Unhinged by Onley James
Adam slouched in one of his father’s Brabbu dining chairs, knife in hand, casually twisting the point into his fingertip as he eyed his brothers warily. There were only three of them for the time being. At least Atticus hadn’t assembled all the Avengers for his little intervention. His father was also absent, which meant this was a non-sanctioned scolding. That was good to know. Well, maybe.
Might as well rip off the Band-Aid. “So, what is it that was important enough for you to call me to Dad’s house in the dead of night?”
Atticus ran a hand through his hair, shooting a look at August, like he expected him to be the one to handle Adam. Adam didn’t know why they always thought he needed handling.
August arched a brow, shrugging one shoulder. “Don’t look at me. This is your party.”
Atticus gave a low grunt of frustration, snagging his phone from in front of him and tapping a few keys before sliding it across the large table to Adam. He picked up the phone and saw several pictures of him and Noah at the diner eating breakfast. “Are you having me followed?”
“No, dumbass. Those are screenshots. They’re all over the internet,” Atticus snapped.
“Okay. So, what?” Adam asked. “You called me here at one in the morning because I had breakfast?”
“You’re being obtuse,” August chided. “It's not the meal we object to, it's the company you’re keeping.”
Adam’s nostrils flared. “Noah?”
Atticus removed his glasses, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Yes, Noah.”
“Why? What the fuck do you care who I date?”
“Date!” Atticus shouted. “You can’t be this stupid.”
“I think you underestimate him,” August said, amused by his brother’s fury.
Archer ran his hands over his face. He clearly was just coming off yet another bender. He had three days of stubble on his chin and his dark brown hair stood on end. The buttons of his white shirt were mismatched. “We care because you’re dating the son of one of your victims. You have to see that’s a bad idea.”
“Why?” Adam asked, flouncing back in his chair.
“It’s a six degrees of separation thing,” Archer explained. “People are going to wonder why a spoiled rich kid is dating trailer trash.”
Adam flicked his gaze to Archer. “Don’t call him that,” he warned.
“Christ. He likes this kid,” Archer muttered.
“Yeah. I don’t have to hide who I am from him. He knows I’m a killer. It’s just…easy with him.”
Atticus looked like he was choking on a golf ball. “Has it not occurred to you that he’s setting you up?”
Adam scoffed. “What? No, he’s not. You’re fucking paranoid.”
“The foundation of this family was forged from a thousand corpses. Of course, we’re paranoid. That’s how we’re able to do what we do,” August reminded him.
Adam could feel his pulse bounding in his veins. His fury bubbled just below the surface, tempered only by the knowledge that, if they really had a leg to stand on, Atticus would have called their father.
“Noah had his chance to get his revenge. He stuck a gun in my face. He wanted to kill me. When I showed him who his father really was, he instantly backed down. He doesn’t want to ruin us. He just likes being with me. Why is that so hard to believe?”
Atticus sighed. “How is he going to feel when he realizes your whole life is a fraud? That you’re not this charming playboy supermodel?”
“He knows. I don’t have to pretend around him. He knows exactly who and what I am and he accepts me.”
Atticus darted his gaze to August, aggressively gesturing to Adam in a do something with him gesture.
August shook his head. “Adam, you’re putting us all in danger by associating with this boy.”
“Atticus almost married that psycho Kendra, and none of you batted an eye at that train wreck,” Adam snapped.
“She didn’t know about our secrets,” Archer said, sounding bored.
Adam could feel his anger rising. “Exactly. If she had, she would have used it to drain our family dry. She was an absolute fucking nightmare. Noah doesn’t want anything from us. Besides, if you’re so concerned he’s going to go run and tell the world, wouldn’t the more prudent move be to keep him close, not alienate him further?”
“Adam, you’re being childish,” Atticus said.
Adam shot a glare in Atticus’s direction. “Why are you even here? Shouldn’t you be synthesizing a protein or growing ears on the back of rats or something? Why do you care who or what I’m doing all of a sudden?”
“I care for the same reason we all do. There are a million guys you can stick your dick into—what is your deal with this one? Is this just another cry for attention? Haven’t you gotten enough?”
Adam sent the knife in his hand sailing towards Atticus, feeling some satisfaction at the way his brother flinched when it embedded into the wall just behind his head.
Atticus blew a breath out of his nose. “There. That right there is what I’m talking about. You’re almost thirty years old. Stop acting like a spoiled brat.”
Adam leaned forward. “I’m twenty-seven and, yes, I am an adult. As an adult, I can stick my dick in whoever I want.”
“So, you are fucking him? The child of the man you murdered?” Archer asked.
“Don’t say it like that. He’s twenty-one.” I think.
“He’s setting you up,” August said again, voice almost completely devoid of emotion.
“No. He’s not. I’ve been following him for weeks. He had the chance to kill me and he never took it.”
“Because you decided to show him evidence that his father was a child molester,” Atticus said, fuming.
“What should I have done, Atticus? Let him kill me? Kill him? That goes against our code. It’s not Noah’s fault he was raised by a sick fuck like Wayne Holt. He was one of his victims, too, you know.”
“So, what?” August asked.
Adam froze. “So, what?”
“Yeah, so, what? What do you care if he had a shitty childhood? I know we’ve all been taught to act as if we have emotions, but you aren’t pretending. So, what’s happening here?”
“What do you care? I like him. I like being with him.”
“Calliope says she sent you that information two weeks ago. Why are you fighting this hard for a guy you don’t know?”
“Because I do know him. And he knows me. In all the ways that matter.”
“Oh, Christ,” August muttered. “I might have expected this Romeo and Juliet bullshit from Avi or Asa, but not you.”
Adam gripped tightly to the one nerve he had left, spitting, “Oh, fuck you, August.”
“Lower your voice,” August cautioned, leaning back in his seat. “The closer you get to him, the worse it's going to be when you have to let him go. End it. Now. Because if you don’t, we’ll have to tell Dad, and I don’t think you’ll like how he chooses to end it.”
Adam shoved his chair away from the table, the feet scraping loudly over the marble floor. “Go ahead. Tell Dad. And while you’re at it, tell him this. I’m keeping Noah. He’s mine.”
“He’s not a toy. He’s a human being,” Archer muttered.
His rage took hold, his hands fisted at his sides. “He’s mine. I won’t give him up. Don’t push me on this or I swear to fucking God, I’ll burn it all down. Do you hear me? If you make me choose, I’ll choose him.”
“You don’t even know him, Adam. And you don’t get to make these decisions for all of us.”
Adam stalked towards Atticus, snatching his knife from the wall before storming out of the room. He walked through the kitchen to the garage, pulling a set of keys from the array on the board, choosing his father’s Audi R8 before jamming his finger on the button to retract the garage door. As soon as he dropped into the leather seat, he turned the engine over. It purred like a kitten.
He threw the car in reverse and slammed his foot on the gas, only seeing the older man behind him at the last possible moment. The breaks screeched as the car’s bumper stopped a hair's breadth away from his kneecaps. Adam’s heart jackhammered behind his ribcage as he watched his father approach the driver’s side, using a single finger to indicate he needed to roll down the window.
As always, his father’s voice was deceptively calm. “Adam.”
“Dad.”
He sighed. “Why are you trying to run me down at midnight with my own car?”
“I-I wasn’t. I just needed to clear my head, and I didn’t want to walk.”
“I’m quite certain I paid for a rather expensive BMW not six months ago. Please, don’t tell me you totaled it already.”
“No. I just wanted the R8. I need to break the law.”
His father chuckled. “Who pissed you off this time? Archer? Atticus? It couldn’t have been August. Avi and Asa aren’t even in town. Aiden doesn’t talk enough to piss you off. So, who was it?”
“Nobody. I just need to think.”
“You can’t lie to me, you know. I’m the one who taught you how. I know all your tells.”
Adam blew a breath out through his nose. “They were staging an intervention.”
“And why is that?”
“Because they don’t like my new boyfriend.”
His father gave a sage nod. “The Holt boy.”
Adam’s gaze went wide. “You know?”
“I know everything my boys get up to. It’s my job,” his father said. “How much have you told him?”
“He already knew a lot of it. But I filled in some blanks for him,” Adam admitted. He’d never been able to lie to his father, not even when he was little. It was hard to lie to somebody who seemed to love you unconditionally. No matter how unlovable you were.
“Do you think that was the wisest course of action?”
Adam nodded. “You tell us to trust our instincts. That’s what I did. Instinctively, I know Noah would never betray me,” he said. “Or you.”
“This could complicate things for the whole family if it goes sideways,” his father cautioned.
“I’m not giving him up,” Adam said defiantly. “I told them and I’m telling you. Noah’s mine. I choose him.”
His father chuckled. “Relax, Adam. I’m not going to tell you to stop seeing him. But he is your responsibility. The more he knows, the more of a liability he becomes. If he betrays us, the consequences will be…dire.”
The tone in his father’s voice sent an icy chill along his spine. “He wouldn’t do that. Not to me. Not to anybody. He’s…a good person.”
His father studied him for a long moment. “Alright. I’ll talk to your brothers.”
“They’re going to be pissed,” Adam warned.
“Why’s that?”
“Because as much as Atticus likes to say he’s your favorite, they really think I am.”
Once more, his father gave a low chuckle. “They think? But you’re not?”
“No.”
His father crossed his arms over his chest, tilting his head. “You think I prefer any of my children over the other?”
Adam knew for a fact that his father had a favorite, but nobody talked about it. Aiden was his father’s favorite. He was the fourth adopted, before the murder twins, and his father had just always had a weird soft spot for him. Maybe it was because Aiden rarely talked while the rest of them never shut up. It was hard to say, but none of them dared state the obvious.
“No, Dad. I think you find us all equally annoying,” Adam lied smoothly.
His father gave a smile as fake as the one Adam returned. “Okay, go back to your boy. But remember what I said. He’s your responsibility now. I hope your instincts are good.”
Adam nodded before throwing the car back in reverse and slowly pulling out of the driveway. There was a lightness to him now that he had his father’s blessing. His brothers liked to huff and puff, but they’d never go against their dad. Ever.
Still, his father’s words wormed their way deeper into his head. Noah was his responsibility. Adam didn’t think Noah would ever betray him or his family, but the deeper they dove into Noah’s past, the more dangerous it became for him and, by extension, all of them. They needed to get to the bottom of Wayne Holt’s suspected pedophile ring and get Noah the justice he’d been denied.
But not tonight. Tonight, Noah was waiting for him. Adam’s cock twitched at the thought of Noah warm and willing in his bed. He’d been so fucking good for him earlier. So responsive. Could he push him further? Harder? How dark did Noah’s fantasies get? Adam was eager to find out.
