Nash:that’s good
Orla:He loves you
Nash:i love him. take him home. i’ll find you xx
Home. My heart skipped a beat. I wanted it that much.
“Orls?”
“Hmm?”
Locke covered his phone with his big hand and transmitted ahelp mestare. “Can you come tell my brother I’m not having a nervous breakdown?”
“Er... sure.” I clambered to my feet and returned to the desk, stepping into the video frame so Logan could see me. So I could seehimand watch his aquatic green eyes widen a touch before his features schooled to the stern expression that set him and Locke apart.
Even his nod seemed curt. “Nice to finally put a face to a name.”
“Likewise.” I dumped my elbows on the table and propped my chin on my hand. “What do you need to know?”
“Can we talk in private?”
My gaze darted to Locke. He sighed and rolled his eyes. “Have at it. Don’t let him bore you to death.”
I took the phone into the public part of the sales reception, locking the front door and turning the sign to Closed even though we technically had an hour of business to go.
Then I moved to the clothing section and slipped behind a display of utility trousers. “I’m all yours.”
“Not all his though, are you?”
“Excuse me?”
Logan’s gaze remained steady. “I didn’t mean that to sound shitty. I’m just worried about him.”
Understandable. And it wasn’t in me to tell a pointless lie. “It’s been a tough few weeks.”
“He told me the past caught up with him.”
“Doesn’t it always?”
“In my job? Yeah. It does. And Locke has a decade of that on top of whatever shit he’ll never tell me about. I know it’s not easy, it’s just...” Logan rubbed a hand over his face. “It’s been a while since I last saw him so fucking messy, and it scared the hell out of me.”
“It scared us too.” Another truth. “But this is a good place to be when times are tough. We’re a family and we take care of our own.”
“Not like the others then?”
Not like the Crows.I made zero effort to keep the distaste off my face.
Logan cracked atinysmile. “It’s okay. I know you’re nothing like them. Before these last few weeks happened, I’d never seen my brother so settled—so happy—and that means a lot to me.”
“But you’re worried about him being with me and Nash?”
“I have been.”
“What about now?”
Logan shrugged. “I don’t know, but I’m not in the business of telling Locke who to love, so however I feel is my fucking problem.”
“If it’s any consolation, you should know that we love him too.”