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  The judge nodded slowly. "The court will allow that it is understandable that the will wasn't challenged at the time. However, it's been twenty years ."

  Spreading his hands wide, the man chuckled. "The subject was never raised, your honor. With the death of Carol Collins, there was no one else with a claim on the house ."

  He bit his lip until he tasted blood, rage boiling under his skin. The judge was nodding again, the lines between his brows getting deeper with every agreement .

  "Jay Collins has a claim on the house," Piper said pointedly .

  "Mr. Collins has been separated from his family for ten years," the lawyer snapped. "His family wasn't even aware he was alive ."

  That time, Jay did snort. Piper rested a hand on his shoulder, smiling reassuringly .

  "Be that as it may, my client is the rightful owner of the property in question, and your client has no right to place the house up for sale." She shuffled through her papers, pulling out a copy of the real estate flyer. Her heels clicked loudly across the floor as she walked up to hand it to the judge .

  "My client had every reason to believe that they were the rightful owner," the lawyer said, biting off each word .

  "Belief does not make reality, counselor," the judge said, his mouth twitching. "If that were the case, I believe we'd all be on a beach somewhere ."

  "There is a precedent for a reasonable expectation of inheritance in the case of property," one of the younger men said. "Vickers v Michaelson, 1994 ."

  "In that case, the suit was a dispute over the distribution of sale profits. My client has no wish for the house to be sold at all." Piper flipped through her little stack of papers again, tapping her fingers against a rubber-banded packet of wrinkled pages, edges worn from time .

  "The sale has already been completed," one of the lawyers said .

  Jay didn't hear anything else that he said, his blood rushing in his ears until his vision went gray around the edges. He was too late .

  Sharp fingernails digging into his shoulder dragged him back to the moment .

  "...in escrow, your honor. The Danvilles have had a month's notice to pull the home off the market and disclose the pending legal action." Piper leaned against him, sparing him glances out of the corner of her eye as she read information off one of the pages of her notebook .

  "An absurd and pointless waste of time for my client. They have occupied the house more than 100 days each year since the death of Mr. Collins. They have maintained the property and kept it in repair as owners." Two of the lawyers were packing up their files, not bothering to hide the triumphant smiles on their faces. "The only question that remains is whether or not Jay Collins is owed a share of the sale, which we continue to maintain that he is not ."

  The judge frowned, flipping through a stack of papers in front of him. "Counselor?" He glanced at Piper, one eyebrow raised .

  "Your honor, if I may have a moment with my client ."

  Jay's heart dropped into his shoes. He wasn't going to win .

  The judge held up the papers in front of him and nodded. "Ten minute recess ."

  His stepfather's lawyers leaned nonchalantly in their seats, the very picture of victory. Jay let Piper lead him out of the room in a daze .

  "I don't think he's hearing a word that I'm saying," someone said from a long way off .

  "Let me try." Two points of warmth burned their way across his skin. When had he gotten so cold? "Jay, can you hear me? Breathe. Can you go get some coffee or something? He's freezing ."

  "Luke?" The word slurred into a moan when his numb lips wouldn't cooperate .

  "That's right. Focus on me and just breathe ."

  "They sold my house," he said. Somewhere under his numbness, anger welled up sharp and red .

  "We're not going to let them sell your house, sweetheart." Something burning hot touched his hand. It took long seconds for the pain to register, and he jerked his hand back belatedly. "It's coffee. Just hold it for a second ."

  "They won. I thought you said they didn't have much chance of winning." He stuffed his hands under his arms instead of taking the scalding hot cup from Luke's hand. Everything was hazy, but he could see the exasperated look that Luke gave him .

  "And to think, I thought you were joking about being a drama queen," he muttered .

  That filtered through faster than the heat had, and he punched the fuzzy curve of Luke's shoulder. "Shut up, asshole. I'm never telling you any of my secrets, ever again." Reluctantly, he took a deep breath, dragging himself back into reality. "What are my options ?"

  "Well," Luke said, trying to force the coffee on him, "you could have a little faith and stop giving up so easily ."

  Pouting at the rebuke, Jay grabbed the coffee and downed half of it in one go. It was hot, but not scalding, and it made him realize how chilled his limbs were. "I'm not giving up," he snapped .

  Luke just hummed. "Piper has a way to shut them down once and for all, but she didn't want to bring it out without your approval ."

  Jay gaped at him. "You mean we could have been out of here already? What is she waiting for? I approve ."

  "You should probably hear what it is first," Luke said, rubbing his hands up and down Jay's arm. "It's not going to be pretty, and once this goes on the record, you can't take it back ."

  "I don't care," Jay said, shivering as the heat of the alpha's hand raised goosebumps on his arm .

  "Jay." He leaned in, tiny lines flaring around his mouth from tension. "It has to do with your aunt ."

  "Aunt Carol?" Jay swallowed hard, turning away from Luke's concerned gaze .

  He'd been nine years old when his mother had started sending him to 'visit Aunt Carol,' overnight visits turning into weeks as she realized she didn't fight with her boyfriends as much without him tagging along after her. He'd gotten occasional visits and phone calls, like the one after she'd gotten back from her engagement party, introducing him to Victor for the first time, but it wasn't until Carol had been diagnosed with cancer that he'd spent any real time with her again .

  Carol Collins had been in her mid-twenties when her brother had died overseas. The first time Jay had landed on her doorstep, she'd been hungover, a half-dressed man sidling out the door as Jay dragged his suitcases inside. It had been the last time he'd ever noticed her have anyone over, but she hadn't held it against him. Instead of parties, they'd had game night, and a smoothie bar had replaced the vodka. She'd been everything that he'd ever needed, knowing when to be a friend and when to pull the grown-up card .

  Which wasn't to say she was a saint. He was well aware that she had a temper and cursed like a sailor. He knew how to start a bar fight in six languages thanks to her, and he could only ask for the bathroom in five .

  "How bad is it?" he asked, aware that Piper was hovering just out of earshot .

  Luke sighed. "There are letters. I haven't seen them myself, but she wrote Victor a lot while she was doing chemo. Piper can explain better about them ."

  "You know something, though," he said, watching the way Luke smoothed down his tie .

  "I don't, actually," he said with a strangled smile. "Piper is a professional, and it's none of my business. I've seen a lot of cases, though, and the things that come out... It can be ugly ."

  "It won't be," Jay said. "Not about Aunt Carol. Not anything I don't know already." He squared his shoulders and waved his lawyer back over. "What's in the letters ?"

  Piper glanced at Luke, and he started to shuffle back, but Jay clung to his arm like a leech. "If you're sure," she sai
d. Jay nodded, his throat too tight to manage words, and she handed him the rubber-band wrapped stack of papers. "These are letters from your stepfather to Miss Collins after you left her care." She gave the stack a disgusted look. "There's no way to know what her responses were, but there's enough here to get a good idea. The first few are friendly, normal letters responding to her questions about your health. Toward the end, though, there are a lot of demands. He even put them on his company letterhead to be more intimidating ."

  "He liked to try to intimidate her," Jay said distractedly, flipping through the stack. "What demands ?"

  "Money, mostly. But there are repeated reminders that the family was going to be at the lake house and that he expected it to be set up to his requirements, or your visit to her might be mysteriously canceled." Piper's lips twisted like she'd eaten a lemon. "There are a couple letters there from your mother as well, mostly begging for her to cooperate with Victor ."

  "Sounds about right," Jay said bitterly. He shoved the stack back into her hands. "I'm not sure why I should care about any of this getting out ."

  Piper sighed, straightening the cuffs of her blouse. "About halfway through, there are a few... implications." She shook her head when he opened his mouth to ask. "He makes it fairly clear that he was having an affair with your aunt ."

  "No." Jay shook his head. "Not possible. Aunt Carol hated Victor." Piper opened her mouth, and he held up his hand. "She wouldn't have done that to Mom. Whatever is in those letters, it's a bunch of bullshit. Do whatever you have to with them ."

  She looked at him, her jaw set. "Alright." Turning on her heel, she walked back into the courtroom .

  Luke turned to follow her, pausing when he realized that Jay wasn’t following, his eyes heavy on Jay's skin. "Do you want to talk about it ?"

  "Not even a little bit," Jay said, laughing bitterly. "There's nothing to talk about. She wouldn't do it. She hated him from day one ."

  "Okay." He urged Jay over to a bench, sitting down next to him. Opening his mouth like he was going to say more, he closed it with a click .

  It wasn't an awkward silence, despite the hundreds of thoughts whirling in Jay's head. The heat coming from the alpha's body was comforting, and he let the warmth sink into him until he relaxed with a deep sigh .

  Back at the lake house, they had been exactly the same. Neither of them had said much the first few days, enjoying each other's company quietly as they unwound from the stresses of finals and school. There hadn't been any pressure to come up with topics .

  On the late nights making cookies, it was like the floodgates had opened up. They'd talked about everything from aliens to favorite vacations. By the time they'd gone to the carnival, and then the boathouse, Jay had been head over heels .

  "You know what the worst part about that whole summer was? At the time, anyway." Jay asked, remembering all the things he had wished for the courage to say in the days after everything went to hell. "It wasn't the shouting or the fact that I was grounded for life. It wasn't even the fact that he kicked you out, although," he added when Luke shot him a dirty look, "to be fair, I forgot that you didn't know the area or any of the shortcuts ."

  "Enlighten me," Luke said dryly. "What did eighteen-year-old Jay regret the most about getting caught with his pants down ?"

  Jay turned to look at him, tracing the remains of the boy he'd known in the face of the man in front of him. The differences were subtle, but they added up to someone different and new, and Luke was just as head over heels for him. "The lighting was so bad, I didn't get to see you naked." He watched through his lashes as Luke's eyes went dark and hungry, dropping to Jay’s lips. Jay licked his own lips, his heart pounding in his ears as he leaned forward just a hair .

  "Good news, guys ."

  Jay jumped a good foot and almost fell off the bench as Piper rounded the corner at top speed. "The judge threw out your stepfather's claim and put a halt to the sale of the house." She glanced at them curiously, her wide smile fading a little as the tension of the moment caught up with her. "Two weeks for processing and the house is yours. I'll get you the rest of the inheritance paperwork by the end of the day ."

  13

  "K ristoff James, get off that right this instant. Next year, I'm having the birthday party at a zoo or something. At least they have facilities for all these animals there. Nate, get your brother off that, or nobody is getting any cookies !"

  Luke watched Greg grump and grumble as he settled into the chair across from his husband. "I was surprised you guys decided to do this at home after the Great Nate Disaster of 2012," he said, watching a whole herd of six-year-olds run at top speed through the big suburban backyard. Greg had done wonders with the place since the last time he'd been there, and there were patches of greenery still fighting to squeak a few more growing days out of the coming winter .

  Greg groaned. "Don't remind me. I wanted to go to one of those trampoline places, let the kids wear themselves out. I was outvoted." He glared at Brendan across the table .

  Holding his hands up in surrender, the doctor grinned. "I have learned my lesson ."

  "I blame Nate," Greg said, ignoring his alpha's amused snort. "He had a sleepover a few months ago, and Kris won't shut up about it. We told him he's too little for an overnight party, but he still insisted we have it here. I’m just sorry to put the rest of you through this ."

  "You know we don’t mind," Luke said. The birthday boy had gotten over his frustration at not being allowed to climb onto the table with the presents and instead decided to start a game of tag. Beginning with Jay. Biting back a laugh, he watched as the omega stared at the children with a deer in the headlights expression. “I think we all consider it practice for when we have our own .”

  "I should go rescue him," Greg said, propping his feet in Brendan's lap. Well trained by years of marriage to the dancer, the alpha immediately started rubbing them .

  "He'll be fine. Nate will save him if it comes to that." Brendan winked at Luke when he raised a skeptical eyebrow. The oldest of the frat brothers, Brendan had gotten more playful with the birth of each of his sons .

  "You're a terrible host," Greg muttered. "My mama would never approve ."

  "Sweetheart," Brendan said, leaning in for a kiss, "the only time I consider things worth doing is if your mama wouldn't approve." Greg stuck his tongue out, and Brendan leaned in to nip at it, and when it became clear that they weren't coming up for air any time soon, Luke got to his feet .

  "I'm going to go get some more punch," he said loudly, but neither man even glanced up .

  Rolling his eyes, he padded across the lawn. What would it be like to still be so in love after all those years? He'd seen so many marriages that were awful or crumbled under the slightest pressure. It was hard for his brain to process .

  The guys were all there, even Cody dragging his sorry ass in from some overseas assignment. They'd claimed a big table on the other side of the patio, crowding seven chairs into a space meant for five. Nikolai didn't mind at all, practically sitting in Cody's lap. The omega looked exhausted, but not so much that he didn't firmly turn down the Russian's offer of a lap to sleep on. While Kurt and Marcus talked about the brother's investment portfolios, Teddy fiddled with a model that he and Nate had been putting together .

  "Uncle Luke, you're it!" Kristoff ran by, slapping a sugary hand on Luke's knee and leaving a sticky patch on his jeans .

  Luke looked from the smear of chocolate and grass to the little boy currently giggling at him through the bars of a chair. Frowning, he huffed and puffed, flexing his arms and shoulders to make himself look bigger. "I'm goi
ng to get you," he roared, chasing after the kids with big, exaggerated steps .

  Six-year-olds scattered ahead of him, shrieking at a pitch that made his teeth ache. He shambled after them, grabbing one that was a heartbeat too slow and swinging them upside down as he nibbled on their fingers. The little boy screamed with laughter, his fine blond hair making him look like a dandelion .

  "Me next, Uncle Luke. Do me next!" Kris popped out from behind one of the tables, hopping anxiously with his arms raised. "It's my birthday. I want a turn ."

  "Don't whine," Nate muttered, shuffling by with a glass of soda held carefully over the heads of all the kids .

  Luke dutifully leaned down, setting the blond boy on his feet and grabbing Kris by the seat of his pants. "Look what I found," he growled, blowing a raspberry on the soft skin where his shirt rode up, "a tasty snack ."

  Nate rolled his eyes, the ten-year-old too cool for the screaming enthusiasm of the younger kids. He wound his way through the crowd, joining Jay in the far corner. Luke watched him hand over the drink and then prop himself up in the corner nearby with a book, subtly shooing away a pair of kids who tried to use Jay as a climbing tree .

  Hiding a smile as he gnawed on another child's arm, hoisting two more up to dangle from his elbows, Luke allowed himself a brief moment to feel old. He could remember when Greg got pregnant, and now Nate was turning into an excellent alpha with all his Dad's protective instincts .

  Keeping up with a herd of children was a better workout than any gym he'd ever been to, and he was worn out within half an hour, flopped on the grass as the kids crawled all over him. He could hear the guys laughing at him in the distance, and he flipped them off over the top of Kris's head as the little boy dove onto his stomach with all his weight .

  "Who wants cake ?"

  He could have kissed Greg when the kids all ran screaming for their seats, Kris at the head of the line screaming "Cookies!" at the top of his lungs. Laying in place for a moment to catch his breath, he tried to work up the motivation to get off the grass .