Trying to Kill Me

I curled back up with Alex and he pulled me tight against him. “So what do we need to talk about?” he asked.
I sighed. “Did you talk with my father or Dorian at all last night?”
Alex shook his head. “Not really, Dorian and Marco left after Dorian gave me a teary hug. They didn’t explain.”
“Dorian came to say good-bye.” I could hear the sadness in my voice. “The Venatori want me dead. They’ve put a bounty on my head.”
“Just fucking great,” Alex growled.
“Dorian gave me the beach house when he and Marco got married. The Venatori don’t know I have it. He told me to stay here.”
Alex laughed. “As if that were something you would do at all.”
I sighed. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s who you are. I know even if I asked you wouldn’t stay here.”
“I would if you asked,” I said softly.
Alex growled. He pushed me out of his lap and sighed. “I’m not asking.” I sat on the edge of the lounge chair shaking. I wasn’t cold and it wasn’t exactly fear, I couldn’t describe what I was feeling and that was the hardest part of it all. Alex stood up and ran his fingers across my shoulders as he walked in front of me and held out his hands for me to take. Which I did and he helped me up.
It was such a great feeling looking Alex straight in the eyes without looking up or down or having to do anything in particular. I had a smile on my lips and it made Alex smile a little more. “We’ll deal with it when we get back. Right now, we are on vacation.”
“That’s not practical.” I grinned.
“I’m not practical,” Alex said. “Vacation. Then Death threats. The party might have been a bad idea, but we’ll deal with it. Now you and me need a nap.”
Our nap wasn’t exactly a nap. Alex had me laid out on the bed and naked within seconds of being inside our room. His thoughts were very vivid in my head. And I was more than happy to let Alex ‘own’ me for some alone time.
Not as if anyone noticed we were gone. After we had a real nap, Alex and I found everyone doing mostly what they had been with the exception of Jae and Seraph who were outside our room. Neither one of them made any comments, and their thoughts were purely on the body guarding things. They were sorta boring when it came to body guards. At least Vin would crack a joke.
Alex must have agreed. “You guys need to be more friendly. Less stoic body guard. You’re boring your golden boy.”
“He’s not our golden boy, he’s our charge,” Jae said. There was no smirk, no laughter, nothing. He was dead serious.
I sighed. “I guess that’s what happens when you pay mercenaries to be my body guard.” I poked the jab at Alex and he gave me that look that said shut up but he didn’t say anything. I stuck my tongue out at him. I looked at the bodyguards. “If you guys are going to stick around, you need to blend in more. You look like bodyguards.”
“What are we supposed to look like?” Seraph asked.
“I don’t know. But you’re on vacation too.”
“We aren’t,” Jae said and Seraph nodded.
I sighed. “Fine. Be stiff bodyguards and no fun. Enjoy your boredom.” I walked away from them pulling Alex along with me, I knew they’d follow without question. They went where I did.
We reached the kitchen and the smell of food made my stomach rumble. Alex just rolled his eyes as he made his way to the living space where the elder twins were playing video games. He sat down in the middle of them and stole Laker’s controller and took over. Laker pushed Alex into Rider and the cars on screen crashed, but they just all laughed. I loved that Alex got along with my brothers.
I sat down at the island and piled food on my plate.
Seraph sat down next to me and did the same. “I thought you were on duty?”
She looked at me and then frowned. The small woman stood up and glared at me then took up her post. I sighed. “You can’t be lenient with some things, and not with others Seraph. That goes for you too Jae. I don’t care if you eat with us, or have fun with us I want you to. You are going to be around a lot. Be part of the family, or don’t, but don’t mix it up. It’s your choice. I can’t handle the inconsistency.”
Jae laughed. “So as usual it’s all about what makes you comfortable. Everyone caters to what you need.”
I stood up and turned on the fucking dragon who was pissing me off and I felt my power flare more than usual and he dropped his eyes. “You either are my bodyguard or you are not. You are either family or you are not. You can be both, and you can do both. Vin gets it, Ant got it, Ryan got it. You can’t pretend to be my friend one second and then be all stoic and resolute in your resolve to stand by my door while I’m being fucked by my boyfriend.”
“Husband,” Alex called from the peanut gallery to correct us. He was smirking but his eyes never left the television he was racing on.
“By my husband and not make a fucking joke. I can hear your fucking thoughts., I growled as I continued with what I had been saying before Alex’s interruption. “I can hear the conversation you were having before we left my room. No matter how fucking quiet you think you are being.”
They both paled at the accusation. They had both been commenting on our need to devour each other over and over again. “Well you do fuck like rabbits,” Jae said.
I grinned at him. “That’s better. Don’t hide behind your fucking ‘I’m a security guard’ bullshit. Be who you are, don’t be the person you think we want. Because all you are going to do is piss me off – specially now that I have part of Alex’s fucking telepathy.”
Alex laughed. “And pick up your fucking shit. I’m tired of cleaning up after you.”
Rider choked on his laughter. Alex actually slapped him on the back to try to help him recover. Laker was only blushing and trying hard to ignore us all. He was very not like us.
I picked up the plate Seraph had started serving herself. “I’m good with calling you Seraph. But pick what you want to be here. You can’t join me for a meal on duty and sit in the sun when I’m on vacation and then be a stick in the mud because you’re embarrassed by your thoughts and my actions.”
Laker added. “Because you are going to be all those things all the time other wise.”
“And he’d know. See how red he gets.” I grinned at my brother. “Lake learned a long time ago that I was going to be me, he needed to be him. And we get a long great.”
“No we don’t, you tease me.” He grinned.
“Do you want me to stop?” I asked.
He looked at me thoughtfully and then shook his head. “No. If you didn’t pick on me I’d think something was wrong and I’d be worried. I know you love me.”
“With all my heart man,” I said.
“Back at yah,” Laker said as he ripped the controller from Alex’s hands. “Him too.” He shouldered Alex with a grin. “But this is mine.”
Alex laughed. “He’s learning.”
I ate and we all watched the three gamers take turns racing the winner. Until everyone but me and Hunter were taking turns. It was how we spent the rest of the day.
At the end of the day, Rider had been declared racing champion much to Ant’s chagrin. And Rider was rubbing it in as we headed to our rooms to sleep. Tomorrow would be much like today – nothing but fun, sun and family.