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“It wasn’t as simple as you thought it would be, was it?” There are tears rolling down Adrian’s cheeks now. He wipes them away with one hand before another laugh bursts out of him. “That is amazing.”

“Believe me, you couldn’t do much better,” Theo insists. “So there. Now you know. I’m glad you got a good laugh out of it.”

“It’s all right,” I offer while Adrian keeps snickering like a typical younger brother, loving to get under his older brother’s skin. I’m starting to get that feeling, anyway. “You don’t have to be good at everything. At least you gave it a try.”

“See?” Theo asks Adrian, waving the spatula my way. “She gets it.”

“Oh, all of a sudden you’re feeling warm and generous toward the girl who almost burned your house down?”

“Considering we’re asking him for help,” I mutter, “maybe you could be a little nicer.”

“I’m used to it,” Theo grumbles, shaking his head at his brother before turning back to the stove. “He’s always been an insufferable little shit.” Despite the insult, for the first time since we got here, there’s what sounds like warmth and maybe even affection in his voice. Something tells me he missed his shitty little brother a lot.

“I’m sorry. I’m going to need a little time with this.” After wiping up his mess, Adrian snickers into his mug. “Two alpacas.”

“You know what?” Theo plates up the fried bacon before adding more to the pan. “Taking care of two alpacas on a remote ranch is still better than what I had going on before. I would choose this life over that one any day.”

Adrian’s expression sobers. “It doesn’t have to be this way. You don’t have to live in hiding.”

Theo hangs his head for a moment before muttering, “I’m not in hiding.”

“When was the last time you were able to go out in public without looking over both shoulders? Do you even bother trying anymore?” Adrian asks.

“Don’t worry about it,” Theo grunts.

“Even if you guys didn’t look so much alike,” I interject, “I would know you were brothers right away.”

Theo and Adrian exchange a look before Theo heads to the fridge. “Thanks for the assessment. Grab the eggs for me?”

“I can help,” I offer.

“You’re sitting at the table and not touching anything, remember?” Theo reminds me. “But thanks.” I guess I have to be satisfied with that.

It’s not long before we’re all sitting down with our fried eggs and bacon. There’s still a chilly feeling at the table. Probably because of the elephant in the room that nobody wants to talk about. The reason we came in the first place.

It isn’t long before I can’t handle it anymore. “So, what do you think?” I ask before taking a bite of bacon. “Are you going to help us or not?”

“You weren’t kidding about the questions . . .” Theo remarks with a sigh.

“You have no idea,” Adrian mutters.

“Whatever,” I retort. “Are you going to? Because this Matteo sounds like bad news.”

“Which is even more reason for me to not get involved.” Theo is absolutely determined to be no help at all.

Before I can tell him what a cowardly jerk I think he is, he offers Adrian a compromise. “I won’t go with you to take care of him. But I can train June so she can be an asset to you.” Adrian laughs out loud at this, but Theo continues, his face knit into a serious expression. “Hand-to-hand combat, firearms. Whatever she needs to know. That way, you won’t be going in there alone.”

Adrian scoffs. “That’s the most ridiculous idea you’ve ever had. And I’ve seen you snort a pack of hot sauce just to see what would happen.”

“First of all, I was twelve. Second, do you have a better one? If so, let me hear it,” Theo muses.

“Hold on a second,” I whisper while Adrian sits back in his chair, folding his arms and staring at his brother like he’s actually thinking about agreeing to this.

I already know how I feel. I feel like I’m going to pee my pants, even more so than I did when I almost set the whole kitchen on fire.

Adrian mulls it over for a moment. He glances my way before asking, “Do you think she’s up to it? You’ve seen the kind of damage she can do with a frying pan. You expect her to be an asset with a firearm?”

“I think she’s got the balls to handle herself.” Something about the way Theo says it, plus the grin he throws my way, makes it feel like a compliment.