Lib Novel Page 40
“I can’t believe this!” Zane says, tilting his head and dropping to his elbows on the counter. “How could you never tell your girlfriend about me, man? What, did you cut me out of all your childhood stories?”
The way Byron is staring daggers at Zane could slit his throat. I clear my throat, and Byron takes a short, stuttering breath.
“What do you want, Zane?”
“Heard from a friend of a friend that you’re living here,” Zane says, raising an eyebrow at him. “Thought I would stop by. What, you’re not happy to see me?”
“You broke into my apartment.”
“Yeah, you’re welcome. Clearly, you need to update your security. That’s so unlike you, lil bro. Usually, you got your shit locked up tight.”
Byron puts a hand to his face, and I can’t stop looking between them. They’re related. They’re brothers. I try to fit them together and imagine their family, and then I remember what Linnea said about what happened to Byron’s parents.
There’s definitely some animosity between the brothers. I wonder if it has to do with their shared trauma.
“It’s programmed to ignore my DNA,” Byron says, through gritted teeth. “Guess I should have known the only loophole to that would show up at my front door.”
“Or fridge.”
“Zane—”
“Look, I just want to get some coffee, okay?” Zane says, holding his hands up. “Is there anywhere around here that we can get something good? I’m missing the coffee back home.”
When I glance at the windows, I realize the sun is coming up, and that I actually slept through the night last night. At Zane’s statement, I also realize that I don’t even know where Byron is from.
“Where is back home?” I ask, and Zane raises his eyebrows, his hands still up in the air.
“What, you mean like, where am I coming from, or where are we from? You do know where he’s from, right? Aren’t you two—?”
“Just answer the question.”
“Detroit,” Byron says, quickly, his eyes darting back and forth between me and Zane. “We grew up in Detroit.”
“You know what?” I ask, reaching back and setting the shotgun on the armchair behind me. “If you want coffee, I’ll take you to get some coffee. That would be lovely.”
“Wait—”
“Yes,” Zane says, snapping his fingers. “I will take you up on that.”
“Great, just give me a second to get dressed.”
“Take your time, baby.”
I blush, mostly at the way Byron is looking at his brother, like he wants to murder him. But he doesn’t have the right to be possessive of me—he lost that right a long time ago.
Rushing back to Byron’s room, I rifle through his stuff until I find a casual dress I left here ages ago. I slip it over my head, wash my face, brush my teeth, and apply some quick mascara. When I step out of the bedroom, only five minutes have gone by, but the guys look even closer to ripping at each other’s throats.
“Ready!” I say, blinking when Byron’s voice enters my head. Even though it’s sudden, it feels like the most natural thing in the world. Like there would always come a day when we could communicate with one another like this, even outside of the special ops team.
Liv, you do not want to go with this guy. Just let me—
Get out of my fucking head, Cox.
I take a breath, shaking out my arms. Byron is looking at me imploringly, like he wants to beg me not to do this, but can’t spare the indignity when Zane crosses the room, opening the door for me and putting a hand on the small of my back. It feels all wrong, and my body instantly longs for Byron, but it does feel good to know that he’s probably seething as he watches us go.
***
“So,” I say, ten minutes later when Zane and I are situated at a table in the bakery. Lisa recently got an espresso machine and has been learning how to make lattes. Before we came in, I threatened Zane, saying that if he complained, I’d team up with Bigby to take him out. We share a fondness for the baker. “You’re Byron’s brother.”