his face, subtle signs of stubborn annoyance then resignation flickering through his eyes and the set of his mouth, but only if you knew him well enough to read him. His hazel eyes were always wary, catching every movement around him, and he held himself a bit too tight to be called relaxed.
Damien hated that most of all. He hated how Sinjun lived his life holding his breath, waiting for the next shoe—or fist—to fall. Donal insisted the day would come when Sinjun didn’t scan a crowd for trouble or flinch at a loud noise, but Damien wasn’t going to hedge his bets. Maybe Sinjun’s rambles were his subtle way of telling the world to fuck off, of going out and testing his resolve, facing the fears lurking inside of him.
Or maybe his baby brother was simply that fierce, willing to take on any battle thrown at him simply to show the world he wasn’t afraid.
“Let me grab my jacket and I’ll go with you,” Damien offered. “Since it looks like the dog tapped out.”
Dude was as independent as his—Damien wouldn’t say owner but rather companion—Sinjun. Most of the time the dog was more than willing to sit patiently while Sinjun clipped on his leash, something Kane religiously insisted he do. Neither dog nor man cared for the leash but were willing to compromise if only to make Kane happy. Or at least that’s what everyone believed. For all Damie knew, Sinjun took the dog off the leash as soon as he crossed the street. He wouldn’t put it past his brother, but he also knew from Sinjun, a promise was a promise, so Dude probably remained leashed for as long as they walked. At the moment, the sound of his leash being jingled didn’t move the dog from his place on the couch, nor did he so much as twitch an ear from his upside down position, communicating quite literally he had no intention of joining Sinjun that afternoon.
“Unless you don’t want company?” Damien stopped midway of putting on his shoe, glancing up at his brother while he balanced on one foot.
Again, Sinjun was easy to read, or at least for Damien. It was a split-second shuffle between desire and expectations. A rapid-fire assessment was going on behind those thoughtful eyes, a brief flick of his lashes, then Sinjun murmured, “No, you can come. Just going for a walk to clear my head.”
“Oh, those are the best kinds of walks,” he replied, checking to make sure he had his wallet in his back pocket. “How about if we swing by Chang’s and grab a few char siu bao? I’ve been jonesing for those the past couple of days and haven’t grabbed any.”
If there was one way to Miki St. John’s heart, it was through his stomach. The steamed bread dumplings filled with a bright red savory-sweet pork filling was Sinjun’s favorite food in the world. If he had one thing he could eat twenty-four seven, it was dim sum, and char siu bao seemed to bring out a level of happiness in Sinjun only matched by one of Kane’s kisses.
Sinjun’s mouth quirked to one side. “I could totally get down for that. It’s kind of late, though. He might not have any.”
“I have faith.” Damien chuckled. “I also gave him a call as soon as I heard you grab your keys and call the dog for a walk. Chang’s got six set aside for us. Just let me get my other shoe on and I’ll be ready to go.”
THEY ENDED up eating their bao at Woh Hei Yuen Park on John Street, a few yards away from where Sinjun had been found by the cops wandering aimlessly over two decades before.
It was a small divot of green grass and a children’s play area dotted with swooping park benches and a pagoda gazebo sitting on a hill opposite the arched entranceway. The wisteria was blooming a little bit out of season, and the park was fairly empty, with only a pair of little boys and their mothers playing on the miniature Asian sailing vessel built near the jungle gyms.
The walk up the hill had been brutal, and more than once Damien almost stopped Sinjun to ask if he was okay, but his brother kept up a steady pace, powering through the incline after they’d grabbed their food from Chang’s. A food truck sat outside the park selling braised pork belly tacos, and they’d grabbed a couple of those along with