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“He’s not even family. Why does he get to call a meeting?” Cal whined, obviously still pissed Nero had literally rolled him out of bed, duvet and all.
Nero growled, and Cal held up his hands in surrender. “Sorry, sorry. I forgot. You having a mate is just… weird.” Another growl from Nero. “Not that you’re weird, Felix, just this whole thing.”
Nero took a step away from the counter and toward his brother, who darted around the island to hide behind his twin.
“Don’t come over here. I’m not going to protect you, asshole.” Quin leaned to the side, giving Nero full access.
“Children, can we please get to the point?” Julius sighed heavily. “Honestly, how am I, the youngest, the most mature?”
Nero took a second to collect himself, then sat at the kitchen table and pushed a chair out for me. His brothers took the hint and found seats around the table.
I looked at my mate. “Where should I start?”
“ORCA.” He nodded in encouragement.
“Yes, Felix. We’re all orcas. Including the bastard you claim is your mate.” Cal rolled his eyes, and Nero growled again. The sound sent a jolt of desire down my spine that landed somewhere near my balls. Maybe I’d been too hasty calling this meeting. Nero and I could be upstairs enjoying some quality time right now if I?—
A big hand squeezed my thigh, pulling me out of my naughty fantasies. I felt Nero’s eyes on me, and I glanced up at him from under my lashes. He leaned forward, his lips brushing the shell of my ear, which did nothing to stop the blood that was already flowing toward my cock and making my dick perk up.
“Later,” he whispered. “I promise.” He turned his hand palm up on my thigh, and I laced our fingers together. “This is important. I want you safe.”
A throat cleared, probably Cal’s, and Nero sat back, our fingers still intertwined.
Closing my eyes, I shook my head and tried to corral my thoughts, then cleared my throat. “Not orca.O.R.C.A. Or the Organization for the Return of Criminals and Assets.”
Quin and Julius nodded while Cal repeated the acronym and lined up the letters. Then he nodded too. “I like where this is going. Tell me more.”
Nero took over, explaining that I’d hacked Julius’s supposedly unhackable files and uncovered a lot of information about each of them and their family. Julius looked simultaneously impressed and annoyed, but before he could say anything, Nero forged ahead, outlining my idea to form our own covert ops group, specializing in the return of stolen goods and, as a nod to Nero’s bounty-hunting profession, the return of criminals who’d jumped bail to their rightful place within the justice system.
“I’m in.” Cal hadn’t hesitated for even a second, leaning back in his chair and rocking it onto two legs. “I’ve been trying to get Nero to cut me in on his bounty-hunting gig for years.”
“Me too.” Julius sat forward with his hands folded neatly on the table. “Not about wanting to be a bounty hunter. I’m not a fieldwork kind of guy, but I am good at following the money.”
Everyone at the table turned to look at Quin. While on the outside he appeared the most respectable of the brothers, his hands were the dirtiest. He’d forged a number of high-profile art pieces—some of which hung in world-renowned museums, the curators none the wiser—and his skill in multiple mediums, including sculpture, made him highly sought after. Add in the fact that his gallery served as what amounted to a fence that saw stolen art returned to where it belonged, and he had reason to be skeptical of the plan. Nero wasn’t even sure if Quin would be valuable to a team like the one I was suggesting, but something told me he was going to be essential.
Quin sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, but when he opened his mouth to respond, Call cut him off. “We should call Hade. See if he wants in.”
“Hade?” I looked at Nero. I hadn’t run across a Hade in any of Julius’s files.
Nero rolled his eyes. “Our cousin Hadrian.”
“He’s not in the files you hacked.” Julius folded his arms over his chest and gave me a look that said he was trying to figure me out. Which was fair since I was trying to figure him and his brothers out too.
I counted their names off on my fingers. “Hadrian, Nero, Quintillus, Julius, and Cali?—”
“Don’t say it. I swear to God, Felix. I don’t care if you’re Nero’s mate, I will kill you where you sit.” Cal looked like he would too.
“I was just wondering why you’re all named after Roman emperors.”
“Our grandmother,” the brothers said in unison, all rolling their eyes. Well, at least they agreed on something.
“So are we clueing Hade or not?”
Nero shook his head, but I shrugged. “If you think he would want to be involved, sure. Why not?”
Cal rocked his chair up onto a single leg. “Hade can drive, pilot, or captain any vessel or vehicle you put in front of him. Can’t hurt to have a getaway driver on standby if we need one.”
“He’s a loose cannon.” Nero glared at his brother, still balanced precariously on a single chair leg.
