that’s happened, maybe dinner tonight—”
“Dinner tonight is happening.” Brannigan knew he had to put his foot down now. Kyou was nervous about this meeting and would never agree to actually reschedule it. He’d postpone it until the grave. But if Brannigan could just get him through this initial meeting, and prove that Kyou’s fears were groundless, then they’d be over this hurdle with no problem. And while Brannigan liked Kyou’s family, he wanted to prove to his lover that his family of choice weren’t the only ones who wanted Kyou.
Kyou didn’t see it that way yet. He gulped nervously. “You sure?”
“Trust me, caro. Tonight will go very well.”
18
Kyou
Kyou regarded the house—mansion was a more accurate term—in front of him and seriously considered bolting. Changing his name, disappearing for a decade, and maybe guzzling some sake. Cold sweat pooled at the base of his spine. He, of all people, was meeting the parents.
There was something cosmically out of alignment in the universe.
Brannigan’s warm hand slid around his waist, hugging him into his side. He leaned in to speak in a confidential tone, “Caro, you look like someone just walked across your grave. Then did it again just for kicks. There’s no need to be nervous.”
Kyou shot him an incredulous look because that was such a lie, he didn’t even know where to begin.
His lover’s face scrunched up a little as if he were trying not to show amusement. He failed. Badly. “I’ve seen you take out the Irish Mob with a smile on your face, and this unnerves you?”
“Excuse you very much, I didn’t care if the Irish Mob liked me. I could blow them to hell. Here, I have to be charming, and you do remember that my social skills are practically nonexistent?” Yeah, this whole thing was a bad idea. Kyou should save them all the embarrassment and just cancel, go back to his apartment, and hide in that mythical blanket fort he hadn’t built yet.
“Caro,” Brannigan said with a deep well of patience, “I know that in-person isn’t your strong suit. But remember that my parents already like you.”
Kyou frowned up at him. “They do?”
“You’ve been guarding their children for six years; of course they do. My father’s been very excited to meet you. The man’s pestering me on a near hourly basis. My mother’s a little harder to read, but even she’s texted me twice to make sure she serves food you’ll like.”
That settled his nerves. By about five percent, maybe six.
With that arm still around his waist, Brannigan hauled him up the steps leading to the front door. Kyou went along in spite of his better judgement. This was going to go so poorly.
The door opened before they could reach it, and Isabella appeared with a bright smile on her face. “There you are. Well, damn, Kyou. You are handsome. I see why Bran’s been so smug, now.”
Kyou flushed a little under the compliment. He’d put on the one suit he had, the same he’d worn to Brannigan’s train wreck of a date. He knew he looked good in it, but the way both siblings had reacted made him feel like he was a notch above ‘good.’ “Thank you.”
She reached out, grabbing his hand and giving it a squeeze. Isabella didn’t really look like her brother in many respects. They were superficially alike with the same lean, graceful build and olive skin tone. But in this moment, with that warm affection on her face, she looked startlingly like him. “I’m so very glad to finally meet you in person. Let’s make this a regular thing, alright?”
Kyou gave her a more genuine smile. “I’d like that very much.”
“Good. Come in. Papà is beside himself, he’s so excited. Mom’s threatened to sit on him several times.” Isabella turned and led the way in.
The foyer was damn impressive with the Italia
n marble columns, the highly polished tile floors, and the multi-million-dollar art casually decorating both walls. Kyou found himself automatically cataloguing every visible doorway, the back of his mind charting out an escape route, and he mentally slapped himself. This wasn’t a place he needed to run from. Old habits died hard, apparently.
They went into the room directly to the right of the front door.
Two people stood waiting on them. Of course, Kyou knew them both, although they’d never met. Mattias Genovese was the epitome of a gracefully aged gentleman, his hair now silvery in tone and softly brushed away from his face. There were more than a few wrinkles, but they only showcased the striking apple-green eyes in his face. He was incandescent with delight, practically shining under the force of it like a beacon.
In contrast, his wife was much more reserved. She stood next to him with a restraining hand lightly on his arm, her expression more curious. Deidra Genovese had been a model, once upon a time, and it showed even now in her bearing. She was undoubtedly who her children got their height from, standing a few inches taller than her husband, and the tasteful dark-blue evening gown set off her platinum blonde hair in a very studied way. Frankly, she intimidated the hell out of Kyou.
Brannigan introduced them in a steady tone, hand lingering on Kyou’s back. “Papà, Mom, this is Kyou. Kyou, I’m sure you already know my parents, Mattias and Deidra.”
“That I do.” Kyou appreciated the introduction regardless, as it served as a semi ice-breaker. He sucked in a breath and faced Mattias head-on. He stood at the same eye level, which perversely made it harder to do. “I’ve been waiting thirty years to say this to you. Thank you.” He felt the words burning in his chest, but said aloud, they didn’t impart all the emotion he felt. Kyou had dreamed of this moment sometimes, and the reality felt almost surreal now that he was in it. He’d prepared a short speech in his head, something impactful, but now that he was here, it vanished without a trace. All he could do was repeat those pitifully inadequate words, voice turned husky under the force of his emotion. “Thank you.”
Tears stood in Mattias’ eyes. He shook off his wife’s hand and grabbed Kyou up in a firm grip. Mattias kissed both cheeks, moving Kyou physically to do this like he was a doll, then hugged him hard. “Figliolo, you’ve no idea! I’ve wanted to see you for so long.” He pulled back, kissed both of Kyou’s cheeks again, then hugged him even harder, rocking him a little back and forth.
Kyou startled and felt awkward for a second. He was not used to hugs. Or men kissing his cheeks. But it strangely made him happy? Tentatively, he put his own arms around the man’s shoulders. Actually, this was nice. Strange, but nice. Was this what it was like, to be embraced by a father figure?
Hell, no wonder Remi was constantly ambushing them all for hugs.
“You,” Mattias said huskily against his shoulder, “are the first child I tried to save.”
Kyou startled all over again. “I am?!”
Drawing back, Mattias kept his hands on Kyou’s shoulders. There was nostalgia there, a memory long past lived. “When I chose to straighten out my life, I did so for the sake of my own children and beautiful wife. I didn’t want a life of violence for them. I thought, what better way to prove my good intentions, to atone for my many sins, than by trying to safeguard the next generation? But I didn’t know where to start. I went to the nearest foster agency, but they wouldn’t have anything to do with me. They didn’t trust me. It was a problem no matter where I went in Boston. So I hired an advocate for me, someone who would help me find children who needed help. He spent two weeks looking before he brought me the first case. Colorado.”
“Colorado Springs,” Kyou confirmed hoarsely. His mind whirled. He’d always wondered why someone from Boston had started in Colorado, but none of the records he was able to access had given any hint. It was prejudice? That’s what had driven Mattias so far out?
“My advocate found a case that seemed hopeless and made the appointment for me with the social services employee in charge of the case. The woman I met with was tired, so exhausted trying to manage so many cases with such little resources. I sat there in her cluttered office, offering her whatever she needed. I’m not sure if she believed me. I think she assumed I didn’t understand the scope of that promise. It was urgent, as you were very sick, in the hospital with no money for the surgeries you needed. She was ready to just give in and drink, I think, she was so stressed out from the situation. I told her I’d be wholly responsible for your medical bills. And she put me to the test—she agreed. I went straight to the hospital with her, talked to the many doctors and surgeons about you, and we came up with a treatment plan.”
Mattias gave a soft, watery chuckle. “They even let me hold you for a few minutes. You were so tiny and still, it unnerved me. You felt so fragile. You were only six pounds.”
Kyou did another double take. He’d had no idea the man had actually met him personally. He’d been held as a child?
“When Bran relayed to me what you’d said, that I’d saved your life, I kept casting my mind about. Who could it possibly be? I’d helped so many, but few of them were life-altering. You crossed my mind more than once, but I’d lost all track of you when you turned eighteen. It’s like you just vanished.”
“I basically did.” Kyou still reeled at this revelation. He felt like sake was definitely in order. Hell, he’d make do with wine at this point. Mattias’s eyes roved over his face like he couldn’t quite believe what his own eyes reported. Kyou found himself speaking without any real intent of revealing everything. “My last foster home, the parents were both engineers. They let me play with their computers, even build one from spare parts lying around. I learned a lot from them. I even worked summers at their company and picked up more. By the time I was eighteen, I’d been hacking here and there, and I was just good enough to be dangerous. In retrospect, I jumped the gun rather badly, but I went dark at that point. I wanted to repay you. I wanted to start building my own rep. I started keeping tabs on Bran”—he turned and cast a quick smile at the hovering Isabella who was watching this play out with wide eyes—“and Isabella. I couldn’t do much at that point, but I wanted to make sure your family was doing alright.”
“You started watching me at eighteen?” Brannigan demanded, tone rising with incredulity.
Kyou waffled a hand back and forth. “Not like now. I was just trying to keep tabs on you in a general sense. I had no idea what I could do to repay the favor at that point. And I wasn’t exactly top grade at eighteen. But by twenty-two, I’d gotten good enough to do a decent job. I based myself in Chicago. For reasons. That’s about the time when you started making really stupid decisions.”
It took a moment, then Brannigan lit up in remembrance. With a fond smile, he said, “Ah, yes. The Burton Project.”
“I lost hair over that hot mess express, so you can wipe that smile right off your face.” Kyou glared at him. A tic tried to develop at the corner of his eye just from the memory of that. “At that point, I realized that my intention to safeguard all of you had just become a monumental task, because this idiot likes to play with fire.”
Brannigan pressed in for a quick kiss. “Love you, caro.”
“You’re truly terrible and I do not know why I put up with you.” Kyou rolled his eyes to cover his embarrassment. Brannigan really didn’t think anything of being affectionate in front of an audience.
Someone cleared their throat from the doorway. “Dinner is served.”
Deidra responded, “Oh, thank you, Charles.”
Had Kyou somehow fallen into an old black and white movie? It would explain a lot.
With a graceful wave of the hand, Deidra said, “Shall we?”
Kyou followed them out. Brannigan took his hand for the short trip to the dining room, giving him an arch look as if to say, See? It was all fine.
Oddly enough, it did seem to be.
Dinner progressed far more smoothly than Kyou had feared and better than he had hoped.
After they ate, they lingered around the table, conversation flowing freely. Kyou sat between Brannigan and Mattias, with Mattias asking Kyou one question after the next with absolutely no sign of slowing down.
Kyou ended up telling him the story of how he acquired his family, one person at a time, even Remi. He felt no qualms about doing so. If there was anyone who could be trusted to safeguard a child, it was this man.
Mattias listened with keen interest, a half-smile on his face. “It’s all so fascinating, what you’ve done with your life. I was so focused on making sure you reached adulthood, I guess I never thought to wonder what you’d be like as an adult.”
“Are you—are you disappointed? I didn’t walk a straight path.” Kyou’s largest fear was that Mattias would somehow regret his choice in Kyou.
The fear was dispelled instantly as Mattias shook his head, expression firm but with a paternal warmth. “Perish the thought, mio figlio. You are so much more than I hoped for. How could I possibly judge you and find you lacking?”
Those damned tears were back. Kyou was going to end up bawling at this rate.
Mattias looked like he wanted to hug him again. “You’re a blessing in so many ways. I’m happy to have you with us properly. And to hear that you have family too, that makes me beyond happy! The people you speak of, they sound like good men.”
“Some of the best.” Kyou meant every word of that. “It’s just like having four brothers, I think. Not that I ever had brothers. But it feels that way to me.”
“Then that’s what they are, don’t question that. Will I be able to meet them?”
“They’d love to meet you. They’ve all told me that. My niece especially wants to meet all of you. She’s helped me safeguard Brannigan and Isabella several times.”
Mattias blinked at him like a man suspecting his leg was being pulled. “At ten years old?”
Kyou snorted. “Wait until you meet Remi. Then you’ll understand. She’s incredibly sharp, and frankly, I fully expect her to outstrip me in time. When Ari first adopted her, she swore she wanted to be an assassin like he is. But the more time she spends hacking with me, the more she loves it. I think she’s going to change career paths.”
