Page 18 of Laying Low

Dean arched his eyebrows.“If the rules made any sense, I’d obey them,” he said.“For example, our current immigration policy only makes sense if you’re a fascist or criminally insane, and my moral compass says I don’t have to listen to those people, which is why it’s a good thing they backed off Marcus.”

Bailey shuddered.“You almost went for your weapon,” he said, and suddenly the play was sucked out of the room.

“Don’t worry,” Dean said seriously.“If I’d gone for my weapon, they would have been dead before they had a chance to use theirs.”

“True story,” Marcus said, equally sober.“Which is why I know he wasn’t going for it.”

Dean met his eyes and shook his head.“The guy who was going to dump you out almost went for Mom.I almost did.”

Marcus shuddered.“So, yes.Our government is the bad guys right now.And the bad guys are the bad guys.Which is why we’re all eating pizza in your mom’s kitchen and you made everybody else stay away.What are your thoughts on this matter?”

Dean grunted and took a big bite of pizza, humming in pleasure.He chewed and swallowed and then sought Reg out across the table.“Okay, guys, I have a plan, sort of—but first I need you, Reg, to tell me what you know about these two kids that Anthony didn’t.”

“Well, they’re good kids from the art club.Ilia’s family is apparently Bratva, because the guy who was looking for Reynaldo was his uncle Lem, and Reynaldo told us his father is Gael Barrera—”

Dean spit out his soda.“I beg your pardon?”he coughed as he mopped up his face… and his pizza.

“Gael Barerra?I guess his dad, uhm, runs a—”

“TheCorazones de Sangrecartel,” Marcus supplied grimly, handing Dean a napkin.“Yes.We know him.Or rather,Deanknows him.I was doing something else at the time.”

“I told you this,” Anthony complained.“I remember very clearly texting you that we had Romeo and Julian of the Bratva/cartel underworld in the back of your brother’s hybrid!”

“Understood,” Dean said grumpily.“But I didn’t realizewhichcartel.I have history with this particular cartel, which may….”He chewed is lip thoughtfully.“Did he saywhyhe wasn’t in the middle of the Chihuahuan Desert with his father?The boy, I mean.”

“Because he’s gay,” Reg said.“And he was already getting bullied.His father sent him to live with his aunt, who hasn’t been part of the family for years.I, uh, didnotknow his aunt wasthatAdelle Barerra, as in Gael’s sister.”

“Oh, that nice art teacher?”his mother said, sounding delighted.“The one you volunteer with?What a coincidence!”

“You know about that?”Reg said, and Anthony made some sort of snorting sound that indicatedhewas not surprised.

Dean and Marcus were having work spouse eyeball wars over the dinner table.

“Yes, Mom,” Dean said, “thatisa coincidence.”He broke off the eyeball war and added, “In this case, a very helpful one.So, uhm, how closearethe boys?”

“Second base,” Anthony said promptly, and Reg shot him a flustered look.

“How far is that again?”he asked, cursing his very limited experience in this matter.

“Kissing,” Anthony said, giving him a verypersonalsort of glance.“First base is holding hands, second base is kissing, third base is groping?”

“Petting,” Julie said primly.

“Petting,” Anthony corrected without a hitch in his stride, “and a home run is a home run.”

Reg thought about that and felt his ears burn.“I’m sure there’s nuances,” he muttered, and Anthony’s low laugh had absolutely nothing to do with the mission at hand.

“There are,” he admitted.“We’ll discuss them later.”With that he glanced up at Dean and smoothly rerouted the conversation.“Why is this a thing, Dean?I mean, they’re sweet kids, but, you know, star-crossed lovers don’t necessarily rate special treatment from men with AK-47s.”

Dean snorted.“No, but whether the boys get along or not will matter when it comes to relocating them someplace safe.”A sort of profound grief crossed his features.“Ten years ago I would have said my own country was safe, but we know that’s not true anymore.I’ve got some ideas.You two eat up, then Reg is going to take me through his sign-in protocols, and I’m going to, uhm, dance with a porcupine.”

Marcus grunted.“Do you really think he’ll dance?”

Dean shrugged.“Look, I know he’s a bad guy.I can’t defend any of the ways he makes his money.But his family—that’s important to him.He sent Reynaldo here because he wanted him to be safe.I mean, he sent Reynaldo to a sister who had disowned him.That says something.Some bad guys are bad through and through.Some bad guys have a few redeeming qualities.Barrera has a few redeeming qualities, and he’s already proven he’ll go to lengths to keep his family safe.Let’s see what we can do with that.”

Reg nodded and stared at the last three pieces of pizza on his plate, torn between finishing them and a salad and getting right to work.

“Eat your dinner,” Anthony said softly, taking his own bite.“We’ll get to the rest of it soon enough.”