by Reid, B. B.
Why was Vaughn lying to me?
It had taken me nearly a year to get my head out of the clouds, and I almost wished I could shove it back up there. Impossible. No way could I ignore all the questions flooding my mind now. Questions such as why Vaughn hadn’t introduced me to his parents. Could it be because of the rumors about his father being a crook? If they were true, then I guess I could understand why Vaughn wasn’t eager to introduce us, but what about his mother? Where was she, and why does Vaughn never mention her? All I knew about her was that her ancestors founded Blackwood Keep.
Sighing, I closed the bathroom door behind me and started to flip the lock when the door was pushed open. Before I knew what was happening, Vaughn had forced his way in and had locked us both inside.
“What are you doing? If my boss sees you, he’s—”
“What is the number one rule?” he inquired—as if I weren’t in the middle of speaking.
“I—what?”
“What. Is. The. Rule?” With each word, he’d taken a step until I was trapped between his warm body and the cold porcelain of the bathroom’s lone sink. Without warning, he lifted me onto the edge, bringing us eye level and leaving his hands on my hips. I bet he knew just how hard I found it to be annoyed with him when he touched me. I was already short of breath and wanting to run my hands down his chest and maybe find out if he was still hard underneath his sweats. As a scientist, I found Vaughn to be a most impressive specimen.
“You first,” I shot back. His brows dipped in confusion, so I decided to help him out. “Tell me why you’re lying to me when I specifically asked you not to.”
I expected for him to storm out or maybe even deny it. I wasn’t prepared for him to rest his sweaty forehead against mine and exhale. “You’re too smart for your own good. You know that?”
That was debatable. At least when Vaughn was around. Needing to touch him, I gave in and rested my shaking hands against his warm chest and felt his heart pounding underneath the muscle there.
“You’re just used to airheads.”
If I were a genius, I would have started asking questions months ago.
He chuckled and then squeezed my hips before lifting his head. He suddenly looked serious again, which made me gulp. Vaughn could be so…dominant, and at times, a little more than I could handle. “What’s my rule?”
I bit my lip with indecision. On the one hand, I wanted to remain defiant. On the other, I knew how important this was to him. Once again, I just didn’t know why. “Always kiss you hello and goodbye,” I eventually whispered.
He remained silent, keeping our gazes locked, waiting. After a beat too long, I gave in—as I always did when it came to him—and kissed his soft lips. Like an asshole, he didn’t kiss me back, so I dug my nails into his shoulders, determined to win him over. After the third press of my lips, he gave in with a groan, deepening the kiss. I wasn’t sure how long we remained locked, but it took several hard knocks on the door to break us apart. By then, I had my hand in his sweats, toying with the ring piercing his dick while Vaughn had slyly slipped his hand underneath my collared shirt, groping my boob.
That frustrated gleam in his eye was back, and my gaze dropped to the floor because I wasn’t quite sure I was ready to give him what he wanted. Sure, we’d done stuff, but it was no longer enough…for both us.
So why couldn’t I take the plunge?
Vaughn stepped from between my thighs and ripped open the bathroom door before glaring down at whoever had been brave enough to disturb us.
“What do you want?” he snapped.
“Excuse me, sir, but we can’t serve you without a shirt. I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”
Shit, shit, shit. I quickly hopped down from the sink at the sound of my boss’s voice and pushed my way past Vaughn. As soon as my gaze connected with Terry’s, I knew there was no way I could explain why I’d been held up in the bathroom with my shirtless friend-with-partial-benefits for the past…
My gaze darted to the clock on the wall.
Twenty minutes.
I was so fucking fired.
If looks could kill, Vaughn would be six feet under instead of fighting back a grin as he sped out the parking lot with me riding shotgun. Terry hadn’t fired me, but he did send me home.
For two whole weeks.
Irritated, I bounced my legs as I mentally calculated how much money I’d miss out on while I sat at home twiddling my thumbs. The only upside was that now I wouldn’t have to miss Four’s race again. I’d only seen my best friend race once, which was six months ago, but it had been all I needed to become a fan for life. Now that we’d graduated and she was free of her mother’s tyranny, she was on a mission to get her license and race professionally and, not to mention, legally. Unfortunately, I hadn’t been able to attend her first pro-am race last weekend because Terry was on another one of his rampages and wouldn’t let me have the weekend off.
Feeling strong fingers curl around my own, I abandoned my thoughts and found Vaughn staring at me while we waited at a red light. I frowned when I recognized the street. We were heading in the opposite direction of my house. “Where are you taking me?”
“The Manor.”
My lips curved because it seemed Four’s nickname for the McNamara’s’ mansion was catching on. I briefly pondered telling Vaughn that we’ve been calling the monstrosity he lived in “The Castle” because, well…it looked eerily similar to the palaces you’d find in medieval times.
Obviously, his family held themselves in pretty high regard. My stomach flipped, wondering about the day I’d eventually meet them. If that day ever came, that is.
The light turned green, and once he was busy focusing on the road, I freed my hand from his and slid it inside the pocket of his sweats. I rolled my eyes when his lips split into a dirty grin.
“Now you’re talking, Ty-ty.”
His smile fell when, instead of reaching for his dick, I grabbed his wallet before sitting back and flipping it open. Thumbing through the fifties and hundreds, I counted out two weeks’ worth of pay plus overtime before chucking his wallet, which was significantly lighter now, back into his lap.
With a smirk, he tossed the leather billfold onto the dash. Then he rested his hand on my thigh in ownership and sped all the way to our friends.
“SO I GUESS YOU TWO made up,” Tyra observed with her arms crossed. She was currently standing over Jamie and Bee, who were cuddled on the couch. It was so natural no one would suspect they’d spent four years with an ocean between them and the last year hating each other.
“Yeah, and I know you’re disappointed because you and I can never fool around now, but I hope we can still be friends,” Jamie implored. Feeling my glare, he glanced my way and winked.
Jackass.
“Actually, I thought she could do better.”
Four and Lou rushed inside the family room before Jamie could retort, so he settled for flipping her off while Bee’s attention was diverted.
“We’re missing a couple of assholes,” Jamie announced as he looked around. “Where’s Wren and Ever?”
“Wren is…gone again,” Lou supplied with a subtle lift of her chin designed to fool us into thinking she didn’t care. “Ever was right behind us, but then his old man asked to speak to him in his office. Does anyone know what that’s about? Moneybags did not seem like a happy camper.”
In the blink of an eye, the playful expression on Jamie’s face disappeared. Smooth as a button, he lifted his arm from around Bee’s shoulder, stood, and slipped from the room. Yeah, he definitely knew something. And because I knew him so well, I didn’t have to wonder for long if he was behind it.
The girls had already forgotten I was even in the room as they talked, so I took advantage of their distraction and followed Jamie into the hall. I saw him rushing through a set of double doors, and I started after him. Mr. McNamara’s office was on the farthest end of the west wing, which meant we’d have to pass through the gallery, grand foyer,
and library to reach it.
Jamie, who had his hand wrapped around one of the knobs, didn’t seem at all surprised when he glanced over his shoulder and found me standing there. With a finger to his lips in warning, he pushed inside, leaving the door open enough for me to hear the voice of Evelyn McNamara—Ever’s mom.
“Son, there’s something you should know.”
“Just a minute,” Mr. McNamara interrupted. There was a pause, and then, “Jamie, we could use some privacy.”
“I’d say you’ve had enough of it for eighteen years.” Through the crack, I could see Jamie defiantly cross the room and then lean against the wall between two floor-to-ceiling windows. “Proceed,” he said once he’d gotten comfortable.
I could just make out the resigned sigh of his uncle before Mrs. McNamara began speaking again. “It’s about your father,” she announced. The way her gentle voice shook, I knew whatever secret she was about to divulge wasn’t going to be good and that Jamie knew exactly what that was. “I don’t quite know how best to say this, but Thomas isn’t…well, he isn’t your real father, dear.”
Unable to see the expression of anyone else in that room, I focused on Jamie after too much time had passed in a silence so complete, I swore I could hear the grandfather clock ticking down the hall. Judging by the dip in Jamie’s brows, he felt as confused as I was, although for different reasons.
Ever still hadn’t spoken.
Anyone else would have been sputtering in confusion, spouting questions, and making demands. I knew that had it been me standing in that room instead of Ever, there’d be at least one hole in the wall by now.
Say something! I silently urged my best friend.
As if hearing my internal plea, Ever’s voice, dripping sarcasm and venom, finally filled the room. “It’s bad enough you lied to me, but to believe I hadn’t already figured that out is insulting to my intelligence. I took an elective in Human Anatomy and passed with flying colors.”
“We should have told you sooner,” his not-real-father admitted. The sorrow in his voice couldn’t be mistaken. It couldn’t have been easy to acknowledge that the son he raised since he was a baby wasn’t truly his. “It was my idea to keep it a secret, and it was my ego that caused your mother to leave. I’m sorry, son. I take responsibility. For all of it.”
“Should you be calling me that?” Ever shot back, causing Jamie and me to wince.
Damn.
“You are still my son.” The sharp edge of Mr. McNamara’s tone left no room for argument. Unfortunately, Ever had never been easily cowed.
“I was never your son. Isn’t that why we’re in this room?”
I started to push in to get my best friend the hell out of there before he said something he could never take back. Jamie seemed to read my mind, meeting my gaze through the crack of the door. The subtle shake of his head kept me at bay. Whatever was happening here needed to play out, and I could tell by the nervous look in Jamie’s brown eyes that the McNamaras were far from done.
A small sound behind me had me spinning around, and I barely suppressed a groan when the girls filed into the library one by one. Quiet as a mouse, I quickly moved from the door to meet them in the middle of the room.
“What’s going on?” Tyra whispered.
I was grateful that her instincts were sharp enough to sense that none of us were supposed to be here. I gave her a look, letting her know that it wasn’t good, and I’d fill her in later. Over the months, we’d been able to establish a silent line of communication that apparently still had its kinks. Tyra had deftly stepped around me and made her way to the door, despite my dismissal, with Lou and Bee hot on her heels. Like Jamie, Four hadn’t hesitated to slip inside the office.
At least she left the door cracked.
“Four, could you give us a minute?” Mr. McNamara requested.
Like Jamie, she refused to leave. “What’s going on?”
This time, Evelyn was the one to speak, and her voice was surprisingly chilly. I’d only ever known Mrs. McNamara to be warm and kind. “We’re speaking to our son about a private family matter. He’ll be with you shortly,” she assured Four dismissively.
I guess her propensity for kindness made an exception for the daughter of the woman her husband was sleeping with. I was sure that if circumstances had been different, Evelyn would have adored Four. We all did despite her being nothing but trouble since she came to Blackwood Keep.
“She stays,” Ever dictated. “Or I go.”
“Sweetheart,” Mrs. McNamara attempted to gently reason, “this situation is more delicate than you realize. We’re only thinking of you and what could happen if this information falls into the wrong hands.”
I frowned at that because… Dramatic much?
“I also passed English with flying colors,” Ever retorted slowly, “so I’m sure you understood me the first time. She stays, or I go.”
Being the sickeningly sweet good girl that Tyra was, she released a squeal of shock at Ever’s blatant defiance.
“What was that?” Mr. McNamara inquired.
“Nothing,” Jamie quickly lied. “Just get on with it.”
Coming to stand behind Tyra, I placed my hand over her mouth before bending low to whisper in her ear. “Quiet, pip-squeak.”
Eyes wide and apologetic, she nodded obediently, and I rewarded her with a kiss on her cheek. Lou and Bee pretended to gag at my display of affection, and I rolled my eyes to the ceiling, praying we weren’t caught before the shit hit the fan.
“There’s more,” Mr. McNamara announced. I could hear the creak of leather and imagined him shifting awkwardly in his desk chair. “Your biological father is Sean Kelly, the man you were named after.” If Ever was surprised by the news, he sure as shit didn’t express it. Clearing his throat, Thomas started again. “As you know, we were best friends—”
Jamie snorted at that before his uncle could finish, and I wondered what he knew but wisely wouldn’t divulge himself.
“But we drifted apart,” Thomas continued as if Jamie hadn’t rudely interrupted. “It was years before we saw each other again, and even then, it must have been written in the stars because…” He stopped, and I wished I could see the expression on Thomas McNamara’s face that caused such a weighted silence.
“Because he saved me from…from being raped in an alley,” Mrs. McNamara finished for him. “After Sean scared those guys away, he took me to the hospital and insisted on waiting with me. He was still there when your father”—she paused at that as if unsure before continuing in a firmer tone—“when your father showed up with your Aunt Dilwen and Uncle Douglas.”
“It was the shock of my life,” Mr. McNamara admitted much easier than he did telling his son that his mother had almost been raped. “I’d convinced myself that he was dead. No one had heard from him in over a decade. Not even his parents.”
“I admit I was a little captivated by him,” Mrs. McNamara said shyly. “After what Sean saved me from enduring, it was easy to think of him as a hero from a storybook. He was so dashing and brave. I thought I’d found my prince.” No one said anything while Evelyn attempted to reign in her emotions enough to continue. “These fantasies were the reason why I didn’t listen to Thomas when he warned me away from Sean. I-I assumed he was jealous.”
“Of who?” Jamie casually inquired. “You or him?”
Collectively, every heart within hearing distance, including mine, stopped.
“Jameson, not another word,” his uncle warned in a low voice.
The demand went through one of Jamie’s ears and out the other. “I said the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth or else I’m walking,” he shot back angrily. “Now tell your fucking son that you were fucking his father!”
At this juncture, I was sure even the jaws of the mice hiding in the walls dropped.
This was getting out of hand fast, and instinct told me it was about to get even uglier. Jamie always had a hard time controlling his emotions, which meant so
meone needed to intervene before the entire goddamn train derailed.
My gaze connected with Bee over Tyra’s head and a silent war ensued that ended with her exhaling and pushing inside the office. She headed straight for Jamie and started tugging on his tatted arm. If the occupants of the room were surprised by her timing and presence, none of them felt the need to express it. They were all too grateful she’d been there to intervene. “Maybe you should come with me,” Bee gently suggested.
“Yes, I think that’s a good idea,” his uncle readily agreed.
“I’m not going anywhere,” Jamie denied while crossing his arms and ignoring Bee. “You were saying,” he added as if he hadn’t just outed his uncle while dropping an atomic bomb on his cousin.
“Maybe we should call his mother,” his aunt suggested.
“Call my mother?” Jamie mocked. “What am I, five?”
“Right now, you’re acting like it,” Bee snapped.
Jamie glared down at her, but he should have known better than to think Bee would back down. “Fine, fuck it. I won’t say another word.” Each of us, including the mice, released a sigh of relief. “But no more bullshit,” he warned his uncle. Relaxing against the wall with his girl by his side, he turned his head to broodily stare out the windows. If the situation weren’t so serious, I would have laughed.
After a beat, Mr. McNamara was the one to break the tense silence. “If it’s all right with you, Ever, the rest of your friends should come in rather than we pretend they aren’t listening behind the door.”
Startled, Tyra, Lou, and I made eye contact. A moment later, we were rushing inside the office without needing to be welcomed twice.