“You’re…you’re everything good and kind. You make me feel safe and loved.” The crack in her voice left me speechless, so I navigated the few crazy curls away from her face. “You accept me as a party of five and not just one. That’s probably the most important.”
When I released the pent-up breath, the little v formed between her eyes.
“What’s wrong?”
“I never wanted you to stay because of the money.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean…” Fuck, I didn’t know how to word it. “I didn’t want you to fall for the things I had…or have or the things I pay for. Does that make sense?”
She nodded. “Honestly, the money piece just irritates me because I’m not the sort of girl that can be bought. Don’t misunderstand. I don’t think that’s what you’re doing, Austin.” She spoke so softly; it was hard to hear her. “But I don’t want you to think that I can’t take care of my family. I can. But I also don’t know how to ever repay you or let you know how grateful I am. I don’t have the words.”
“If you zip it, you don’t have to find the words.” I made sure she could hear the laughter in my tone. There was that nose scrunch.
“You basically just told me to shut up,” she giggled.
“I’m sorry. What I meant to say is if you shut the fuck up, you won’t need to find any words. You can just turn around, cuddle up next to me, let me hold you and stay in my bed forever.”
The dark eyes that I knew to be green, danced around before she blinked, bringing a more serious gaze.
“Don’t lie to me or keep things from me anymore, ok?” she implored.
The words she spoke were as good as her waving a white forgiveness flag. My heart joyously flipped in my chest. I was fucked. It was too late to reverse. My heart was too far gone. I was like the damn Titanic going full speed ahead, hoping not to hit the iceberg of secrets I still hid.
Chapter 15
Phoebe
First Comes Love…Then Comes a Break-up
CHRISTMAS IN TEXAS was never the most festive. Sixty degrees. Rarely snow. Full sun. However, the Christmas tree in the apartment, decorated with all the homemade ornaments, brought the Christmas spirit in full force. The kids’ hands and feet made into reindeer. Pictures with Playdoh wreaths. Every single recollection of school-made treats seared in my memory. Proud moments over the last few years of getting them as gifts. The colorful lights all worked when we plugged them in, which was a first. Cheers came from everyone, including Austin.
Sloan sat cuddled up with Nick’s brother, Jalen, on the corner of the sofa, lost in their teenage idea of love. While I wasn’t exactly thrilled about their relationship, my choice was to either fight her seeing him and push her away or keep them both as close as I could. Sloan tolerated Austin much better after he’d taken such great care of me. Jalen didn’t speak to him and frankly, I didn’t care. He could fuck right on off with Nick, but I was cordial because of Sloan.
Hannah came through the kitchen door, clapping. “Time to frost cookies.” She’d become a second mom to them, and I so enjoyed the help. We’d all made sugar cookies earlier and we decorated the tree while she whipped up the frosting. Claire squealed while Austin spun her through the air on the way to the kitchen. Hannah had a fun idea to make letters so everyone could frost their own name. Colorful sprinkles, tons of candies, candy canes, peppermints, red m&m’s…the kids ate more than they stuck on the cookies.
Claire sang the cutest rendition of ‘Woodolph the Wed nosed Weindeer,” all the while Austin fought to keep a straight face as he sang along. It amazed me that he continued on this ridiculous ride of life with me. Having him by my side was the best thing that had ever happened to me. Boy did that thought seem cliché. Cliché or not, it was so damn true.
The doorbell rang. Jake shoved his mouth full of red hots, then bee-lined it for the front door. Austin held a candy cane up to my lips, and I bit a piece off. One of his beautiful brown eyes winked and my insides turned to a puddle of goop.
“Pheebs,” Jake said, jetting his thumb at the front door. Wiping my hands on a wet paper towel, I opened the door and was greeted by a guy with a vase full of amazing red roses.
I swallowed but the swallow only made it about halfway down before it didn’t go down any further. My gut screamed the giver was Nick since Austin was sitting a few feet away in my kitchen. No card. Not wanting to kill the awesome vibe in the kitchen, I set the vase on the TV stand, but then I heard someone shush Claire in the kitchen. Irritation crawled into me. I never wanted her to feel shushed or like what she said didn’t matter.
On a mission to correct the situation, I dashed around the corner and spotted all of them standing behind the kitchen table. Jake’s hand covered Claire’s mouth while Austin held her. They surrounded the table and my eyes fell to their creative work. Their names had been moved into different letters.
Will you marry me
My gaze lifted to Austin. Sloan stood right behind him, videoing the moment. All of their eyes on me. Four sets of green eyes, Hannah’s eyes and my most favorite deep brown eyes all with me in their sight. It was like when Bella cut her finger in Twilight and all the vamps were ready to murder her. Jake’s hand fell away from Claire’s mouth and she raised something in her hands.
“Ma-wee us, Freebie,” she said opening the little box.
“Yes,” Austin said. “Marry us.” Claire handed him the box. The slowest, most deliberate smile found his lips.
All of them blurred when my eyes filled with tears. “Can you all give us a second?”
Frustrated, Jake shook his head, taking Claire out of Austin’s arms. Sloan stopped recording and shot an irritated glare in my direction. Hannah guided Heather out of the kitchen…but it wasn’t until Austin’s shoulders fell that my heart cracked just a little bit. The beautiful, sparkly ring that couldn’t have possibly been real…the massive size of the rock was intimidating and disappeared when Austin quietly closed the box.
“This was sudden,” I whispered.
“It’s called a surprise.”
“It’s only been five months.” I tried to justify my hesitancy. Truth was, I didn’t know how to live without him.
“I knew after five weeks. Maybe even five days. I can’t remember.”
My gaze floated over the adorable cookies. All the thought that went into it. The secret they’d kept. Austin including them. Even Sloan.
“This means forever. These kids need a stable forever. Do you get that?”
“I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
“Austin,” I said softly. “Think about this. If I marry you, it drastically changes my life. Our lives.”
Gradually, he lowered to his knee opening the box, exposing the magnificent diamond again. “It drastically changes mine if you don’t.” He held up the ring. “Marry me.”
Hearing his words for some reason made me think of Sixteen Candles and Jake. I couldn’t help but giggle, look behind me, point at myself and mouth, “Me?”
On cue, Austin smiled and replied, “Yeah, you.”
“You watched it?” I asked excitedly.
“I did. But the movie ended and I’m dying to know how this is gonna play out.”
Stepping forward, I allowed him to slide the ring onto my finger. “That’s a mighty big diamond.”
Austin quickly grabbed something from his back pocket. Another ring box. “I was so afraid you might say that.” A simple silver band embedded with diamonds all the way around wedged perfectly in the slot of the box.
“You bought two rings?”
“I can take one back if I need to.”
I shook my head in utter disbelief. This man was everything I’d ever wanted. Everything I’d dreamed. He wanted to be mine.
The light reflected off the diamond ricocheting dots of light all around us. “I want the ring. Rings.” I smiled.
“Does that mean you are saying yes?”
The nod seemed lame in response, but I thou
ght I might break into a full-blown ugly cry if I said another word.
“You understand that I’m not just a party of one, don’t you? It’s a party of five.”
“We’re a party of six,” he said, then whistled. “She said yes!”
The kids came rushing back in, demolishing us first, then the cookies.
We were getting married.
NICK
Once the 50lb dumbbell was in my hands, I heaved it over my head, reared it back and blasted it straight through the sheetrock. The dumbbell accompanied an agonizing growl as it moved through the air. Before my hands could fall to my sides, Uncle Rock’s arms slid through mine yanking me into a full nelson.
“Aaah!” I screamed, fighting him.
“Calm the fuck down.” Uncle Rock’s low voice whispered in my ear. The fucker never got upset about a goddamn thing. My body resigned the inevitable. Once my body relaxed, Uncle Rock slowly released his hold. Aunt Ari, his girl, walked over and removed the dumbbell from behind the sheetrock. She was much less patient than Uncle Rock. Absolutely everyone in the gang knew not to disrespect Ari, the twins, or their home.
Collapsing to my knees in the middle of the floor, he knelt next to me.
“You owe Ari an apology and then you’re going to Colorado to stay with Mama for a while.”
“No,” I whispered. “I just have to get through this. Phoebe’s going to marry this guy.”
Dano and Two barreled around the corner, glaring at me. “You done pissed off Ari.”
“I know.” The only thing saving my ass was the blood between us.
“He’s going to Mama’s. Make the arrangements, please while I see to her.”
Uncle Rock started up the stairs.
“I’m not going. The mother fucker is in the mafia. I’m not gonna let her marry him.”
Uncle Rock flew back around the corner. “Get him off the ground.”
Dano and Two grabbed my armpits, jerking me up, and within seconds Uncle Rock was inches from my face.
“You put your hands on that girl! The girl that works her ass off taking care of family. You fucking hit her.” Rock swiped away the few bits of spit that landed on his chin. “I don’t give a shit if he’s part of fucking Al-Qaeda. My guess is he doesn’t hit her.”
“I’ll let it go. I swear, Uncle Rock.”
With a simple shake of the head, I realized the decision had been made. Ever since Uncle Rock and Ari had helped Ari’s twin sister Mela, his tolerance for any sort of disrespect for a woman was zero. He didn’t understand that Phoebe loved me deep down. I knew she did.
Two released my arm and dialed his phone. “Duck, we’re taking the kid to Colorado.”
I couldn’t imagine being away from Phoebe. All the kids.
“Take him to his apartment. Leave his bike here. Let him pack, then come back here. You all can head out in the morning.”
Two hung up. “Duck’s making the plans.”
Fuck me.
Austin
New Year’s Eve. Time to celebrate. I had the best evening planned for my girl. Nothing too glitzy. Nothing too formal. Still, it would be enough to sweep her off her feet. The kids knew. Hannah knew. Everyone knew we were taking a small trip. Except my girl.
Everything about this trip was going to push her out of her comfort zone. The plane ride for starters. But it was going to happen. The evening was perfect—sixty degrees on New Year’s Eve. Couldn’t beat that.
I slid out of the Tesla, and before I could reach the front door, it opened, and she smiled in her off-the-shoulder black and silver dress that accentuated every curve perfectly. An ear-to- ear grin was the only communication I offered. She saw my grin and raised me a wink. Claire, Heather and Jake followed her out and handed me a small bag of her clothes.
“What is that?” she asked, cocking a brow and handing me her lip gloss and driver’s license. “There’s no room in this dress for another thing.”
Claire giggled, and Jake shifted her into his arm. Hannah stood with them on the stoop of the apartment. Phoebe glanced at Hannah.
“I’ve got this. You go have fun.”
“I’m going to Oh-we-gun too,” Claire said. As cute as it was…she’d just blown my surprise.
Phoebe spun around as Jake covered Claire’s mouth. His shocked, wide eyes set off a wake of laughter through my gut.
“Oregon?” Phoebe questioned.
I shrugged. “She must remember that from this summer.
As Phoebe turned around, Jake grinned at me. This was my family and I couldn’t have been happier.
The cock of a gun drew my eyes away from the door of the apartment somewhere behind me. My startled eyes landed on Nick. His rage-filled eyes appeared vacant, hopeless.
“Jake, get everyone inside.” The words I spoke seemed outside of my body.
“Nick!” Phoebe screeched. “What are you doing?”
From the corner of my eye, I watched Hannah close the door and through mental telepathy instructed her not to call the police. She knew better, I was sure.
“I fucked up, Phoebe. I have to go away. Away from you.” Tears streaked Nick’s distraught face. There was no doubt he was in a dark place. Though waving a gun at me seemed like a pre-meditated plan before this disappearance he spoke of.
“Put the gun down, Nick. Please,” she cried, suddenly stepping between my body and Nicks but many feet from me.
“Phoebe. Get out of the way,” I gritted.
Her beautiful fucking hair shook, negating my request. The wind blew her scent my way. Not much of a better way to die than smelling her.
“You don’t understand, Phoebe,” Nick cried. “I loved you.”
Loved…past tense. That wasn’t good either.
“I’m only going to give you about three seconds to drop that gun.”
The baritone voice was no surprise to me, but Phoebe spun to see Joe step in front of me. Joe’s eyes, his slight head tilt, his only form of apology, but he had a job to do. And then there was Frank. Stepping between cars, pistol drawn with one thing in its site and one thing to protect. My girl. Confusion flitted over her face.
“Who are you people?”
The wickedly evil laugh vibrating up Nick’s throat concerned me. Somewhere in the distance, faint sirens sounded. Surely, they weren’t coming here.
“I knew it. I knew this would happen.” Nick flopped the gun back and forth pointing it at both Frank and Joe. Nick had no fucking clue what sort of shit he was playing with here. “See Pheebs. He’s part of the mob,” Nick sardonically laughed. “He’s mafia. You didn’t believe me when I told you.”
Phoebe’s mind considered his careless words. Her frantic eyes measured our response, keeping an eye on Nick’s intent. Those beautiful green eyes jumped from me, to Nick, to Frank, to Joe and back to me.
“Phoebe listen,” I said softly, holding my hand out to her.
Nick pulled the top of his pistol back, clicking a bullet into the chamber. Joe and Frank did the same.
“No,” I hollered, pointing at both of Joe and Frank. They only kept one thing in their sight.
The sound of motorcycle pipes trumped the sound of the sirens as two motorcycles pulled into the parking lot.
Jesus. Frank and Joe both pulled two more pistols out…double fisting those suckers. When tears streaked Phoebe’s cheeks, I walked slowly toward her. Then as soon as Nick glanced at the motorcycle riders barely stopping their bikes before dismounting, I took that moment to yank her behind me. Joe and Frank a solid barrier between Nick and us.
Two more bikes joined the party. A bald guy shook his head as he hopped off and walked straight over to Nick.
“Give me the fucking gun.”
Nick pointed at us. “Uncle Rock. This is what I wanted her to see. These goons that she didn’t know about.”
“Give. Me. The. Gun.”
With a befuddled, defeated expression, Nick handed the gun to the bald man who then handed the gun to one of the other guys. Bald guy ran hi
s hand over his bare head and glanced at us.
“The sirens for us?”
“They are,” I answered, not really sure.
“I’m really sorry about this, Phoebe. We are gonna bug out. Tell the cops what you like. You have my word I will take care of this.”
Phoebe nodded, swiping away tears beneath her eyes.
“Thank you, Rock,” she said, stepping away from me.
The four riders hopped on the bikes; the thump of the pipes drowned out the oncoming sirens. They disappeared out the back side of the parking lot.
Immediately, Joe and Frank made their pieces disappear, then they disappeared just as quickly. Phoebe watched them hop in separate cars. She had no clue Frank had been her security detail since we’d come back from Oregon four months ago. The blue and red flashing lights flew past the apartment and kept going. Thank God.
Hannah rushed out of the house. “What the hell was he doing?” Her eyes as wide as silver dollars.
Phoebe started trembling, covering her face with her hands. “What the hell is happening?”
I caught her before she collapsed to the ground. She spun into me, wrapping her arms around me. My pulse began to slow. I shot a glance at Hannah, who knew who paid her and knew a little bit more about me. My head ticked to the side and Hannah gathered the kids and took them inside.
Phoebe’s hands slid over my biceps, gripping my arms, her slow gaze rose to mine.
“You alright?” I asked.
An unexpected vacancy in her eyes settled in my stomach. In slow motion, she cast a glimpse toward Frank and the dark-tinted windowed car and then slowly over to Joe. Her puzzled expression gradually changed to no expression. My throat tightened.
“Phoebe,” I whispered. “Nick could have killed you.” I attempted to distract her. The nest of freckles I loved were surrounded by redness from her recent tears.
“Who were those men?”
I leaned in brushing a kiss over her forehead. “I’ll explain everything, but we have to be somewhere.”
“Are you in the mafia?” she shook her head following the words she spoke. “How is it possible I’m even asking that? That seems so antiquated.”
Finally...My Forever (Just One of the Guys Book 4) Page 15