Six Feet Under (Mad Love Duet Book 1)

by Whitney Barbetti

  “She’ll be fine.”

  “Have you taught her self-defense, just in case?”

  His silence was my answer. “Might wanna get on that before I arrive,” I said, not specifying when I would be arriving. “I’m just saying that it wouldn’t be terrible if the boyfriend was there with her.”

  “I don’t have time to go gallivanting off to find him right now,” he said curtly. “But can you do it, the b-and-e? It should be straightforward, and I’ll be there the whole time, outside.”

  “I can do it,” I told him, already packing my bags. “By the way, this is new—you calling me from where you are as often as you do. You should get used to doing it.”

  “I’ll be in a town south tomorrow night, to get supplies for our trip. I can call you then. Service is better.”

  “Okay,” I told him, knowing that tomorrow night I’d be arriving at the house he was renting in the tiny Oregon town.

  I had to go to Six’s mom’s anyway. Griffin needed someone to care for her while I was gone, so it was a no brainer that I’d see Julian, who was sitting in a car outside of Elaine’s house. He didn’t look creepy. He looked exhausted, worry etched on his face. But he hadn’t seen me looking, not when he was half asleep.

  I dropped Griffin off with Elaine, explaining that I was going to run some errands and be out most of the day. That’d buy me a day before she realized my day-long errands run was actually long-term, and by then, I’d be in Oregon. That night, in fact. If all went according to plan.

  I walked down the street before turning around and coming up behind Julian’s car.

  The windows were down, so I leaned in and said, “Julian.”

  He started as I opened the door and slid in.

  “Mira.” He looked surprised to see me initially, but the surprise melted away quickly.

  “What do you think you’re doing here?” I asked. I wanted to intimidate him a little, to make him worry, before I decided on whether or not he was coming with me to Oregon.

  “What are you doing here?” he asked me. He pointed with his eyes at the seat I occupied, and I was momentarily taken aback. Had he seen through me?

  “My intentions are better than yours.” But I didn’t know if that was true. All I knew was that this guy was sitting outside of Elaine’s house, acting like a creep.

  I pulled out Six’s lighter, igniting it quickly. Nervous tick. Ever since I stopped smoking for the pregnancy, I found my hands in my pockets, searching for smokes when I got nervous. Flicking the lighter helped.

  “No smoking in the car. It’s a rental.”

  I snapped the lighter shut. “I don’t smoke.” He looked at me like I was stupid, and I remembered I’d smoked around him the first time we met. I didn’t feel like explaining the mini Mira in my belly then, so I continued. “Why are you here?”

  “To find Andra. I told you, I’m not going to just give up.” He sounded the same as he had at the cabin. Frustrated, annoyed. I could relate. All the times Six left me and didn’t tell me where he was going. At least I could be consoled by the fact that he always came back. Julian didn’t have that assurance.

  “You really like her?”

  He looked at me, incredulous. “I’m in love with her. She’s at the forefront of my mind, all day long. I’m in agony, not knowing anything. I miss her.” He rubbed his hands through his hair. “Miss? No, that’s an inadequate word for how I feel. She thought I found her. But I didn’t. She found me. And now I’m lost again without her.”

  Fuck. It wasn’t just puppy love—it was real, real love. I had an instinct about most people I came in contact with, and Julian was so deeply transparent that there was no doubt in my mind he meant Andra no harm. And I knew then, that if I were Andra and had a man who loved me like Julian loved her—like Six loved me—I would want them with me. “Okay.”

  “Wait, what did you say?”

  “I said,” I swallowed, “okay. Let’s go.”

  “Go where?”

  “Oregon.”

  He looked shocked, which told me that despite all of Julian’s sleuthing skills that enabled him to get to San Francisco and find Six’s mom, he still couldn’t find Six and Andra. Six was a secretive man. The fact that Julian had been able to find Elaine was surprising.

  Which made the decision to go to them easier on me. If Julian couldn’t find Andra, surely her uncle couldn’t either.

  “Andra is in Oregon?” he asked.

  I nodded. “And Six too.” I paused, knowing there was no way we could go back now. Julian was a hound with a bone. “Six knows I’m coming.”

  “But not me?”

  I almost laughed. “No. And I know he’s going to be out of the area tomorrow night. It’s your only shot to get to Andra before Six stops you.”

  “But he knows you’re coming?” He looked anxious, but still ready to go along with my plan.

  “He bought a plane ticket for me for next week. But he doesn’t want me to see Andra. So, if you want to see her, this is your chance.”

  “Of course I want to see her. Where in Oregon?”

  “On the coast. About ten hours. We’ll head out tomorrow morning.” I climbed out of the car.

  “Wait. Where do we meet? And what time?”

  I leaned down into the car. “I know which hotel you’re at. Tomorrow morning, when I wake up.”

  The drive was fucking hell. Holy shit. I hadn’t been on a car ride that long before, but I hadn’t expected to spend the entire first five hours puking in gas station trash cans.

  “Are you pregnant?” Julian tentatively asked me as we neared the Oregon border.

  “That’s not a nice thing to ask a woman.”

  “It’s either that or you’re contagious with something, and I’d prefer to avoid it.”

  I ignored him, pulling ice cubes out of the cooler and running them over my forehead. Part of my nausea I knew had to be my worry over Six’s reaction. There was no way, at least not initially, he’d be thrilled to see me. But I wanted to see him—which I blamed on the pregnancy hormones—and I wanted to meet Andra. It didn’t seem right that I didn’t know her, not when Six and I were about to embark on a new stage in our lives.

  “Do you need me to pull over again?” Julian asked, glancing sideways at me.

  “No,” I said. “And yes.”

  “You need me to pull over?”

  “No. Yes, I’m pregnant.” I sighed. “I’m supposed to be through the worst of it, and I’m not.”

  “Well, congratulations.” It was the first time anyone had said that to me. I laughed.

  “That sounded sincere,” I murmured sarcastically.

  He shrugged. “I barely know you.”

  I wasn’t in the mood for chit chat, not when each divot in the road made my stomach coil up in pain, propelling vomit into my throat. I leaned forward, putting my head between my legs.

  “Do you want me to pull over?” he asked again.

  “No,” I moaned.

  Julian pulled into a gas station anyway and before he was even inside, I was outside the car, bent over the metal trash can as I expelled even the water I’d consumed, from my body.

  I vaguely registered Julian returning, but paid him little attention as I tried to get rid of whatever remained in my stomach, eliminating the need for me to do this again.

  When I climbed back into the car, I noticed the plastic bag of things Julian had purchased. He had a sympathetic expression on his face when he handed me the ginger ale. I took it cautiously, not quite trusting him just yet. I might have trusted that he wasn’t going to hurt Andra, but I still barely knew the guy.

  I drank the soda anyway and hoped like hell it quelled the nausea that kept sneaking up on me throughout the first half of the trip.

  Julian tried to chat with me the rest of the way there. Maybe he was nervous about meeting Six. Hell, I was nervous about meeting Six. Not knowing what awaited me in regard to his mood made me more than a little worried. It wasn’t like I could jump ou
t of the car and squeal, SURPRISE! And expect a welcome reception.

  More than anything, I just hoped that I wasn’t making a mistake. Satisfying my curiosity was one thing. Potentially putting Andra’s life in danger was another.

  When we reached the town, the first house we came upon was exactly like the photo Six had sent me. Yellow siding, worn to white. Across the street was exactly one house and beyond that was the ocean. It had to be the one Six was renting. The rest of the street was dark; quiet. Not a single house was lit.

  “Stop here,” I whispered.

  Julian pulled the car off the road.

  “There,” I said, pointing to the sad-looking two-story. “That’s it.” Unless Six had been lying to me.

  “How do you know?” he asked, like he could read my mind.

  I gave him a look, one that I hoped discouraged him from asking me how I was sure—because in reality, I wasn’t. But at least it was Julian going in first. There wasn’t a car in the driveway, which meant Six was probably still gone.

  “Okay,” he said. He paused. “Are you coming with?”

  “No.” I needed to make sure I was sending Julian into the right house. “I need to give Six a call. He’s not going to be happy.” I almost laughed, because he was going to be so the opposite of happy that I found it comical.

  “Is he ever happy anyway?”

  Well, Julian had met him—that was for damn sure. “Just go.” I ushered him out of the car, wanting him to hurry the hell up so I could give Six some warning.

  “Should I knock on the door?” he asked.

  Was he fucking serious? “Yes,” I said, my voice dripping with sarcasm. “Go knock on the door. I’m sure Andra will answer the door, knowing there’s some stranger knocking on it in the middle of the night.” I sighed. “You’re going to have to sneak in. She’s probably asleep. Just…” I shook my head. “Just try to be discreet.”

  As he walked up to the house, I pulled my phone out and, with no small amount of trepidation, I called Six.

  “Hey,” he said. “I tried calling earlier.”

  And I’d let it go to voicemail, lest he hear Julian’s voice or the car in the background. “Right. Sorry. I’m here now.” I winced, and looked out the window for Julian’s shadowy figure, but it was gone from sight. “So…” I said, stalling. “What are you doing?”

  “Shopping.”

  “Oh yeah?” My palms were sweaty. I almost dropped the phone. But I could have, because a second later my phone disconnected from Six’s and I was left with an ended call. “What the fuck?” I said in the darkness of the car. I had plenty of bars for signal. I dialed him again, but it went right to voicemail. Maybe his phone had died.

  I watched the clock as the minutes passed and I didn’t see Julian running for his life, so after ten minutes, I assumed things were good to go. I exited the car and was walking up the sidewalk just as another car came zooming down the street.

  It happened so fast that I barely caught up to him before he made it to the door. Six had left the car running as he ran from it, but I was closer, and got in front of him before he made it to the door.

  In the dark, it must have been hard to see it was me. He grabbed me by the upper arms and stared hard at me as his eyes adjusted. “Mira?” he asked. “What’s going on?”

  I could feel the pulse in his hands, beating hard against my skin as he still squeezed my arms. “I’m here,” I said, almost adding Surprise! but deciding against it when I saw the way he was breathing, hard and fast. “Julian, too,” I added with a little less enthusiasm.

  “What the fuck?” he asked me, setting me aside and jamming his key into the door. He hollered for Andra, who was nowhere to be seen, and before he could thunder up the stairs, I cornered him and placed my palms flat on his chest. “It’s okay. He’s harmless, but he’s going to be good for her.” I flexed my hands against his shirt.

  “So you just fucking drove here with him?” he asked.

  I nodded. “I didn’t want to wait. And besides, I thought you could use a hand.”

  “Really?”

  I grimaced. “Sort of? I mean, yes, mostly, selfishly, I wanted to come here.” He opened his mouth to say something, but I put a hand over his lips. “It’s okay. I wanted to be here. With you, yes. But I also wanted to meet her. Finally.” When none of that worked, I grabbed his hand and placed it over my stomach. “I was sick the whole car ride here.”

  His hand was as limp as a dead fish, but slowly he seemed to be calming down. “Are you really trying to manipulate me by using our baby?”

  My insides swelled a little, hearing our baby from his lips. “Probably. But then again, you manipulated me into moving in with you by getting me a dog that was way too big for my apartment, so I think we’re even.”

  My distraction attempts failed when he heard a sound from upstairs and moved to go to them. “Let go, Mira,” he said through clenched teeth. I waited for a moment before I let him go, but Andra’s voice—or what I assumed was her voice—sounded happy and light, and Six needed to calm down. I shoved him into the open room off the stairs and into a chair. “Fucking chill for a second, okay? They’ll come down.” He moved to stand, but I put him back into the chair. “Sit,” I said, like he was Griffin. “Do you have any booze here?”

  He gave me a look like he couldn’t believe what I was saying.

  “Not for me, duh. For you.”

  He looked over my shoulder at the kitchen across from the hall.

  “Okay, I’ll get it. You stay here. I’m serious, Six.”

  The kitchen in the beach house was tiny, not renovated since the seventies at least. I found whiskey in the cupboard and poured a tiny bit into the bottom of a tumbler before pouring a little more. As I exited the kitchen, I saw Julian, followed by a young woman, descending the stairs.

  They didn’t see me at first, so I stayed there, just behind them, taking them in. Their hands were clasped together, and Andra was leaning into Julian much the same way I found myself leaning into Six.

  This wasn’t the way I’d always imagined I’d meet Andra. But it was the way we would meet. The way I’d meet the most influential person in Six’s life.

  “Hey,” I said. They turned, and I took a second to take in Andra’s face. It was soft, pretty. She was at least ten years younger than me, but she looked older in the eyes. Her eyes had seen things others hadn’t. I thought of her abusive uncle for a minute and then went to Six, handing him the tumbler. “Drink, Six.”

  “You really think alcohol is what I need right now?” he spat. Oh, he was pissed all right. I’d have to smooth things over, but so far I didn’t regret coming, or bringing Julian with me. Not after witnessing the way Julian and Andra clutched one another in the doorway.

  “What you need is to calm the fuck down. Drink this or get out of this house.” This could very well backfire on me, but I didn’t want it to. I wanted to be here. To get to know Andra. I kept sneaking looks at her but tried not to be creepy about it. I turned back to Six, placed a hand on his shoulder, and squeezed reassuringly.

  “Who are you?” Andra asked.

  I turned around and looked at Andra. “Mira.” I waited for any kind of recognition, but there was none. Six had told her nothing or very little about me. I wanted to get it out of the way. “And just so we’re all on the same page,” I started, an eyebrow raised and a finger pointed at Andra, “I’m pregnant,” I turned back to Six and added, “and I found Julian and brought him along, Six, so get over it.” Sometimes it was better to handle Six with rough hands.

  “You know Six?” Andra asked, confusion evident in her voice.

  I tried not to be hurt by the fact that Six and I had been together for nearly ten years and yet this woman, the woman he thought of as family, didn’t know I even existed. Which was why my words were sharp when I spoke to her. “I think it’s pretty obvious I do, don’t you?” I looked back at Six. “Do you need another? Or can I trust you to chill out?”

  Six glowere
d at me. “I am fine,” he said, his voice the opposite of his words.

  “Shut up, Six.” I turned to Andra and Julian and motioned them to the dining table. “Might as well sit. I’m sure Six has things he wants to growl, and he expects you to listen.”

  “No,” Andra said. “Six,” she started, coming closer to the table. “I know this complicates things and you’re feeling frustrated, but Julian is here now,” she glanced at Julian and smiled softly before turning back to Six, “and I’m happy. I don’t care if this compromises things. We’ll figure it out. I can’t lose Julian again. I refuse.”

  I felt momentarily redeemed by her mini speech to Six. I wanted to say, “See?” but I knew that this was not the time to rub things in. Not when Six looked like he wanted to commit murder.

  “What if he was followed?”

  “Ha,” I said. “It’s too late an hour for stupid questions, Six. I was with him. Come on.” I rubbed his shoulder. “You just need to go to bed.” He looked at me intensely for a moment, but then his shoulders slumped.

  “We’ll discuss this in the morning,” he said to Andra. I waited with bated breath for him to turn to me. “It’s been a long fucking day.” His eyes ran over my stomach again, and he relaxed under me.

  Andra didn’t waste any time, spinning away before I could stare at her with a quick, “Goodnight.”

  When it was just Six and me, I held my hand out for him. “Ready for bed?” Since we no longer had an audience, I asked, “How angry with me are you? On a scale of one to ten?”

  “Probably a seven. But it was a nine two minutes ago.”

  “That’s good.” I nodded, swallowing, as Six grabbed me by the hand and pulled me down the hallway. I wanted to ask the love one-to-ten scale, but he turned to me outside the bedroom and pulled me into his arms with a sigh.

  “Eight,” he said, reading my mind as he was kissing the top of my head. “But I suspect we’ll be closer to a nine in the morning, when I’m not as angry.”