Blinking, I looked away and tried to forget that little hint of my brother’s sex life I’d just witnessed. That’ll teach me to be nosy when I’m bored.
My father gave a long-suffering sigh and motioned for Joey. "Forgive me, son. You were starting to report something new when Antonio rang, yes?"
"It's okay, Pops. I didn't mind waiting. Especially when I was just going to give you more useless updates." Of all of us, Joey had suffered the worst this afternoon when he'd had to watch his own mate get shot. Fortunately, Tony was okay, but it had been a little hairy for a few minutes there. Thank fuck for shifter healing.
It was like our father had read my mind. "It is not okay, Josef. Not after the scare you had earlier. How is your mate? Tony is feeling better, I assume?"
Joey's smile brightened the room. "He's great, thank you. In fact, he's with the children right now. He says they’re a balm to his soul, but I think he doesn't want to be too far from them right now with how close the danger was today."
"Perhaps you should be with them as well. It is good to surround yourself with family after such a fright." Pops wasn't speaking as the don right now, but as a father concerned for his own child.
Joey squared his shoulders and stuck out his jaw as if daring anyone to say he didn’t deserve a place at our table. "Is this not my family as well? My mate and children are safely upstairs and under the protection of our best men. I will cuddle my babies and kiss my mate later. And I will do this after we have answers and a name for who shot the bullet that hit my mate. Or at the very least find news of our poor Pavlo. Tony knows this and he approves."
My father lifted a brow. "Tony knows and approves or… he simply understands his mate’s needs? There is a difference, Josef."
Before Joey could respond, the office door opened and one of our guards, Max, poked his head in. "Forgive me, sir. I hate to interrupt but there's been a disturbance at the front gates."
We rose as one, already pulling our guns. We were past ready for some action. Vasily's nostrils flared. "Is it another family, Max? How many men are we talking here? We can have one of the guys grab more ammo from the private storage if we don't have enough on hand."
Max had an odd look on his face that made me wonder if he was befuddled or constipated as he held up a hand. "No, it’s nothing like that. And you might want to put away the hardware. It isn't any of the families and I don't think the little dude is packing. Since he's naked, I mean. And I really don't want to think about where he'd have a pocket pistol stashed."
"What is this nonsense of which you speak?" My father strode forward, pulling the door open wider. He seemed more confused than truly angry as he continued questioning Max. Hell, Pops was probably glad for the opportunity to act on something at all right now. "Why are you interrupting us with news of a naked man at our gates? Is this not the job I pay you men to handle?"
Max stepped out into the hall, walking at my father's side as he led us down the hall to the guard's office where a series of screens showed everything happening around the property from different camera angles. A warped version of a round face with big brown eyes and a strangely cute overbite was peering directly at the camera. He was close enough that I could see a scattering of freckles across his cheeks.
"See for yourself, sir. He looks like a little speed freak or something, doesn't he? I was going to run him off or send one of the men to handle it and tell him to leave. But when I turned up the audio and heard what he was saying, I knew I needed to get you at once. Here, listen for yourself." Max flipped a switch and we could hear the guy's anxious pleas for someone to help him save Pavlo.
As soon as we heard Pavlo’s name, my brothers and I ran for the front door like the Keystone cops, nearly tripping over each other in our rush. Except for River. I couldn’t help but notice that he looked kinda cool, casually whipping the chain free of his belt loops without missing a step or letting any of us bumble into him.
Boris had his hand on the door handle when my father's voice rang out from behind us. "Nyet! Do not open that door yet. I know we are worried about Pavlo and have been desperate for news. But perhaps we can have a bit of decorum, yes? Be the men I raised you to be rather than a pack of ruffians who go running into the night without an action plan."
Vasily looked embarrassed as he glanced up at the ceiling and shook his head. He heaved a sigh and looked around at each of us. "Our father is correct, brothers. We were being rash in our reaction. Just because the man in the camera looks like some random nut job with information we need does not mean this isn't a trap. We forget that our father was the intended target in today's shooting." He turned to Pops. "What would you have us do, sir?"
Our father looked every bit the don as he graciously inclined his head toward Vasily before responding. "Max has assured me the men on the roof and at the perimeters are watching with their weapons at the ready. Max? Is there anything you can add before we open the door?"
Max shook his head. "Not really, sir. But if it's a trap, it's a damn good one because no strange cars have approached. This man appeared from nowhere, so we assume he shifted and arrived on foot."
Pops seemed amused, although anyone outside of the immediate family wouldn't have known it by his poker face. "That seems a fair assumption, Max, given that the young man is missing his clothing. Very well, let us go. Keep your guns ready and be prepared for anything. But just in case he is truly innocent and has come with news of Pavlo… perhaps we should try not to frighten him?"
When Boris opened the door, River and Vasily were the first to head out. As we all walked toward the gate, I wanted to crack up when I realized how funny we must look. A bunch of large men packing heat—and one possibly feral omega loosely swinging a chain at his side—heading out en masse to question a small naked man who was stuck on the other side of our wrought iron gates and couldn’t even get on the property unless we allowed it.
The little dude was still rambling into the camera as we approached. He stopped chattering, his head tilted to the side as he wrinkled his nose and squinted to see us in the dark. He gulped when we emerged from the dark into the light that bathed the general gate area of our compound. We were still far enough away that I couldn't scent what his animal might be, but based on the way he moved, I was guessing it was a small woodland creature like a squirrel or a chipmunk. I had to grin when he started rambling.
"Oh, dear. You are really family. As in the Godfather type of family, not traditional family. Although you're obviously a traditional family, too. Sheesh, I’m dumb. Please don't shoot me! I'm too young to die. Did you know that the cat Marlon Brando is holding in the opening scene of The Godfather was a stray that Francis Ford Coppola found on the Paramount lot? It wasn't even originally planned in the script for the cat to be there. Not for the stray to be on the lot, that is, but for Brando to be holding it."
He paused and stared at us in sheer terror as we neared the gate. I took another step and got smacked in the face by the most amazing scent ever to hit my nose. It wasn't the fresh pine or the hint of cinnamon that grabbed me by the balls… No. It was something much more. It was… Mate.