I’m leaning against my truck, waiting for my slow-ass brothers to make an appearance along with a Realtor who was nice enough to agree to show me the house.

Patel’s words definitely got to me and that’s why I’m outside a house Hunter and I had our eye on as it went into foreclosure. The bank owns it now and I’m hoping the fact that it’s going up for auction means that not a lot of people are interested.

Cristian runs around the corner, his earbuds in, wearing his man leggings, shorts, and a skin-tight shirt. Looking about as unmanly as you can while working out.

His pace slows to a walk when he rounds the corner and he pulls his earbuds out of his ears.

“Hey,” he says, leaning over with his hands on his knees, catching his breath.

“You’re an embarrassment to the Bianco name.” I push off my truck with my foot, open the door and grab a water, tossing it in his direction.

“An embarrassment? Hello.” He pulls up his shirt to reveal his eight pack. “And I don’t have the cushy twenty-four on, forty-eight off schedule. My ass sits in a patrol car for eight fucking hours straight.” He gulps down half the bottle. “Thanks for this.” He raises the bottle he asked me to bring him into the air.

“Whatever happened to old t-shirts and basketball shorts?”

He looks down at his attire, clearly confused over my question. “This is climate control. I sweat less and it dries fast. Hate to break it to you, brother, but no one wants sweat rings around their neck and pits that don’t dry for hours anymore.”

“I know what dri-fit is, I also know what size I am. Not sure you can say the same.” I eye his erect nipples poking through the thin fabric.

“You’re objectifying me.” He covers his nipples with his hands.

I roll my eyes just as my other brother pulls his motorcycle into the four-by-four space between me and the car in front of me. Luca takes off his helmet.

“One downside to you working in the city is that you must not see many motorcycle accidents.”

He puts the helmet on the bench of his bike. “I’ve seen plenty, but thanks, Dad.”

Luca saunters up to us in his jeans and the t-shirt my mom gave him for his birthday, I fix stupid with a cartoon of an ambulance on it.

My youngest brother is a paramedic. He’s good at his job, which is surprising once you get to know him.

“Nice shirt,” I say.

He glances down. “Well, it’s a hell of a lot better than Christine over there.” He nods to Cristian.

“They’re compression pants,” Cristian argues.

“They’re man leggings,” Luca and I say in unison.

Cristian rolls his eyes and unplugs his earbuds.

“You know you’re probably going to be the first of us to go down with a heart attack,” Luca says. “It’s always the guy with picture perfect health. ‘No way Cristian had a heart attack, the man ran five miles a day, ate nothing but vegetables, he was so disciplined.’” Luca laughs.

Cristian shakes his head at him.

“This is the house.” I motion toward it with my hand.

The three of us stand outside of it, just staring for a moment.

“It’s a shit hole,” Luca says.

“Or a treasure,” I say.

I feel both their eyes on me. They think I’m delusional and they might be right. I should find a house that only needs a few upgrades, not a complete overhaul, but the return on this will be bigger if I can pull it off.

“You think you have the skill to do this?” Cristian, always the sensible one, asks the type of question I assumed he would.

“I think between me and the people we know, yes.”

Luca places his hand on my shoulder. “Even I can’t revive this house.” He moves forward, driven by his natural curiosity toward anything that seems too big to conquer. He rarely accepts defeat.

Having brothers like Luca and Cristian is like having the angel and the devil always weighing in on a decision, which is why I invited them over.

“I hate to be the jackass here, but…” Cristian joins Luca, pretending to tiptoe up the front steps, steps that appear as if they might sink into the ground.

“Nice neighborhood though.” Luca stands on the porch, tucking his sunglasses into the neckline of his t-shirt. “How much again?”

I stand there envisioning a nice fence in the front, a walkway lined with flowers and hydrangeas along the ground in front of the porch. “Twenty K to start.”

“It’s going to be auctioned?” Luca asks.

“Yes, it is,” a female voice says behind me. “Which means you need to make sure all your finances are in order and ready by Monday. My feeling is that you won’t be the only one who’s looking for a steal in a nice neighborhood.”

All three of us turn around and find a woman in heels and a short skirt standing on the sidewalk. Her eyes bulge out of her head and her gaze flows up and down each one of us.

“Hi, I’m Mauro, the one you talked to on the phone.” I step forward and hold my hand out. She takes it while still examining Luca.

“I’m Greer and I’ll be waiting outside while you guys take a look.”

She wiggles between Cristian and Luca, bending over to punch the code into the lockbox for the key. One quirked eyebrow from Luca as he checks out her ass and the door opens.

Once we’re inside, Cristian strips his shirt off and uses it to cover his nose and mouth. “This is horrible.” His voice is muffled as he tiptoes around the room like a little girl.

“Man up.” Luca kicks a rug out of the way between the dining room and kitchen. “I know I’m the optimistic one, but Mauro, this is a kick me in the nuts project.” He disappears through an archway.

“This smell is almost as bad as a decomposing body.” Cristian circles around, staying in the same spot.

“Afraid to get your new running shoes dirty?” I cock an eyebrow.

He ties the shirt around his face like a bandana so it’s still covering his nose and mouth. “Fuck off.” He heads toward the stairs, his back to the wall as he slowly moves up them like he’s clearing a house. I guess none of us are ever too far removed from our day jobs.

“The backyard is killer,” Luca hollers and I leave Cristian to examine the top floor and head Luca’s way.

“Big? It didn’t look that way from outside.”

“No, I meant you’re actually going to get killed. Rose bush thorns galore.” He’s staring out the kitchen window. “You’re on your own there.” He claps me on the shoulder. “Where’s pretty boy?” Luca glances at the open stairway to the basement. “Let’s make him be the first one to go down there.”

It’s dark and the stench wafting from the open door doesn’t make it appealing in any way. “Please. I thought you were a man?” I slide by him.

“I’m not gonna get murdered. We all have our roles in this family. Cristian’s is to beat up the perps. Mine is to save lives.”

“I run into burning buildings without knowing the layout. I can handle a basement.” I take one at a time, gingerly placing my foot down in case the boards won’t hold and pushing cobwebs away from my face.

“Okay, but if there’s some junkie down there high as a kite thinking he’s Batman, remember how I told you to wait for Cristian.” Luca’s footsteps follow mine.

“I’m running into a building when everyone else is running out. I think I can handle a little danger. Unlike you who can’t go anywhere until the scene is safe. You’re hiding in your ambulance while we do the hard work.”

“You chose that career,” he says.

“Damn right I did.”

I wouldn’t change that—ever. I just need to supplement my income and since I’ve always been good with my hands, here I am.

“I understood that career, this one not so much.” Luca stays on the bottom step glancing around the basement that looks like it’s always been dirty and dingy with creepy crawlers lurking in every dark corner.

“It’s a great way to make some money on my two days off between shifts.”

“I have no problem filling in my off days.” Luca waggles his eyebrows.

I roll my eyes. “Yeah, but you’ll have a family to support one day.” I direct my flashlight into the crawl space.

“Did hell freeze over?” He finally joins me, kicking a few boxes to the side with his black boots.

“No, but don’t you ever think about it? I mean, I’m twenty-nine—”

“And I’m twenty-seven. You can forget about me getting married anytime soon.”

“Upstairs is secure!” Cristian yells down from the top of the stairs.

“Thanks, pig!” Luca yells back.

“Real original.” Cristian’s footsteps barrel down the steps. “Can we get the fuck out of this nightmare now?”

I turn around, pointing the flashlight at him. “Shut the fuck up. This is gonna be someone’s dream house when I’m done with it.”

“If you say so.” The t-shirt still tied over his nose.

“Did you know Mauro’s looking for a wife?” Luca says.

I punch him in the shoulder.

“I didn’t say that.”

Cristian says nothing, just glancing between Luca and myself.

“Why aren’t you surprised?” Luca asks. “Are you two shitheads having meaningful conversations without me? You know if you two get sucked into the whole marriage thing, Mama’s gonna double down the pressure on me.”

“First of all, stop giving girls you want to blow off the number to the deli,” I say. “It’s getting old and it only advertises the fact to Mama that you’re with a different girl every week.”

“Week?” Luca asks, a smirk saying ‘if you only knew’ on his lips.

Cristian rolls his eyes and heads up the stairs.

“Did you hear about the girl who bought him?” Luca follows Cristian, but he’s already cleared the stairs by the time we get to the first step.

Hell, he’s probably out the front door.

“Can we please concentrate on the house?” I ask, exasperated.

“It’s a lot of work, but I’ll help you out depending on what you’ll pay me.” He waggles those damn eyebrows again. A move he thinks is cute, but I’m not some chick he’s trying to pick up. One day he’ll meet his match and I’ll have a bowl of popcorn ready to watch the show.

“I have to get the house first,” I say.

He picks up a dead plant on the windowsill in the kitchen and it falls to the counter in one big hunk of dried dirt.

“So, you’re doing it then?” Luca asks.

“I’ve seen some other houses and they’re not feasible. This is the only place I can afford and still make a decent return on.”

He nods. “All right, I’m in. I can squeeze in a day or two.”

“Don’t do me any favors.”

He laughs and we leave the house, the Realtor shutting and locking the door behind us.

“So the auction is next Tuesday at the courthouse,” she says. “Get your funding or bring your checkbook. I doubt that many people want this house, but you never know.”

She holds out her hand. “And if this is successful, maybe we can continue to do business.” Her smile tips up a notch.

I shake her hand. “Thanks.”

She gives one more inspection to the three of us and then heads down the stairs.

“Maybe she’ll drop the commission rate if you sleep with her.” Luca elbows me.

I shake my head. “Not interested right now.”

“Sometimes I think I’m the mailman’s kid around the two of you fucking saints.” Luca jogs down the stairs heading to his bike.

Cristian and I follow. “Luca was saying something about your date from the auction?” I ask him.

His shoulders sag. “It’s the fucking Commander’s daughter. Out of all the luck, I get the one girl where if I don’t go on the date, the Commander will be pissed and if I do go out he’ll be pissed. I’m screwed either way.”

“Is she good looking?” I ask.

“Does it matter?”

“Is she worth risking your job to get laid?” Luca chimes in as usual.

“She’s a fucking knockout, but you guys know her,” Cristian says.

Luca and I look at one another. “Who?” I ask.

“She’s friends with Madison and Lauren.”

“Who?” I ask again, my forehead scrunched.

“Oh that’s right. They weren’t cheerleaders.” Cristian shakes his head and gives a wry laugh.

“What does that mean?” I ask, crossing my arms in defense.

“Lauren and Maddie went to our high school, but they weren’t in your crowd.” Luca laughs.

“Whatever. So the Commander’s daughter went to St. George, too?”

“No. I don’t know how she knows them, but it was Maddie who bid on me for Vanessa.”

What is he talking about? Maddie, Lauren, and now Vanessa. None of the names ring a bell.

“Why would someone bid for someone else?” I ask.

“Lauren said they thought it would be fun,” Luca chimes in again and I’m wondering how they’re in the loop, but I’m not.

“Sucks for you two,” I say with a laugh.

They both widen their stances, share a look of amusement and cock their eyebrows at me.

“Hate to break it to you, but Maddie didn’t bid on you. Lauren did.” Luca laughs while Cristian chuckles.

“I’m going out with a Madison and she didn’t go to our high school. Which reminds me.” I pull out my phone.

“Maddie is Madison, you idiot,” Luca says. “Her and Lauren were my year.”

“I went to high school with Madison?” I try to let her face come back to me, and though I can picture her bright blue eyes and long chestnut hair, nothing about her is familiar from high school.

“Yes, but she definitely wasn’t hanging out at the bonfires and football pep rallies.” Luca grabs his helmet off his bike. The only responsible thing I’ve seen him do in the last few years.

“Well, shit and she doesn’t even want to go out with me? Her friend bid on me?”

Luca straddles his bike with a grin. I look over to Cristian, but he’s putting his shirt back on and starts fiddling with his earbuds. They obviously think this conversation is over.

“Yeah, but we’re all in the same boat.” Cristian’s thumb moves over his phone screen. “Maddie’s awesome and I think you’ll have a good time with her.”

“She seemed pretty quiet and way too accommodating,” I say.

Luca kicks his stand up, letting the bike rock a little under him.

Cristian’s hands freeze on the screen of his phone. “And that’s bad?” he asks.

“I want a woman who knows what she wants. Has her own damn opinions. Doesn’t just agree with everything I say.”

Cristian peeks over his shoulder, a look of amusement that matches Luca’s. “You want a girl to come up and grab your nuts?”

“I want a girl who knows what her favorite food is, has an opinion about where she wants to go for dinner, likes whatever sports team she likes and doesn’t default to my favorites.” I stuff my hands into my pockets, digging out my keys for my truck.

“Well then, Maddie might not be the one. Like I said, she’s nice.” Cristian slaps me on the shoulder. “Treat her good though, okay?” He inserts one earbud.

“What do you think I’m going to do, leave her in Garfield Park?”

He puts his other earbud in. “That’s not even funny man. I have a friend in that district and the shit that goes down there...” He shakes his head.

Cristian loses the entire point of my statement—the fact I’m not a jackass. I’m not Luca.

“It’s one date,” I say. “And who knows, maybe she’s nice but still has a wild streak.”

Christian again glances over to Luca who’s smiling like he’s fucking Mickey Mouse.

“Well, good luck on your date,” he says.

Cristian jogs away and Luca’s bike starts up.

I head to my truck.

The conversation is over, but I’m curious now.

Where’s my damn yearbook?