Rome (Marked Men #3)(60)

“Sure thing, Mom.”

Margot pulled away and looked up at him. I held my breath thinking she was going to say something nasty about his hair, but she just gave him a wan grin and stated, “Shaw bribed you, didn’t she?”

He just shrugged and her attention turned to me.

“You must be Cora. Rule and Shaw have talked about you so much I feel like I know you already. Thank you for coming.”

She shook my hand and I returned the gesture with my heart in my throat. Shaw had just texted that she was only about ten minutes out, so it was almost showtime.

“Thank you for having me.”

“How long have the two of you been seeing each other?”

I opened my mouth to tell her it had only been a couple of months but Rome interrupted with a sharp “Long enough.”

I narrowed my eyes at him in warning and he grunted back at me. We all lapsed into an awkward silence until Rule let out a dry laugh that broke the tension.

“So this is what it feels like to be on the other side of all the family drama. I always wondered.”

Rome swore, Dale said his name sharply, and Margot just sighed. I was going to interject something but just then the doorbell rang. Everyone turned to look at it in surprise, so I steeled up the reserves and gave Rome’s arm a quick squeeze.

“That’s Shaw. Give me a minute.”

“What?” Rome and Rule barked the question in the same tone.

“I asked her to do me a favor; that’s why she sent you on with us.” I looked at Margot and Dale and offered a shrug. “I care about both your sons so much. Rule is one of my very best friends and Rome … well, Rome changed my entire life. This family loves each other, I think that’s obvious, but the secrets, the loss of Remy, are poison that you all are still afflicted with. I’m about to bleed the venom out, so bear with me.”

Rome growled at me, “What did you do, Cora?”

I just shook my head. “You all need closure, and this was the only way I could think to do it. You told me you had to figure it out on your own, and that’s just not true, Rome.”

I pulled away from him and went to the door to let Shaw and her guest in.

He was a blindingly attractive young man. He was tall and elegant-looking in a fitted gray suit. His shaggy auburn hair hung messily in kind brown eyes and he looked almost as nervous as I felt. Shaw was grinning from ear to ear, and when she hugged me I finally felt like maybe I could get through this without throwing up all over the place.

“Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me, thank him.”

I blew out a breath and stuck out a hand. “Hi, I’m Cora. Thank you so much for doing this.”

He smiled, and it was just as sad as when Rule or Rome did it. “Nice to meet you. I’m Orlando, but my friends call me Lando. When Shaw tracked me down I was surprised, but I’m happy to help. Remy loved his family; he would hate to know he was the reason they were divided or struggling.”

“They don’t know you’re coming or who you are; it might not be pretty.”

He nodded as they moved into the entryway, I saw both Rule and Rome hanging over the rail of the stairs watching our little party.

“I can handle it. I am well versed in how to manage an angry Archer.”

“Who’s the suit?” Rule’s voice was sharp and had us all looking up. I felt Lando tense next to me as he released a long breath.

“They look so much alike.” His voice was barely a hint of sound, and Shaw put a reassuring hand on his arm.

“Yeah, but it becomes apparent really fast that they are only similar on the outside.”

“Cora?” Rome’s tone brooked no argument, so I hurried up the stairs to where everyone was gathered. I clasped my hands together in front of me nervously and waited until Shaw and Lando were at the top of the stairs.

“I know all of you have questions about why Remy did what he did, why he hid behind Shaw and didn’t tell you what he was doing in his life. I know Rome in particular has questions that keep him up at night. The only person that I thought might be able to answer them was the guy he was in love with. Orlando Fredrick, the Archers. Archers, meet Remy’s boyfriend, Lando. I asked Shaw to track him down for me. She didn’t want to do it at first, but I convinced her it was what you all need in order to move forward. I would apologize for overstepping my bounds but I really feel this had to be done.”

You could have heard a pin drop. It was so tense, so silent, I was waiting for the volcano to erupt. Shaw stood next to me while everyone else just gaped at each other. Lando couldn’t take his eyes off of Rule, and the brothers couldn’t look away from their late sibling’s attractive lover. I thought I was going to have to do something, anything to move things forward, but my guy surprised me by clearing his throat and extending a hand. His voice was gruff, but he took the first step forward and clasped the hand Lando stuck out.

“It’s nice to meet you. Thank you for coming.” If I hadn’t thought my idea of what was perfect for me was wrong before, I knew now, without a doubt, how wrong I had been. I knew it couldn’t be easy for Rome, but he was making the effort, that is what a perfect guy did. And the idea of loving this remarkable man was as easy as it was terrifying; I was going to have to figure out what kind of risk I was going to take.

Rule followed suit and Lando had to visibly gather himself.