Marcus carefully got Bel on his feet and his arm around Bel’s waist to steady him.
“Wait! My bow!” Bel cried before they could take a step. Marcus bit back a smile as he twisted around and snatched up the cello bow Ethan had gotten. He handed it over to Bel, who gripped it tightly in his fingers like a security blanket. More than anything, he could kiss Ethan for picking up that one item. Music had been so thoroughly ingrained in their upbringing that the instruments calmed them when their world was in chaos around them.
They slowly made it across the room where Marcus jerked open the door. The elevator was a short distance away down the hall. Unfortunately, they didn’t get far before the sound of footsteps thundered through the house. Marcus’s hand tightened on Bel’s waist and he tried to shift his brother so that he was partially behind Marcus’s larger frame. No one was supposed to be in the house. They should have been alone.
Fangs slid down and Marcus prepared to launch himself at the intruder to protect his injured brother. No one would touch Bel.
Ethan rushed around the corner and came to a sharp stop at the sight of Marcus, his face going pale.
“What are you doing here?” Marcus snarled, fighting to retract his fangs before Ethan could notice them. “I told you to leave!”
“I thought you could use my help,” Ethan replied, his voice wobbling slightly.
“Get out of here or you’re fucking fired!” Marcus shouted. He knew he was being irrational, but Marcus was exhausted and at the end of his emotional rope. The only thought running through his head was that Bel was weak and vulnerable. Everyone not family could be a threat to his brother.
To his surprise, Ethan straightened his shoulders and lifted his head, but didn’t retreat. “Fine. Fire me.”
“What?” He couldn’t have possibly heard him correctly.
“Fire me. If you fire me, then I’m here as a friend, and that means I don’t have to listen to you anymore.”
“What?” Marcus repeated because nothing was making sense.
“Your brother needs help, and I’m not going anywhere.”
Bel surprised Marcus by snickering. He twisted carefully so that he could look at his brother, who was giving him a somewhat crooked grin.
“He’s as stubborn as Winter. I can’t believe you hired him,” Bel teased.
“I have a feeling he was desperate,” Ethan replied.
Marcus’s head whipped back to face Ethan. “No, I wasn’t,” he said sharply.
“What can I do?” Ethan’s voice was even and there was a flush in his cheeks. If Marcus had scared him, he’d moved past it.
“We’re moving to the music room on the third floor. I need you to go into the green bedroom beside it and grab the comforter off the bed. Bring it to the music room. I’m going to place Bel on the couch in there.”
Ethan frowned. “Those have to be locked rooms. I haven’t seen them yet.”
Marcus reached into his pocket and pulled out his keys. He shuffled through them with his thumb until he found the right key and then handed it over to Ethan. “Music room is the second door on the right from the stairs. The green room is to the left of the music room.”
With the keys in his hand, Ethan darted off, his footsteps pounding up the stairs in his haste.
“He’s interesting,” Bel said, reminding Marcus that his brother was right there, watching everything.
“Ethan has been a great help for the move,” Marcus replied, ignoring the stiffness in his tone.
“And you asked him to get me a bow?”
“No. I think he overheard you when I called him for supplies.” Marcus got them moving again down the hall to the elevator. He rarely used the elevator since it wasn’t often that he went from the ground floor to the top floor, but it came in handy when one of his brothers was injured.
“Will he move with you to Connecticut?” Bel’s question was broken by pants of pained breaths as he leaned against the wall of the elevator.
Marcus pushed the button for the third floor and closed his eyes. “I don’t think so. The position is just temporary. For the move.”
“But you’ve always had an assistant.”
“He’s going to school for computer coding. I don’t think he wants to spend the next ten years running my errands, no matter how well I pay.”
How would he let Ethan go after spending ten years with him? As it was, he was dreading saying good-bye after just three short months. For the past week, they’d started eating lunch at five each day. They talked about random things, but Marcus had to admit that it was the best hour out of his entire day. He wasn’t ready for that to end, to go back to his lonely existence.
But he shoved that selfish thought away as the doors silently slid open again on the third floor. As they were stepping out, Marcus caught sight of Ethan heading into the music room, with a comforter and a couple of pillows in his arms. Inside, only two lamps burned, offering up soft, dim light.