In contrast, his wife was much more reserved. She stood next to him with a restraining hand lightly on his arm, her expression more curious. Deidra Genovese had been a model, once upon a time, and it showed even now in her bearing. She was undoubtedly who her children got their height from, standing a few inches taller than her husband, and the tasteful dark-blue evening gown set off her platinum blonde hair in a very studied way. Frankly, she intimidated the hell out of Kyou.
Brannigan introduced them in a steady tone, hand lingering on Kyou’s back. “Papà, Mom, this is Kyou. Kyou, I’m sure you already know my parents, Mattias and Deidra.”
“That I do.” Kyou appreciated the introduction regardless, as it served as a semi ice-breaker. He sucked in a breath and faced Mattias head-on. He stood at the same eye level, which perversely made it harder to do. “I’ve been waiting thirty years to say this to you. Thank you.” He felt the words burning in his chest, but said aloud, they didn’t impart all the emotion he felt. Kyou had dreamed of this moment sometimes, and the reality felt almost surreal now that he was in it. He’d prepared a short speech in his head, something impactful, but now that he was here, it vanished without a trace. All he could do was repeat those pitifully inadequate words, voice turned husky under the force of his emotion. “Thank you.”
Tears stood in Mattias’ eyes. He shook off his wife’s hand and grabbed Kyou up in a firm grip. Mattias kissed both cheeks, moving Kyou physically to do this like he was a doll, then hugged him hard. “Figliolo, you’ve no idea! I’ve wanted to see you for so long.” He pulled back, kissed both of Kyou’s cheeks again, then hugged him even harder, rocking him a little back and forth.
Kyou startled and felt awkward for a second. He was not used to hugs. Or men kissing his cheeks. But it strangely made him happy? Tentatively, he put his own arms around the man’s shoulders. Actually, this was nice. Strange, but nice. Was this what it was like, to be embraced by a father figure?
Hell, no wonder Remi was constantly ambushing them all for hugs.
“You,” Mattias said huskily against his shoulder, “are the first child I tried to save.”
Kyou startled all over again. “I am?!”
Drawing back, Mattias kept his hands on Kyou’s shoulders. There was nostalgia there, a memory long past lived. “When I chose to straighten out my life, I did so for the sake of my own children and beautiful wife. I didn’t want a life of violence for them. I thought, what better way to prove my good intentions, to atone for my many sins, than by trying to safeguard the next generation? But I didn’t know where to start. I went to the nearest foster agency, but they wouldn’t have anything to do with me. They didn’t trust me. It was a problem no matter where I went in Boston. So I hired an advocate for me, someone who would help me find children who needed help. He spent two weeks looking before he brought me the first case. Colorado.”
“Colorado Springs,” Kyou confirmed hoarsely. His mind whirled. He’d always wondered why someone from Boston had started in Colorado, but none of the records he was able to access had given any hint. It was prejudice? That’s what had driven Mattias so far out?
“My advocate found a case that seemed hopeless and made the appointment for me with the social services employee in charge of the case. The woman I met with was tired, so exhausted trying to manage so many cases with such little resources. I sat there in her cluttered office, offering her whatever she needed. I’m not sure if she believed me. I think she assumed I didn’t understand the scope of that promise. It was urgent, as you were very sick, in the hospital with no money for the surgeries you needed. She was ready to just give in and drink, I think, she was so stressed out from the situation. I told her I’d be wholly responsible for your medical bills. And she put me to the test—she agreed. I went straight to the hospital with her, talked to the many doctors and surgeons about you, and we came up with a treatment plan.”
Mattias gave a soft, watery chuckle. “They even let me hold you for a few minutes. You were so tiny and still, it unnerved me. You felt so fragile. You were only six pounds.”
Kyou did another double take. He’d had no idea the man had actually met him personally. He’d been held as a child?
“When Bran relayed to me what you’d said, that I’d saved your life, I kept casting my mind about. Who could it possibly be? I’d helped so many, but few of them were life-altering. You crossed my mind more than once, but I’d lost all track of you when you turned eighteen. It’s like you just vanished.”
“I basically did.” Kyou still reeled at this revelation. He felt like sake was definitely in order. Hell, he’d make do with wine at this point. Mattias’s eyes roved over his face like he couldn’t quite believe what his own eyes reported. Kyou found himself speaking without any real intent of revealing everything. “My last foster home, the parents were both engineers. They let me play with their computers, even build one from spare parts lying around. I learned a lot from them. I even worked summers at their company and picked up more. By the time I was eighteen, I’d been hacking here and there, and I was just good enough to be dangerous. In retrospect, I jumped the gun rather badly, but I went dark at that point. I wanted to repay you. I wanted to start building my own rep. I started keeping tabs on Bran”—he turned and cast a quick smile at the hovering Isabella who was watching this play out with wide eyes—“and Isabella. I couldn’t do much at that point, but I wanted to make sure your family was doing alright.”
“You started watching me at eighteen?” Brannigan demanded, tone rising with incredulity.
Kyou waffled a hand back and forth. “Not like now. I was just trying to keep tabs on you in a general sense. I had no idea what I could do to repay the favor at that point. And I wasn’t exactly top grade at eighteen. But by twenty-two, I’d gotten good enough to do a decent job. I based myself in Chicago. For reasons. That’s about the time when you started making really stupid decisions.”
It took a moment, then Brannigan lit up in remembrance. With a fond smile, he said, “Ah, yes. The Burton Project.”
“I lost hair over that hot mess express, so you can wipe that smile right off your face.” Kyou glared at him. A tic tried to develop at the corner of his eye just from the memory of that. “At that point, I realized that my intention to safeguard all of you had just become a monumental task, because this idiot likes to play with fire.”
Brannigan pressed in for a quick kiss. “Love you, caro.”
“You’re truly terrible and I do not know why I put up with you.” Kyou rolled his eyes to cover his embarrassment. Brannigan really didn’t think anything of being affectionate in front of an audience.
Someone cleared their throat from the doorway. “Dinner is served.”
Deidra responded, “Oh, thank you, Charles.”
Had Kyou somehow fallen into an old black and white movie? It would explain a lot.
With a graceful wave of the hand, Deidra said, “Shall we?”
Kyou followed them out. Brannigan took his hand for the short trip to the dining room, giving him an arch look as if to say, See? It was all fine.
Oddly enough, it did seem to be.
Dinner progressed far more smoothly than Kyou had feared and better than he had hoped. After they ate, they lingered around the table, conversation flowing freely. Kyou sat between Brannigan and Mattias, with Mattias asking Kyou one question after the next with absolutely no sign of slowing down.