Laurel snorted. “Since you make it sound so appealing, I’ll think about it.”
She peeked up at Jace, who was beaming. The other guy squeezed her hand and she smiled back. Every time Nolan witnessed the link between them and their unspoken conversations, he had to wonder when they were going to realize they didn’t need a bodyguard to keep them safe from each other and kick him out.
So it surprised him when Laurel reached for him too. Fuck it, he wasn’t going to discourage her when he wanted nothing more than for them to have a reason to stay, even if it wasn’t him right at first…or ever. “I think it sounds smart. You’re really good at this.”
“Thank you,” Laurel flashed him a wide, genuine smile. The sort he hadn’t seen from her very often until lately. She was morphing right in front of his eyes, exactly like the key holder. Reborn. Refreshed. Ready for a new phase of her life.
Nolan set the gift on the metal table, big enough for an army, which Wren had welded and given to their Hot Rods cousins as a final touch on the new home.
Laurel was distracted from their heavy discussion by the appearance of her brother.
“Hey, big sis.”
She rushed to James and crushed him in a hug as if she would never get used to having him in her life again. It got Nolan every time. And Jace too. The other guy shuffled until he stood shoulder to shoulder with Nolan. Jace leaned in and murmured, “You literally have no idea how amazing that is. We owe you guys everything.”
Nolan wished he could have kissed Jace then and told him exactly how much more he’d like to give the other guy and his soulmate too, since he hadn’t even scratched the surface, but it didn’t seem like the right time or place for those sorts of confessions. Later, he promised himself.
Behind James, a woman with straight black hair and an impressive array of facial piercings carried a baby swaddled in a flame-covered blanket. Eli, the Hot Rods garage owner, and his husband, Alanso, hovered over her shoulders. “Congratulations, you three! First the baby and now a new place with plenty of room to spread out.”
“We’re lucky bastards and we know it.” Alanso’s Cuban accent grew thicker as he studied Sally, Eli, and their baby boy, Maceo. “Want a tour? Maybe it’ll give you some ideas for your own apartment. I heard James is coming out of retirement to hook up the Shields.”
“I am. I am.” James clapped his hands, then rubbed them together. “I know I said I didn’t want to be a foreman, but I’m not trusting anyone else with a place I have to work in every damn day. It doesn’t make sense for us to be trekking up to Kason, Jordan, and Wren’s place in the ass end of the forest every time we have a meeting. I could be spending that time at home, with my family.”
“Getting laid, you mean.” Eli chuckled and so did Nolan.
Laurel scrunched her eyes closed. “Not my baby brother.”
“Hey, I’m not the only one getting plenty, by the looks of it.” James whipped his stare between Laurel and the two obviously satisfied men flanking her. It still twisted something inside Nolan that everyone seemed cool with it. Like maybe if it worked for them, that was all that mattered. Huh.
Nolan couldn’t help himself. He fell back on his bad, jokester tendencies to get a single jab in. “I promised you I’d take care of your sister. Isn’t that what you had in mind?”
“And….there’sthe line.” James shot him the finger before addressing the larger group. “Okay, truce. But yeah, I am working on the new building going up in Middletown. Shields business on the ground floor and plenty of apartments for our expanding team and any witnesses or temporary peeps we need to find shelter for, who require plenty of protection, all in one place. I even talked Jordan into an indoor pool and hot tub adjoining the gym facilities. It’s going to be epic. I’ve never worked on a multi-story commercial building like this before. Especially not one that will become the tallest in Middletown. Not going to lie, it’s kind of fun, but only this once.”
“If you don’t mind talking shop later, I’d like to make a few tweaks to the plan we’d discussed before everything is finalized,” Nolan blurted before he second guessed why he suddenly wanted to turn his apartment from a bachelor pad into something a little more trio-friendly.
“Of course you do.” James rolled his eyes, but the effect was less harsh when he grinned. Was Nolan that obvious? “That’s fine. There’s someone I wanted to introduce to you guys anyway. Well, Nolan already met him under less than ideal circumstances, but Laurel and Jace…”
Nolan already knew who James was referring to. The kid had been glued to James’s hip since they’d rescued him from the hellhole not substantially different from the ones Laurel and Jace had grown up in. Eli, Alanso, and Sally wandered off, swallowed by the milling friends surrounding them, promising to show them around when they were ready.
James weaved through the crowd until he found a teenager with an unruly mop of brown hair and brought the kid back with him. Nolan imagined James probably hadn’t looked so different at that age. “Mark, this is my sister, Laurel, her friend, Jace, and you remember that big guy, Nolan, I’m sure. Meet my apprentice, Mark.”
“I’ve heard a lot about you.” Laurel held her arms open, shocking both Nolan and Jace, whose open jaw gave Nolan lots of ideas for later. “Can I give you a hug?”
“Sure, I guess.” Mark’s words might have been hesitant, but he cuddled up to her and squeezed before he’d finished speaking. Given his upbringing and the fact that he was now living at Tom’s youth shelter when he wasn’t spending time with James, Nolan figured the kid would soak up affection like the crunchy toffee biscuits Laurel liked to dunk in her coffee, the ones he’d paid Devra to keep a constant supply of in the bakery case.
Nolan could attest that Laurel’s hugs were basically magic.
She ruffled his hair, then let him go slowly. “I heard you were part of the reason James got tipped off about where Jace and I ended up. Thank you. So much. I owe you everything.”
“Me?” Mark blinked up at her, clearly enamored.
Totally understand, kid, Nolan thought.
“Yeah. You were brave as hell,” James told him, squeezing his shoulder. “And the things you remembered helped us track down the people who hurt Laurel.”
“I didn’t do hardly anything.” Mark shrugged one bony shoulder. “But I’m glad some of the shit I’ve seen made a difference.” James cleared his throat and Mark grimaced. “Stuff. I meant stuff.”
Jace smothered a laugh at that. “You must have a lot of potential if James is showing you the ropes. Construction work is a decent job. You’re going to be okay now. On the right path to a better life with so many years left ahead of you to make something of it.”