Good Luck

by KM Mahoney

  The three brothers stood shoulder to shoulder and watched Alli stomp away.

  “Feisty, isn’t he?” Tristan commented.

  “Actually, he’s usually kind of shy around new people.”

  “Pull the other one,” Evan said dryly. “You sure about this? He’s more high maintenance than some women I know. Not Maryanne, of course, because she’d kill me if she heard me, but some women.”

  “I like him.”

  Heads swiveled to stare in astonishment at Tristan.

  “This from the brother who has barely spoken to me since I came out?” Michael demanded.

  Tristan’s face actually reddened. Michael didn’t think he’d ever seen Tristan look embarrassed. Tristan muttered something under his breath.

  “What was that?” Evan encouraged with a smirk. “Speak up, man, we can’t hear you.”

  Tristan growled. “I’m sorry, all right? I was being a stupid jerk. Now can we go back to the reason I’m here?”

  Evan opened his mouth again and Michael kicked him in the shin. Now was not the time for Evan to poke. Michael didn’t really want to clean blood off the floors. The last time Evan had insisted on provoking Tristan, Michael had been the one to snap his brother’s nose back into place. Not an experience he wanted to repeat. Ever.

  “Why don’t you go calm down your boyfriend?” Evan offered. It was almost a shock, hearing something sensible coming out of his mouth. Michael sometimes forgot that his brother was a brilliant lawyer. It was hard to remember when the man was constantly playing the clown.

  “Good idea,” Tristan said. Another shock. Evan and Tristan rarely agreed on anything. “Then I suggest a more private setting for our little discussion.”

  “Fine,” Michael said. “But neither of you are leaving until we finish painting my new office.”

  With that admittedly off-topic rejoinder, Michael trailed after Alli. He had to pause outside the door to gather up his courage and work up the energy for some more verbal jousting. God, but Alli wore him out sometimes.

  The door was latched, but a little pressure and it popped open. Alli didn’t even look up, crouched on the floor and busily digging a new home for a bright red flowering plant.

  Michael froze in the doorway, utterly aghast. “Are you listening to opera?” he asked incredulously.

  “It’s not opera,” Alli said snippily without turning around. “It’s Therion.”

  “Sounds like opera to me.”

  “No, listen, there are guitars and—”

  “Sarcasm, Alli.”

  “Plebeian.”

  Michael paused for a long, tense moment. “Still mad at me, huh?” he finally ventured.

  Alli’s hands paused in mid-motion and he sighed. “Not mad, exactly. Just irritated.”

  “I’m sorry?”

  “Do you even know what you’re apologizing for?”

  “Not really, no.”

  “Didn’t think so. Michael, if this is going to work between us, you can’t keep just doing things without talking to me first. Don’t you think you should have consulted me before you moved into my store and spread my problems to all and sundry?”

  “It was family!” Michael didn’t bother to address the moving issue because, well, Alli might have a point there.

  “Your family, not mine.”

  “They could be your family.”

  Alli sighed again and rubbed his hand down his face. His eyes, when he looked up, were sad. “You’re not getting it, Michael.”

  “Yeah, I am.”

  “No, you’re not,” Alli countered. “I want a partner, an equal partner. I know I seem like I need someone to look out for me, but I don’t need someone to take care of me. There’s a difference.”

  Michael had to think on that one for a minute. They seemed like two sides of the same coin to him.

  “It’s the difference between holding my hand as I cross the street and carrying me across,” Alli said. “One is helping, supporting. The other is doing for me. I may be a walking accident a lot of times, but I’m not a child.”

  This time, Michael understood. He crossed over to Alli and plopped down on the hard concrete so he could look in his boyfriend’s eyes, sprawling his legs out and leaning against the leg of a table.

  “It’s not that I don’t see you as a partner,” Michael said quietly. “I do. I want that, more than anything. It’s just that every little thing is a fight with you. I guess I’m just tired of it. So instead of arguing, I went ahead and acted.”

  “I’m sorry, too, then,” Alli replied. “But you’re not always the most reasonable person.”

  “I’m always reasonable,” Michael retorted. “I’m just stubborn.”

  “That’s for damn sure.”

  “Alli!”

  “Sorry, I’m doing it again, aren’t I?”

  “Yeah.”

  Alli poked at the dirt in the pot in front of him, digging his fingernail into the soil. “I’ll make a deal with you. I’ll try not to argue so much and you talk things over with me first, okay?”

  “Do you promise to listen—actually listen—to me?”

  “If you’re not being ridiculous.”

  “I’m scared,” Michael admitted. Alli’s head shot up, eyes wide. “I just found you and I feel like someone’s trying to take you away. It’s maybe making me a little paranoid. If I’m coming across as overbearing, it’s because I want you safe. I need you to be safe.”

  Alli seemed to mull that over. “So this is temporary?”

  “I can’t promise that. But I do know I’ll relax once this whole mess is over.”

  “But I’m never safe,” Alli said. “Fridays especially can be hell.”

  “So I stick close and catch you when you fall. I can’t do anything to protect you from that. I can protect you from this guy.”

  “It could be a girl.”

  “Alli!”

  “Sorry. I guess it’s more of a habit than I thought.”

  Michael grinned. “Well, don’t break the habit entirely.”

  “That I can definitely promise.”

  Alli smiled back and Michael finally relaxed.

  Someone on the stereo hit a high note and Michael jumped.

  “We do need to discuss your taste in music,” he drawled.

  Alli stuck his tongue out. Michael moved fast, catching the tempting morsel with his lips. Alli hummed and leaned in. The kiss was long, full of apology and sensuality.

  A cleared throat pulled them apart.

  “Why is it someone’s always interrupting us?”

  “I told you, it’s—”

  “Rhetorical question, Alli.”

  Damn, Michael loved that flush. He stood, reaching out a hand to pull Alli up. “Come on, babe. Let’s take a coffee break. I’m sure Tristan has a million questions to ask you. And some of them might even be about your stalker.”

  “Oh, goody, more family,” Alli said, giving the large man in the doorway a suspicious look.

  Michael laughed. “Get used to it. Since I’m not going anywhere, neither are they.”

  Michael could have done a victory dance when his statement wasn’t greeted with an automatic argument. Instead, Alli just slipped his hand into Michael’s as they went to join the other Lakkis brothers.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Tristan hummed softly to himself, fingers tracing through the dirt.

  “Two people,” he suddenly announced. “You had two intruders.”

  “You’re kidding me.”

  “Wish I was. And one is definitely a were creature or a shifter of some kind.”

  “Wonderful,” Michael muttered.

  Alli leaned over to whisper in Michael’s ear. “How does he know that?”

  “My brother’s one of the best trackers in the shifting community,” Michael whispered back.

  “I also have amazing hearing,” Tristan interjected. “I don’t bite, you know.”

  “Tell that to my shin,” Evan declared.

  “Y
ou really need to let that go,” Tristan advised. “I was eight, for God’s sake.”

  “So this is where the party is.” Chris came around the corner and Alli groaned.

  “How is it you always show up at just the right moment?” Michael asked curiously.

  Chris shrugged. “It’s a gift.”

  Literally. Alli kept that thought to himself. It wasn’t his business if Chris chose to keep some parts of himself secret. Besides, it might make some people a bit uncomfortable to know that their chief deputy had a bit of a psychic in him.

  “What’s this about two intruders?” Chris crouched down next to Tristan and studied the ground. It looked like regular, ordinary dirt to Alli, but what did he know? There must be something there. Tristan didn’t seem like the type to waste time.

  “What I said,” Tristan said shortly. “One hung around a while, looks like he just watched. The second man was the one who tried to break in.” He stood, sharp eyes examining the yard, probing the shadowy edges. Alli’s yard wasn’t very big, not even a half acre. Two sides were bordered by his neighbor’s privacy fences. The third was an out-of-control hedge. Alli had given up trimming it back after the first week. The thing grew like a mutant monster.

  Michael growled, that deep threatening grumble he did when upset. It wasn’t the hot, sexy, want-you growl. No, this one tended to make the hairs on the back of Alli’s neck stand up.

  What surprised Alli was when Tristan and Evan both echoed the sound. Chris patted Tristan on the arm.

  “Down, big guy,” he said.

  Alli admired Chris’ guts—or maybe it was idiocy, sometimes it was hard to tell between the two. That glare would have sent Alli running for his life.

  “Do I know you?” Tristan asked with a slight baring of teeth.

  “Not yet,” Chris replied cheerfully, pointing at the patch on his shirt. “Chris Owens, Deputy Sheriff. And you?”

  “Tristan Lakkis.”

  “Good God, another one. I may have to consider putting a new ordinance in place.”

  “What would that be?” Michael drawled. “Limit— No more than three people named Lakkis in town at any given time?”

  “Let’s make it two,” Chris corrected. “I think three might be pushing it.” He turned to Evan. “Guess that means you’ll have to leave.”

  Tristan grunted. Alli realized the man was actually amused.

  “I like him,” Tristan said to no one in particular, jerking his thumb in Chris’ direction.

  “Could we please get back to the matter at hand?” Alli asked impatiently. His eyes swung to Chris, then away. He couldn’t quite stop staring at his hedge. There was something about it…

  Alli started to wander away. Michael reached out to snag him but wasn’t fast enough.

  “See something, babe?” he called.

  “I’m not sure.”

  “Did you come over just to bug us, or was there something you wanted?” Alli heard Evan ask Chris.

  “Actually, I wanted to let Michael and Alli know I located their mystery lunch date guy.”

  “Huh?”

  “Some homophobic asshole who kept scowling at us one day. Chris thought he might have something to do with it.”

  “Nope, he’s clean. Sally at the restaurant remembered him, said he glared at everybody. I guess he’s human, unemployed, and living with his sister, who’s a member of the coven. He’s apparently just grouchy in general.”

  “Well, at least that eliminates one suspect,” Evan said.

  “How about Lucas?”

  “Lucas?” Tristan’s deep rumble traveled well, reaching Alli, who was now almost to the far side of the yard. Michael hadn’t followed, but Alli could feel him watching.

  “No alibi,” Chris admitted reluctantly.

  “Then it was him.”

  Safe from sight, Alli rolled his eyes at Michael’s stubborn certainty. Lucas was just overenthusiastic. And horny. And maybe a little bit lacking in judgment. But Alli really couldn’t see him trashing Flora. There was no motive, no logic to the action.

  “What about a motive?” Chris pointed out. Alli wondered if he should be worried that they seemed to be thinking alike.

  “He likes Alli,” Michael replied. Clearly, he had given this some thought. “If Alli was having problems, maybe he was going to offer his help, comfort him. But then I showed up and Alli didn’t need Lucas.”

  “What makes you think I would have accepted anything from Lucas?” Alli called.

  The startled looks he received made Alli think Evan and Chris had actually forgotten he was there. Wonderful. Let’s just forget all about the guy who’s being stalked.

  “He’s cute,” Michael said, as if that explained all the secrets in the universe.

  “Maybe, but he’s hardly my type,” Alli replied dryly. He turned back to his examination, picking up a stick and poking at a hole in the prickly evergreen bush in front of him.

  “What are you looking for?” a voice spoke inches from Alli’s ear and he jumped.

  “How the hell can you move so quietly?” he demanded testily. “A guy as big as you should, I don’t know, thump or something. At the very least, the ground should shake. That way, people will know you’re coming.”

  “And they can hide?” Tristan asked with amusement.

  “Something like that.”

  “You never answered my question,” Tristan said, making the subject change seem impressively smooth.

  “Oh. Something about this hedge looks different. I just don’t know what.”

  “You’re the plant expert.”

  “Not really an expert, precisely. It’s mostly a hobby and… Sorry, Michael tells me I’ve yet to master the identification of a rhetorical statement.”

  And there Alli’s damn cheeks went again, flushing with color. Blast his mother for passing on her pasty skin tone…

  “Wait!” The answer hit Alli square between the eyes. Why the heck didn’t he think of it before? He took a step backward in excitement.

  “Eeek!” Alli let out a loud shriek as his balance went. His arms windmilled and he staggered. Contrary to the usual laws of gravity, he pitched forward and started to fall head-first into the hedge. Someone grabbed the back of his pants and hauled him back.

  “I think you need to get rid of this thing,” Tristan advised. “It seems to have a taste for skinny fairies.”

  Alli gaped. “Wait, how did you—?”

  “Michael didn’t tell me anything, so you can put away that temper of yours. I work as a private investigator for the paranormal community. Believe me when I say there are very few types I haven’t come across. Fairies give off a pretty distinct aura, even you, although yours is a little…muddled.”

  Alli opened his mouth, ready to launch into a lecture about the differences between fairy tribes, then decided now probably wasn’t the best time. See? No matter what Michael said, he was learning.

  “Gonna tell me what had you so worked up you nearly got eaten by a bush?”

  Alli opened his mouth, closed it again. “No, I don’t think so,” he finally said.

  Tristan growled. For some odd reason, the sound wasn’t as intimidating as it would have been even a half hour ago.

  Alli patted the big man’s arm. “Later,” he assured Tristan. “But if I’m right, my problems should be solved.”

  “Then why the hell did you call me here?” Tristan demanded.

  “I didn’t,” Alli pointed out. “That one was all on Michael.”

  Tristan conceded with a slightly arrogant nod.

  “Alli!”

  Alli turned and headed back in the direction of Michael’s shout.

  “Finished inspecting the verge?” Chris asked with amusement.

  “Are you still here?” Alli shook his head and made a shooing motion. “Go away. We don’t need you right now.”

  “Be nice, Alli,” Michael admonished. “As Chris so politely reminded me not too long ago, he does have the power to put you in jail.”

/>   “But he won’t,” Alli explained patiently. “Because then he would risk the total collapse of the jail.”

  “Huh?” Evan asked with a classic expression of confusion painted on his face. It was weird how much Evan and Michael looked alike, considering they weren’t actually related by blood.

  Michael suddenly snorted. He tried to wipe the expression of mirth away before Alli saw, but wasn’t quite fast enough.

  “What?” Alli asked.

  “Babe, have you taken a look at yourself recently?”

  Alli looked down and groaned. His pants were plastered in mud from knee to ankle.

  “But there aren’t any puddles in the yard,” Evan pointed out.

  “And it hasn’t rained in nearly a week,” Chris added. “That’s our Alli.”

  “Oh, go away,” Alli snapped. “I’m going to—”

  “Go change?”

  Alli sighed and nodded to Michael. “Yeah.”

  “Want some help?” Michael leered, Evan snorted, and Tristan muttered something about burning eyes.

  “I can manage on my own,” Alli replied primly. “Why don’t you take your brothers out for a drink? I’m sure you have some catching up to do.”

  “Uh-uh, babe. I’m not leaving you alone until we catch Lucas in the act.”

  “I really don’t think it’s—”

  Michael wasn’t listening, so Alli didn’t bother finishing the sentence. He rolled his eyes and stomped up the back steps. They were concrete, ancient and starting to crumble. He tripped on the top one and only managed to save himself a tumble by grabbing the door handle.

  “Good grief,” Alli muttered. “It’s not even Friday.”

  The back door stuck, as usual, but a swift kick and it popped open. He tossed a wave over his shoulder.

  “See you later.”

  Alli cut off the loud chorus of protests by the simple expedient of slamming the door shut. The lock clicked and he sighed.

  “Well, that was easie—”

  His cell phone blared. Alli ignored it, but when the house phone went off, he snatched the receiver.

  “Michael, go out, have some fun,” he said without preamble. “I’ll be safe. Chris can stick around the area. You won’t be gone for long.”