Deserted - Auctioned

“Woo-hoo!” Jayden fist-pumped the air.

“Both hands on the wheel,” Darius reminded, laughing.

Gray smiled widely and just shook his head. There was nothing he could say. Oh, but he could take pictures.“Did you have fun today?” Gray ran a towel over Jayden’s shoulders until he took over.

“Yeah! Darius’s dad is funny.”

He was. Darius’s mother was an older version of Gray’s own mom, but his dad… Heh. It was safe to say who Darius took after.

“Did you see the book your dad gave me?” Jayden asked. “He thinks I can read it now. That it’s not too hard.”

“I saw it on your nightstand. It’s a wonderful book. Do you know who it’s about?”

Jayden shrugged, then shook his head. “He just said it was about a boy and a fantasy girl with purple hair, and they go on adventures together.”

Gray smiled. “It’s about him and my mother. They grew up in the same town. We actually drove through it on our road trip. So, Aiden is the boy, and the girl with purple hair is my mom. But that’s a secret. You can’t tell anyone.” He winked.

“Okay.” Jayden smiled and scrunched his nose. “Do I have to brush my teeth now? It’s early.”

“No, just go upstairs first,” Gray answered. “I put new pajamas on your bed. Then I think Darius has plans. I smell popcorn.”

“That’s what I smell too!”

Gray chuckled and opened the door to the bathroom, letting out the steam.

Jayden skipped out with the towel around him, and Gray called for Justin to say it was his turn to take a shower.

“I can’t!” Justin hollered back. “Darius is showing me a docamemary!”

Gray snorted and left the bathroom to see what they were up to.

The sight was too fucking sweet. Justin was curled up against Darius, who had a bowl of popcorn in his lap.

“We can’t postpone education,” Darius reasoned, draping his arm along the back of the couch. “I gotta teach the boys about our history.”

Gray glanced at the flat screen.

“That carrier right there was the USS Hornet,” Darius told Justin. “Many, many years ago, hundreds of young men spent months at sea on her and helped us win the war.”

It was a documentary about the Battle of Midway.

Perfect entertainment for young children and…well, Gray. He scratched his forehead.

Justin nodded, though, listening and taking it seriously. “There’s planes!”

“Aye, they’re dive bombers,” Darius replied.

“I wanna see planes!” Jayden yelled from upstairs. “Wait for me!”

Gray snorted softly and rolled with it. Evidently, they wouldn’t be watching some Pixar movie on Netflix. Darius had corrupted them. While he pressed pause and looked like a pig in shit at the prospect of further rubbing off his war history obsession on to the boys, Gray headed into the kitchen to grab a couple juice boxes Mom had left here. Darius already had a beer, so he grabbed a soda for himself.

He was kinda looking forward to next weekend. Mom had requested to watch the kids, and Abel would be in town with Madigan. Gray and Abel had already made plans to drag their men out for some drinks and burgers.

“Okay, where are the planes?” Jayden hurried down the stairs.

Darius was about to answer, but a ding halted him, and he frowned toward the entryway. “Just a sec.” He set the popcorn on the table and got off the couch.

Gray observed him on the way to the living room, and he could guess that the alert was from Darius’s surveillance system. The same alerts were also sent directly to his phone.

Justin lit up at the sight of the juice boxes.

“Can we push play?” Jayden wondered.

Gray nodded, keeping his stare fixed on Darius’s profile in the narrow closet in the entryway. He was studying the tablet; even Gray could see there was movement on the screen.

When Darius emerged again, he jerked his chin at the front door, silently telling him they had to step out.

Shit. Now, what?

“Jayden, keep an eye on Justin for a moment,” Gray said, remaining casual. “I’m gonna help Darius with something outside. We’ll be right back.”

He wasn’t sure the boys paid attention to him.

In the entryway, he put on a hoodie over his tee, and it didn’t escape his notice that Darius tucked a gun into his jeans at the base of his spine.

Gray shot Darius a worried look. “What’s happening?”

“I don’t know yet. But we have company.” Darius stepped outside.

Gray scrambled to follow as soon as he’d stuck his feet in a pair of construction boots. They were the closest.

“Did you open the gate?” Gray asked.

Darius inclined his head. “I built the fence to keep out animals, not humans.”

Gray knew that. The lock at the gate wouldn’t take much force to get through—if someone was insistent on entering.

“What did the camera at the gate show?”

“Two men, one car.”

They crossed the stream as a set of headlights appeared behind the parked cars.