eyes were closed as I ran my fingers through his hair, but he surprised me when he threaded his fingers through my other hand that was resting on his chest. He didn’t open his eyes, but once our fingers were laced, he sighed and some of his tension left his body.
After a few minutes, Jorah said, “I can set up a healing bed for you.”
“You know how?”
I saw Jorah’s scowl in the rearview mirror. “You know how to do it, too, idiot.”
“I know, but Ailin’s always been the best at them.”
He sighed. “You’re right, but Alec’s making him help with the cleanup. So I thought I would make one for now, and when Dad gets home, he can fix it or make it better or whatever. At least mine would help some.”
“That would be great, Jor, thank you.”
He waved me away. “Stop thanking me, Bas. You’re my brother, and that’s your viramore back there. That makes him family.”
At this, Hiro’s eyes shot open and flickered over to Jorah before staring up at me. I offered a smile, and without looking away from Hiro, said to Jorah, “You’re right. That does make him and Rasha family.”
“Yeah, she seems really sweet. I’m sure she’ll be happy to have her dad back.”
Hiro’s eyes flickered over to Jorah again, watching the side of his head as he drove, then they moved back to me, and I saw the question and confusion there. I leaned down to press another kiss to his forehead. “She’s safe, dimples. She’s an Ellwood now, and so are you. We protect our own.”
Jor huffed. “We try to protect everyone, but sometimes that doesn’t work out too well.”
I grinned over at my brother even though he couldn’t see it. “You’re right, we try to protect everyone, but no one messes with our family. Ever.”
“True.” Jor gave a nod.
Hiro’s eyebrows rose up on his forehead, but after a few seconds of staring into my eyes, he closed his and breathed deeply as he squeezed my fingers. I continued carding my fingers through his hair as I quietly watched him for the rest of the drive.
Jor drove right up to the big house, and I gently said, “We’re here, Hiro. You awake?”
He grunted.
Jorah opened my door and said, “Let me get the healing bed situated before we get him out of the car. I don’t want to have to move him twice.”
“Sounds good, tha—”
He slammed the door before I could say thank you, and he shot me the finger, making me chuckle.
“I like your brother,” Hiro murmured.
My eyes widened. “Yeah?”
“All of them seem cool.” His words were so mumbled they were hard to understand. “Everywhere we go we see one of ‘em.”
I snorted. “That’s true. I have a ton of siblings. You haven’t even met half of them yet.”
“I know. I don’t have any siblings.”
I kissed his forehead, suddenly hit with a sadness in my heart. It had been only Hiro and Rasha for such a long time. They’d been all alone in this world with no family to back them up. I had no idea what that felt like because no matter what shit was going on in my life, I’d always had my siblings right there with me. Even when I’d been taken to Faela for three years, I had Jorah and Thayer there, plus Nikolai and Talon. And I’d known that the rest of my family was here in Brinnswick. I’d known they’d have my back no matter what. I’d always had Ailin in my corner. Even when I was a spoiled little brat of a teenager, he’d stood by my side. Sure, we used to argue over just about everything, but he was always there for me, no matter how angry I made him.
So thinking about Hiro not having anyone like that in his life made me so incredibly sad.
But then I remembered what Jorah had said. Hiro was my viramore, which made him and Rasha a part of our family already. The two of them aren’t going to know what hit them.
Hiro snorted. “Your family is goin’ to overwhelm the fuck outta us.” His voice sounded tired and weak, but at least he was able to speak.
I smiled and kissed his forehead yet again. “You read my thoughts, dimples. And don’t worry, I live in my own house, so we can escape my crazy-ass family anytime we want.”
“Does that mean you’re holding me hostage until I agree to live here or somethin’?”
“Yeah, probably.”
He snorted again. “I have a