Graduation and Gifts (Untouchable Book 8)

by Heather Long

  “Hush,” Archie ordered. “I’ll get the plane on the way. They’re in London currently. I can have the plane there in a few hours or tomorrow, whenever you want it.”

  “Tomorrow is great. It’s already late afternoon here, and we just spent the day walking all over the market. My feet are killing me, and Jake promised me a massage.”

  Archie grunted. “I hope he knows he gets the outside for at least a month when you get home.”

  I busted out laughing. “He does, and thank you for not making a big deal out of me wanting to be here for him.”

  “Babe, he needed you. We all get it. You needed to be there for him. And I know I’m going to hate myself for this, but your grandparents still want you to come out to the Hamptons when you’re back. They asked Grandpa Ted about how much longer you thought you might be gone because they didn’t want to bother you.”

  A snort escaped me, not because I didn’t believe him, but because I’d talked to my grandparents at least once a week while here as well. “What did you tell them?”

  “That I hoped by the first week of August.” I could almost see him crossing his fingers.

  “That works for me,” I said with a grin. “That means I get a whole week with you guys and to really get a feel for our new place and the city before I go see them.”

  “Yes.” His verbal fist pump just filled me with joy. “Labor Day at your dad’s then?”

  “Ugh, family is hard.”

  It was Archie’s turn to laugh. “We’ll do Bubba’s birthday up right and he’ll get you for whatever he wants, but I know you want to meet your siblings, and Labor Day is kind of contained. It’s a long weekend, not too long but not too short for a visit, and we can drive up, which gives us the excuse to drive back early. I figure we can do the same thing with your grandparents, plus the drive to the Hamptons is really nice.”

  “And you get me to yourself for that.”

  “Oh yeah, I get you to myself for that.”

  No way I would say no to that. “Sounds like a plan.”

  “I’ll take care of everything, you look after Jake and bring that beautiful body of yours home where we can spoil you.”

  “I can’t wait.”

  “Oh, babe, you have no idea.”

  I had a few, except I really wanted to hear his. Jake and his dad were out in the living room playing and I was alone, so I slid out of my clothes and switched the call to video. Archie’s expression made it all worth it.

  “Why don’t you tell me what you want to do?” I offered, and his grin grew. “In explicit detail.”

  “First, I want to kiss that lush mouth of yours while I fist your hair and feel those sumptuous breasts rub against my chest…”

  Hell. I was rubbing my thighs together, and he’d just gotten started.

  As promised, the jet was waiting for us at Stuttgart International. I let Jake say his goodbyes privately to Klara and to his father. I might have had to blink away a few tears when Jake gave his dad a hug. Then it was just the two of us making our way to the private terminal. We didn’t have any real declarations to make, and the crew was waiting for us to get loaded. It wouldn’t be long before we would take off.

  It was strange as hell to board the private plane with it being just Jake and I. A low whistle greeted us, however, and I squealed when Coop grinned at me from one of the seats. I threw myself at him, and he laughed. “What the hell are you doing here?” Not that I wasn’t happy to see him.

  In fact, I didn’t wait for him to answer as I kissed him. Jake chuckled as he dropped into the seat next to Coop’s. “They’ve been taking turns being on the plane anytime it had to come over to Europe so one of them could fly back with us, but Coop was really hoping it would be him.”

  “That was sneaky,” I said, almost breathless as I lifted my head and met Coop’s gaze.

  “Definitely,” he said. “But I missed you like hell, and Jake and I still need our admission to the mile-high club.”

  I threw my head back as true joy exploded inside of me. Jake snorted. “Not like he couldn’t wait or anything.”

  “Fuck off,” Coop said cheerfully. “You’ve had this pussy all to yourself for weeks. Not to mention these breasts. And that smile… Fuck, have I missed that smile.” He didn’t give me a chance to respond before he was kissing me again. The only reason he let me go was because I had to be in my own seat for takeoff, and even then, he kept hold of my hand.

  “It’s good to see you,” Jake told him.

  “I know, you were broken without me.”

  They flipped each other off, and I just giggled. Yes. Coop was here, and I had zero problem with following him right back to the bedroom as soon as we hit a cruising altitude. I’d missed him and his big dick, but what I wasn’t prepared for, however, was the dick he held in his hand and offered to me to examine.

  Jake stared at it and then began to laugh. “You didn’t…”

  “She wants to know what a piercing would feel like, so I had a model of my dick made just for you with a piercing in it.” He looked so fucking proud of himself, and I swore, I soaked right through my panties at the whole idea. “Now, we’re going to experiment with that and the original model, and you tell me which feels better.”

  I was pretty sure the rest of me went up in flames then too.

  Though, I wasn’t going to lie, the fact I held a dildo of Coop’s cock in my hand—suggested piercing and all—was probably one of the hottest things he’d ever done, and the man had been setting me on fire all year.

  “Fuck me,” I whispered.

  “Oh don’t worry, Baby Girl,” Jake said as he pulled off his belt. “We intend to.”

  Subject: BOUND HEARTS IS TRENDING

  Okay, maybe you aren’t trending per se, but you are making waves on our social media. Geoff—he’s cool btw—grabbed the name on all the various social media sites about three seconds after I intro’d you. I should have thought about that. Anyway, we’ve got everything locked down for you and Ian. When you guys are ready, they’re all yours.

  Thanks for coming to London, thanks for coming out on that stage with us, and thanks for debuting your first performance alongside us. In a lot of ways, I think it reminded me of why I love singing in the first place. You guys made it fun.

  Finally, I hope everything is okay with Jake’s dad. Let us know when you’re stateside, and if someone from our management team calls you, Aubrey said to tell them to fuck off. We’ll sort everything out between us and keep the lawyers out of it. Stupid lawyers.

  Love you, talk soon. I might sleep for a week.

  KC

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Welcome to New York

  Archie

  I wasn’t the only one checking my watch the day Frankie and Jake flew back with Coop. Lucky bastard got to see her a few hours before we did, but Bubba and I took the car service to pick them up. We made a stop for a huge bundle of roses—Bubba’s quick thinking because he spotted one of the flower shops on the way and we pulled over. I had him grab her three dozen and then had another three dozen sent back to the brownstone.

  “Overkill?” Bubba teased without any real challenge, and I snorted.

  “It’s been over a month.” And we’d done our best to stay busy. I’d taken a couple of meetings with my grandfather just to occupy myself. Coop had started volunteering at a local shelter to get out of the brownstone, and he’d voluntarily joined Bubba and I for runs.

  Something we’d done every single day. Coop joined us four days after we arrived, and we all got it. I hated—hate—her being so far away. That wasn’t going to change. Jake needed her, and we talked to her constantly, but it wasn’t the same. Bubba had actually taken some calls with potential producers and the entertainment attorney. He’d also put them all on hold until Frankie and Jake were back.

  As far as I was concerned, they could stay on fucking hold for a while. The ache of missing her last summer had been painful. The last few weeks though? These had been brutal an
d not because we were worried about when we were seeing her again, but more because it felt like I was actively missing a piece of myself.

  The cats seemed to feel the same way, as had Jeremy. Though it amused the fuck out of me that Frankie’s room, the bedroom on the top floor, was only cursorily set up because we wanted to make sure it was done her way.

  We had added a sofa and chairs up there, so it was almost the perfect studio flat, save for the lack of kitchenette, and Coop had been the one to suggest adding a coffeemaker for when she went into hard study mode. Bubba countered though that we would need to make sure we set up regular meals then more than ever.

  Jeremy had simply told us to continue with the rest of our work and he would handle dinner schedules and making sure we all ate adequately healthy meals on time. Since he’d also stocked the wine fridge with Frankie’s favorites, I suggested leaving it in his capable hands.

  We hadn’t told her yet that Jeremy would also be managing the house here, but it was almost eight thousand square feet, four floors, and a full school schedule. Looking after the five of us would be a full-time job, and Jeremy’s genuine thrill at being asked hadn’t been lost on me. He was officially on my payroll now, even if he had been paid out of one of my trusts for the past two years.

  While we’d been traveling, he’d finished the arrangements to move our personal items and selected pieces of furniture and electronics into the brownstone after verifying that it was ready for us. I’d debated hiring a service to handle the decorating, but Jeremy, along with the guys, all scolded me on that idea.

  We would decorate it when Frankie was there and not a day before. The only rooms truly furnished and ready were the dining room and kitchen, as well as Jeremy’s room and the formal salon that none of us were likely to ever use unless we had a party.

  So probably never use, but it was also a room Jeremy could enjoy as well. The rest of us would live upstairs. The game room was set up, and the bed I’d ordered for Frankie’s room, the one I’d been waiting to get since we’d all but moved into her apartment, had arrived the day before we’d come home and now it just waited for Frankie.

  “Arch,” Bubba said, and I cut him a look. “Your leg is bouncing like mad. Relax.”

  Fuck. I frowned and shifted in the seat. I usually played it a lot cooler than this. “You know what, I don’t even care. I have fucking missed her, and it would be really nice if we could get out to Queens faster.”

  The driver glanced back at us. “Sorry, sir. There’s an accident on the FDR. We’ll be passing it soon, and I can make up time.”

  “It’s fine,” I told the man. The flight had another fifty minutes before it landed. We just wanted to be right there when they exited the private passenger terminal. It had taken some time to get used to being in the big city again, an entirely different pace of life, and I was so fucking eager to get Frankie here.

  The night life, the theatres, the restaurants, and the access to so many different international offerings atop the museums and the fact this was a city that never slept? Oh yeah, I was ready for this.

  Both of our phones buzzed when we were still ten minutes out. The flight had landed early. Our driver made good on his promise and made up the time. We were pulling up at the private terminal just as Frankie texted to say customs had cleared them and they were on their way outside. I handed Bubba one bundle of roses while I gathered up the other, and we were both standing outside the car when she strolled out into the sunshine.

  The humidity faded along with the scents of exhaust and the roar of the planes overhead. Everything faded except the bright smile on her face, the roll of her hips as her stroll turned into a hop, a skip, and then a run. Bubba and I both stepped forward, and then Frankie was hugging us both, and I felt more than saw his shudder echoing my own as I buried my face against her neck.

  She was home.

  It was about fucking time.

  Ian

  We didn’t linger at the airport, but for the first time in what felt like years, the gradual spin of my world on its axis shifted and then righted again as Frankie appeared from the interior of the airport. I’d managed expectations and missing her by channeling all of it into the music. I must have written a dozen songs since we’d said goodbye to her and Jake at the Eurostar in London.

  It helped, but nothing helped like having her with us again or having all of us together again. Jake looked a hell of a lot better than the last time I’d seen him, and all the restlessness had faded from Coop. Archie’s grin grew more playful and his manner more relaxed.

  Yes, having everyone together again was the way to go. She loved the roses. Her delight seemed to sparkle in the air around her. Everything about her was brighter and happier. Or maybe the hot, sweltering summer day was just the perfect backdrop for my angel.

  We took the long way back into Manhattan, per Archie’s request. She and Jake filled us in on the trip and how Jake’s dad was doing. We really weren’t out of the loop to be honest, but having her tucked between Archie and me on the seat was doing wonders for all of us.

  Jake looked a lot more at ease. We’d talked a few times, and Dad mentioned Jake had checked in with them about his father and later Dad said he’d talked to Jake’s father too. Maybe the best part of the whole trip was the repair to the relationship between father and son.

  Frankie hadn’t been all that impressed by Jake’s dad, but she was a huge fan of Klara’s. The protective notes in her voice hadn’t been lost on me, but those too had gradually eased over the past couple of weeks. I took all of the above as a positive sign, but if Angel needed to shut down and relax, then I’d make sure she got that time.

  By the time we returned the brownstone, Frankie’s eyes were the size of saucers. She’d smothered a couple of yawns in and around her smiles, but alertness returned to her expression as the driver pulled us up out front.

  She stared up at the front of the place, and I spared Archie a glance. He’d gone still. Her liking the house was huge for him. I had zero doubt that Frankie would adore this place. It was fucking perfect for her. Everything about this brownstone screamed her name. At the same time, it was the kind of place that we could fill up with new memories.

  Coop gave Archie a gentle shove, and Jake actually managed to cover his laugh. He had an equally curious look on his face, but this was Archie’s show and we were just the backup players for this bit. Archie slid out when the driver opened the door, then held his hand out for Frankie.

  Biting her lip, she slid her hand into his, and I grabbed the roses for her. She blew me a kiss just as Jeremy opened the door to welcome us back, and the look on Frankie’s face, a combination of delight and surprise, made me wish I was a different kind of artist, just so I could paint a picture of that happiness.

  Hand in hand, she and Archie jogged up the steps, and she startled the hell out of Jeremy by giving him a fierce hug and a kiss on the cheek. Or maybe it hadn’t, because he wore the most indulgent smile as she let him go.

  “Welcome home, Miss Frankie,” he greeted her, and then Archie scooped her up as she squealed and carried her across the threshold.

  “Asshole,” Jake muttered.

  “Brilliant,” Coop countered.

  “Both,” I corrected them as I followed with the roses. Jake grabbed the backpacks from the driver and Coop claimed their suitcase and we followed after. Inside, Frankie hadn’t made it past the downstairs salon where she’d dropped to sit in the middle of the floor with Tory. Tiddles stood on the staircase, and Tabby was likely upstairs in the game room that she’d claimed our first few days here.

  I couldn’t wait to show Frankie the studio Archie had added to the basement. The converted space was soundproofed and had its own piano and recording equipment. The piano bench was sturdy and well padded. I’d added a few extras, including some stainless steel eye bolts.

  I might save christening the studio for my birthday. There was a bed down there too. Archie figured if we wanted a private space at home, the
soundproofing would help there.

  No arguments here. I appreciated his thoughtfulness.

  That and the fact I could lock the door, which meant Jeremy would never go in there. Frankie deserved the privacy.

  And there were still things I had no interest in sharing.

  It took almost two hours to fully explore the place before Frankie finally climbed the last flight to her room, and I wasn’t the only one eager to see her face. In fact, Coop and I took Jake up with us so we could be in there when Archie led her inside.

  The moment she stepped inside, her whole expression melted, and Archie relaxed.

  Like I’d said, this place was perfect for her, and the wide open space included two huge half dome windows on either side that allowed natural light to flood the room. There was a padded window seat with bookshelves inlaid into the wall. The bed was more than big enough for all five of us and took up nearly one-third of the space, and it had its own little platform so it offered a full view of the room. There were carefully inset eye hooks tucked and hidden away but placed for bedroom play.

  The lighting overhead offered three phases, and she could turn it on and off from a switch by the bed. The en suite bathroom included a shower that took up one wall with three different nozzles and a tiled bench that would allow one to sit or lean or even lay down if it were to strike one. No more squashing to fit in the shower. Three or more of us could play in there easily.

  The last fix to the place had been finished only the week before and it was the huge hot tub bathtub that she could lounge in or we could all use. The bathroom itself was ginormous compared to the others below, but this floor had originally had two full bedrooms and bathrooms that Archie converted into one sexy master suite.

  Or mistress suite in this case.

  “So?” Archie asked as though he couldn’t read the answer on her face, and Frankie laughed as she tackled him onto the bed. I wasn’t the first one to grab a pillow, but I had my shoes off and joined in on the pillow fight that sent the cats racing downstairs and away from the madness.