Claiming Abby [Club Isola 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour)

by Avery Gale

  “They gave her pain meds, didn’t they?” Jace’s voice rang out from the end of the bed.

  “Oh, looky…my big brother is here. Did you bring me a root beer? You always smuggled in root beer when I was sick. Where is it? I’m really thirsty and I wondered about that boyfriend thing that Kalen mentioned. I’m betting Kalen’s all pissy because I didn’t mention that part. But I wanted Kalen and Logan to trust me because they should, not because the guy I thought was hot wasn’t really hot for me.” The room was starting to spin and she felt hot all of the sudden, but she managed to turn to Holly and ask, “That made sense, right?”

  “Yep, it was all perfectly clear. I understood every single word. Now, time for you to sleep sweet sister.” Abby felt Holly’s cool fingers brushing over the eyes and the comforting touch was all it took for the darkness to claim her.

  * * * *

  Logan watched the whole thing, but was speechless. When he looked up at Jace and blinked, Abby’s brother just shook his head. “Happens every time. She has the lowest tolerance for medications of anyone I’ve ever known. I’m glad I sent word ahead to the hospital and warned them. I also talked to everyone I could about her penicillin allergy. Damn I can’t believe she remembered the root beer. I did always smuggle it in to her when she was sick because mom always wanted her to drink Sprite and she hated it with a passion. So I’d drink her Sprite and she’d guzzle the root beer before mom came to check on her.”

  Logan started to laugh and then stopped himself when he thought about her words. She’d been absolutely right. They hadn’t trusted her just because they should have and he regretted that mistake. And he was sure she probably had been humiliated to find out she’d been pining after a man who had been paid to befriend her. Damn, talk about your double whammy.

  Jace stepped up to Holly and smiled down at her indulgently. “Why did you tell her she was making sense?”

  “I didn’t say she was making sense. I said I understood every word she said. And I did, each and every word she said was English and I didn’t have any trouble understanding any of them. Now…the order and meaning was a complete mystery, but the words themselves were a cinch.” Logan chuckled because only a writer would be able to twist words around like that until the argument sounded perfectly reasonable. He pitied Jace and Gage because their woman was going to keep them on their toes for sure. “I’ll sit with her for a bit if you guys want to go to the waiting room for your strategy-thingy.”

  Logan realized that he, Kalen, Jace, and Gage had all four turned to her at the same moment and spoken in perfect unison, “Strategy thingy?” Evidently she’d found the looks on their faces amusing because Holly had started laughing and was still snickering as they all stalked into the hall. But, by the time they settled in the small waiting room they were all laughing too.

  Jace gave them a quick update and Logan could see that the man was furious that his sister had been hurt but proud as hell of the way she’d handled herself. “The information she managed to get from Parsons is going to go a long way toward his conviction. At this point it doesn’t look like the Consortium knew Parsons had authorized Abby’s abduction. That’s not to say they wouldn’t have approved, but they were offering a five-million-dollar bonus to whoever brought her on board, so I’m actually surprised she hasn’t had more trouble than she has. They have now withdrawn that offer so she should be safe—at least for the time being anyway.”

  When Kalen and Logan explained Abby’s comments about Sergio Fantella, Jace didn’t say anything for several long seconds. “She’s right. I think we often demand our subs’ obedience and expect them to respond appropriately to our Dominance, but we don’t always respect them beyond those parameters. Ian has Daphne managing Fantella’s care, so I’ll let her know to include his partner in all of the decisions.”

  Gage hadn’t said much while they’d been talking, but as they all stood he looked at both Logan and Kalen and said, “Abby has two brothers who love her and Ian isn’t far behind. Take very good care of her. And don’t ever forget how lucky you are to have this opportunity with her.”

  Logan nodded and Kalen simply said, “Agreed.”

  * * * *

  Ian held Callie’s hand and reassured her even as he questioned whether or not he was lying to her. He had managed to get out of the room for a couple of minutes almost an hour earlier and the doctor had informed him that their baby would be delivered within the next half hour and now it had been twice that long and Callie was exhausted. The man was supposed to be the best obstetrician in the city and he couldn’t predict a delivery any closer than this?

  One thing Ian had learned was that his wife had fingers that could give a pair of Vise-Grips a run for its money. Each contraction had brought a lockdown of her tiny fingers on his and they’d nearly gone numb before she’d released them the last time. At first he’d been mortified by her cursing, but one of the nurses had assured him she’d heard much worse and that it was perfectly normal.

  Suddenly Callie looked up at him with sad eyes, “I can’t do this anymore, Master. I’ve changed my mind, I don’t want a baby, let’s just go home? Can you please just take me home?” The fact that she’d called him Master in front of people outside of their lifestyle told him exactly how exhausted and desperate she was.

  “Carlin, you don’t mean that. You’ve been so brave and I’m so proud of you. Don’t give up now. I’m very anxious to meet our child.”

  The doctor walked in and his booming voice was the perfect distraction. “I agree with your husband, Callie. Let’s get this show on the road and deliver this baby, what do you say?”

  Callie’s look was stunned disbelief and her voice almost arctic, “You mean I just had to decide to do it? That’s it? I’ve been stuck in this bed for hours being squeezed from the inside out like a fucking orange and you waltz in here all chipper and suddenly it’s showtime?” Ian was completely speechless by Callie’s behavior. He’d never heard her talk to anyone so disrespectfully, but when he looked at the elderly doctor, he actually looked amused.

  “Yep, that’s how it works all right. We don’t put that in any of the brochures because women would have stopped having babies a long time ago and think about how that would have worked out.” Ian had to give the man credit, he was thick skinned and obviously had a great sense of humor. But if what the nurse had said about the acting out being normal, he probably needed to be very resilient.

  From the time the doctor walked in until Ian was cutting the cord and holding his child had only been minutes, but they had been so profoundly moving that Ian worried he’d drop his beautiful daughter. Carly McGregor had her mother’s petite frame and nose, but her dark hair, eyes, and skin tone were all her daddy, and he couldn’t be any prouder. By the time the staff had finished poking and prodding both mother and child, and settled them in their private suite both of his girls were fast asleep.

  Quietly exiting the room he wasn’t at all surprised to see Daphne standing just outside the door. The damn woman was part spook if you asked Ian. Her sixth sense was incredible. “Congratulations Ian. I can’t begin to tell you how happy I am for you.” The sincerity in her eyes touched him and he pulled her into a hug so suddenly he heard her sharp intake of breath at the surprise.

  “And I can’t think of anyone else I’d rather share this moment with. Thank you for your constant love and support. Even though I don’t tell you nearly often enough as I should how important you are to me, we both know I couldn’t have done any of this without you.”

  “I’m not sure that is true…but thank you. Now, before you make me all mushy, I have some updates for you.” Ian listened as Daphne brought him up to speed on everything that had been happening while Callie had been struggling to bring Carly into the world. She ended by telling him that she was already fielding calls from all over the world about the choker Abby had been wearing and just that quickly the tiny bundle of joy in the next room had just launched her own high-tech jewelry line.

&nb
sp; Chapter Thirty-One

  Four weeks later

  Callie sat in the rocker nursing Carly and watching Abby pace back and forth like a caged animal. “I really don’t understand why you are so wound up? I told you how to solve this problem two weeks ago, but you weren’t interested in my battery-operated solution as I recall.” Callie had tried to keep the amusement out of her voice, but she knew she’d failed miserably. Okay, maybe she hadn’t really tried all that hard, but she’d actually considered it so that should count for something.

  Looking up she noticed Abby had stopped right in front of her and was looking at Carly as if her “niece” had hung the moon and the stars. “She is so beautiful. And she is going to be brilliant too, we’re going to see to it. But I want her to have lots of cousins and how is she going to have that if I can’t get laid? Holly can’t be expected to do it all alone. Damn it to hell, this stinks. Besides…it’s like someone gave me this great toy and let me play with it just long enough to get totally hooked and then they take it back.”

  At that moment Holly came into the room and immediately put her hands over her ears before making herself comfortable on the sofa and kicking off her shoes. When she put her small, but swollen feet on the table in front of her she smiled at Abby. “You still whining about not getting any? Didn’t we already beat this horse to death? You want to talk about something important? Look at those balloons at the ends of my legs. This is starting to make me re-think that whole ‘barefoot and pregnant’ saying. I’m betting it was started by some woman who couldn’t get her damned shoes on. Hell, she was only barefoot by necessity not because of some man’s overly inflated sense of power and control.” She cringed when Carly stirred at the sharpness in her voice.

  Callie’s soft giggle and soothing words to the baby made her friends grin. “It’s okay sweet baby. Aunt Holly and Aunt Abby just have their panties in twists. But it’s all good because I think they have forgotten how daddy has this room wired so that it’s almost like it is full of people. People who like to record things and share them with their friends.”

  “Cra….yfish. It’s like living in some da…ng James Bond movie.” When Callie started giggling again, Abby merely shrugged. “Hey, I’m getting better. Kat’s been coaching me on substitute words. She’s the queen of all things crazy I tell you. I can hardly wait to go visit her next week. I was supposed to meet with Alex and Zach in Denver so their dad could sit in, but we changed it to ShadowDance. It’s easier for them to secure and this way I get to spend some time with Kat also. She’s also going to help me make my presentation for Garrett Oil’s Board of Directors a multi-media spectacular…her words, not mine by the way.

  “I’m going to be asking them for a huge chunk of change and I want them completely on board. The Lamonts are already committed and of course McGregor Holdings has always seen the potential. Ironic that the company my parents still own the majority of stock in, is my biggest worry.”

  “Why do you have to sell it to them if your family owns the majority voting shares?”

  Holly answered Callie’s question before Abby had a chance, explaining in far clearer terms than Callie might have used. Holly outlined how having the board solidly behind the project was important to the continued strength of the company that had only gone public just a few years earlier.

  “Okay, enough business. Let’s get back to this no sex issue. I got my stitches out early this morning and I got the green light from the plastic surgeon for all things kinky. So I stopped by a couple of specialty shops on the way back from the doctor’s office. I didn’t tell anyone I went because I wanted to surprise them…what?” Abby was looking back and forth between she and Holly who had both dissolved into fits of giggles.

  Callie shook her head and finally regained enough composure to speak. “Good God Gertie. You ought to get kicked out of Mensa for that one, I mean really? You can’t see how insanely dim that statement was? Hello…you are wearing a choker that has a kick ass—ets and take names tracking device. And I’ll bet you dollars to donuts that your car has at least one tracker, too.”

  Abby just stared at her. “Are you kidding me? They’d track my car?”

  “A nursing mother never kids about donuts…ever. And what about the choker? You didn’t mention that one.” There was something in Abby’s expression that set off Callie’s alarms. “What did you do? Oh girlfriend you are in huge trouble. I can feel it. Holy hel…icopters. I should make you leave right now so my baby doesn’t get caught in the lightning storm I feel brewing all around you. Oh mercy, I can’t believe you found a way to tamper with it already? I mean, I’m sure they knew you would at some point, but it’s been less than a month for heaven’s sake.”

  The words had barely left her mouth when the door of the nursery opened and the room filled with men. Callie rolled her eyes and silently mouthed “sorry” to Abby. Callie grimaced as she took in their expressions. A standoff between the Hatfields and the McCoys would have looked more amiable.

  Jace and Gage flanked Holly and looked her over from head to toe as if deciding whether or not she was physically capable of walking out of the room. Callie had thought Ian was overly protective while she’d been pregnant with Carly, but she was suddenly glad she’d only had one alpha male to contend with during those months.

  Callie looked up to see Ian studying her carefully, when he winked at her she bit back a grin. Just that small gesture let her know that she was in for a show and she’d been cooped up long enough she was going to welcome the entertainment.

  * * * *

  Abby could almost feel the tension in the room, it felt like static electricity and the hair on her arms was literally standing on end. There was no question things would be going much differently if Carly hadn’t been in the room. Yep, ya gotta love babies. Mentally shrugging off the heat coming her way she decided to play offense rather than defense. She’d learned long ago that when dealing with her dads and brother that proactive was a much better position than reactive.

  “You all can scale back the intimidation techniques now. I’m not afraid of you and you know as well as I do the transponders needed to be tested. You want to know where the weaknesses are and I did exactly what you knew I’d do…I tested it for you.” She looked at Ian and caught the slight upward turn of his lips before he scuttled his expression. She zeroed in on him, “Tell me that you haven’t been holding back on the final patents until you knew for certain I couldn’t find a way around the unit. And don’t lie to me because I’ll know.”

  This time he didn’t even try to hide his grin and he just shook his head. “Abby, you really need to rethink this path, sweetheart. I’m not denying Mitch and I knew you would test the unit, because that was a given. But when you are in a hole—stop digging for heaven’s sake.”

  His words were like a pin to her balloon of self-confidence and she suddenly felt all the starch leave her spine. “I’m sorry. I’m just so tired of being coddled and I miss my lab and my research and”—she took a deep breath and looked from Ian to Kalen and Logan—“my new toys.” She heard both men growl and saw their eyes dilate with hunger.

  She heard her big brother chuckle and she wanted to kick him right in the shin. She shot him a look she hoped conveyed that message but he didn’t seem affected. “Little sister, you can check the glare, I’m immune. As for your masterful performance, I’ll let your men sort out how much of it was Oscar-worthy bullshit and how much of it was real. Right now though, I want your happy ass in Ian’s office to explain how you managed to convince my security team that you were in my apartment while your car was parked in front of La Tache Couples Boutique in Alexandria.”

  Out of the corner of her eye she saw both Callie’s and Holly’s eyes light up. Oh brother. It was obvious both women were delighted with the information they’d just been given. I swear if they go without me I’ll withdraw both of their free babysitting for life passes.

  * * * *

  The only thing that had surprised Logan about Abby
eluding their security team was the fact that it had taken so long. They’d been ready and she’d been right about Ian stalling on the final patents. He and Kalen hadn’t been too concerned because they’d asked Sergio’s partner to tail her while she’d been in the city. Abby hadn’t ever met Marco Lantz and since he was an experienced bodyguard he’d been happy to help. Of course the fact that they didn’t have to worry about Marco making a move on their woman was an added benefit as well.

  Logan watched Abby stalk into Ian’s office and face off with her brother. He and Kalen leaned against the wall and watched as brother and sister went toe to toe. “It was reckless and you know it, Abby. We’re not tracking you to spy on you. Your safety and security is our job.”

  “Blow smoke up somebody else’s butt, dear brother mine, because it isn’t working on me. I know you needed this device tested and I did exactly that, so stop acting like I beat you at Monopoly…again. Geez, does Holly know you’re such a big baby when you don’t get your way?” Logan managed to cover his laugh with a cough, but just barely. Neither Kalen nor Gage had even tried.

  “Abby, I’m warning you.” Jace’s threat was empty and everybody in the room knew it. The man had a soft spot a mile wide for his little sister and always had from what Logan had been told.