Emma and I were hanging out in the living room when Liam and JJ walked in with the permit for the haunted house.
"All right, get ready. We set up tonight," Liam said.
"Where's the location?" I asked.
"The old Miller place," JJ said.
"No fucking way," Austin said.
"Yep, we got keys to it so we can get everything set up. Not only did we have a haunted house but also a Halloween party," Liam said.
"Do you think you'll bring in as much money as you did last year?" I asked them.
"There's probably more. At least I hope it's more. I would like to break our record from last year," Liam said as he read through so papers.
"Is this the Haunted House, you guys do every year to donate to the foundation?" Emma asked me.
"Yep, because of Liam, many people get the help they need," I said.
"That is very cool," she said with a smile.
"Yeah, and this year you get to help," I grinned.
"Really?" Emma asked with surprise.
"Yep. Everyone helps. We get to have fun and raise money for a good cause. It's a win-win situation," I replied to Emma.
As we all went over details, there was a knock at the door. Nik answered to find Maggie and Leslie at the door. "Emma, it's for you," Nik announced.
We got up and walked over to the door.
"What are you guys doing here?" Emma asked them.
"Emma, we came to talk? Please talk to us," Maggie said.
Everyone stopped what they were doing and watched us.
"Okay. Talk," Emma said.
They came in when Emma stopped them. "Right, there is fine."
"Okay. We told mom and dad what you said," Maggie told her.
"And?" Emma asked.
"They said if you continued with this situation, they would cut us off too," Maggie answered.
"They never stop, do they?" Emma huffed. I noticed how quickly she became agitated. I remember seeing similar issues with my mom and siblings. They suffered from anxiety, whereas I didn't.
"So, we told them to take their money and shove it," Leslie said.
"You didn't?" Emma asked, surprised.
"We did," Leslie grinned.
"And now we are homeless," Maggie shrugged.
We looked past them to see their bags behind them. Emma and I looked at each other. Here we go again.
A few minutes later, Xavier came downstairs and saw Leslie and Maggie at the door. He also noticed the bags.
"Angie!" Xavier yelled.
"What?" Angelo yelled.
"We got company!" Xavier shouted.
"Who the fuck is it?" Angelo yelled.
"Maggie and Leslie!" Xavier shouted back.
We heard a door quickly open and footsteps barrel down the hall, then down the stairs. He saw them at the door and then the bags.
"Works for me," Angelo shrugged as Maggie and Leslie grinned.
"Wait a minute. You can't just move more people in with us," Liam said.
"We can. I got off the phone with Ryan, and he said it was fine since, you know, he owns the house and all," Zane said, walking into the living room.
"How the hell did you call Ryan so quickly?" Liam asked.
"Like this," Zane said, taking out his phone and pretending to dial it, then talk. "There's some issue with the Santiagos when he's dealing with his friend Ace, whoever that is."
"That would be Ace Morgan," I said.
They looked at me. "As in mob boss, Ace Morgan?" Angelo asked.
"You heard of him?" I asked a bit confused.
"Who hasn't? RJ, he's a boss because his dad was one and pretty powerful. They control the Landview area," Angelo said.
"Yeah, his family is one you don't fuck with if you want to breathe. How does your dad know him, anyway?" Xavier asked.
Before I answered, Frisco walked in and said, "Because RJ's grandfather and family do business with them." He said it so casually that it was bordering on scary.
"How do you know that?" Angelo asked Frisco.
"Because unlike you ninnies, I do my research on people," Frisco said with a shrug.
Okay, Frisco's scared of Jordan, but not scared of my family and the stuff they do? This guy made no sense. It was like he was two distinct people at once. The more I thought about it, the more it made sense. Frisco had a split personality. Why didn't I see this?
I stared at Frisco as he looked at me. "What?" Frisco questioned.
"Nothing," was all my answer was. I let Emma talk to her sisters so she could work out their issues while I speak to the double troubles alone and away from the house.
A few minutes later, we sat at a table, drinking coffee.
"Makes sense," JJ said.
"Why didn't we pick up on it?" I asked JJ, taking a sip of coffee. Yes, we went to the bakery.
"Because he didn't want us to know. Think about it. The only reason he fears dad is because dad would know right away from being in a room with him for five minutes," JJ said.
"Great, now we have a nut job living with us," Liam said.
"I wonder if his brothers know," I mentioned.
"Maybe, but then again, he's been so good at hiding things, I doubt it. I mean, from what they said, people bullied Frisco pretty bad growing up," JJ said.
"The scary part is he's so intelligent that it wouldn't be hard to hide it," I said.
"Yeah, but you forget we're also highly intelligent. Frisco has to know that we would catch on," Liam said.
"Maybe, but at some point, we need to talk to Frisco," I said.
"Sure, but we need to focus on the issue at hand, and that's getting things ready for the haunted house," Liam smirked.
I shook my head at Liam. As we ate, Emma walked in with Mel and Lydia. They took a seat with us, and I kissed her on the cheek. "Did you get things straight with your sisters?"
"Yeah, I can't stay mad at my sisters," Emma smiled.
"What's up with Frisco?" Lydia asked.
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"He was acting weird when you guys left," Lydia said to me.
"Like how weird?" JJ asked.
"I don't know, like weird, weird even for him. Almost creepy like," Lydia said to him.
"Call ole daddy o," Liam said to him.
"Be right back," JJ said, making a call to Jordan.
"Okay, can we not focus on a creepy boy for one minute and focus on the haunted house? We have two days to whip a miracle out of our ass," Liam said emphatically.
"Fine," I said.
We discussed what we needed to do when JJ returned, sitting back down. "So, what did pops say?" Liam asked JJ.
"He said he'd be here in two days but not to alert Frisco and don't leave anyone alone with him, especially the girls," JJ said with a concerned look.
I could feel the agitation radiating off of Emma. I grabbed her hand, giving her a gentle squeeze to reassure her everything would be okay. As far as it concerned me, no one would do anything to her. She was mine.
We went back to the house, and all of us went to the old Miller house. While everyone was busying themselves with getting things set up, I pulled Nik and Leo aside. I wanted Leo to be at least aware of what was going on with his brother.
"Shit," Leo said, running his hand through his black hair.
"So, you guys know?" I asked him.
"Yeah, we know! He's our brother for christ's sake!" I never saw Leo snap like that.
"Leo, calm down," Nik said to him.
"Nik, you don't understand. Anytime he stops taking his meds, it's bad," Leo said.
"What do you mean, bad?" I asked him.
"Like dangerously bad. The doctor diagnosed Frisco with a split personality disorder with borderline homicidal tendencies when we were in high school. The bullying brought on it. As long as he takes his meds, he's the fine, timid, quiet Frisco. That's the normal part of him. That's how he always was until he snapped. Fuck," Leo exclaimed.
Angelo walked over to us. "Are you guys going to stand there or help us?"
"Angie, we got a bigger problem," Leo said.
"Like what?" Angelo asked.
"Frisco hasn't been taking his meds," Leo told Angelo.
"Fuck!" Angelo exclaimed.
"What the hell are we going to do?" Leo asked.
"Considering your brother is in a homicidal mood, and we have an obscene amount of people showing up for the haunted house, it should make for an interesting night," Nik said. We all looked at Nik. "What?" Nik asked.
"We need to call Jordan," Leo said.
"We already did. Jordan won't be here for two more days," I said.
Angelo saw Zane and yelled for him. Zane ran over to us. "What's up, guys?"
"Frisco," Angelo said.
We filled Zane in, and his answer was, "No."
"Come on, Zane. You're the only one that can keep him in check. At least until Jordan arrives," Leo said.
"Come on, guys, every time he's off his meds, he's freaking nuts. The last time he tied me to a bed," he said incredulously.
"Look, we're asking you to monitor him. Make sure he doesn't run off and find out that we know," Leo said.
"What if he finds out you guys know?" I asked.
"Then all hell breaks loose," Zane said.
This situation gets better and better.
"Why is everyone standing around with their dicks in their hands?" Someone asked us. We looked to find Xavier standing there with a grin.
"Frisco's off his meds again, dumbass," Zane said to him.
"Well, this changes things," Xavier said.
"Look, we need to act normal as possible until Jordan gets here," Angelo said.
"Easier said than done," Zane sighed, rubbing his forehead.
"What's easier?" Someone asked, making us look to see Frisco standing there, great.
"Just some contraptions Liam has in mind for the haunted house," Zane said nonchalantly. Frisco gave him a look with an arched eyebrow.
"I will head in and find Emma," I said.
As I walked past Frisco, he grabbed my arm and whispered, "She's quite the hottie, isn't she?"
I leaned in and whispered back, "She's mine." His look changed quickly. I didn't have time for this bullshit. If it's one thing that I inherited from my father was putting the fear of God in someone. Emma was pure, and the only one that would touch her in any kind of intimate way would be me.
Frisco's expression changed to the person I had known, not the cocky fuck he was. I hated cockiness from anyone, especially when meant disrespectfully involving someone I love. I went into the house searching for Emma. I found her trying to hang something on a ladder, and she missed her footing. Luckily, I was there to catch her.
I held her firm, toned, lithe body in my arms, taking her by surprise when I caught her.
"Thank God you came in when you did. That would have been so bad on so many levels," she grinned. God, I loved her smile.
"Anything to have you in my arms, I will do," I smiled back. Emma placed her hands on my face, pulling me into a kiss. I opened my lips to let my tongue slide through asking for access, which she immediately granted. I allowed my tongue to explore her mouth as she pressed herself into me. The kiss was so deep and passionate, and we were enjoying every minute until someone interrupted us.
"Can you two do your make-out session later? We have work to do," Liam said, walking by carrying the box.
"We'll finish this later," I whispered, giving her a quick peck. Her cheeks heated at the huskiness of my voice.
As we went back to work, I had a feeling things were about to get interesting on all fronts.