Forbidden Feast

Ch. 20: a killer

Never once, in Mathew's entire life, has he ever hated having so many siblings.

Mathew wished to be an only child.

"I wasn't sure if you were asleep!" Bianca said through the door with the same power as warning shots fired into the sky. All the color vanished from Jace's face. The future flashed across his eyes and it was dark. Quickly, Mathew hit Jace's arm and motioned him off the bed, nearly breaking his wrist with how hard his hand flapped.

"Um, actually," Mathew's voice cracked, which made all the blushing worse, burning brighter and redder than ever. Imagining his sister walking in on them made death sound like a treat. "I was asleep. Um, hold on."

Trying to make light foot work, Jace jumped out of bed and stumbled into his pants and scooped up his shirt, getting dressed on the move. his clothes. Trying the door again and failing, Bianca laughed while Mathew's heart stopped. "Since when do you lock your door?"

"Uh, since college. You know dorms and all that..." Mathew scrambled to grab a fresh pair of pants, T-shirt and a new pair of underwear. His stomach and chest still felt slightly sticky, and with his family's noses, they'd know the filthy things that just happened in this room. He grabbed his spray deodorant and sprayed the inside of his shirt and directly onto his skin.

Jace raised his hands out to the room, silently asking where to go.

"Bed!" Mathew mouthed, motioning him to crawl underneath. Grimacing, Jace dragged himself over and got on the floor. He scooted underneath the bed with some effort, but he was out of sight.  Taking a breath, Mathew combed through his hair and went to the door, revealing his sister hanging off the door frame.

Raising a brow, Bianca smiled. "What took you so long?"

"What do you mean? You woke me up. I was getting up," Mathew said, walking right by her and closing his door.

"You're so red."

"My bed was warm."

"Sorry, I'll stop teasing you. I just didn't know you let off steam that way."

"Gross, Bianca. Gross." Mathew walked even faster to get away. Mathew almost turned for Dante's office, but Bianca grabbed his arm.

"Not that way. We're going downstairs to fit everybody. It's a family meeting, and Dante's office can no longer accommodate the entire family. They walked downstairs as everyone was getting settled.

Ben's family, Lincoln and Freddy, were rummaging through the dusty drink cart. Bianca's husband, Gabriel, sat with Anthony's husband, Knox, like suit catalog models, just making small talk about new houses, kids, and the refusal of pets because no one in this family ever had any extra time to care for them. Anthony stood by the window with Dante, the two of them already cooking up a plan before the meeting technically started.

"Are you alright?" Knox asked.

"I'm fine," Mathew said and, for some reason that grabbed Lincoln's attention, but he just fixed his glasses and started speaking to his husband again. It overwhelmed Mathew suddenly that happy couples surrounded him while Jace was hidden inside his bedroom like a dirty little secret.

The door opened and Nino, with his arms open, spilled inside. Ben was right behind, taking off his coat. He was someone you might lose in a crowd with short brown hair and basic clothes for comfort. It wasn't until you narrowed in on his eyes and his freckles that you could find his charms.

"All right!" Nino announced himself. He was as tall as ever, with layers of flowy dark hair as he wore a beautiful cable knit and jeans that were probably worth hundreds of dollars. "We're here. We made it. Now, can somebody tell us what's going on?"