like back then, it died and he sighed. “It wasn’t that simple, but yes. Yes, I did all of that.”
“And you’ve known where I was for all these years. You could have dropped me a line, maybe an email telling me I have a son.”
“I know you’re not going to believe this, but I wanted to,” Ezra countered. “I’ve wanted to contact you for a while now. Kim thought it was a bad idea. I think she was afraid you would be angry with her.”
He shook his head. That wasn’t what she’d truly been afraid of. “She was afraid I wouldn’t care at all. She was wrong and she understands that now. This isn’t about her. It’s about you and whether or not I’m going to punch you in the face.”
Ezra only backed up a little. “Is that all you’re thinking about doing?”
“Jax has explicit instructions to not let me kill you. I don’t want to get him in trouble, and that’s the only reason I haven’t strangled you. Now get a move on. I’m bringing Roman and Kim in here. You can sleep on the couch and that way if anyone shows up to kill us all, they get you first and I’ll have time to get my family and run. See, you’re already serving a purpose.”
“Beck,” he began.
Beck shook his head. “I can’t tonight. Not with you. We’ll talk at some point, but understand that right now you’re here because Kim wants you here. I have a plane coming tomorrow and if you want to take that boat right back to Malta, you should feel free.”
“I’m not leaving. I know it’s hard to believe but I’ve missed you. I can’t think of why right now, but I have.” Ezra yawned behind his hand. “But maybe I should stay in here and watch over them.”
Beck stared at him.
“Oh, you’re going to sleep in the chair. Got it. And you know you called her your wife, right?” Ezra pointed out. “She’s under the firm belief that you’re divorced.”
He wasn’t planning on sleeping in the chair at all. He was going to start winning his wife back, and he wasn’t about to do it by getting a crick in his neck. He was going to show her how good it was to have a partner she could truly count on. He was going to be Roman’s dad. “She’ll be my wife again at the end of this if I have any kind of say in it.”
“I thought you would be furious with her.”
“Yeah, that’s the general consensus.” Well, he’d known he had a reputation. “How about I try to repair my marriage and get my family back and I be furious with you.”
A ghost of a smile tugged his brother’s lips up. “I can handle that. But if you’re going to punch me, you need to understand that I took vows. I can’t punch you back. I’ll have to turn the other cheek.”
He wouldn’t let that stop him at all. “Good.”
“Seriously? You would punch a priest.”
“If he’s my brother, yes. What am I supposed to call you? Father Ezra? Not happening.”
“Father Kent,” Ezra admitted with a shrug. “That’s the name I’ve used. Ezra Kent.”
He snorted. At least they still thought along the same lines. “That’s a stupid name. You should have picked something cooler.”
“Says the man who literally used my name for decades.” Ezra sounded more like Ezra in that moment than he had the whole time. The whiny teen he’d been came out, and it pierced Beck through the heart that his brother was alive. Alive.
That didn’t mean he had to forgive him. “I was honoring you. I thought you’d died in battle.”
“I think you were trying to avoid being Mr. Black or whatever stupid color name the Agency wanted to pin on you. Mr. Vermilion or something.” Ezra followed him out into the hall and stopped at the sight of Kim and Roman cuddled up on the couch. He stared at them for a moment. “He’s a special kid.”
And he suspected Ezra had something to do with that. “Kim said something about you walking him to school.”
“Almost every day. It’s on my way to the hospital where I spend most of my time. Spent. I’m not sure what I’ll do now. Maybe go to jail. It’s okay. I can do good work there, too.”
“I’m not sending you to jail.” His brother was too invested in his own drama. “But you need to understand that she’s mine.”
Ezra cocked a brow.