Queen of Quarantine

by Caroline Peckham

  “No,” I said simply and his face fell as I stepped toward him. “Because I’m coming with you. We’ll face Saint’s wrath together when we get back. But none of us should be alone right now and we can watch each other’s asses out there.”

  Blake hesitated, but a wild spark of excitement entered his eyes. He loved breaking rules, especially when they involved a little thrill.

  “I mean, I would love for you to meet Dad,” he said, grabbing my hand. “If you want to?”

  “Of course I fucking do,” I said with a grin. “Let’s go.”

  We started running, stifling our laughter like kids as we headed downstairs into the parking lot and jumped into Saint’s car. Blake took off driving and the shutters opened as the camera read our numberplate and let us out. We turned out of the alley and sailed along the streets, winding into the heart of the weirdly quiet, glitzy city.

  The moonlight glinted and sparkled on the glass buildings towering up either side of us, making it seem like we were in a fairy tale world that belonged entirely to us. Anyone who had somewhere else to go had run away from the cities months ago, and everyone else was clearly locked up tight inside their apartments, hoping to survive this pandemic.

  It wasn’t long before we pulled up outside a huge, shiny building which was the tallest one on this street. Blake popped the glove compartment, taking out a handgun and stuffing it into his waistband before dropping his coat to cover it. After everything we’d faced, I wasn’t gonna question that decision even a little.

  I followed him out of the car and he took my hand as he led me up to the impressive glass doors at the top of a set of grey stone steps. Blake typed in a code on a panel beside the doors and they slid silently open, allowing us into a huge atrium with silver and white tiles on the floor. The reception desk stood empty and my skin prickled at the overbearing silence as we made our way to the elevator. Inside, Blake had to type in another code on the elevator panel and we shot upwards, climbing through the building at speed.

  “Is he gonna lose his shit when he sees you?” I asked and Blake shook his head.

  “Nah, he’s cool. He’ll probably just be pissed I’m missing football practise even when I hand him the gold dust in my pocket.”

  I chuckled and he grinned at me, seeming a little anxious as the elevator rose higher. “I’ve never brought a girl home before,” he muttered, his eyes scouring my face as his expression filled with pride.

  My heart began to race. “Well, I hope he likes me.”

  “Oh,” he breathed as he stared at me and I frowned.

  “What?” I questioned and he shifted from one foot to the other.

  “Nothing,” he muttered. “He’ll love you. I’ll make sure of it.” His complete dedication to me made my chest expand, and I hoped I wasn’t gonna blow this. I’d never been taken home to meet anyone’s parents and I really wanted to make a good impression. After all the craziness in our lives, it was weird to be doing something so normal. It had my stomach fluttering as if we were about to charge into battle. Why was this so freaking scary?

  I couldn’t help but think of my own dad and how he’d never gotten to meet Blake properly or any of my other boys apart from Monroe. But he’d wanted this for me, even if it didn’t look the way he’d probably pictured. He’d hoped for me to find a man who’d dive into a sea of hellfire to protect me. It just turned out that I’d found four of them. Shit, I was lucky. If Dad was out there somewhere, I hoped he knew that.

  Blake took his phone from his pocket, tapping out a message on the app Saint had installed on it. “I suppose we better let Squid know we’re alright.”

  “Yeah, I suppose there’s not much he can do now anyway until we get back,” I agreed and he sent the message direct to Saint before tucking his phone away. “So is this building where you grew up?”

  “Nah, it’s my dad’s apartment. He used to just use it for parties or the odd night when he had to stay in the city because a meeting with some sponsors ran late or whatever, but mostly it just sat empty. He moved in here permanently after we lost Mom. My home is a place in the country. It’s real nice, but I guess it reminds him of her too much.” He frowned sadly and I frowned back, feeling his pain.

  The elevator doors slid open and we stepped into an incredible penthouse apartment which sprawled out in every direction towards floor length windows. The place screamed man cave with no-fuss furnishings that were in a range of neutral tones, broken up by the maroon colours of the Redwood Rattlesnakes memorabilia that was everywhere I looked. There was a wall dividing the lounge from the kitchen and it was covered in photos of Blake with his mom and dad, plus him with the Rattlesnakes team. Surrounding all the photos were little shelves filled with sparkling trophies. It was like a shrine to Blake and all of his achievements and I freaking loved it.

  “Hey, Dad!” Blake called and a man leapt out of the kitchen, his eyes wide in surprise.

  “Blake?” he gasped. He was as tall and as broad as his son, his hair had a sprinkling of salt and pepper and his eyes were warm and inviting. They were blue instead of green like Blake’s, but apart from that he was the image of his son. He wore a Rattlesnakes jersey and some expensive looking sweatpants, the scent of lasagne carrying after him from the kitchen.

  “My boy,” he breathed in shock, striding forward and wrapping Blake in a fierce hug, clapping him on the back. “What the hell are you doing here? And who’s this?” He stepped back, taking me in and I smiled, offering my hand.

  “I’m Tatum,” I said.

  “Tatum…why does that sound familiar?” he chuckled, looking to Blake.

  “She’s my girl,” Blake said, lifting his chin and his father grabbed my hand, pulling me into his chest and hugging me tight.

  I stilled in his hold for a moment, overwhelmed by being embraced by a man who wasn’t my father yet who felt so paternal to me instantly that it brought tears to my eyes. I drove them back as he released me, his mouth splitting into a wide grin.

  “I’m Cooper, nice to meet you Tatum. Shit, I haven’t had a hug in too damn long. I think I just broke a lot of fucking rules, but you’ve been isolating at Everlake, so it’s all good right?” He scored his hand down the back of his neck.

  “Yeah, it’s all good, Dad,” Blake promised. “But um, can I chat to you quick in private?” He threw me a furtive glance and I frowned.

  Cooper’s brows raised in surprise then he nodded, letting Blake lead him out of the kitchen and I stood there like an awkward duck at a chicken party, unsure what to do with myself.

  The low din of Blake’s voice carried to me but I couldn’t catch what he was saying. I had the creeping feeling it was me they were discussing though. Why else leave the damn kitchen?

  “Rivers!?” Cooper suddenly roared and I swear the whole apartment shook.

  Oh fuck.

  Heavy footsteps pounded back this way and Cooper reappeared looking nothing like the friendly-faced Dad he’d just been as his features contorted with fury.

  “Dad!” Blake barked as he came running up behind him. “Listen to me, she’s not-”

  “I’ll tell you what she is,” Cooper snarled, pointing a finger at me and I took a step away, my heart racing as the tension in the room made my body go into high alert. “She’s the daughter of the man who killed your mother.”

  “Mr Bowman,” I gasped in horror. “Please, if I can just explain-”

  “Explain?” he spat, taking an aggressive step toward me as Blake caught his arm, yanking him back. “Explain what? That my son just brought a rat into my home?”

  Blake threw himself in front of his dad, shoving him back and squaring his shoulders at him. “Don’t you talk about her like that!”

  “She’s the terrorist’s kid!” Cooper snapped, his eyes full of grief and pain as they landed on me. To him, I was his enemy. I represented the pain of losing his wife. But he didn’t know the truth and we had to explain it.

  “He wasn’t a terrorist,” I snarled, my blood heating a
t that word. “He was set up. And then he was murdered to hide the truth.”

  Cooper gaped at me in disbelief then gripped Blake’s arm, trying to draw him away from me like I was diseased.

  Blake shook him off, stepping back to join my side. “She’s telling the truth. I was there when he died, Dad.”

  “What?” Cooper blurted, his face twisting as he tried to grapple with that information.

  “Everything the people on the news are saying about her dad is a lie,” Blake said passionately and my heart swelled at hearing him defend my father like that.

  “Bullshit,” Cooper growled. “What the hell are you doing? I told you to ruin her life, not make a fucking girlfriend out of her, Blake. How could you do this to your own mother?”

  “Listen to me!” Blake roared as my mind spun with that information. Blake’s dad had asked him to ruin my life? I should have hated him for that. But when I looked at his face, all I saw was a broken man in need of vengeance for his wife’s death. He’d needed someone to blame just like Blake had needed someone to blame. They were cut from the same cloth, and how I could hate him for that when I’d forgiven his son for far worse?

  “Donovan Rivers was innocent,” Blake said fiercely. “I am telling the truth. Do you think I’d say that to you if I had even a scrap of doubt in my mind? I saw him die. I saw the men who set him up. I know the truth and this is it. Tatum’s father is not responsible for what happened to Mom.” He grabbed hold of Cooper’s shoulders, shaking him and his dad’s brow furrowed as he finally listened to what his son was saying.

  “You’re sure?” he rasped, his eyes shining with unshed tears.

  “Yes, Dad,” Blake promised. “Please don’t blame Tatum. She’s everything to me. I love her with my whole fucking heart and I can’t bear you looking at her like she wronged us. I learned my lesson the hard way. I hurt her, and I’ll never forgive myself for it. Please don’t hate her just because you need someone to hate.”

  My chest filled with warmth at his words and I kept my mouth shut as I waited for his dad to respond, figuring me talking right now wouldn’t help. I wasn’t the one he was going to trust on this.

  “Son, this is…” Cooper shook his head, looking overwhelmed. “This is a lot to process.”

  “But you believe us, right?” Blake demanded. “Because it’s real. I wouldn’t lie to you. Trust me, being here at all is a risk, but-”

  “What have you got yourself wrapped up in?” Cooper asked in concern and a breath left me over the fact that he really seemed to be accepting this.

  “Nothing I can’t handle,” Blake swore. “Just trust me.”

  Cooper looked to me, his cheeks flushing a little guiltily. “I’m sorry I…”

  “It’s fine,” I said quickly. “Blake told me about his mom and I’m so sorry about what you both of you had to go through. I know that pain.” Grief flickered inside me for a moment and I swallowed the ball rising in my throat.

  His brows knitted together as he nodded, his eyes full of sadness. “So why are you both here?” he asked, seeming to sense there was something else going on.

  Blake slid a hand into his pocket, taking out the vial and the syringe in a little fridge pack he’d put them in. “We’re immune.”

  Cooper looked to the syringe then up at his son and released a nervous laugh. “Yeah and I’m the Queen of England. Look, I feel bad about shouting at your girl, do you want dinner? I just heated up Christina’s lasagne. She’s the best housekeeper I ever had, still brings me a delivery of meals every week even though I told her she doesn’t have to take the risk of going out during this shitshow of a pandemic. I’d be dead without her, son, I swear.” He looked to me apologetically and I smiled back, sensing more of the tension falling away between us.

  “Dad, you’re not listening,” Blake said, hurrying after him into the kitchen and I followed too. “This is a vaccine to the Hades Virus.”

  “Come off it, Blake, it isn’t funny,” Cooper said seriously and I lunged forward, grabbing his arm.

  He turned back to me with a questioning frown and I gave him an intent look, rolling up my sleeve and pointing at the rose-shaped mark on my arm.

  “Mr Bowman,” I begged.

  “Cooper,” he corrected. “I feel old when kids call me Mr Bowman. Do me this kindness.”

  “Cooper then,” I said with a smile and he smiled back. “This scar is from the vaccine I received when I was a teenager. My dad was a part of the team who made it. And long story short, it worked and now we have this one and it’s for you. It’ll protect you.”

  Cooper stalled, looking at my expression as he hunted for the joke before turning to his son in confusion. “Blake? What’s going on?”

  “It’s like she said, and I’m sorry but we can’t say more than that,” Blake murmured with a frown that said it hurt him to keep this from his dad. But it was the only way. We couldn’t risk telling him anything about Troy Memphis. He probably already knew too much.

  “Are you in trouble?” Cooper gave Blake a serious look. “Because if you are, I can help you. I’ve got money, resources. Whatever you need-”

  “I just need you to take this,” Blake said, holding the vaccine out to him. “That’s it.”

  Cooper looked anxious, glancing between us then his eyes settled on me.

  “I can give it to you, if you like?” I offered. “My dad taught me how.”

  Cooper’s throat bobbed as Blake gave him an intent look that urged him to trust me. And I really wanted him to. He was the father of a man I loved. I wanted him to know his son was with a good person, who would do anything to protect him and his family.

  “I…perhaps you’ll have dinner with me first?” Cooper asked, glancing over his shoulder at the oven. “It’s been a hell of a long time since I’ve had any company for a meal and we can discuss all of this at length. Figure out your options.”

  “Dad, this isn’t something you can help with,” Blake said firmly. “I’m sorry, I know this must seem insane, but I really need you to trust me. Both of us.”

  Cooper rubbed a hand over his stubble, contemplating his son’s words as he examined the vial in his hand. “You show up here with no warning with the daughter of the man being blamed for this entire pandemic. I love you, but as your father it’s not in my nature to let you walk away from here without me helping you.”

  “We’re okay,” Blake said. “I swear it. We know what we’re doing.”

  “But I don’t,” Cooper said in exasperation. “You’re supposed to be locked down in Everlake Prep where you’re safe.”

  “I am safe,” Blake said, his tone rising as he lost his patience. “I’m vaccinated. The Hades Virus can’t touch me.”

  “So you want me to just take this and let you walk out of here?” Cooper asked in desperation and I could see him giving into the idea even as he struggled against accepting it.

  “Cooper,” I said gently. “Your son is one of the bravest, smartest, most capable men I know. And what we’ve got to do relies on him walking away from here and you forgetting you ever saw us. No one can know about that vaccine. Not yet. But Blake risked coming here to protect you. So please…” I stepped forward, my heart in my throat. “Please let him do that.”

  Cooper swallowed hard, taking a deep breath then after a moment that seemed to last an eternity, he nodded. “Okay,” he rasped. “I will, I’ll…I’ll do that for you Blake. I’ll trust you.”

  “Thank you,” Blake sighed, pressing his hand to his dad’s shoulder.

  Cooper handed the vaccine to me, his mouth twitching at the corner. “Don’t jab me too hard, alright? Never did like needles.” He chuckled nervously, still seeming unsure of this situation and I could see the strength it was taking for him to place his faith in us. In me. I guessed the whole world had been destroying the Rivers name for months, so I could hardly be surprised that he was suspicious of me even after Blake had sworn my dad was innocent.

  I drew up the vaccine while he rolled his l
eft sleeve back and sat down on a stool in front of a wide, grey marble island. I carefully pushed the needle into the top of his arm and slowly depressed the plunger until the liquid was all gone.

  “That’s it,” I announced, taking the syringe away and tossing it into the trash while Blake placed the vial back in the fridge pack.

  “That’s it?” he echoed, rubbing his arm. “I’m immune?”

  “It takes a couple of weeks to kick in fully,” I said. At least that was what Saint had said and seeing as he’d spent the past weeks studying virology day and night, I had to assume he was right. “And we don’t know how effective it is, but…all evidence says it’s pretty damn good.” I thought of how I’d coughed right in Jonas’s face and he hadn’t gotten sick. If that wasn’t a test of its effectiveness, I didn’t know what was.

  Cooper pulled his sleeve down and Blake hugged him, a sigh of relief leaving him. “Stay for dinner,” he insisted and Blake looked to me, seeming unsure.

  “Of course we will,” I said with a firm nod. Saint would likely shit a brick, but what the hell? Cooper looked starved for company and I wanted to know more about the man who had raised Blake.

  We sat down for dinner at a table overlooking the incredible view of the city and ate our way through what was definitely the best vegetable lasagne I’d ever had in my life. The time slipped away and I learned all about how Blake had grown up in some huge manor on the outskirts of the city which Cooper and his wife had bought when they were only in their twenties. He’d become a seriously successful entrepreneur straight out of college, and it looked like money had just snowballed his way ever since. But when he spoke about Blake’s mom, all I saw was grief in his eyes and I knew that he’d trade every dime he had to get her back. He and Blake both would have. And after I opened up a little about the loss of my dad and Jess, Cooper announced I was officially part of his family. Admittedly that was after several glasses of wine, but still. It seemed like he finally liked me. And I liked him a helluva lot too.

  We headed to the elevator as the hour got late and we couldn’t stay any longer.