Lock You Down (Rivers Brothers 2)

"He didn't even want the job!" Becca shrieked, running a hand through her long hair, making it fall a little messier than before. "He didn't want the job. And he laid there in bed with me night after fucking night listening to me talk about how much I wanted it. And he swooped in and he stole it from me. And then, the best part. You want to know the best part?"

"There is no good part to this story," Fiona said, choosing her words carefully. "But get it all out."

"The best part is he came home bragging about it like he wanted me to be happy for him."

The tears were flowing openly now. I didn't even know the girl, but I wanted to wrap her up in my arms.

I was pretty sure we'd all been screwed over by a guy at her age. I sure had. And it had felt like the whole world was collapsing around me.

"What do you think, Reagan?" Helen asked, grandma-bear eyes furious.

"It certainly seems like a ball-choppable offense to me."

"Penis chopping party!" Peyton declared, slamming a knife down hard on an innocent nearby green bean. "I'll bring the ball-less cock cookies. And we can drink Bloody Benjamins!"

"What the hell is a Bloody Benjamin?" Autumn asked.

"It's a Bloody Mary but we put some maraschino cherries in the glasses. You know. In homage to the chopped-off balls."

I was thrown off for a moment when none of the women moved to wrap up Becca, offer her words like "He's not worth it, you deserve better."

But I quickly saw that this group managed to make the tears dry up quickly with their gleeful talk of retribution they all knew would never take place.

Well, I thought so until I saw the Mallick man nodding weirdly. Tensely. Over and over for a second. His mouth was set to a hard line.

"I'll fix this," he said, a promise in his voice as he turned and charged out of the room.

"Oh, geez. Off he goes to rile up all the boys," Lea said, shaking her head.

"How did you leave things, babe?" Fiona asked, handing her daughter a paper towel to dry her eyes.

"I just stormed out. Well, I called him an asshole. Then I stormed out."

"Well," Fiona went on, smile positively wicked. "I think after dinner, we should round up all your uncles and father and maybe even some of your cousins, drive on over to your place, and help that dickhead move right the fuck out of your apartment."

"Do you have any of those wee-wee pads I gave you for the puppy left?" Savvy asked, smirking. "I think you might need to set one under your ex-boyfriend when they all walk through the door."

To that, Becca snorted, her family's support helping stem the flow of grief for the time being.

"Come over here, honey," Helen invited. "Help me make the stuffing. I'll even share some of the fancy chocolates Reagan brought for me.

I stood there, running the whole ordeal through my head as the women got back to work, feeling just the tiniest bit of envy for what they all had. This giant group of men who would literally stand by to silently intimidate a guy for one of their girls. Men who, I was sure, would do a lot worse than silently intimidate if it was asked of them.

That was something I couldn't even begin to wrap my head around. I had a father, but he was never the protective sort, and certainly not the super masculine sort. My brother generally thought issues of the heart were none of his business. He'd never threatened a guy who'd screwed me over. That just wasn't our family dynamic.

I loved my family.

But a small part of me was a little bit in love with this family too, with the love they so clearly had for one another, with their over-the-top bluntness, their open affection, their fierce protectiveness.

Feeling overwhelmed, I silently backed out of the kitchen, made my way down the hallway, and let myself out the front door.

"Reagan, isn't it?" another of Nixon's brothers greeted me. This one had knowing eyes as well, but there was no amusement in them, no triumphant smiles like Atlas had shown. This one was older too. Likely the oldest. Kingston.

"Hey Kingston," I greeted him, sending him a somewhat tired smile, feeling oddly drained.

"You look like you need a drink," he observed. "I heard they were planning a neutering ceremony in there. Not that the ass doesn't deserve it, but I get that it might have been a bit much for a first introduction."

"It was really sweet, actually. You know, that fierce protectiveness. Becca is really lucky to have that."

His eyes, already sweet, went softer at that. "Yeah. This is a great family. We're so lucky they took us all in as a package deal when Mark claimed Scotti. What can I get you to drink, sweetheart?"