Whispers in the Dark - Maya Banks [38]
Nathan burst out laughing. “God, you sound so much like Garrett right now.”
Donovan sent him a disgruntled look. “There’s no need to get insulting.”
Nathan chuckled again. “Just spit it out, Van. I’m not going to come apart at the seams.”
“Well, thank God,” Donovan muttered. “When are you going to come to work with us? I’m recruiting a new team. I want you on it.”
Blunt as ever. Donovan didn’t much see the value in pussyfooting around a subject. He tended to have more tact than Garrett, who gave new meaning to the term bull in a china closet, but it didn’t mean he was any less forceful in getting his opinion across.
“Why isn’t Joe on the new team?” Nathan asked, avoiding the more direct question of when he’d agree to join KGI.
“He’s training with Rio, but I don’t have any intention of leaving him there. The last thing I want is to send my brother off to parts unknown with Rio and his cave dwellers the minute I finally get him home for good. Ma would have a kitten anyway, and I’d likely be ostracized from the family. Since I don’t have a wife to cook for me yet, staying in Ma’s good graces is kind of important.”
Nathan grinned. “You pussy.”
Donovan shrugged, took another drink and then turned his gaze back on Nathan. “So? What are your plans? I’ll understand if you don’t want to join KGI, but you can’t just not do anything for the rest of your life. You and Joe could take this third team, but I have to know you’re both ready for it.”
Nathan sighed and finally opened his beer just to have something to do. It was tasteless on his tongue, but he swallowed eagerly, stalling. For what? More time? In some ways he hadn’t had nearly enough. In other ways he’d had far too much.
“You know I planned to join KGI. We talked about it.”
Donovan nodded. “Yeah, we did. When you and Joe got out. But that was before. I don’t know much about what you’re thinking these days at all.”
“My plans haven’t changed. Just delayed a little.”
“Okay, that’s fair enough. Got a time frame on your delay?”
Nathan’s mouth quirked up. Right now Donovan sounded like a pushy, heartless son of a bitch. His brothers had probably argued over who got to come over for this little come-to-Jesus moment. Garrett would have wanted the task. Sam would have said hell no. For all Sam’s anal hard-assedness, he wouldn’t have wanted to push Nathan too hard. He took his responsibilities as the oldest Kelly brother way too seriously, and as a result, he tended to get a little carried away with the idea he had to take care of his younger siblings.
Donovan would have gotten disgusted with Sam’s and Garrett’s bickering and told them what morons they were right before coming over to do the dirty work himself.
“No time line. There’s just something I have to do before I can commit,” Nathan finally said.
Donovan’s brow went up. “Like what?”
Nathan lifted one shoulder. “Just something I need to take care of.”
“Anything I should know about?”
Code word for can I help.
“No. It’s personal. Something I have to put to rest before I can give a hundred percent of myself to KGI.”
“Fair enough. But don’t take too long, Nathan. We worry about you. I’m only going to be able to keep Sam and Garrett off your ass for so long.”
Nathan grinned. “I figured as much. You’re so self-sacrificing, man. You hit me right here.” He put his fist to his chest in a dramatic gesture.
Donovan flipped him off and then snatched the beer can out of Nathan’s hand. “If you’re going to be so goddamn rude, you can get your own beer.”
Nathan lunged for Donovan’s hand, but Donovan raised the beer over his head. Nathan laughed and reached up to grab Donovan’s wrist.
“You’re not tall enough to pull off that move, big brother.”
“Fuck you,” Donovan said rudely. “I may not be as tall as the rest of you Neanderthals but I can still take you down.”
With a challenge laid down like that, there was no way Nathan could let it go. The two brothers went down, laughing and cursing as each wrestled for advantage over the other.
While such activity might ordinarily get them into trouble with