Seth held out an ornament. "Last one."

Zay placed it on the tree and took a step back. "It looks good."

"It does. I think this is actually the first time I've ever looked forward to Christmas." As he spoke he stepped up behind Zay to slip his arms around Zay's waist, and set his chin on his shoulder. "It's beautiful, Zay."

"It is. I'm happy you agreed to have a tree, now it feels like the holidays. Thank you."

"No need to thank me, I'm glad you insisted on it, it feels good to look forward to something."

Zay stepped away from him. "Are we going to exchange gifts too?"

Seth smiled and pulled him back into his arms. "Yes, of course. I have already chosen a very special gift for you."

Zay's cheeks turned slightly pink. "What do you want?"

Seth's brows rose. "Besides you? Nothing."

"Seth, stop it!"

"Nope, not going to."

"You're horrible."

"You knew that already don't sound so shocked." He pulled away and dropped down on the couch. "Have you given any more thought to it?"

"To what?"

"My offer to come work for my uncle."

Zay sat beside him with a sigh. "Yes and I don't think it's a good idea for us to work together."

"Why? We work well together, we've already proven that. I'd like to have someone with me I know I can trust."

"I know, but we also live together and my gut tells me spending that much time together wouldn't be good for our relationship."

"You can't know that. If it becomes too much you can always quit," Seth reasoned.

"I wouldn't feel right about it." He twisted sideways on the couch to face Seth. "My mother is a volunteer at the police station, this kid, twelve or thirteen years old, walked into the police station and accused his stepfather of abusing him. Instead of supporting her son and attempting to find out the truth, his mother stood by her husband and called her son a liar. Even after a doctor examined him and confirmed the boy's story. He refused to return home and asked that his real father be found. His mother never told his biological father that he had a son. My mother wanted to help very badly. The kid even stayed with us for a couple of weeks."

"Is this going somewhere?"

Zay nodded. "Yes, it is. My father is a lawyer, he deals with family law. The boy had a small inheritance from his grandmother, at my mother's suggestion he hired my father to find his biological father. It took several months and once he was found, it took several more months for him to sue for custody of the boy. He was pissed that he'd never been told he had a son. The mother also forged his signature on paperwork stating he gave up all his rights to the boy. The point is, during those months my parents worked closely together to make certain the kid ended up with his biological father. It was one of the few times they fought. It was a strain for them to spend that much time together."

"So you're basing your decision on what your parents did? On a single incident? It doesn't mean we will be the same."

"I know, but I don't want to take that chance." He shifted positions and snuggled beside Seth. "You are all I have right now and I don't want to lose what we have. I don't want it to change and I don't want us to fight or become distant or anything else."

Seth sighed. "I guess I can understand that. But I will say that I do like working with you, we work well together."

"We do and I'll still ride along occasionally if you want me to, but I honestly don't think we should work together on a permanent basis. It's just a gut feeling."

Seth poked him in the stomach. "Thanks a lot there gut."

Zay laughed. "Hey, maybe it could change in the future. We'll wait and see. All right?"

Seth pulled him into his lap. "Fine, agreed. By the way, you are cleaning up any needles that fall off that giant bush." He dipped his head toward the tree.

Zay laughed. "I will, promise." His eyes went to the clock. "Don't you have to be at work?"

"I have a few minutes and I want to spend them sitting here with you staring at the tree."

"Sounds like a good plan." Zay cuddled in his lap and they fell silent.

The minutes ticked past and Seth finally let out a sigh. "I guess I need to get going. Sure you don't want to come with tonight?"

Zay shook his head as he stood. "No, I have a ton of homework I need to finish. I can't let my grades slip, it's more important than ever to keep them up. I'm going to need scholarships galore if I still want to attend college."

Seth brushed a kiss over his lips. "I know, I'm being selfish. I want to keep you close."

"And I want to be close, but I'm also selfish and I want to go to college."

Seth chuckled. "Okay, I'll see you in the morning then."

Zay stood in the doorway and waved as he started his bike. Seth returned the wave before he left.

Seth didn't like the fact that Zay refused to work with him, but he kept his anger under wraps, letting Zay see it wouldn't be good for their relationship and he needed it to continue for a bit longer. He hoped the scare Alyssa got with her brakes would keep her off his case until he could square things away. The bitch was persistent. Still, he'd done a decent job of separating Zay from his support system. With his parents out of the picture already, it had been a simple matter of getting rid of Alyssa and Josh. He supposed he had West to thank for helping with that part. His insistence on telling them about their past relationship had given Zay the shove he needed to drop them from his life. In reality, he hadn't expected Zay to drop Alyssa as his bestie, the two were tight. He had hoped to create enough tension that their relationship was strained and maybe a bit distant, things had worked out much better than he planned. By the time Zay realized how alone he was, it would be too late. Things would be in place and he could finally cement his position in his uncle's organization. Keeping the cops looking in the other direction had been his job since he'd joined, though he hadn't begun driving until two years ago. At first, he'd thought to set up Darrel and his crew for the car thefts it was the only reason he joined their idiotic little gang. It took him only a couple of weeks on the crew to realize they were too stupid to plan anything as elaborate as this theft ring so he'd abandoned that plan rather quickly. He remained with Darrel's gang because he knew if things went to shit before his plans were in place, he could throw the gang to the cops and at least keep them off his ass for a bit.

He smirked and pulled into the tow yard. "Yup, Zay I have one hell of a Christmas gift for you."

Zay wasn't an idiot, it was a wonder he hadn't figured out yet that the tow company was a cover for the theft ring. While they did legitimate business as well, the guys at night were a special crew. They picked up cars and took them to various chop shops where they were either stripped and sold off piece by piece or held for special customers. Like the tricked-out '72 Mustang, he and Zay towed last week, it was now on its way to a collector in China who had been having issues obtaining one legally.

"Hey, Uncle Joe," he said as he stepped into the small building that housed the office.

"Hey, Seth. No Zay tonight?"

"Nah, he has a ton of homework."

His uncle nodded and leaned on the counter. "You sure about that kid?"

"Between Zay and West, we're good to go. I need another week or two to pull everything together."

Joe tapped his fingers against the counter. "I heard about the Alyssa chick. You order that?"

Seth froze on his way out the door and turned slowly to face his uncle. "Are you checking up on me now?"

"It's my job, in case you forgot I'm the boss here, kiddo. We're supposed to be keeping a low profile. Murder ain't low profile."

"I know nothing about murder," he said with a grin. "From what I understand it was an accident, no brake fluid."

"Rein it in, Seth. Keep away from the girl, we don't need that kind of attention. We have a good thing going here," Joe replied.

"I'm not an idiot. I've already told the guys not to make another attempt. I'm hoping that one little accident is enough to keep her off my back. The bitch is like a fucking tick I can't dig out of my flesh. She wants to prove to Zayden that I'm a bad choice. I had to do something."

"Yeah, well just make certain none of it reflects on us."

"It's under control, trust me."

Joe rapped his knuckles against the counter. "I do or you wouldn't be here." He began to turn away and stopped to look back at Seth. "Your mother called again."

"And?" Seth growled.

Joe shrugged. "Just thought I'd tell you. It's been six months, if she was gonna relapse I think it would have happened already. Maybe you should talk to her."

"She made her choice long ago. Alcohol was more important to her than her son. Her choosing to go into rehab and get sober isn't going to change the past. Neither is the fact she left my dad. It's too late."

Joe shrugged. "As happy as I am to have your assistance, Seth, this isn't the life I'd want for my kid and you are the closest thing I have to a son. I'd rather you use that brain of yours for something better than boosting cars."

Seth shrugged. "I'm good at this. Come on, can you see me sitting in some cubical somewhere?"

Joe grinned. "Hell no, but there are plenty of jobs that don't require being locked up in an office all day. I want what's best for you and I don't think a two-bit thug is the best you can do. You are damn smart, kiddo."

"This is what's best for me. I'm happy doing what I do." He grinned. "And I'm not a two-bit anything. Who wrote the program that backdoors the computer system so the paperwork for the cars we boost is never found?"

Joe held his hands up. "All right, I'll shut my mouth about it. But think about calling your mom, okay?"

Seth shrugged. "Nothing to think about."

"I know my sister isn't a stellar example of motherhood, but she does care about you, Seth."

"Then she should have done this a hell of a lot sooner." He spun away and left the building.

He didn't want to entertain any possibility his mother might regret how things turned out. It was too late for her regret, too late for her to try and pull her life together. His childhood had been nothing but one long argument, interlaced with pain, and she had been oblivious to nearly all of it going on around her because she was too drunk to focus. He rubbed a hand over his ribs. When his father broke his ribs and collapsed a lung that was the last straw, that day he decided to get the hell out of that house, whatever it took to getaway. Two days later he began working for Joe. He saved up enough money to get himself a small house and went to child services and sued to be emancipated. The fact it took his mother this long to realize she was part of the reason her son left told him she wasn't doing it for him, no. She was doing it for her. Probably to make herself feel better about shit. He was eighteen now, he didn't need her. He didn't need anyone. When Joe decided to retire he'd take over, he'd be the boss. Joe wanted to keep things small and stick to boosting a few cars here and there, but he had a plan. They would be big. A criminal organization to rival any others in the area. Finally, he'd be where he should be.

"Sitting on a pile of cash where no one can touch me," he told himself as he climbed into the cab of the tow truck.