“Brett! Brett! Brett!”
The twins came barreling down the hall, not stopping until they’d latched onto both our legs, forming a big group hug in the middle of the doorway.
“Let’s move this inside, yeah?” Brett asked softly, finally pulling from our little huddle and guiding us into the living room before shutting and locking the door behind him.
“W-what’s going on out there?” I asked, wringing my hands nervously in front of me.
“A bunch of apartments were broken into tonight. One of the men drew a gun on the burglars and fired. Luckily, no one was seriously hurt. Stupid fu—I mean…uh, the police arrested three teenage boys for the break ins. Apparently, they thought it’d be funny to take a dare from some of their buddies at school. Now two are in the back of squad cars and the other is on the way to the hospital to have bullet removed from his leg.
“Oh, God,” I gasped, covering my mouth with my hands as Brett stood from the couch.
“I need to you pack a bag for you and the kids. Just enough to get you through tonight and tomorrow. I’ll bring you back for the rest of it later.”
Um…what?
My brain must have still been rattled from my Wild West wakeup call because he wasn’t making a damn bit of sense.
“Why do we need to pack?”
The well, duh expression he wore kind of made me want to punch him a little bit. “Y’all aren’t staying here, Kenzie. Four apartments were broken into and someone was shot two doors down from you! You’re moving in with me.”
I choked on a laugh at the same time the twins started jumping up and down screaming “YAY! Sleepover!” at the top of their lungs. They took off to their room, no doubt to pack their own bags, before I could get a word out.
“Are you kidding,” I hissed out once the kids were out of earshot. “We aren’t staying with you!”
His chin lifted and put his hands on his trim hips. “No use arguing, beauty. I’m not leaving here without you and those kids. It’s not safe.”
“Oh, my god! It was one incident. It’s not like this place is the epicenter of an underground crime ring. This isn’t Breaking Bad, Brett. It’s a perfectly safe complex.”
“A perfectly safe complex with a few additional bullet holes,” he countered. “Now, pack your shit.”
“No,” I answered defiantly as I crossed my arms under my chest, immediately realizing my mistake when Brett’s full attention zeroed in on my unrestrained boobs. “Hey! Stop looking at them!” I shouted, smacking him in the arm as hard as I could.
“Feel free not to pack a bra, babe. Won’t get any complaints from me.”
“We. Are. Not. Moving. In. With. You,” I sounded out every syllable, convinced he must have been a little slow.
“All packed!” Cameron yelled as he and Callie ran back into the living room, their cartoon character rolling suitcases dragging behind them.
“See,” Brett said with a smile as he pointed at the twins. “At least they know what’s good for them. You know, I expected more cooperation from the adult of the household. It’s a sad, sad day when five-year-olds listen better.”
My eyes rolled dramatically at his pathetic lecture. “I can guarantee those suitcases are full of nothing but toys.”
Brett looked over at Cameron for confirmation that his bulging bag was full of stuffed animals and action figures, getting a proud, “Yep!” from my son.
“Told you,” I gloated.
Brett’s eyes narrowed as he stepped close to me, his joking demeanor from moments ago gone. I could see the seriousness radiating through his gaze. “I’m not playing a game here, baby. I really don’t like the idea of you and the twins staying here one second longer than you already have. And by really don’t like it,” he whispered for my ears only, “I mean I can’t fucking stand it. The only way I’m getting a halfway decent night’s sleep is if I know for certain that y’all are safe. And the only way I’ll know that is if you’re under my roof. Now, please, for the love of all that’s fucking holy, will you please stop arguing and just go pack a damn bag?”
Well, when he put it like that how was I supposed to argue? I couldn’t.
“Fine.” I threw my hands up in a defeated huff. “I’ll go pack, but I’m packing every bra I own a.s.s.h.o.l.e.”
I stomped away to the sound of Brett’s laughter, making sure he didn’t see my smile as I headed to the bedroom and he tried to wrangle Cam and Callie into packing something a little more useful.
It was easy for Kenzie to put on a brave front around me when there was a way for her to keep me at a distance, but having lived in my house for the past week, there were certain things she couldn’t hide. Things that made me want to find the fuckers who had hurt her in the past and pound the ever loving shit out of them. What was worse, I was beginning to see things in the twins’ actions that made me downright murderous.