what I need!”
Kev’s lips twitched. “So this is to keep me busy? You think my mathematical masturbation will make me go blind?”
Bruno made an impatient gesture. “It’s a waste. You need to get out, get some sun, get laid. You made us a fortune with Lost Boys. Are you going to just throw it all away to—”
“You made the fortune,” Kev said, with quiet emphasis. “Go make the piles of money without me. I’ll be OK.”
Bruno looked frustrated. “But what the fuck? You’re just sitting here in the dark, staring at your computer, obsessing about your past. Let it go! Start from where you are! Your life couldn’t have been that good, considering how fucked-up you were when Tony found you!”
Kev couldn’t deny it, but he couldn’t agree, either. “I need to know where I came from,” he said.
“Why?” Bruno yelled. “What would it help? What’ll it prove?”
Bruno was right. There was no reason to think knowing his past would make the quality of his life better. And there were many reasons to think that it might make it worse. But curiosity was driving him bonkers. He’d always wanted to know where he came from, but since the waterfall, that want was fueled by raw emotion, like burning rocket fuel. If the truth should prove to suck ass, he still had to know it.
But Bruno was on a roll. “What’s wrong with the life you’ve got? You’ve got plenty of money, or would if you’d stop throwing it at the widows and the orphans. You’ve got me and Tony and Rosa for family. What are we, chopped liver? Too lowbrow for you?”
“Don’t be stupid. It has nothing to do with you, Rosa, and Tony.”
“We’re just not enough,” Bruno raged on. “You’re fixated on that hole inside your head, instead of the life you’ve built. Ever thought that what’s in that hole might be a big disappointment to you? You were in shit-poor shape when Tony got you. Whoever your people were, they didn’t stand by you! They left you to die! Fuck them!”
Kev gazed at the younger man. “I won’t blow you off. Even if I find my former family. You’ll always be my brother. No matter what.”
Bruno looked embarrassed. “It’s not about that.”
Kev just looked at him.
“Oh, shut up,” Bruno snarled. “Just shut the fuck up.”
“I didn’t say anything,” Kev said.
“You didn’t have to. It was the look on your face. Come on. Eat this.” He slapped a plate with a fried egg on a roll, bacon draped over it.
Kev swallowed back the clutch of nausea. No way to let Bruno down gently. He shook his head. “I’ll take coffee,” he offered.
Bruno muttered something foul in Calabrese, and spun the loaded plate in the direction of the sink like a Frisbee. The crash of breaking crockery made Kev jerk, covering his ears. Jesus. That hurt.
He took off his coat and poured coffee, ignoring the anger radiating from the broad back of his adopted brother. He tried not to limp as he crossed the room. Any show of weakness set Bruno off.
He sat at his worktable and turned the computer on.
“Don’t jerk off with that while I’m talking to you,” Bruno growled.
“I’m not jerking off,” Kev said mildly. “And if you do, I’ll talk back.”
“With only half your brain? That irritates the shit out of me.”
Kev clicked his browser. “Half a brain’s all I’ve ever had.”
“Hah. You could solve complicated higher math problems while simultaneously operating a nuclear missile launcher, analyzing weather patterns, and shaving a poodle. But normal folk call that bad manners.”
Kev tried not to smile. “That’s funny, coming from a guy who just picked all my locks. Get out, Bruno. I’m working.”
Bruno grabbed a chair and straddled it. “I’ll leave when you eat.”
Kev sighed. “It’ll be hours,” he explained. “My stomach’s fucked up. No digestive fluids. I’m not being difficult. It’s a timing thing.”
“So I’ll wait til you’re better,” Bruno said.
Kev rubbed his throbbing forehead. “Thanks for caring, but no. I love you, man, but I’m busy now. Fuck off.”
“Make me,” Bruno said.
Kev exhaled slowly, dismayed. He’d managed this badly, out of exhaustion. Now there would be no getting rid of him without a fight.
He looked at the challenge in the younger man’s eyes, the set of his jaw. He looked like Tony, with that expression. Scary thought.
Kev had taught Bruno to fight. Consequently, Bruno was lethally skilled, with the advantage of being ten years younger, buff as an Olympic athlete, and not currently recuperating from going over a waterfall. Kev’s bones were still knitting. He was far from a hundred percent. He might prevail, but he’d pay a price he couldn’t afford.
He decided to suck it up. “Whatever. Be bored, then.” He put the sunglasses back on. “Don’t bug me, though.”
Bruno stared at Kev’s face, trying to see past scars, skull, into the brain inside. Bruno was persistent. And ferociously intense. Two things Kev loved and respected about his adopted brother. They were also huge pains in the ass. But life was like that. Full of trade-offs.
“Tony’s been asking about you,” Bruno said.
Kev stopped in the act of lifting coffee to his lips. He took a sip, not breathing so as not to smell the stuff. “Oh, yeah? And?”
“He worries about you,” Bruno said. “He’s your family, too.”
Kev stared at the screen, but did not see what was on it. “Ah.”
Bruno cursed under his breath. “C’mon, Kev. Tony didn’t take advantage of you on purpose,” he said gruffly. “He was just, you know. Being Tony. He can’t help himself. And besides, he thought he was doing you a favor. Keeping you out of sight.”
“While doing unpaid menial labor for him, for years? Yeah. He’s a real prince,” Kev said. “Tony doesn’t do favors, Bruno. Nothing’s for free. Not even for you, and you’re his own flesh and blood.”
Bruno didn’t deny it, since he couldn’t. “He worries about you,” he repeated. “He really does. He’s a mean old son of a bitch, but he does.”
Kev’s silence was more eloquent than words could have been.
Bruno’s mouth hardened. “What the fuck do you think he should have done for you, anyway?”
“Nothing,” Kev replied. “He was under no obligation to do anything. I have no reason to complain. If he hadn’t saved me, I would have died. If he hadn’t given me a place to be, I would
