House was one of those luxury cookie-cutter types. A one-in-four chance that your house was gonna be the exact same as the neighbor next door, but that shit still cost a small fortune.
Ceilings were high and the counters were quartz, floors a mix of gray hardwood and carpet.
Like the original Stepford wife herself had drawn the concept and done the decorating.
That shit didn’t matter, though. Only thing that did was it was a safe place for Gage. Place to raise him right. A big backyard. Kids to call friends. A park across the street.
A million miles away from where my brothers and I had grown up. A lifetime away from the sleazy city. From the depravity. From the grief.
From all the sordid bullshit we’d left behind.
I just hoped to fuck that world would never catch up to us.
Only goal I had in my pathetic life was to keep my brothers and my son safe.
One of those brothers was in the kitchen with Gage as I ambled in.
Logan, the happy motherfucker.
Dude cocked me a smug grin from where he stood at the island in front of where Gage was propped on the counter. With a washcloth, Logan was doing his best to erase the marks the kid had littered on his body.
“Ah, look it there, if it isn’t Princess Buttercup,” Logan called.
Since Gage was facing away, I took the opportunity to give Logan a finger.
My asshole brothers had been calling me that since we were kids and I’d tripped and rolled down a hill, shouting the whole way.
He cracked up.
“What’s wrong, sunshine? Someone seems…tense.” He pursed his lips like he was in deep contemplation as he dabbed at the ink on Gage’s arms. “Lonely, maybe? All the ladies hanging around the club ignoring you? That’s sad, brother. Better get some so you can stop moping around here being such a d-i-c-k. Just looking at you is ruinin’ this glorious, sunny day.”
I sent him another finger. “And you can F-off, dude.” I whispered it, too.
You know, since we were pros at letter cussing.
“And you know I don’t touch anyone at the club.” Spat that one because that rule suddenly tasted sour.
I was on a no-name basis.
No ties.
No attachments.
No chance of dragging someone into the ugliness of my past or them getting close enough to drive a knife into my back.
“My, my, someone is testy,” Logan tsked.
“I’ll show you testy,” I grumbled as I moved for the coffee maker. Dude gave me shit every second of his life, and I was the sucker who loved him for it, anyway.
Considering he sacrificed his nights to take care of my kid while I was at the club, he got away with it. Truth was, this life we’d built here wouldn’t work without either of my brothers. The support they gave. Only two people in the world I could really trust.
“Testy?” Gage piped in, his little voice rising as he tried to catch on to the topic of conversation. “Oh, oh! You think I’m gonna get to do a test at school?”
Clearly, he was failing miserably at catching on, thank fuck, since Logan the loudmouth didn’t know when to keep his pie hole shut.
But I guessed it was worth it because my kid was lighting up, thrilled at the prospect of a test. He whirled around to look at me as I filled a massive mug to the brim with steaming hot coffee.
A light chuckle rolled out, and I turned to rest against the counter while I took my first sip. “Think they’re gonna be testing you on the first day, huh?” I asked.
Gage grinned my way, all dimples and adorableness. “I hope so. I gotta get straights As. I got my pens and my pencils and my coloring crayons in my new backpack. I’m all ready.” He turned to Logan. “You wanna see, Uncle?”
He tried to wiggle out from under Logan’s washcloth. My brother looked at me from over his head. “Who is this kid?”
Gage tipped his head back to fully meet his eye. “I am Gage Michael Lawson.”
I choked out a laugh around my coffee.
Logan shook his head and tapped Gage’s nose. “Gage Michael Lawson who is from Mars.”
Gage scrunched up his little nose under his finger. “Mars. No way, Uncle. I’m from Redemption Hills, California, and I was born on August 17, 2016. I even got a burf certificate. Right, Dad?”
He was back to looking at me for approval. Way he always did. My heart pressed against my ribs. The love I felt for him nearly too much.
“That’s right, Gage.”
He turned back to Logan. “See, Uncle. You don’t know nothin’.”
Logan tossed a dumbstruck glance my way.
I hiked a shoulder. “What can I say? Kid has the smarts.”
Logan scratched at his shaven jaw. “Yeah, and apparently, I’m the one getting schooled around here.”
“Maybe you need to come with me and get some educations,” Gage said with a little shrug.