Six years. I haven't seen my brother in six, nearly seven, fucking years and this is how he comes home? Stabbed? Thirty-seven times?
If he's not dead I'm going to kill him myself.
"GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY WAY!" I storm past another nurse who is looking at me in shock and terror.
"Adri! Stop!" My mother calls out from behind me but I don't. Her and my father can try to stop me from killing Torey but I am going to fu— When I whip into the room I'm met with my other dad and a man I have never seen in my life. A very attractive man.
"Who the fuck are you?" His eyes shoot up in slight surprise but he doesn't respond automatically. "I asked you a question. Sooo can you answer?"
"The name is Brooks, ma'am." He says with the faintest southern drawl and a rather obnoxiously handsome smile.
"Ma'am? Do I look like a fucking ma'am to you?"
"No, you look more like a hellcat, is what you look like." A snort of a laugh comes from behind him which has me glaring from him to my dad.
"What? He's not wrong there, Adri. You're fuming."
"That doesn't change the fact that he's here before me. You know— Torey's actual sister. So who is he?" I shot at him.
"He's Torey's..." His eyes flick to Brooks which causes the man to look down at the ground. "He's Torey's friend."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
"Do you not know what the word 'friend' means?" My mother comes up alongside me, "And if you could keep your voice down that would be preferable. Your brother is recovering." She goes up alongside the friend and places a hand on his shoulder in a familiar manner, like she knows this dude. "How are you?" He gives her a brief look and shrugs.
How the hell do they know this guy?
"Am I missing something? Have you guys gone out and adopted another random individual into the family on a whim again?" I watch them all wince at my statement. "What? Speaking of the little demon," I turn to look at the father who'd grown an overly-fond attachment to him, "where is he?" He blinks a few times and I can tell he's trying to stop himself from crying but fails to do so miserably. He abruptly turns and leaves the room without another word. My mother lets out an irritated sigh before walking directly past me, going after the crying man. "What the hell is going on? Did something happen to Wolfie?" The blond man, Brooks, just looks back at my brother. "Wait... He wasn't with Torey when this happened, right? Like he is okay, right?" My voice raising to a level of panic when I think of something happening to my little brother. Well, littlest brother.
"Adri... Wolfie is..." My dad spears a hand through his salt and pepper locks before shoving both of them in the pockets of his pants. "He's Torey's son." Shock smacks me in the face, making me rock back on my heels like I had genuinely received a physical blow. But his words make sense. I always joked about how he reminded me of pictures of when Torey was younger. I used to tease that they'd tried to replace a son that was MIA for over half a decade by adopting him.
"What... how..." I don't even know where to begin. Where to even start. "Who's the mother?"
"I think I'm going to give the two of you some space." The friend stated looking even more melancholy now than he had when I came in.
"You do that." He says nothing to that just gives me a half-assed semblance of a smile before leaving, shutting the door as he does so. "What the fuck is going on, Dad? Torey is a father? Wolfie is his son? And he's been—" Now that the man had left I have an unobstructed view of my brother. My breath catches and I find my feet moving toward him on their own volition. "Torey..." The word was a whispered gasp. I haven't seen my brother in years and he looks the same and entirely different all at the same time. He's much larger than the last time I had seen him and much more battered. His eyes are sunken in and his thick black hair is matted to his forehead. I shake my head in disbelief as I look over everything hooked up to him, everything keeping him alive and then down at the gauze covering his abdomen. "How is he..." Alive.
"You know your brother would never go down without a fight." I'd never heard a more true statement. Torey had always been a fighter. Whether it was playing a defenseman in the hockey rink or sparring with my dad, Torey put up a hell of a fight. Growing up with him I'd experienced that fight firsthand— with me. We bickered all of the time.
"I came down here with every intention of killing you," I whisper down to his lifeless-looking self. "But I have changed my mind. So if you do die now then I will kill you ten times harder, do you understand me, Torey?" Nothing. I get nothing from him and that reality sinks in my chest deeply.
What if I never get to talk with my brother ever again? No. I can't think like that. I won't think like that. Torey is too stubborn to die. If there's anything I could believe in— it's that.
"Is that man out there the reason we haven't seen Torey in so long? Was he trying to hide his relationship with his friend? Was he like ashamed or something?"
He barks out another laugh with, "your brother? Ashamed? Please." He lets out a few more laughs. "That kid has always been shameless to a fault and it would appear that is a trait he still has. As for Brooks, he's Torey's friend... of sorts. Their relationship is rather complicated considering how it started out."
"Are you going to fill me in on why my brother is lying here with thirty-seven stab wounds and why my father just ran out of here in tears at the mention of Wolfie?"
He lets out a long breath with a nod of the head. "Yeah, but I think it's better if we all go back to the house. I think it would be best if you stayed with us for a little while." I arch a brow at that. "Come on, let's go." He heads for the door and I follow him thankful that we're leaving when nurses come in looking like they're going to replace my brother's bandages.
"Why do you think it's best if I stay with you?"
"You just saw your brother and the shape he is in. There are some seriously dangerous people after him. If they are after him, they will be after his family because they know we will be coming after them." He takes the stairs near two at a time until we reach the top. We walk through the training area where I eye a bunch of sexy men without shirts on working out. Oh that one looks edible. The way the sweat is dripping down his ab— "Adri, stop gawking at the men and keep up."
I hadn't even realized I'd stopped walking. Whoops.
"I'm over here telling you that there are dangerous people after us and you're lusting after the staff." He clucks his tongue and shakes his head. "You are your mother's daughter."
"Ew. Don't say that." My parents have always been overly sexual with one another. As much as it was nice to see them be intimate with one another instead of constantly fighting, like most normal parents, it was not so nice to see the amount of ass grabbing I had as a child.
"What was it you once said one time..." A shit-eating grin spreads out on his face and I know I'm in for it.
"Oh fuck, dad. Don't." Please don't say what I think you're going to say...
"Oh, that's right, something like 'Man, now I get why my mom married two men. Being with two guys at the same time was hot as hell.' Pretty sure it was something like that. You can say you're not your mother's daughter all day long but that doesn't change facts."
"If we could not bring up said situation that'd be great. I'd rather not talk about that relationship as well." Because I should've known better than to let my boyfriend fuck around with a woman he was still in love with. I might've not wanted to admit it to myself but I knew he was still in love with Amelia. But drunk me and sex go hand in hand and well... I had drank an awful lot that evening. That was also the evening I discovered I had an affinity for the female body as well.
"Jamie is a good guy. He makes Amelia happy." His words get me out of my head as he opens the door that leads outside.
"How many kids do they have now? Like ten or something?"
"Four. All boys."
"I feel sorry for Amelia. That is a lot of testosterone." He just gives me a subtle nod as he takes out his phone and calls my mother and father then calls Brooks. I know it bothers him that Amelia, his biological daughter, lives so far away. He rarely sees her kids because of it and I know that takes a toll on him.
After a few more minutes Brooks exits the building with my two other parents flanking him. He doesn't even look at me, he just walks straight to a car that looks old but also brand fucking new. It's all black with white stripes. If any car could be described as sexy it would be this car.
"What in the douchebag kind of car is this?" I ask coming alongside the other door.
"It's a Dodger Charger." My mother sidles up next to him with that same familiar hand on his shoulder. "And Brooks is not a douchebag."
"And I did not deserve this car." He tells her pointedly.
"It is a birthday gift. And yes you deserve it." My father tacks on.
I arch a brow, "a birthday gift?"
"His birthday is this weekend and your father felt the need to buy him a lavish gift." My dad stands beside me. "You know how he is with gifting."
"You know, Denver, I have never heard you complain about your 'lavish gifts' before." He air-quotes.
"Yeah, because I'm usually too busy rewarding your bratty ass with my di—"
"La la la la la la la." I plug my ears and continue the noise until I see no one's mouth moving. "I don't know how many times I have to say it but seriously no more talking like that in front of your kid, okay?"
"It slipped." My dad murmured.
"Mhmm. Well, I'll ride in the douche-car with Brooks and you three can ride in another vehicle where I don't have to worry about dad," I nod my head over to him, "'slipping'." I look over to Brooks. "That is, if you don't mind."
"I'm fine with you riding with me."
"You sure about that?" My mother asks which has me glaring at her.
"I've been known to wrangle a hellcat or two in my day. I think I can handle this one."
She chuckles with, "I'm sure you can, Brooks. I'm sure you can." And with that the three of them are off, leaving me alone with my brother's friend.
A/N:
Happy Valentine's Day!