6. Kairo

6Kairo

I was startled awake,sitting up in bed while wiping at my face. And why wasn’t I surprised to see my two idiot brothers? Malik was laughing, leaning against Hassan. My oldest brother’s face showed no humor, but his lips twitched slightly, and his eyes danced.

I growled, “What the fuck did you do?”

I jumped out of bed when Malik bent over, cackling. Hassan, too couldn’t seem to keep his face straight anymore. I walked into my en-suite butt naked, not giving a fuck.

When I saw what they’d drawn on my face, I growled and shook my head. Honestly, you would think that they were the younger brothers, not me.

“Are you serious? You know I’m filming today,” I said to Malik. “Seriously? And right before I’ll be on camera.”

I sighed and jumped in the shower. Hopefully, it would wash off. And if it didn’t, I would kill my brothers.

Only children seemed to smile more. I totally got it now.

As I lathered up, there was a knock on the glass, “Chop chop, little bro, we got things to do and places to go.”

I didn’t open my eyes since I was trying to scrub my face, but I flipped him off.

Malik snorted, and I heard the toilet flush, and my water suddenly went cold. I growled, but it only made him laugh.

“Chop! Chop! Places to be, people to do,” Malik laughed like he’s just said the funniest thing ever, but all I did was roll my eyes.

“You know I’ll get you back for this, right?”

“I’d be disappointed if you didn’t, baby brother.” I didn’t have to see him to know he was smiling. And that made me smile. As juvenile as we sometimes could be, and as much as they acted like they were fed up with me, they were still the only people that knew the worst about me but loved me anyway.

The door closed behind him, and I hurried through the rest of my shower. When I saw that most of it had rubbed off, there was still a faint outline on my head. I sighed. It would have to do. Hopefully, I could get it covered with make-up even though I hated wearing any even on camera.

I stared at myself in the mirror, hoping today was a good day. The omega from the picture with the sad eyes floated into my head, not for the first time since I’d seen it, and I found myself thinking about him again.

But just like the first time, I shut it down. He was only a job, nothing more. By the time I’d gotten ready and met my brothers in the living room, there was barely time to grab breakfast, so I chalked the fluttery feeling in my belly up to hunger.

And if I slugged Malik in the belly for pointing at the outline on my forehead, well, he deserved it.

* * *

When we pulledup to the house, I could tell that we’d made the right choice. It was in a good part of town. One of those older neighborhoods that had been refurbished in recent years, but unlike the other house on the street, this one was clearly in need of a coat of paint, a new roof, new shutters. Hell, it needed a full facelift.

Hassan stood beside me and nudged me, “Good choice bro, this one definitely needs the help.”

“Good area though, it was smart to buy a house out here,” Malik said, coming to stand to my left.

“His sister bought it,” I said, recalling the information from the application.

“Mmm, can’t imagine….” Hassan started. We stared at each other because really he didn’t need to finish the sentence. The silence continued for a moment, each of us lost in thought until Malik clapped, I looked his way, and he wore a smile, “Well, brothers, let’s go grant someone’s wish.”

I rolled my eyes, and Hassan snorted because even though we were djinn’s on our Papa’s side, it was nothing like the movies. There were no magic lamps and certainly no rubbing. Although… that face appeared in my head again, and I shook it off. The last thing I needed was to show up at this job with a hard-on for an omega just from a picture. One where he’d been fully clothed. I didn’t even know the colors of his eyes, for God’s sake.

I pulled myself together and looked back at the camera crew that had been setting up.

“Ready?” I asked my longtime cameraman Roger.

He nodded and lifted the camera. The first day of the project would not be a construction day. Today was the day we met our new client and explained the whole process of the renovation. This was typically one of the few days my brothers came to the worksite.

Malik was an architect, so if we needed him for a project, he stepped in. Although since our dad owned a construction company, all of us knew how to wield a hammer.

“Alright, let’s do this,” I said and walked up the steps to the faded blue front door. I glanced at my brothers, and they nodded. Then I rang the doorbell.

“Coming, hold up!” A velvety voice called out. Something inside me stirred at the sound, and I glanced sideways at my brothers to see if they’d heard it too, but it didn’t look like they had.

The door was unlocked, and for some reason, I was holding my breath. When it opened, I faced the man from the picture submitted with the application.

He had dark curly blonde hair that looked like it couldn’t be tamed on a good day, and right now, it seemed to have a mind of its own. His eyes, I could now see, were moss green, fringed with long lashes. His nose was small and cute. His lips looked so pouty and kissable, even though they were slightly too wide for his face.

When I returned to those startling green eyes, they were firmly on me, a startled look on his handsome and a little too thin face. He needed to eat more. He probably made sure the kids ate before he thought about himself. Didn’t he own a bakery? Although maybe he didn’t want to dip into the inventory, it was his income after all.

I got nudged, and I glanced to the right or saw a ‘what the fuck’ look on Hassan’s face. I wasn’t sure what was wrong with me, but I shook it off. I was here to do one thing and one thing only.

But when I met Justin’s eyes again— the weird feeling in my stomach returned, and I regretted not grabbing something to eat. So it’s not because you’ve just used his name for the first time, even in your head.

He still wore the startled look on his face, and it hit me, fuck was it the outline of the cock my idiot brother drawn on my face? I found myself rubbing my forehead. Malik must have figured out the reason because he snort-laugh that sounded something like a cough.

I ignored him and plastered a smile on my face, focusing more on the man in front of me. Then I saw it. I shook my head, trying to clear my eyes. It couldn’t be. But there they were. The strands of fate were lit up, and they led straight from Justin to me. They were exactly the way I’d heard my parents describe them. I’d seen the strands of fate before for other people but never leading to myself. And I knew it could mean only one thing.

Fuck. Justin was mine. My mate.

I looked at the intricate knots that only appeared with your mate. It was different from the bonds that held you to family members and even friends.

I wasn’t sure what I did to alert my brother because suddenly Malik cursed the leaned in to whisper, “Do you need us to leave you two alone?” I looked in the direction of my usually teasing brother, but his face was serious.

He looked… I wasn’t sure how to describe the look on his face, but it was something between satisfaction and envy. I frowned. That couldn’t be right. I was usually the one jealous of my brothers. Of how together they seemed to have their lives. How they never screwed up…

For some reason, I found myself shaking my head, “No. We have a job to do. Let’s do it.” My tone was firm.

I would fuck this up; I just knew it, so I would do something I was good at. And that was my job.

“Hi,” I said but didn’t put my hand out for a handshake. “You’re the lucky winner of a complete home renovation. Your best friend Chris nominated you, and we’re happy to inform you that you’ve won.”

He opened his mouth but then closed it seeming to think better of what he was about to say, and I wasn’t sure if I was disappointed or relieved by that.

“Please come in,” he said, stepping aside.

Justin didn’t stop to see if we followed. He simply spun around and left us to trail after him. I followed, but I forgot to check with Roger to see if they were ready.

We were led into a kitchen that looked like it belonged in the eighties, with blue and white tiles and brown cabinets.

“I’m sorry, I thought Chris was joking when he mentioned this, is this for real?” The question was directed at Hassan, and it seemed Justin was doing his best not to look my way.

Hassan glanced in my direction, and I nodded slightly. Apparently, my— Justin didn’t want to speak to me. I knew he was a wolf, so I’d bet he’d scented me, but he hadn’t said anything. Did that mean he didn’t want… I shook my head, studying him as discreetly as I could while he spoke to my brother.

“I assure you it’s not a joke. Our show on our YouTube channel has over 50 million views. We come in and renovate homes for mostly shifters and other magical creatures and occasionally the wider world. Think of it as wish fulfillment,” Hassan added.

“I—” Justin rubbed his face in disbelief. When he dropped his hand, desperate hope was written all over his face. Still, it was tinged with doubt, like he wasn’t sure whether or not to believe this was really happening.

“Not much will happen today,” I chimed in. And I saw as he drew in a deep breath and held it before slowly turning to look at me. “We will put you and the kids up in a hotel for about a week. During that time, we will get the whole place updated.”

“This is for real? You won’t like steal all my stuff when I leave,” his voice was barely above a whisper.

Malik laughed, “How about we let our work speak for itself.” My brother pulled a tablet out of his designer messenger bag, then tapped a few buttons before handing it over to him.

Justin reached out and took the tablet that desperate hope written all over his face. I never took my eyes off him as he watched the latest video for a family outside Valleywood. It was for a lone mountain lion alpha and his kids. He’d lost his mate and ended up losing his job too. His oldest daughter, an omega, had written to us.

As he watched the tablet, I watched him, and all my brain seemed capable of coming up with was Fuck!I had a mate.

When he finally handed the tablet to Malik, he asked, “So what happens now?”

“Well.” At the sound of my voice, he took a step back and folded his arms. I tried not to wince at that my mate was physically moving away from me. I pretended not to notice, but my throat tightened, and I had to clear it to reply. “Well, you start by showing us around and then get a bag packed so we can check you in to your hotel, which will be home for as long as it takes—”

“Actually,” Hassan interrupted, “it might be best if Justin—” he smiled at my mate. He received a small one in return, and something like anger mixed with envy stirred inside me. My mate hadn’t smiled at me.

Fuck I didn’t know what I even wanted.

I must have spaced out because the next thing I heard Justin say was, “I couldn’t do that.” And he was shaking his head.

“I think it’s a good idea too,” Malik chimed in.

“I’m sorry, what was that?” I asked. “Is everything okay?”

Hassan held my gaze as he spoke, “I think it would be a good idea for Justin and the kids to stay at your condo.”

Every muscle in my body locked up. One part of my brain screamed no, while the other side shouted yes. Still, the words that came out of my mouth were, “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

Justin was nodding, and for some reason, that annoyed me. Fuck, what was wrong with me?

“I’ll just go and make a reservation,” I said, holding up my phone. I did my best not to look my mate’s way.

I called all the hotels I knew would be really nice and comfortable, especially with kids, and everything was booked. I frowned and called the Bellary. They knew me there, and even that one was completely booked.

I walked back to my brothers and held up my phone, “Everywhere is booked.”

“Is it now?” Malik’s head tilted to the side. “Strange.”

“Very,” Hassan murmured.

I looked between them and sighed, “What did you two do?”

Malik shrugged, “What was that saying about wishes?”

I closed my eyes and blew out a breath. Honestly, I should have seen it coming. Damn it.

So why did something inside me feel happy at the development? But I had a feeling that my mate wouldn’t be as pleased.

I would leave it to my asshole brothers to tell him. I had a feeling he was more a fan of them than he was of me at the moment. I ground my teeth at the thought. Either way, he would be safely under my roof.

I just needed to work on not fucking this up… if only I had an idea of how to do that. I was an expert at fucking things up.