Menace (Scarlet Scars #1)(59)

“Probably not,” I admit.

Before either of us can speak again, there’s noise on the stairs, footsteps that aren’t trying to tiptoe. Leo glances up, something akin to shock crossing his face before he spins around so fast it’s like he’s twirling. “Jesus, Lorenzo! Really, bro? Really?”

I glanced behind me, eyes widening. Lorenzo’s buck-naked, like the prince running through the glass tunnel, waltzing down the stairs like he’s not got a care in the world.

He’s groggy, only half-awake, everything prominently on display.

“Don’t act like you’ve never seen a dick before, Pretty Boy,” Lorenzo says, skirting around me, brushing against me. “I know you’ve got one. I used to change your diapers, remember?”

“No, I don’t remember,” Leo says, “but you certainly remind me enough.”

“That’s because it earns me the right to do whatever I damn well please,” Lorenzo says. “I wiped your ass, made your lunches, taught you how to treat a woman, and I let your girlfriend eat my groceries. Let me air my balls out without jumping my ass about it.”

Leo turns around then, laughing, no longer seeming to care or notice his brother’s not wearing clothes. “You taught me how to treat a woman?”

“I did,” he says, strolling past us, heading down the hallway, calling back as he says, “Showed you exactly what not to do if you were trying to keep one.”

Lorenzo disappears into the back of the house, past the library. Kitchen, I’m guessing. Process of elimination.

“Well, you certainly did that,” Leo mutters, turning to me, his cheeks flushing. “Sorry about that. He’s, uh… well, he’s him.”

Okay, that makes me laugh, which isn’t the response Leo expects, based on the strange look he gives me, but he’s apologizing for his brother—a genuine apology for Lorenzo’s behavior.

I’m wondering how the hell that apple even came from the same tree at this point, frankly.

“He doesn’t bother me,” I say. “I mean, he’s a pain in the ass, but him being naked is probably the least bothersome thing about him.”

“Ah, yeah, guess it isn’t the first time you’ve seen… it,” he says, laughing awkwardly. “You know, since you’re here at six in the morning. It’s just, well, I usually don’t see them, since they don’t often stick around to chat.”

He’s flustered. There’s no way this guy even came from the same orchard as Lorenzo, much less the same tree. “They?”

“Yeah, the ladies that my brother—”

“Fucks,” Lorenzo says, stepping out from the kitchen, carrying an orange. “The women I f*ck. They’re usually out of here before Pretty Boy makes it out of bed, so he’s not used to this whole ‘morning after’ thing.”

Pretty Boy.

He doesn’t even call his brother by his name?

“Oh, well then… my bad,” I say as I give Leo a smile. “Next time I’ll just have to skedaddle before you catch me, then.”

Leo’s eyes widen, those words shocking him for some reason—maybe even shocking him more than his brother waltzing between us naked again does. “Next time?”

Lorenzo stalls on the bottom step as he starts to peel his orange. His cock is like two feet to the left of me, and I’m trying damn hard not to look, to keep my eyes straight ahead, but it’s shining like a beacon over there, trying to draw me in.

“You’ll have to excuse my brother, Scarlet,” Lorenzo says. “He thinks you’re one of my wham-bam’s. I tend to impose a ‘one ride per person’ rule, so next times are pretty unheard of.”

Ignoring how the mention of Lorenzo’s stream of women makes my stomach coil, I nod. “Understandable.”

“I didn’t realize there was something other than that,” Leo says, eyes narrowing as he looks at his brother, clearly completely over the fact that he’s not wearing clothes. “Care to fill me in?”

“No, not really,” Lorenzo says, starting up the stairs. “By the way, Scarlet, you forgot your shoes.”

I look down at my feet before it strikes me—the Louboutins. “Oh, can you bring them to me?”

“Fuck do I look like, a delivery boy?”

Lorenzo doesn’t say anything else, trekking up the stairs.

I scowl, keeping my eyes on Leo. “I should probably, you know…” I point up the stairs. “Go get them.”

Before Leo can respond, a shrill scream pierces the air, loud enough to make my hair stand on end. Leo runs his hands down his face as Lorenzo’s voice echoes from upstairs: “Oh, give me a break, I know you’ve seen a dick before, Firecracker. I hear my brother f*cking you all the time.”

I head up the steps, passing a shell-shocked looking blonde along the way, but she barely notices me, zeroing in on Leo.

“I know, I know,” Leo mutters when she approaches. “You saw my brother naked.”

Shaking my head, I set off along the second floor, finding Lorenzo’s bedroom door wide open. He sits on the edge of his bed, peeling his orange, still not wearing any clothes. I hesitate in front of him, eyes scanning him, unable to avoid ogling him any longer. I’ve seen it all, yes, but I haven’t exactly taken a lot of time to look, if you know what I mean. I wouldn’t call him ripped, but he’s definitely fit, some definition to his muscles. And the cock? Yeah, okay, it’s gorgeous… if you can call a cock gorgeous, which I can, because I don’t know how else to describe it. He’s definitely more of a show-er than a grower, eight and a half inches, thick and cut, veins running along the shaft, and Jesus Christ, okay… I’ve got to stop looking.