interest never to mention it again.
“I hope you’re hungry,” Aidan said, drawing her attention to-
“We’re at a buffet?” Melanie asked, admittedly confused since the last she’d heard, every buffet restaurant within fifty miles had banned the Bradfords, more specifically, the men in the family.
“The owner’s son had an accident last year and I was able to help them out,” he said, shrugging it off.
“And he took the ban off you,” she guessed.
“Yes, he did,” Aidan said as he climbed out of the car and quickly made his way around to her side to help her.
“Thank you,” Melanie said as she leaned up and kissed his chin.
“You’re very welcome,” he said, taking her hand in his and-
“You didn’t really think that we wouldn’t find out about this, did you?” Jason, an incredibly handsome man and Aidan’s cousin, if she remembered correctly, asked when they turned around.
“You have some explaining to do, little brother,” Danny, who she had to admit was a pretty decent snuggler, said as Duncan joined him while Trevor, who had snuck into the Fire & Brimstone a total of fifteen times before the ban was lifted, stood there glaring.
“You really do,” Jason said, folding his arms over his chest.
“I think the real question is, did I really care if you found out?” Aidan asked, stepping past them.
“Watch your back, traitor,” Jason called after them as Aidan pulled his phone out of his back pocket and sent a quick text, which was followed a few seconds later by an, “Oh, shit…” from Jason that had her glancing over her shoulder to find him staring down at his phone, swallowing hard as he followed that up with another, “Oh, shit.”
“What did you do?” Melanie asked as Aidan opened the door for her.
“What makes you think I did something?” Aidan asked, blinking innocently as he walked into the restaurant behind her.
“You’re evil, aren’t you?” she asked, only half-kidding.
Chuckling, he leaned down and kissed her. “Yes, I am.”
Nodding, she said, “That’s good to know,” even as she felt that should have been mentioned in one of his five things. At least, she knew enough never to cross him, Melanie decided only to frown when she heard a little boy yell, “Uncle Aidan!” as an adorable little boy came running towards them and launched himself at Aidan. He caught the little boy and picked him up as the the little boy wrapped his arm around him.
“Look! I’ve got an Ironman arm now!” the little boy said excitedly as he raised his prosthetic arm.
“That is one cool looking arm, Cody,” Aidan said, smiling warmly as he placed Cody on the counter so that he could take a closer look at his arm.
“It has superpowers and everything!” Cody said with an excited smile only to frown when he added, “But the light doesn’t work and it’s starting to pinch a little.”
“Well, I know someone who can help with that if it’s okay with your dad,” Aidan said, throwing a questioning look at the man standing behind the counter, who was sending nervous glances towards the parking lot where Aidan’s brothers and cousins stood, glaring.
After a moment, he reluctantly nodded.
Aidan pulled out his phone and sent another text before placing his phone on the counter so that he could give Cody his undivided attention as he explained all the powers his special arm held. Smiling, Melanie shifted her attention to the wall covered in plaques and framed newspaper clippings and-
Couldn’t help but chuckle when she saw the sign bolted to the wall with “No Bradfords Allowed” etched in metal before she shifted her attention to the large newspaper article framed on the wall.
She felt her stomach drop when she read the heading. “Local Doctor Risks Life to Save Child from Fiery Crash.”
“They couldn’t get him out,” Cody’s father said, joining her.
“What happened?” Melanie asked, glancing over to find Aidan smiling at the little boy.
“My father-in-law was driving Cody home last year and he had a heart attack. The accident was pretty bad. They ended up pinned between a truck and a bus. My father-in-law passed away instantly. A few witnesses managed to get him out, but they couldn’t reach Cody. His arm was trapped, pinning him in the wreckage and then the fire started, and they couldn’t get close enough to help Cody,” he explained.
“And Aidan saved him?” Melanie asked, glancing back at his father.
“He more than saved him. He crawled into what was left of the car while it was one fire. He managed to