Chapter 9

 

“That little piece of shit!” Lachlan grumbled, as he paced the living room, arms folded over his chest.

Grayson watched him warily, not sure whether to intervene or not. He'd done a lot to bring a smile back to Konnor's lips last night, taking him for a walk and talking him down, but something had happened to change the calm they'd discovered.

Casen had walked into the room just a minute ago and whispered to Lachlan, who hadn't been able to calm down ever since. All Grayson knew was that it had something to do with Darren or Giovanni, since Casen had gone looking for them when they didn't appear by ten o'clock that morning.

In response to the whispers and a few glares from Lachlan, Levi and Mack had left the cabin for a 'morning run', which Grayson took to mean 'escape'. He was about to go ahead and try to ease the tension when a door opened down the corridor and everyone stilled in wonder of who was going to appear.

Lachlan was pacing, Tam and Casen were already sitting on the sofa as if they were waiting for a bomb to drop, and Konnor was sitting scrunched up in an armchair, looking like he might fall apart any minute.

So when Giovanni walked in, he was almost relieved that it wasn't Darren. Until Grayson considered the implications of just why Darren hadn't appeared yet.

“Everything okay?” he asked, though he knew it was a stupid question and it was very likely that nothing was okay.

“He's going back to sleep,” Giovanni admitted, with a look of total panic. After a second, he leaned against the corner of the wall, where the corridor led into the large living area. His hand shook as he raked it through his hair, then he pushed off the wall and sank onto a lone armchair, opposite the stone fire where Konnor sat.

The two exchanged a look that spoke volumes, but Grayson didn't know what to say. If Darren was going back to sleep that either meant he'd had no sleep during the night or he'd been fine until Casen and Lachlan checked on him first thing.

In just an hour or two it would be noon and the mother hen that Konnor insisted was part of his nature told him that Darren would need to be woken for something to eat or drink. He'd barely eaten much at dinner last night and he'd had little more than a few bottles of water before bed. If he didn't eat or drink soon, he'd end up suffering for it, the way Konnor did. He always got a headache from too little sustenance.

“I swear,” Lachlan bit out, his voice full of fury, “when those little shits get back here, they'll need body bags to get back home.”

Konnor chuckled sleepily, while Giovanni rubbed a hand over his mouth with a clear look of exhaustion. Both of them were flagging, so Grayson bustled back into the kitchen and brewed a new batch of strong coffee, to perk them all up. In the background, he could hear Cormag attempting to calm Lachlan down, while Tam and Casen spoke quietly with Giovanni.

“Hey.”

He turned as someone whispered in his ear. He was surprised to see Konnor right behind him. “What's up, babe?” he asked, trying to keep it light and casual, while the tension mounted in the main room.

“Just making sure you're okay. This is the big blow up we were all scared of,” he whispered, while wrapping both arms around his waist.

Grayson nodded and leaned back on his fiancé, taking a moment to breathe evenly and accept the inevitable. “It is. But we'll get through it. Do you see how much they're coming together, in Darren's defence?” he asked, feeling like that was a good thing. Surely if they could all band together against one of them being targeted and made to feel less-than, then it showed how well they were getting on. How much they'd all come together over the years and put old grievances aside.

“Yeah. But do you see that they're ganging up on Mack and Levi by doing that?” Konnor countered, raising an eyebrow at him as soon as Grayson glanced back at him in surprise.

“Oh. Yeah.”

“Hmm. Not exactly Happy Families, is it?” he commented, with a light chuckle.

Taking a deep breath, Grayson reluctantly agreed that it had turned pear shaped pretty quickly. “But that's what we are, right? A family.” And, if they couldn't fight for each other, with each other or against each other, then who could they do it with?

Konnor laughed a little harder and gave his waist a squeeze. “I guess so,” he agreed. “Hey, maybe this is that moment you always get on a family holiday get together. You know, late on Christmas Day, when everyone is feeling overfed and cranky. When the one uncle you didn't want to invite but kind of had to spouts off the political views that get Dad all riled up and a huge fight starts.”

Grayson stared in shock.

“What? That didn't happen to you?” he wondered, all innocent and very, surprisingly, serious.

“God, no. What the hell kind of family Christmas is that?” he protested, convinced more than ever that Konnor's family were a pack of hyenas and they didn't deserve him. All they did was scavenge what they could off him, until it was too much hassle.

“Um...my family.”

Grayson shook his head and kissed his fiancé's cheek. “Thank Christ you don't see them anymore, babe. That would drive you insane,” he admitted, knowing fine well that Konnor was a lot calmer and  less complicated than his family seemed to be. He liked to be alone, in the quiet, with the people he loved most. Not ranting and raving about irrelevant issues and making a meal out of nothing.

“Probably did, to be honest,” Konnor quipped, before walking away.