Zed laughed, draping his arm around me as we headed inside the house. "I know. That's why I handle that part. It's what makes us a good team, gorgeous. I subtly threaten them with the axe. You're the axe."
I couldn't help grinning at that description. He wasn't wrong.
"Uh, why does it smell like burning in here?" I wrinkled my nose and glanced up at Zed, who looked severely unimpressed.
"Fuck's sake," he groaned, "I told them to order in for dinner."
We made our way through to the kitchen, and sure enough, there was a flustered, red-faced Seph flapping a dish towel at the smoke billowing out of the oven.
"Seph, what the hell is going on?" he demanded, storming over and snatching the cloth from her, then kicking the oven door shut. "Why are you trying to burn my house down?"
"I wasn't!" she whined back. "I was trying to cook dinner for everyone. Your stupid oven is broken or something!"
Laughter bubbled up in my chest, and I bit the inside of my cheek in a weak attempt not to grin. Seph definitely wouldn't appreciate the funny side right now. Neither would Zed, seeing as he took his kitchen appliances very seriously.
"Right, Seph," he snapped, the sarcasm thick in his voice, "you're right. My eight-thousand-dollar Smeg oven must be broken. No user error involved." He shot a glare at me, like he knew I was about to lose it. "Seph... Don't you have homework to do or something?"
My sister glared at me as well, as though her failed meal was somehow my fault, then let out a frustrated scream and stormed out of the kitchen.
"Don't fucking start, Dare," Zed growled, pointing an accusing finger at me. "Go order pizzas; I'll clean this mess up."
Offering him a mocking salute, I pulled out my phone to call in a pizza order while heading upstairs to change into sweats. After spending all day in a pencil skirt, stockings, and high heels, the softness of my sweatpants was better than anything.
Cracking the loft door, I yelled up to Seph that pizza would be half an hour. The only response I got was a bratty "Whatever," so I left her to go in search of Cass and Lucas.
I found Cass first, in the middle of a shower with sweaty gym clothes on the floor. As tempting as it was to join him, I mustered up the strength of will to overrule my greedy cunt and instead just let him know about the pizza ETA.
Lucas was in his room but was fast asleep on top of a pile of his textbooks. He'd been pulling crazy late nights preparing for exams and juggling his EMT course work; it was no surprise he'd crashed.
As gently as I could, I tidied up all the books, wiggling them out from under him and stacking them neatly on his bedside table. Then I grabbed a blanket from the closet and draped it over him before flicking off the lights and leaving him to sleep.
Back downstairs, Zed had managed to get rid of the smoke in the oven, but the smell clung to the air and a piece of charcoal-black meat—I think—sat in a roasting dish on the counter.
"Well, I guess it was nice she tried?" I suggested, coming over to peer at the dish.
Zed gave me a sidelong glance. "She was making Beef Wellington."
I screwed my nose up and made a gagging sound. I despised mushrooms, and Seph fucking well knew it. It was Zed's favorite, though, so no points for guessing who my sister had been trying to impress tonight.
"Want a drink?" Zed offered, heading for the liquor cabinet. "I'll make you a cocktail."
Eagerly accepting, I perched on a barstool to watch as he mixed up my drink. Cass came in to join us a couple of minutes later, bending to kiss me, then giving Zed a bro nod.
"Suppose you want me to make you one too," Zed commented, pouring my velvety, delicious espresso martini into a frosted glass.
Cass grunted. "Nope. Whiskey will do me."
"Easy to please." Zed grabbed out a bottle of whiskey and tossed a couple of ice cubes into a glass for Cass, then nodded toward the courtyard. "Let's sit outside where we don't have to smell this crap."
Cass eyed the remains of Seph's dinner and smirked. "Looks delicious," he muttered, standing back to let me outside ahead of him. Such a gentleman.
I loved Zed's courtyard. It was outdoors but totally private in the center of his fortress house. Unless Chase was flying drones, there was no way he could spy on us, nor could anyone else.
"Where's Lucas?" Zed asked as we got comfy on the couch.
"Sleeping," I replied with a smile. "He'd crashed out in the middle of his books."
Zed nodded like that was unsurprising. "He's been working hard lately; I'm impressed."
Cass grunted a sound of agreement. "He told me he wants to start doing practical labs as soon as his high school exams are done. Kid doesn't wanna waste any time."
"I hope he's not doing it because he feels like we need him to upskill," I commented thoughtfully. "I hope he isn't feeling pressured to do this just to be more valuable or something."
Both Cass and Zed stared at me for a moment, then Zed grinned.
"Seriously?" he asked. "Fuck, you're cute when you're clueless."
Confusion rippled over me as I sipped my drink. "Huh?"
Cass leaned back in his seat, pulling his weed pouch out to roll a joint. "That's exactly why he's doing it, Red. He wants to impress you. Doesn't make it a bad thing, though. Gave him a goal to strive toward."
The doorbell rang, interrupting whatever I might have said back to that, and I frowned. "That's too fast for pizza. They said they were slammed right now."
"I've got it," Zed murmured, pulling his gun as he moved inside the house.
I turned my attention to Cass, ready to argue the fact that Lucas wasn't doing all his EMT training just to impress me, but Cass met my gaze with a knowing smirk.
He got up from his seat and came to settle beside me as he lit the joint. He took a drag, then passed it to me as he draped his arm around me.
"Lucas is one hundred percent trying to impress you, Red," he rumbled, "but there's nothing wrong with that. He seems to enjoy the course material, so who cares what his motivation is?"
"I guess," I mumbled, drawing a deep lungful of smoke.
Zed returned then with no pizza in his hands but a manila folder instead and a curious look on his face. "That was Dallas," he announced. "I didn't invite him in because, well"—he waved a hand at Cass—"but he left this. Said it's the info on Lucas's genetic match."
I sat up straighter, passing the joint back to Cass, and held my hand out for the folder.
Zed handed it over, then sat back down. "Should we wake him up?"
I hesitated a moment, my finger under the envelope flap. Then I licked my lips and shook my head. "We can show him in the morning; it's not time sensitive."
And yet I wasn't exactly putting it down. Zed arched a brow at me accusingly but didn't stop me when I tugged the paper out of the envelope.
"Oh shit," I breathed, my eyes scanning the first page before handing it to Zed. The second page was a photo of the man who was not Lucas's sibling... but his father. Or that certainly seemed to be what the results suggested.
"Captain Brant Wilson," Zed read aloud from the paper. "Date of birth and genetic matches suggest he would be Lucas's biological father. Says he was enlisted in the US military until around ten years ago when he made the switch to working for... Ah fuck." Zed had spotted the part that’d made me curse.