by Taylor Hart
Liam kept up the pace. “Right.”
As they neared the front door, Shay’s wandering gaze traveled over the servers and caterers. Everything was only busier as they stepped inside the house. People were talking and rushing around.
“Shay Summerville,” a voice called out.
She turned.
A blond woman stood from the piano. She was tall and lean, and her black dress fit snugly on her body. Her makeup was pink eye shadow and pink lipstick that made her lips look pouty.
Shay frowned. It wasn’t unusual, now that they’d had their rise to fame, for people to recognize him, but this woman looked somehow familiar.
The woman turned to Liam and her grin widened. "Nice hair."
Liam laughed. "Tauni?"
She laughed and moved toward them. “This is the welcome I get from my two favorite Summerville twins?"
Shay opened his arms and so did Liam.
Tauni threw her arms around both of them.
Shay couldn't believe the woman who'd almost married his older brother, Jack, was actually here. He'd known that Tauni and Jaycee were tight, but he just hadn't thought through the fact Tauni would be here tonight.
She pulled back, grinning widely. "I was so happy to see all the fame you guys have. You've earned it."
Warmth filled Shay as he gave her a sweeping look. "You look amazing."
Tauni waved a hand through the air. "Thanks."
"Totally amazing." Liam agreed.
She shook her head. "I can't believe how grown up you both are." Her eyes misted. "You were so both so young when Jack and I…" she trailed.
He and Liam exchanged a glance. A glance that said, Jack is going to flip a brick when he sees Tauni.
Tauni's face turned worried. “Um, I didn’t think you all were supposed to be here for a bit?”
Shay’s guard went up. Tauni might know something. “Ya know, I just want to see the bride-to-be and remember old times.” Did it stick in his craw that to the world, this was Jaycee’s official engagement party? Yeah. But he was trying to remain more focused on the actual issue, like the whole “her life is in danger” situation.
“Haha, well …” Tauni looked around at the help. “She isn’t feeling well at the moment. I think it’s just a touch of the stomach flu. I don’t know.” She gave a mock smile to one of the staff coming by. “She is all locked up in her room, and she doesn’t want to see anyone until it’s time to come down.”
“Well, that’s too bad,” a voice called out.
Shay spun to face the door and recognized Kurt, Jaycee’s fiancé.
Kurt looked between him and Liam and then focused on Tauni. “Tauni, please go fetch my fiancée. I think it’s my duty to check on her before I officially propose, is it not?”
Chapter 12
Jaycee stared at Duke and didn't even know what to say. She dropped the letter. “Duke?” This had not been in the plan.
Duke strolled in, giving the room a once-over. He bent and picked up the letter. "You dropped something." He was already looking over it.
She tried to reach for it. "Wait."
“Let him read it,” Mr. Stetson said, moving back into the office and around the desk. “He deserves to know the truth, too.”
Duke looked up from the letter, glaring at Mr. Stetson. “What do I deserve to know?”
Mr. Stetson gestured to the letter. "Read it."
Duke looked at her, then back to the letter. “From Mother?” he asked softly.
“Yes.” She sat.
Duke continued to read, his face flickering from one emotion to the next.
Mr. Stetson ran a hand through his hair. “It’s okay. He needs to know."
She thought about the fact that her mother had loved Mr. Stetson, she wanted to know more about this man and their relationship.
When Duke finished reading, he put it down on the desk and he had tears in his eyes.
Neither of them spoke for a long time.
“Sit,” Mr. Stetson ordered. “I guess now you both have some decisions to make.” His eyes moved to the door. “Did you bring anyone else with you?”
Duke didn’t seem to hear him.
“Did you?” Mr. Stetson pressed.
“No, I just asked our pilot to bring me.” Duke gave Jaycee a vacant look. “I thought I would be saving the wedding. I thought I’d be chasing you and that rock star down and then hauling you back to Kurt, and then Dad …” He raked a hand through his hair. “And then Dad would think I finally did something right.”
With a start, Jaycee saw Duke through different eyes. He might be chasing after her, but he was just trying to please their father.
Mr. Stetson clasped his hands together. “Well, at least there’s that. You might have a little time before everyone starts showing up.”
Duke turned to her. “I didn’t know, Jaycee. It does make everything make way more sense. I think I came upon one of the meetings Mother was talking about the other day in Boston but dad intercepted me and told me to leave before I saw anything."
She didn’t know what to do, what to say to Duke. They hadn’t been close in a long time.
He put his hand over hers. “I’m sorry. You have to know that I didn’t know any of that and if I would have known, I never would have agreed to it. All I knew was that I was supposed to be in charge of you, keeping an eye out for you last summer and you almost died. I’ve blamed myself for so long. I’m so sorry.” He blinked and wiped his cheeks. He picked up the letter again, rereading it. "I can't believe it. I honestly thought you had mental problems like mom, too." He shook his head. "But it was all lies."
Mr. Stetson cleared his throat and set a file on the table. He pulled out a piece of paper. “This is one of the official meeting minutes from the organization your father his a part of. Your mother found this file containing years of the meeting notes and gave them to me to hold as a type of ransom to protect you both if the time ever came."
Jaycee looked at the piece of paper, but she couldn’t make sense of the minutes.
Duke picked it up and studied it. “This talks openly about extermination of …” He put his hand over his mouth. “That senator that died three years ago. Everyone thought it was a suicide.”
Mr. Stetson nodded. “As you can see, kids, the organization your father is involved with is dangerous. The worst kind of thing. Powerful men who do things to keep others from knowing. The cover-ups start going for miles, involving so many who are innocent, I believe. It starts as a way to protect the ones they love; then they get too deep.” He sucked in a breath. “Your mother reached out to me because she knew she could trust me, and I’ve been faithful to that trust. I want you to realize that once these documents leave here, if they get in the hands of someone who will truly expose these men, then … well, your life is in danger. The truth is that all of our lives are in danger just knowing these things.”
Jaycee’s mind was racing. She put her hand to her head. “I just feel like we’re living in a movie or something.”
Duke was blinking like he’d awakened from a daze. “I can't … I’m so sorry, Jaycee.”
It meant a lot to her, hearing her brother say those words. She and Duke were both victims in all of this. She nodded.
Mr. Stetson cleared his throat again. “You have to make some quick decisions."
Chapter 13
Every instinct inside of Shay was telling him he needed to deck Kurt.
Liam laughed, sensing Shay's motives. He moved in front of Shay. “Hey, dude, yeah, we need to congratulate you.” He reached a hand out to Kurt.
Kurt shook Liam’s hand, plastering on a political smile. “Liam Summerville, right? You’re Shay’s brother. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the pleasure of making your acquaintance at last year's party.” His eyes drifted over to glare at Shay.
For Jaycee. For Jaycee. For Jaycee. Shay chanted the mantra in his mind. He could do this. He could play nice. “Hey, man, all is fair in love and war, right?” He stuck his
hand out. It was a peace offering, albeit a fake one.
Kurt hesitated, then shook Shay’s hand. “Right, exactly." He turned back to a guy that was following him and holding a camera. "Hey, why don’t we get a shot of me and Shay and Liam, the two lead singers of Summerville Solid Gold?”
Tauni stood on the sidelines, watching them interact. Shay noted the worried expression that would flash across her face when she wasn’t pretending to be enjoying herself. Alarms were going off inside of him.
Where the heck was Jaycee? Shouldn’t she be out here, acting as awkward as he felt? She’d mentioned that Tauni had helped her get away, so Tauni could be trusted, right?
The rest of his siblings pulled up, getting out of three different vehicles. Their parents would be coming later.
Liam waved them over and started introducing them to Kurt. Shay could tell from the looks on their faces that they didn’t know if they should be chatting with the enemy, but he nodded to reassure them.
Plus, this gave Shay an opportunity to talk to Tauni. He grabbed her in a side hug. “Tauni, it’s really so good to see you.” He leaned into her and spoke in a low voice. “What is going on with Jaycee?”
She slipped a piece of paper out of her pocket. “She told me to give this to you and she asked that we wait to go to her until tomorrow.”
Adrenaline spiked through him, and he opened the note, reading the simple words. “Sorry, Shay, I had to go find out what the truth is. I want you to stay, to have an alibi, so when I’m missing they won’t think you’re a part of it. I have Tauni’s phone; you can text me.”
“What’s going on?” Jack strode up to them. He’d put on jeans and a nice dress shirt, but his SEAL-ness stood out.
Tauni froze. “What are you doing here?”
Jack did a double take. “Tauni?”
Shay blanched at the look on Jack's face.
Tauni’s nostrils flared and her face turned beet red. “What are you doing here?”
Shay’s eyes darted from one to the other. He knew enough about their messy past to know to keep his mouth shut.
Jack lifted his chin. “Can’t say I’m surprised that you’re in the middle of all this trouble.” He cocked an eyebrow. “Seems like trouble always had a way of finding you.”
Tauni slapped him, quick and hard. “How dare you?”
Jack didn’t so much as flinch.
Tauni cradled her hand, cursing. “Dang, I think I hurt myself.”
In a different situation, Shay would have thought this whole encounter was hilarious, but he kind of needed everyone to focus.
A small smile appeared on Jack’s face. “You think I deserve that slap? If I recall, you’re the one who called off the wedding.”
Tauni pulled back, ready to slap him again.
Jack caught her arm. “I wouldn’t do that.”
Tauni cursed at him.
Jack still didn’t show any emotion. He dropped her arm.
Shay looked between them. “We can’t do this right now. We have to work together for Jaycee.”
Jack scoffed and crossed his arms, his face still serene. “I’m fine.”
Shay could tell he wasn’t fine.
Tauni dropped her hand and glared at Jack. “Cool as a cucumber-rr.” She drew out the last syllable.
Shay turned to Tauni. “Give me your phone number, please.” He whipped out his phone and shoved the note from Jaycee into Jack’s hands. “She’s gone.”
“What?” Jack’s voice had dropped to a whisper, and he read the note.
“She left.” Even saying it hurt him. "What's your number, Tauni?"
Tauni leaned in, whispering her number.
Jack put the number into his phone, too, and then ripped the note into tiny shreds. “Smart plan, actually,” he told Shay. “That will give you a nice cover, so like your girlfriend says, no one will think you’re a part of this.”
“His girlfriend is smart. You’d know that if you were ever home.” Tauni glared at him.
For a split second, Jack grinned. “You miss me?”
Her eyes widened with anger. “Like a bullet to the head."
Jack held up a hand, like he would block another slap. "Simmer down, woman."
"Don't call me woman," Tauni whispered loudly.
Shay put a hand up between them. “Calm,” he whispered. “We still have to act like it’s okay.” They didn’t have time for this. “Jack, what’s the plan?”
“Oh.” Jack looked surprised, like he hadn’t noticed that he’d been gazing into Tauni’s eyes. He tapped at his phone. “I’m going to reach out to some guys. I’ll be back.” He paused, turning back to Tauni. “We're not finished.”
Tauni watched him go, her hand clenched into a fist. “I swear, I hate your brother so much.”
“Yeah, sorry.” But Shay was already focused on texting Jaycee. He was on the brink of a freak-out, but he didn’t want to ruin this plan. Are you okay?
Immediately, she typed back. I’m fine. I’m meeting with the attorney. We’re sorting through everything. Duke is here.
“What?” He began to circle the room, keeping his eyes peeled.
“What?” Tauni asked, trailing him.
“Did you know Duke was there?" he kept his voice low.
Tauni looked horrified. “No.”
Jaycee sent another text. He’s on our side.
Confusion clouded his mind. There was no way Duke could be with them … could he?
He didn’t know, Shay. Now we’re both learning about so much.
Jack rushed back to them. “I have some guys that can pick her up in a bit. I do like the plan—when they discover she is gone, you’re here. No one will suspect you. It protects our family.”
Tauni gave him an up-and-down look. “Always protecting number one, aren’t you?”
Jack finally broke his stoicism and told her, “We can’t do this right now, but believe me, we’ll do it later.” His words sounded like a threat.
“Fine.” With a grunt, Tauni pulled a phone out of her pocket. She leaned into Shay and Jack, whispering, “I have her phone, too. So anyone that’s keeping track of her thinks she’s here.”
Another wide smile from Jack. “Tauni, you're beautiful and smart. You get extra points.”
Tauni rolled her eyes. “So you’re saying that most women aren’t beautiful and smart?”
Jack held up a finger. “I’ll get back to our flirtation.” He turned to Shay. “My guys will grab her now. We’ll leave after the concert and the reveal that she’s nowhere to be found."
"No way," Shay protested.
Tauni turned to him. "It's a good idea," she said, then turned back to Jack.
He was smiling at him.
"Shut up," she said to him.
Jack laughed.
Shay’s heart pounded like he’d run the fifty-yard dash. He tried to control his breathing. “Okay, so I have to prance around here and play nice until when?”
Tauni's expression was taut with worry. “Party starts at six. I think you guys perform a couple of songs at six thirty. Her father is supposed to say a few things, then introduce the happy couple.” She glanced back at Kurt. "At least he's occupied."
Shay noted that his brothers and sisters were sufficiently entertaining him.
Leah met Shay’s gaze and shot him a highly annoyed expression; then she laughed and patted Kurt on the arm. “You’re so funny.”
“Right,” Shar chimed in, glaring back at Shay and Jack and looking confused. She patted Kurt on the other shoulder. “Your definitely going to be the next governor for sure, don’t you think, Noah?”
Noah pulled himself away from his phone. “Oh, yeah.” He pointed finger guns at Kurt. “When you have that party, be sure to call on us to play for you.”
Mason was standing almost directly behind Kurt. He scowled at Shay as if to say, What the crap?
Shay nodded and mentally told him. In a sec, bro. In a sec.
“I hope they can keep entertaining him,” Ta
uni said. “Because we still need to keep up appearances as much as possible.”
“You all can keep up appearances, but I can’t be the one to do it.” Shay turned and marched toward the side yard; he couldn’t risk losing his cool and punching Kurt in the jaw.
Jack and Tauni tagged along.
“Why are you following us?” Jack asked.
“Did I mention I’m her best friend? And guess what? I’m the one who also helped her devise a way to get back here and a way to get her father to agree to have the Summervilles play at the house.” Tauni growled in a low whisper. “If you could have seen the way they were treating her this past year, drugging her up and keeping her in that place …”
Shay stopped walking, unable to hide his deep revulsion. He turned to face her. “Her father deserves to be strung up.”
Jack put a calming hand on Shay’s shoulder. “It’s alright, bro. Patience. We’re going to figure this all out.”
“I’m not being left behind,” Tauni said, inserting herself into their space again. “She’s my best friend and—”
Jack cut her off. “And if you care about her, you’ll stay here and pretend everything is falling apart and you’re looking for her.”
“I’m not staying here,” Tauni said, getting in his face. “I hate her father and her fiance. I hate everything about Kurt. Do you know how hard it’s been to even sit back and watch my best friend have a fake relationship with the egomaniac guy?”
Their attention was diverted when James and Leah launched into some juggling, a skill they shared and loved to show off.
Tauni looked incredulous. “What are they doing?”
Jack let out a grunt. “No one would ever say that the Summervilles are a boring family; that’s for sure.”
Shay texted Jaycee. Ur going to have to keep telling me you’re okay.
Instantly, she texted back. I’m good. But my father and the organization he belongs to are evil.
Shay’s heart raced as he turned to Jack. “She is saying that she's learning more about this evil organization her father is a part of."
Jack nodded. “After you called me a couple of days ago, I had some guys start poking around, and yeah, it’s a whole thing. There’s actually a whole group of people trying to take them down. I got put in charge of it."