Staccato (Magnum Opus #2) - E.M. Lindsey Page 0,71

over again—his routine was changing. No more shifts at the mall with Evie, no more ‘please don’t cry Build-A-Bears’, no more fury at his co-worker for not watching her properly.

Hell, he might even miss paying for ink she spilled when he was busy making a frat boy cry by shoving a needle through his nipple. His stomach clenched.

He was getting some of what he wanted, but it was on the cusp of a change he wasn’t sure he was ready for, and his melancholy threatened to dampen this thing that felt so damn good. “Maybe a bear,” he conceded.

She brightened. “Okay!”

The server arrived with their plates, and as Adam dragged hers over to cut up her grilled cheese, the table darkened with the shadow of someone’s body. He looked up to see Van there, apprehension on his face, and Adam’s brows shot toward his hairline.

“Uh. Hey?”

“Hey. Hi. Sorry, I don’t mean to interrupt you and your…daughter?”

“Niece,” Adam corrected, and he found it bothered him a little when Van looked relieved. “Do you want to sit?”

Van hesitated, then gave a nod and eased into the booth across from Adam. Evie had gone quiet, and Adam glanced over to see her watching him, wide-eyed and curious. “Uh,” Van said.

“Not a kid person?” Adam offered.

Van shook his head, his cheeks going a little pink exactly the same way his brother’s did. “Not a lot of experience with kids.”

“She’s not bad. Evie, start eating, okay?”

She obeyed, shoving a square of the cheesy bread into her mouth, not taking her eyes off the larger man across from her. When it was clear she wasn’t going to look away, Van cleared his throat and returned his gaze to Adam. “Don’t let me stop you.” He gestured to Adam’s food, but Adam’s appetite had dwindled.

“You look like you have something on your mind.” He had a feeling about what it was. He’d been given the talk once or twice, by concerned siblings or a parent. He knew this song and dance—that he wasn’t good enough, that it was obvious he was not the kind of man their son, brother, friend—whatever—should be with. How his ink and metal did nothing but show his disregard for polite society, and it was fun to play with, but when it came to getting serious…

“My brother seems to like you a lot, and that’s pretty rare,” Van started, and Adam tried not to sigh.

“I like him too. But I think that’s obvious.”

Van grunted, but he was interrupted by the server, and he gave her a quick drink order, waving off food. When she was gone, he folded his hands on the table and glanced over at Evie for just a second. “Your life seems…complicated.”

“She’s my niece. It’s not like I have joint custody,” Adam groused. He picked up a fry, but the thought of eating made his stomach twist. “That’s like telling a babysitter their life is complicated.”

Van looked a little chagrined, and he shrugged. “Nik’s given up a lot in his life for other people. He left a promising career to come back to this shit-hole town after our mother died, and he’s been taking care of our father as he…” Van stopped, but he didn’t need to finish the sentence. Adam was well aware of what their father was going through. “I don’t want anything else to hold him back.”

And that, that was like a punch to the gut. It was like Van had ripped out Adam’s deepest, darkest fear and laid it bare for everyone to see. “I’m not asking Nik to give up anything,” he breathed out.

Van nodded, saying nothing as his drink was delivered, and he took a long swallow before he spoke again. “I know. I didn’t ask him to, either. But he has an uncanny ability to throw himself on the sword before anyone can try and stop him, and he’s worth so much more than this small life.”

Adam’s throat tightened. “I know.”

“Do you?” Van’s look was challenging, hard, impossible to break.

“I’ve known that from the moment I set eyes on him. I know that I’m not good enough for him…”

Van held up his hand to stay Adam’s words. “That isn’t what I’m saying. I’m saying that Nik needs someone to fight for him. He needs everyone to fight for him, to push him into accepting what he’s spent all these years trying to earn.”

Adam swallowed, then curled his hand around his glass, feeling the condensation sink into his palm. “What are you asking me