Free Shadows May Fall by Mell; Corcoran

smallest shrub. Not only would Lou forever have her meadow, she had a small lake, hundreds of trees, shrubs, berries, nuts and natural food sources for all the animals she loved. It had been set up as a gift to the community but bore Lou’s full name. Her name that no one but her mother and uncle were allowed to ever call her, unless they wanted a bone or two broken. Lake Tallulah was new but it was thriving. A trust had been established to make sure the park would be cared for and maintained always. As an extra safety feature, the berries and nuts just had to produce once for the last requirement to make it a Nature preserve.
    As he walked in to his master suite area, he headed straight for the balcony. There was only a makeshift railing crafted from two-by-fours but that would be taken care of shortly. It seemed creepy now that he thought about it but he had made sure that his balcony looked out toward Lou’s. His motives were not lecherous as one might think. His bedroom and bathroom were about the only place he had to himself. Even his townhouse in Washington seemed to have a revolving door with either Frank, Niko or one of the others coming and going all the time. His bedroom was his sanctuary, a place where he could find peace and quiet so he could hear his own thoughts. For him, Lou was peace, despite how infuriating she could be. Looking out over the park and the new and improved meadow, he could see the light of her quarters turn off. She was off to work again. So yes, perhaps it was a bit intrusive but his motivations were pure. The line of sight made him feel better, made him feel like she was close. Probably as close as she would ever be.
    “You better stop lollygagging and get to the paint pinning before Abby gets done downstairs.” Niko advised him from the doorway.
    “Why does everyone insist on barking orders at me today?” Max walked in from the balcony and started flipping through the swatches. “Byzantine Cameo?” He flashed the swatch for Niko to see.
    “Byzantine?” Niko scoffed. Anything to do with Byzantine was a sore subject with Niko given his family history. It was long and convoluted but the bottom line is that Niko’s existence had been erased from the family tree after he was given as Tribute to the Sanguinostri. He loved his life, that was not the issue. Sometimes though, he felt that history may have been better served if he had stayed and protected his family’s legacy. His grandfather was, after all, Byzantine Emperor.
    “Are you ever going to let that go?” Max inquired.
    Niko snatched several swatches from Max’s hand. “It gives me something to do.” He walked out on to the balcony then proceeded to light one of his signature black and gold cigarettes.
    “It gives you something to bitch about.” Max said as he followed him then snatched the cigarette out of his hand and proceeded to inhale deeply. “These things will kill ya, you know that?”
    “You think they would have by now.” The men chuckled a moment and stood for a while in silence, sharing the smoke. By all accounts Max was Niko’s king, general, his superior on many levels but Max thought of him as his brother, his best friend. Niko so often knew what Max was thinking and feeling long before he himself knew. The beauty of that was they needed to say very little to understand each other so much.
    “So you don’t like the color?” Max finally broke the silence.
    Niko smirked. “I actually do, a lot. You gonna do that in the bathroom too?”
    “Would Abby have a fit at my lack of colorizing?” Oddly enough it was a legitimate question.
    “Isn’t it your bloody house?” Niko laughed but jumped at the sound of Abby’s high heals entering the room.
    “You’re funny, Niko.” She gave him a disapproving look. “Yes, I will have a fit. Let’s at least look at some of the complimentary color options to go with it. Byzantine Cameo, you said? Byzantine?” She repeated the word, glaring as she passed Niko