The Art of You

Twice this morning, Constantine had stopped me from both running my mouth and running off. He’d literally swept me into the air and held me up to prevent me from telling off the governor for being a selfish bastard.

Constantine had refused to let me go while he’d told Ashford, “You better get the hell off our property before I change my mind and let my sister have the word she so desperately wants to.”

Hudson had shifted to the side, looking up at me on the deck while Constantine had prevented me from losing my control.

Standing alongside us, Enzo had issued a quick, “I’ll catch another ride to the city,” to the governor. Then he’d muttered, “Not a good idea for us to be in such a small space together. I want to hit the fucker, too.”

Once Governor Ashford had left, Hudson quietly killed me, abruptly walking off alone toward the beach.

I’d struggled in my brother’s hold trying to go after Hudson, but he wouldn’t let me go, telling me to give Hudson space. The man didn’t need space, he needed a hug.

It’d been fifteen minutes since Hudson and his father had taken off in two different directions, and while I was glad the governor was gone, I was losing my patience waiting for Hudson’s return.

Thankfully, Constantine had finally let go of me, but only to go after Hudson himself. He’d assigned Alessandro and Enzo to babysit me. The only time one of my overprotective bodyguards left the deck was to get me a blanket, noticing me shivering from the cold.

“He’ll be fine.” Enzo came up next to me where I was hunched over the railing, eyeing the beach. “He needs a minute.”

“It’s been over fifteen,” I sputtered, shaking beneath the blanket even though I was no longer cold. These were anxiety-induced chills, which were the worst.

“If I were him, I’d need all day,” Alessandro said from behind me, and I turned to glare at him as he looked up from his phone. “What’d I say?” He shrugged, not realizing his words didn’t help.

“He’s back.” Enzo guided me around to face the steps, but the only “he” I could see was Constantine.

“Where’s Hudson?” I lost hold of the blanket, rushing toward my brother as he slowly ascended the deck steps.

Constantine turned toward the beach, but Hudson was nowhere in sight. “He’s working the problem.”

“And that means?” I asked as he bent down and picked up the fallen blanket, offering it to me.

When I didn’t accept it, he lifted his chin as a simple request to take it or else. That “or else” meant he would keep his information to himself and order me inside. “So stubborn. You two are a pair, I swear,” he grumbled when I’d yet to relent. “He needs time to think. To confront his demons. He knows we have his back, working the problem here with what we’ve learned this morning, while he does that.” He walked behind me and set the blanket over my shoulders.

“I don’t want him doing that alone.” I didn’t attempt to make a run for it. Not yet, at least. I had to be smart. Three to one right now. Odds weren’t in my favor.

“You have to let him.” Enzo had Constantine’s back on this, dang it.

I frowned and faced the three of them while keeping myself bundled inside the warmth of the blanket. “He’s a Teamguy, not a lone wolf, remember?”

“He has us, and he knows that.” Constantine stood tall, like the tower of strength he truly was for our family. “But shit is about to hit the fan. We’re going to have to get involved in the affairs of the CIA whether they like it or not, and that means we’ll need help from Falcon Falls. I don’t like this, trust me, but it has to be done.”

“Wait, what are you talking about?”

The blanket started to slip, and Constantine didn’t miss a beat, righting it back in place as he reminded me, “Falcon Falls has an in with POTUS and the director of the CIA. Whoever is spearheading this operation against this terrorist cell must be using a back door to do it. Information isn’t being shared between agencies, that much is obvious, and I have to believe it’s on purpose to prevent both the President and director from thwarting their efforts. That tells me this is personal.”

His words flew over my head, and I blamed the slow processing rate of my brain squarely on the fact I never had coffee. “Translate, please. Remember, I speak Italian, not Greek.”

Constantine angled his head and let go of a deep breath. “My guess is at some point those terrorists are the ones who inadvertently”—he narrowed his eyes as if hating what he was about to say next—“woke the sleeping giant. And somehow that connects to the governor or us. Maybe both.”

My shoulders dropped dramatically when my brother’s words clicked in place.

“We need Hudson at the top of his game before we figure out our next steps on how to proceed. All I know is we have to get ahead of the storm here before it swallows us whole.” Those bone-chilling words from my brother gutted me. “If something goes wrong, Hudson will blame himself for it, and you know that. Right or wrong, he will. Just like he feels responsible for what happened fifteen years ago.”

The last thing in the world I wanted was for Hudson to bear the burden of more guilt he didn’t deserve.

“So, give him time. We have plenty to do in the meantime.” Constantine gestured in the direction of the helipad and turned toward Enzo. “I’ve got our pilot heading here now. He’ll take you to the city so you can help sober up our delivery guy. Show him photos of every possible suspect again when he’s clean. From the woman across the street’s date to the governor himself. Leave no one out.”

Enzo nodded at the orders.

“I’ll keep working on hacking that Insta profile that posted the video footage that must have come from the CCTV cameras at the party, as well,” Alessandro remarked.

I forgot he’d mentioned that to me before the governor had arrived.

“I’ll update Adelina on what we know over a secure line and have her be our liaison with Falcon if she’s up for it,” Constantine offered. “If not, Enzo will need to call Jesse McAdams for an assist.”

I pivoted around toward the beach, hating Hudson was out there by himself. “Is it safe for him to be alone and unarmed? What if someone’s watching us?” I looked up at the sky, searching for a drone that wasn’t there, because it sure as heck felt like we were under a microscope.

“I already texted two of our guys to follow him.”

Thank God. I clutched the blanket tighter, shivering again, but grateful Constantine had provided me with the right answer.

My brothers put their silent communication skills to work. Before I knew it, Alessandro was heading inside with Enzo following behind him.

So, you want a word with me alone, huh?

Once it was just the two of us, and the sniper on the roof of course, Constantine closed the space between us.

I scrunched my nose with displeasure. “Another lecture coming?”

“No, but will you accept an apology?”

The blanket fell from my shoulders, but he had fast hands, quickly reaching out to fix it.

“You want to do this now, even with everything going on?” I was fine with postponing talking about him walking in on us in bed until February 30th.

“I do. I need your head clear, same as Hudson’s.”

I supposed he had a point. “What do you want to apologize for?”

“Well, a lot of things, but let’s start with this morning.” His jaw shifted to the side, clearly uncomfortable with bringing up the fact Hudson had been on top of me. “Then rewind to what I said to you yesterday. I didn’t know all the facts, and I gave you bad advice.” He exhaled heavily, stalling. “I’m not sorry for running off all the dickheads you dated in the past, though.” He shrugged. “They weren’t right for you, and you know it.”

Okay, what are you getting at? My heart was flying. Like right up into my ears now. I could barely hear the sounds of the waves in the distance anymore.

“Bianca never felt comfortable confiding in me about who she loved and⁠—”

“She didn’t tell any of us.” I had to stop him right there. I’d had the same guilty thoughts, and I wasn’t going to let him go to that dark place. Nope. No way. “I know where you’re going with this, but the choice she made to keep us in the dark is not on you. Or me.”

It took me a long time and tons of therapy to accept that after learning that Bianca had been in love with someone forbidden. I hadn’t realized Constantine had been simmering in the same thoughts, but without an outlet to help him face the truth.

“Look at me.” My turn to play the parent between us siblings. I reached for his forearm, letting the blanket fall as I took a lesson from Hudson’s book on punctuating words for maximum effect. “Not. Your. Fault.”

“I don’t want to push you away like I did her. I was overprotective with the men in her life, too. You know it, don’t argue with me. I’m sure she vented to you a time or two about me, even if you were only a teenager.” He refused to meet my eyes, his accent thickening more than normal as he continued. “And I’ve unintentionally been pushing you away by not letting you fall and get back up on your own.”

I sighed while fighting back tears. “You and Alessandro. Just big teddy bears. Terrifying ones when it comes to bad guys, but . . .”

I pulled my brother in for a hug, since he’d never admit he needed one. He was always the giver of advice and hugs, never asking for anything in return. I was beginning to wonder if he truly didn’t know how to ask. “You’re not pushing me away, I promise.”

“Well, I’m going to try and do better. And if Hudson is who you want to be with, I won’t stand in the way. In fact,” he said while pulling back to look at me, “I’d happily support you two if you were to ever do the whole, uh, thing.”

I blinked back tears. “The thing, huh?”

He scowled, and it was adorable. “The wedding thing. I forgot English for a second.”

“Sure you did,” I said with a chuckle, unable to hold it in. “You tell Hudson this?”

He let go of me and stepped back, a hand resting on the nape of his neck. “I did.”

This was the definition of leaf turning. Who’d have thought our case would result in something good. “You threaten him with bodily harm if he breaks my heart?” I challenged, checking to see if he really was prepared to flip the page.

The side of his lip lifted. “No need.” His mouth became a hard flat line a moment later, though. “But do I need to have a word with your ex? Don’t think I forgot about that.”

I hung my head. “No words needed. Or arms broken. Or anything, okay?”

“Then look me in the eyes and tell me he never laid a hand on you.” There was the other bear, the non-cuddly one. The one that would rip a man apart for hurting me.

“I can’t do that,” I whispered. “But I will ask you to trust me when I say Pablo needs help, not an ass kicking, and he’s getting it now in rehab.”

My brother was eerily quiet, which forced me to search out his eyes again.

“You’re much more forgiving than me,” he said in a low voice. “I’ll think about showing mercy. Best I can offer right now.”

“I’ll take it,” I agreed, following his gaze toward the steps to see my guy there.

Hudson slowly finished walking up to us, never losing hold of my eyes in the process.

“I’ll, uh, give you two a chance to talk,” Constantine offered.

“No, stay.” Hudson’s brows drew together, and he pulled his phone from his pocket.

“What’s wrong?” I let go of the blanket and started for him.

“Alfie messaged,” he shared, staring at his phone. “He says we need to talk. In person.”

I reached for his arm. “He say why?”

His blue eyes landed on mine as he revealed in a surprisingly steady voice, “Yeah. He said he has my Glock if I’d like it back.”

“I’m sorry, what?” My thoughts were officially scattered all over the place, and I wasn’t sure how to assemble them and draw a conclusion.

“I’m thinking that means he was the third guy there the night of the accident.” Hudson turned his attention to Constantine, his shoulders collapsing. “He’s our shooter.”