Chapter 228 - A Different Dictionary (1/2)
Wyatt stood from his barstool and reached out for the bottle of bourbon in front of Ollie. He poured each of his friends two fingers of neat amber liquid before serving one for himself.
”To our brotherhood,” Wyatt said as he raised his glass for a toast. Ollie and Maxen raised theirs too, and the three downed their drink with a gulp.
”Remember that one afternoon we stole a bottle from Uncle Henry's Macallan collection?” Wyatt asked, walking down memory lane.
”How could I forget how wasted we got, throwing up on Grandma Lin's garden after we drank half of the bottle?” Oliver scoffed. The memory of their foolishness was still fresh in his mind.
He was placing his glass on the bar top when he heard giggles on the circle floor. His brows knitted. Why was Finn still up? And did he hear it correctly? It felt as if there were more children upstairs.
”Oh, they're having fun,” Maxen commented and shook his head. He grunted and stretched his long legs in a 'V'. ”I'll be back,” he said. Peeling himself from the barstool, Maxen stood up and headed to the stairs.
”Where are you going?” Oliver asked.
”I'll put those children to sleep. Why?”
”Let Wyatt do it. That's his daughter, anyway.”
Scratching the skin above his eyebrows, Maxen explained, ”Yeah, about that… I promised Olivia that I'll babysit Connor's son for her tonight.”
”Connor?” Ollie's eyebrows knitted in confusion. ”Are we talking about Connor Ma?”
Maxen nodded and left. Left with Wyatt to answer his questions, Ollie probed the former. ”What is Connor's son doing here?”
”I heard Livi is trying to tap into the funds of the Ma's, and by the looks of it, she just did.”
”How on Earth did she land a deal?”
”Who knows how. What I do know is, he left his son under Livi's care for the entire summer after their meeting.”
”Wow. That's weird.” Ollie shook his head. He couldn't believe what he was hearing.
Amongst the conspiracies floating around the Ma Family, there was one that Ollie was sure about: you don't summon Connor Ma, he summons you—and when he did, make sure you're ready to strike a deal with the devil.
Sighing, Ollie glanced at the direction of the stairway and saw Maxen alighting. ”That was quick.”
”Should I wait for them to sleep? I just said goodnight and turned the light out,” Maxen said and scratched the skin above his eyebrows.
”I think that's fine. I do the same with Aerith at bedtime, and they're tired, so they'll be tapping out sooner.”
Reaching the bar, Maxen lazily sat on the barstool. He flipped his phone and showed a photo to his friends. ”I took a photo of them,” he snickered.
Glowing in Maxen's phone was a photo of Aerith flashing her cheeky grin while Hunter was pursing his lips. And right in between the two was Finn clutching Hunter's arm while sneaking a 'V' behind Aerith's head.
The three men chuckled. The photo reminded them of their childhood, and the nights they would sleepover on a Friday night.
Just as they thought the children would be tapping out, they heard another bout of giggles.
”This… I'm not cut out for bedtime drama.” Ollie shook his head.
Wyatt sighed. It's not as if they could do something about it and force the kids to sleep. ”Just leave them be. They'll close their eyes when they're tired.”
”What are they playing with anyway?” Ollie c.o.c.ked a brow on Maxen.
”Dolls,” Maxen snorted. The bourbon almost spurted out of his nose when he remembered what he saw upstairs.
Beside him, Wyatt hid his smile behind his glass. He saw what the kids were playing too.