Iron Cross: The Dartmouth Cobras #6 (16 page)

“’Course I do, it’s just—”

“Your mother knows what you need. I will see to it that you get it.” Seb brought a spoonful of soup to his own mouth. Put it down and gave Luke the first bit of sympathy he’d shown so far with a slanted smile. “I suppose the salt will sooth
e your throat. Is this your mother’s recipe?”

“It is, but the top came off the salt shaker. I tried to get most of it out
… It’s not that bad, is it?” Jami took the spoon from Seb and passed him the phone. “She wants to talk to you.”

Crossing the room with the phone, Seb nodded, speaking t
oo low for Luke to hear. He leaned against the wall by the door, his brow furrowing, rubbing his jaw as he watched Luke over Jami’s shoulder.

Jami sat on the edge of the bed and took Luke’s hand. “He’s not trying to be mean. You know how he is when
he’s
sick.”

Luke snorted. “When have you ever seen him sick?”

“I guess I just pay more attention to him than you do.” Jami withdrew her hand. “He toughs it out and won’t let anyone fuss over him. Believe me, I’ve tried.”

“I would’ve too if I’d known. And I’d sure as hell be nicer to him than he’s being to me.”

“Stop sulking. I’ll go make you a chamomile tea.”

“I’m not sulking. I’m sick. And I hate tea.” No use, Jami would make him choke down the nasty boiled flowers with honey because his mom had told her to. As if just being stuck in bed in pain and misery wasn’t bad enough. He sighed as Seb hung up with his mother and came to stand by the bed. “What now? Should I be working out to sweat away germs or something? Why don’t you just take the pillow and get it over with.”

“I am grateful that you are not sick often,
niño
.” Seb’s lips slanted and he brought a spoonful of soup to Luke’s lips. “You should rest, and someone will need to care for you. I will do so until the team meeting before the game tonight. Thankfully we do not have practice today.”

Oh
, that was a bad idea. Seb take care of him? Maybe he shouldn’t have suggested using the pillow. “Or Jami could do it?”

“Jami tends to Amia too often to risk being exposed to your germs. You wouldn’t want your goddaughter to feel as poorly as you do now, would you?”

“No.” Luke didn’t have to think about that for a second. He smiled a little as he pictured Landon’s daughter, cooing at him and leaving patches of drool on his shirt. Or puke sometimes, but he never minded. She was getting bigger, but she was still too little and fragile and he’d stay sick for a month, longer even, rather than see her sick for so much as a day. If that meant suffering while Seb “cared for him”…? Well, if it got really bad, he could always call his mom. The only reason she wasn’t here now was because Jami had promised she’d do each and every thing Mom did for him when he was sick.

Telling Jami she couldn’t do that anymore was rough, but she agreed with Seb’s reasoning. She left to meet with her friends, Akira and Sahara, guilt in her eyes until Luke sat up straight and told her knowing she was having fun would make him feel better.

As soon as she was gone the coughs he’d been repressing tore out and left him weak and shuddering on the bed. Sweat soaked the sheets and he turned away from Seb, knowing his Dom would want him to tough it out. But he couldn’t.

Maybe being left alone would be best after all.

The door opening and shutting told Luke Seb had gone. He stifled a groan with his pillow and glanced over at the nightstand for the TV remote. So far away. Guess he’d just suffer in silence.

The door opened. Luke hid his face with the pillow and pretended to sleep.

Seb took the pillow away and gently wiped Luke’s face with a cool, damp cloth. “I brought the medicine,
niño
. You may have your root beer to get rid of the taste if you take it.”

This time, Seb helped Luke sit up. Poured the medicine into a spoon, spilling a little on the blankets as he brought it to Luke’s mouth. He even held up the root beer for Luke to take a few sips. Luke smiled at Seb, noticing how uncomfortable his big man seemed, like he wasn’t sure he was doing this right. Jami’s words made a lot of sense, but Luke thought there was more to it than how Seb handled being sick himself. No one had ever done this for Seb, not even when he was a kid. Which made hi
s trying even more special.

“Thanks, Seb. I really appreciate all this.” Luke’s eyes widened when Seb’s lips covered his, but Seb held his jaw to keep him from turning away. And the kiss made it damn hard to talk after. Luke managed though. “You’re gonna get sick too!”

“Perhaps, but I hoped some affection would make what I must do easier.” Seb looked over his shoulder and made a beckoning motion with his hand.

To
his sister, who was standing in the hall, not really looking like she wanted to come in. But inching forward as if she had no choice.

Aw fuck!

“No. Seb, you can’t leave me with her! She’ll lock me in here and steal all your stuff. She might even take my puppy, and I can’t lose my baby!” Luke grunted as “his baby” pounced on the bed, paws landing on his gut. He hugged Bear and scowled at his sister. “She takes Bear and I’ll have to hunt her down. And then I’ll go to jail. So it’s a bad idea all around.”

“You will not harm your sister. And she has nowhere else to go.” Seb put his hand on Luke’s shoulder and straightened as he faced Sam. “I have given you a place to stay and will see to your needs for as long as necessary. In return
, you will tend to your brother and do small chores around the house.”

Sam nodded quickly, hands in the pockets of one of Jami’s animal hoodies. This one looked like a fox. Even had a tail.

Fucking fitting.

“He needs fluid
s. Must be kept warm. Chicken soup and tea—the tea will help you, Luke.” Seb seemed to sense Luke making a face at him because he frowned and tightened his grip on Luke’s shoulder. “If you harm him, if a single thing goes missing from this house…” Seb’s tone became hard, menacing. Sam paled as she stared at him. “I will have you arrested. You are being given an opportunity because you are Luke’s sister, but I am not a fool. I have seen the harm one’s own siblings can do. You will very much regret abusing my trust.”

Luke swallowed hard, thinking about Scott’s brother, Jimmy. Sam stealing from his mother was nothing compared to what that dirtbag had done to Scott. He wouldn’t put his sister in the same league as Jimmy, but he wasn’t sure he could ever forgive her. And the last thing he wanted was for her to fuck over Seb. Yeah, his man was rich, but everything he had was worth more than money, it was security he’d never known as a child. Food, shelter, comfort. Luke knew he was lucky that Seb had forgiven him for the damage he’d done to the garage door. He wouldn’t have gotten off so easy if he wasn’t sick.

But his sister was sneaky and selfish and she wouldn’t care who she hurt. Luke couldn’t let Seb trust her.

“Give us a minute, Sam.” Luke watched Sam retreat from the room and
put his hand over Seb’s on his shoulder. “She’ll take off before you could make her regret it, she—” Another coughing fit.
Fuck!
He gasped to catch his breath and choked the last words out. “You don’t know what she’s capable of.”

“Your mother gave me all the details. I am well aware of the kind of person your sister is.”

Now that surprised Luke. He stared at Seb. “My mom knows you’re leaving me alone with
her
?”

“No.” The hint of a smile crossed Seb’s lips. He pulled the elastic from his long hair, combed the dark, silky length with his fingers, then tied it back up at the nape of his neck. Luke knew he was trying to come off all relaxed, but he knew his man’s tells. If they were playing cards, Luke could call a bluff the second Seb’s hand went anywhere near his hair. Seb wasn’t the type to mess with his hair very often.

To top it off, Seb handed Luke the root beer. Like a reminder.

Luke grinned. “Right, so we ain’t telling her. Because she’d kill you if she found out.”

“She certainly wouldn’t be pleased.”

“Then you might want to get rid of the punk before she murders me in my sleep and kidnaps my dog and you’ve got to explain all that to my mom.” Satisfied that he’d made his point, Luke
called Sam back in. She looked like she was going to start crying. He hated to see chicks cry, but this was his no-good sister and she was their father’s daughter. She’d play on his emotions to get what she wanted. He did his best to shut them down. “Was nice of you to visit, sis. We should do this again sometime. Call me!”

“Luke, give me a chance!” Tears trailed down his sister’s pale cheeks and her bottom lip quivered. “Please.”

“No fucking chances.” He couldn’t face her anymore. He stared at the tray on his lap and hoped she’d just give up the act and go away. “You lost the right to ask me that when you—”

“
Niño
, stop.” Seb held a hand up to Sam and bent down, one hand on Luke’s cheek. “You are not this cruel. Is it your father you see when you look at her? She should not pay for his sins.”

Fuck that shit.
Luke ground his teeth and met Seb’s eyes. “Don’t you mean
my
sins? And this has nothing to do with him. No one fucks with my mom.”

“Your mother loves Samantha, Luke. She sounded very sad when she told me what happened. I think she would like to put this behind her, but she doesn’t know how.”

“And I’m supposed to figure that out?”

Seb inclined his head. “I think it would be good for you both. And I believe your mother would be very happy if you could tell her Samantha deserves another chance.”

Damn it, Seb’s right.
Luke grabbed his root beer, drinking it all before nodding. “Fine.
If
she deserves it. Just win the game tonight and come home quick so you can see if you have a body to bury.”

Chuckling, Seb kissed Luke’s forehead, then went to stand beside Sam to whisper something, probably a warning by her expression. He left the door open when he walked out
, and not long after Luke heard him leave.

Sam just stood there, looking lost, using the sleeves of the sweater to dry her tears. Luke rolled his eyes and pointed at the remote on the end table.

“Oh! That’s a good idea!” Sam bounced on the soles of her feet and skirted out of the room. Before Luke could drag himself out of bed to see if she was ransacking the place, Sam was back, holding a DVD. “This used to be your favorite. I noticed it when I was looking for a movie to watch yesterday.”

“How many have you pawned so far?”

She went still. Then glanced over her shoulder at him while setting up the DVD, her eyes in narrow slits. “Not that you’d know, but you don’t get much for DVDs anymore.”

All right, he
hadn’t
known that. But it was beside the point. “So Seb and Jami just gave you the run of the house?”

“No, Seb doesn’t trust me.”

“Smart man. And Jami?”

“Jami’s a sweetheart. She stopped me from leaving after you told me you wanted me gone.” Sam bowed her head, her voice soft. “She thinks you’ll eventually forgive me. I think she’s wrong.”

Between Jami and Sam, he’d much rather side with Jami. But he didn’t have any reason to besides the fact that Seb seemed to think his sister could make things right and Jami believed in her. And that wasn’t enough. The best he could do was…well, if it were up to him, he’d still get rid of his sister. Only, out of respect for his man and his girl, he’d do it nicely.

Actually, it
was
up to him, wasn’t it? Seb had suggested giving her a chance; it wasn’t an order. And Jami would understand if Luke sat down with her and explained everything real calm and rational. The only reason Sam was still here days after him asking her to leave was because he’d ignored her presence, hoping she’d take the hint.

The movie started
…
Mr. Deeds
, which was
still
one of his favorite movies. He laid back on the pillows as Sam took his tray without looking at him.

“I’ll make you some more soup—your mom taught me
…” She trailed off and bit her bottom lip. “Uh, if you want me to.”

“Sure, and I guess you can make me some of that herb tea.” There. He was trying. He watched Sam scurry out and let the movie distract him. By the time Sam returned
, the movie was almost over and he’d been laughing so much his chest was sore and his throat was painfully raw. A bite of soup kept him in a good mood even when Sam sat at the end of the bed to finish watching the movie with him. He waited until the credits were rolling to speak. “Why’d you come here, Sam? Maybe if I knew—”

“I’ll tell you when you’re feeling better. Right now I wanna focus on you. Your man kinda scares me. I’m not doing anything to piss him off.” Sam ducked her head. “And I gotta tell you, I’m totally jealous. You’ve got much better taste in men than I do.”

He cocked his head, a little surprised with her acting like his being with a man was no big deal. “You know Dad wants nothing to do with me because I’m with Seb?”

“So? I don’t care what Dad thinks. Not anymore.” She toyed with the string on the hood of the sweater, pulling the hood over her head so the pointy ears stuck up. Reminded him of when they were young—she’d always gone trick-or-treating as some kind of animal. “You have two people
who love you very much. That’s all that matters.”