by Jillian Neal
“Wonder about what?” Logan sounded very peaceful and sleepy.
“You know, all that stuff everybody used to say about her not having a last name, or a crest, or whatever. Did that ever bother you?” Rainer hoped he wasn’t being rude. Logan was quiet for a moment.
“I don’t know. I never thought too much about it. Most of the pricks who teased her, I couldn’t stand anyway, so, I sure as hell didn’t care what they thought. I guess it’s like Dad said after we went out for pizza that night and then I asked her to have dinner here the next week. All I could really think about was making her a Haydenshire. I know that’s weird, or whatever, but it’s just always been what I wanted,” Logan’s confession was riddled with self-doubt, almost as if he was afraid Rainer would think he was odd.
“I don’t think that’s weird,” Rainer immediately fended off Logan’s concerns. He recalled the fact that one of the large glasses of sweet tea that Logan had spilled on the fateful night had landed in his lap.
“I guess I think it was all part of the plan. You know? Think about it. If you’d played the field like all of your brothers kept telling you to, or you’d slept around just to do it, even though you knew the girls who flirted with you weren’t really who you wanted, I’m not sure Adeline would’ve had enough confidence to go out with you. Her mom had done a real number on her by the time she got to the Academy.”
“Yeah,” Logan agreed, “but I guess she has a name and a crest now.” He sounded almost in awe. Governor Haydenshire had informed Logan and Adeline that her father’s last name was Nguyen, and that their crest was of the Swan, known for grace, empathy, and power. It was also the symbol of self-transformation. He smiled as he thought that might be just what Adeline was doing.
“Hey, Logan, Emily and I were talking, and as soon as we find a place, we’ll move out. You and Adeline keep the guesthouse. She loves it there.”
Rainer hoped Emily wouldn’t mind him going ahead and telling Logan their plan.
“You don’t have to do that. We like you and Em living with us. Nothing’s gonna change really.”
Rainer didn’t believe that for a second. As he thought about it, he knew that he and Emily hadn’t been ready to live alone when they’d moved in together; perhaps Logan and Adeline weren’t ready just yet either. Everything had changed rather suddenly. Rainer decided not to bring it up again until after their trip to Australia.
There was a slight knock at the door. Logan eased upwards and leaned to reach the doorknob.
Adeline appeared, and Rainer started to grab his jeans and leave, but Emily scooted in behind her. Rainer could just see the glisten of Adeline’s tears in the slight moonlight as she moved towards Logan.
“What’s wrong, baby?” Logan soothed.
“Well, I think it’s kind of been a big day, and apparently she just doesn’t like sleeping with me the way she likes sleeping with you, even though I have repeatedly pointed out how much cuter I am than you,” Emily teased.
A smile appeared on Adeline’s face as Rainer chuckled. “Why don’t we go to Em’s room?” he offered.
“No, let’s all just have a sleepover,” Emily suggested. “I think Bridgette’s wearing Mom’s nerves kind of thin.”
“Come here, baby,” Logan guided Adeline into his bed and swathed her in the quilts and blankets and then in him. “And no messing around in my room,” Logan commanded Rainer as he threw the quilts back onto his own bed and allowed Emily to curl up with her back to his chest.
“I make you no promises,” Rainer goaded.
Adeline’s sweet giggle filled the room.
29
Memories
~Dan Vindico~
Utter hatred pulsed through Dan’s veins as he paced the corridor of the German Senate, just outside the overstated courtroom. He downed another espresso shot from the vending machine. It was two in the morning at home, he noted ruefully.
He’d landed a half hour before. The trial was scheduled at nine, but Pendergrath had delayed the proceedings. He’d feigned illness, and requested an appointment with a Medio. It was to gall him. Dan knew he was trying to ruffle his feathers.
As he continued to allow his fury to drive him, he began going over all of the crimes he knew that Pendergrath had committed, the crimes Dan didn’t have enough evidence to take him down with.
He could still hear his haunting laugh from his trial five months before; the sparring match Dan had finally won.
He’d been there that night. He’d been in his house. He’d left a burning cigarette on their leather-inlaid table, the one Amelia had picked out. The cigarette was only half-burned. He’d been there mere minutes before Dan had arrived home. The pages of the photo album Amelia had been constructing since she was eleven were singed on the edges. The pictures of their entire relationship, their entire life together, gone just like she was.
He’d helped Cascavel take her, and then he’d disappeared and never left enough of himself to be caught.
A Shengcao cigarette, expensive, extra-long, Chinese brand, sold heavily on the German market that Dan would always associate with evil, kept the vengeance-filled fire in his soul fueled.
He’d lit the smoke and never let touch his lips. He’d worn gloves. He’d left his mark without leaving his trace. The acrid smell of unfiltered tobacco had hung in his house for weeks.
It would always be the smell of horrifying, unthinkable death. That smell was the reason he’d finally sold the house. It was too much. It held too many memories, too much of her, and it had all been more than he could bear after he’d buried Amelia, his beautiful baby, his everything.
He’d refused to sell it for weeks after. He prayed that now that they knew where he lived, that they’d make a return visit in an effort to take him out as well. He stalked the halls at night, a loaded Browning 9mm in his hands, anxious for a chance to have his say.
They’d never come, and he was unable to walk the halls anymore. He could see her there in the kitchen, or in the bathtub, sitting on the couch with one of the dozens of copies of Colette’s works that were her favorite, and a mug of tea he’d supplied her. It was too much. He’d left one night and stayed in a hotel. He’d never returned. His parents had cleaned out the house and sold it for him.
Bile rose violently in his throat as he forced the memories that he hated from his mind. He continued his relentless trek to nowhere.
~Rainer Lawson~
Rainer awoke with a stiff neck from trying to sleep two people to a twin bed, but he was happy to feel Emily’s warm, soothing curves against him.
Suddenly Patrick and Connor burst into the room.
“Get up! Dad’s making pancakes,” they shook the beds. Logan groaned, and Adeline looked rather taken aback. She pulled the covers up to her neck, though she was fully clothed.
As Rainer, Logan, and Emily were quite accustomed to being awoken like this, they didn’t think too much about it.
“I’m sorry,” Logan offered instantly. “My brothers are idiots, and they need to get the hell out of my room.”
“Dude, it’s Football Friday, and it’ll be your last one before you get yourself all married up. So, get outta bed, have pancakes, watch football, play football, stop being a bearded clam,” Patrick huffed.
“Geez, Patrick!” Logan spat. “Do you think you could not be such a prick in front of my fiancée? I’d like her to want to be in my family.”
“Yeah, yeah, just get up. Dad won’t feed us until we’re all down there,” Connor pled.
“Fine, leave,” Logan demanded.
“What is Football Friday?” Adeline still looked mildly bewildered.
“You remember, don’t you? I think you were here last year. I know I’ve told you about it,” Logan urged, but Adeline shook her head.
“I always had to work at Pete’s the day after Thanksgiving, remember?” she recalled the pizza joint she used to work at before she started at Georgetown.
“Right,” Logan nodded, “well, the day after Tha
nksgiving, Mom doesn’t cook at all, so Dad makes pancakes and bacon and then we watch all the big games. Once everyone is here, we play an epic game of pigskin and then order like thirty pizzas and eat them for dinner. It’s a Haydenshire tradition, even Dad plays. We even let the twins play for a little while.”
Adeline smiled at him adoringly. “Do you play, Emily?”
“I tried once, but no one will tackle me because they’re afraid of making Dad and Rainer mad, and no one will pass me the ball because they think I can’t catch it. I sort of just stood there. It wasn’t a great deal of fun.”
Rainer chuckled and kissed her cheek.
“But we have wedding work to do today anyway,” Emily reminded her excitedly.
30
The Passive Interrogation
Everyone stood around the kitchen in sweatshirts and torn jeans while they inhaled pancakes and eggs.
Mrs. Haydenshire shook her head as she sat at the table, civilly, with Emily and Adeline. They were all having coffee. Bridgette appeared, and was wearing her customary scowl.
“Bridgette, would you care for some breakfast?” Mrs. Haydenshire offered sweetly as the Governor pulled another batch of pancakes off of the griddle and casted them to stay warm.
“Uh, no, I don’t eat before I dance, remember?” Bridgette explained again. Her face held a mixture of embarrassment and incredulity.
“Bridgette, dear,” Mrs. Haydenshire sighed, “are you certain that your current line of work is what you want to be doing with your life? If I may, you don’t seem very happy, and everyone needs to eat. I know that Daniel wouldn’t want you starving yourself.”
Angry tears threatened Bridgette's eyes. “Well, I don't really have much choice, now, do I? I’m not Gifted. I don’t have whatever it is that you all can do, so that you have tons of money and power.”
Silence loomed over the kitchen as everyone stared at their plates uncomfortably. It was true. The Gifted families had long-standing family names that had been around for hundreds or even thousands of years.
Most of them were rather well-off because of hard work and inheritances, but also because energy was all around them and at their infinite disposal. There was energy in the stock market, and Visium and Duco Predilects could read it like a book.
There was very little risk with investments. The energy could be seen, read, and profited upon readily.
“Could I offer you a cup of coffee then?” Mrs. Haydenshire’s voice shook Rainer from his reverie.
“Yes, thank you,” Bridgette accepted as Mrs. Haydenshire rose and fixed her a mug.
Logan’s cell phone chirped again; he rolled his eyes and pulled it from his pocket.
Will was anxious to get back to the farmhouse for Football Friday; however, Brooke adamantly refused to come over until after Bridgette left for work. Will had been texting Logan repeatedly, asking when she would be heading to The Tantra, so that he and his family could join in the festivities.
As attention seemed to be what made Bridgette happiest, Mrs. Haydenshire decided to play along. She placed the coffee mug, along with the cream and sugar bowls, at the place at the table between Emily and Adeline.
“Now, Bridgette, tell me, how did you and Daniel meet?” Mrs. Haydenshire quizzed with a kind smile.
Bridgette’s eyes lit, but everyone else in the kitchen knew the inquisition was at hand; Mrs. Haydenshire was gathering information.
“Oh, well,” Bridgette began. “Iodex did that take-down of a bunch of Nic’s boys that day at the club, and I met Dan then. I agreed to keep an eye on the rest of Nic’s guys. They’re in a bunch, so I hear a good bit,” she informed them as everyone nodded and forced smiles.
“We started dating a few days after that. I told Dan that I’d keep spying if he made it worth my while. I get paid by Iodex or whatever, but Dan’s fun.”
The Governor looked extremely concerned. “Bridgette, do you feel like what you’re doing is safe? I’m not certain how I feel about Dan allowing you to spy for us. Dominic Wretchkinsides is an extremely dangerous man.”
Bridgette seemed elated with the Governor’s concern.
“Well, I mean, Nic’s not in that often. I wish he’d come every day. He’s a big old teddy bear, and he tips with fifties. It’s too bad they’ve been asking to sit at Cindy’s table. I really need the extra money. My dad used to be a guard at Felsink, so I knew about The Realm, anyway. Plus, I’m sure if I needed him, Dan would come.”
Rainer and Logan shared a quick glance that said they weren’t at all certain that was true.
Garrett leapt before Rainer and Logan had a chance. “Why are they asking to sit at Cindy’s tables?”
Bridgette shrugged. “Don’t know, except that she puts out for big tips.”
As revulsion washed over the entire lot of Haydenshire men, the twins padded into the kitchen in their zip-up footy pajamas. They were both carrying one of their favorite blankets.
“Wainer,” Henry announced excitedly. He held his arms out to be lifted up into Rainer’s arms. Emily, Adeline, and Mrs. Haydenshire swooned as Rainer scooped him up.
“Hey, buddy,” Rainer smiled as Henry laid his head on his shoulder.
Keaton had the same reaction to Logan being there, and Logan looked extremely honored as he hoisted Keaton upwards.
“They’ve missed you,” Mrs. Haydenshire stated, with just a hint of scolding. They needed to come see the twins more often.
“Want some pancakes, and then we’ll go play football?” Logan enticed the twins.
“Putball,” Keaton’s eyes danced as he beamed at his big brother.
The Governor and Garrett began making plates for the twins and cutting the pancakes into tiny bites, while Levi filled their juice cups. Mrs. Haydenshire turned her attention back to Bridgette.
“So, have you been out to the Vindicos’ manor house to meet Arthur and Marion?” she quizzed, though Rainer knew perfectly well she knew the answer already.
Governor and Mrs. Vindico had a very nice manor house in a quiet, gated subdivision in Great Falls. It was the kind of home that looked very opulent and proper from the outside. A home that couldn’t seem to contain the amount of pain their son had lived through, or the kind of behavior Lindley Vindico displayed to the area on a regular basis.
“Oh, uh, no. I guess we’re not really ready for that yet,” Bridgette bristled. “I think Dan’s parents are kinda hard on him. He doesn’t like them. I think they’re always harping on him or whatever. That’s why he doesn’t talk about them much. Dan’s kind of a player. He’s in his thirties, and he’s never even been in a serious relationship,” she informed them knowingly.
Awkward glances flew around the room as Mrs. Haydenshire offered Bridgette a kind smile and a nod.
As Bridgette finished her coffee, she stood. “So, I guess I need to get ready,” she stalked towards Logan, who was leaned over and seating Keaton in his booster seat at the table.
“You taking me to work, stud?” She let her hand slip from Logan’s back over his backside. He jerked upright and looked thoroughly shocked.
Adeline was devastated, and mutinous fury lit Emily’s eyes. Logan’s reaction had the men in the room trying hard not to laugh as Bridgette sauntered back up the stairs.
Emily’s mouth was still hanging open, and Adeline looked uncertain whether to cry or screech at Logan.
While shaking her head, Mrs. Haydenshire shot her husband a look that had the laughter he’d been trying to hide gone in an instant.
“Garrett, you and Rainer and Emily can drop Bridgette off wherever it is that she works,” she immediately gave Logan an out, and if Emily were with them, Rainer realized, it was unlikely that she would be concerned.
“Don’t you think you should say something to her?” Emily demanded of Logan.
“Em, if he makes a big deal about it, then she’ll just do it more,” Rainer caught Henry’s juice cup just before it hit the floor.
“He’s right, baby girl. She wants the attenti
on. She wants one of us to reprimand her for acting like that or the way she did last night. She’s a very sad girl, Emily,” Governor Haydenshire stated firmly.
Logan stared at Adeline to see how she was going to handle this particular turn of events.
“Ad, you know I didn’t want her to do that,” he edged closer to Adeline. Angry tears threatened her eyes. Adeline drew a deep breath and nodded.
“Trust me, Adeline,” Connor chimed in, “you’re the only girl he wants grabbing his ass.”
“Connor,” Governor Haydenshire huffed, “why don’t you let your brother and his fiancée work this out on their own?”
“I really don’t like her,” Adeline stated in a pained whisper as Logan pulled her to him.
“I know, baby,” he cradled her into his chest and kissed the top of her head.
Governor Haydenshire shook his head.
“She, however, will not be allowed to cause this much discord between my sons and their wives. I assume that’s why my granddaughter hasn’t yet made an appearance on her first Haydenshire Football Friday?”
Logan nodded the answer.
“Come on, Dad. She’s a mess. Cut her a break. She sure as hell doesn’t want to be here with all of us. She doesn’t even know us,” Garrett urged. “She’s mad Dan left her here and,” he leaned a long way back over the vast kitchen island to make certain Bridgette was still upstairs, then he dropped his voice to a whisper, “I don’t know if you noticed, but Dan doesn’t give a shit about her. If she doesn’t know anything about Amelia, then she doesn’t know anything about Dan Vindico.”
31
Lessons Off the Field
As most of the Haydenshires and Adeline were seated in the living room to see if the first game of the day would be any good before going out to play one of their own, Rainer led Emily out to the Hummer.