by Heather Long
Archie pointed out that as the recipient of the trust, it was on those who set up the trust to make sure I was aware of all the terms. Since Maddy dropped this like a bomb and that attorney was being cagey, that suggested there was either something to hide or this was some kind of trap.
“Paranoid,” Wittaker commented. “But not undeserved. I can send them a strongly worded letter advising them to provide this information or we will sue.” He glanced at me. “Or we can wait until after your court date in March.”
“What if the emancipation itself breaks some rule of the trust? Or if I choose the wrong school? Or maybe if I got my ears pierced at the wrong age? Do I even care what it is?”
“I can’t answer that question for you. From what you’ve said, you don’t know that much about your grandparents.”
“I didn’t even know there were two of them. Like I said, I only ever met my grandmother, and that was exactly once and she barely even spoke to me.”
“William and Anne Grayson.” Wittaker said their names like I should know who they were, but it was Archie who frowned.
“Seriously? Maddy Curtis is a Grayson?”
“Apparently,” Wittaker stated. “The information on her family was buried. She legally changed her name at twenty-one, and when you were born, she was a Curtis—her mother’s maiden name. The designee on the trust is Francesca Curtis. You’re named after your great-grandmother.”
I had no idea how I was supposed to feel about that.
“Why didn’t that come up in the background you did on her before?” Archie asked. And he had a point.
“It did, but it was excised from the report before it reached me. An oversight that has since been corrected.”
“Edward.” Archie’s expression turned grim, but Wittaker’s expression didn’t shift.
“I’m afraid I can’t disclose that. However, all the excised information has since been restored. I have a better idea of your mother’s history now, if you want to have it.”
Did I?
“I don’t know right now. Honestly, I want less to do with her, not more, and this feels like a lot more.”
“I can understand that. I’ll hold onto it, and when you’re ready, you tell me and I’ll make sure you have it.”
“What about the labs?” Archie asked. “Any movement with them?”
“At the moment, no, but I have contacted an attorney in New York who will handle our filings there, and they are going to begin the process of the suit. It might take time, but unless your mother is willing to give us the information, we may very well have to sue to get it. The lab manager seemed willing to cooperate, but their corporate owners are less flexible and more willing to make us force their hand.”
“You know, it’s like a puzzle I didn’t want. This is all about the past. The trust. The DNA test. All of it. What if I just don’t need to know?” I glanced at Archie. “I know who I am. I know where I am. I know where I want to go. Do I need to know what came before?”
“It’s up to you,” Archie told me, even as he spread his hands. “If it were me, I’d want to know. What I know can’t bite me in the ass.”
“Well, that’s not entirely true. Some things you knew about still bit you in the ass. But I get your point. I just hate wasting more money on this…”
Still, the corner of his mouth kicked up. “Do you want to know, babe? Do you want to have all lingering questions settled so she has zero power over you? Not even information?”
I really did. At the same time…
“Then we keep going.” He linked his fingers with mine. “We’ll figure it out.”
“What are we doing?” I asked as I followed Rachel through her house toward her bedroom.
“A project I’ve been meaning to talk to you about, but you texted last week about Valentine’s Day and what to do for the boys and I have some thoughts.” Rachel guided me through what might cheerfully be described as clutter and chaos to the hallway where her room was.
The last couple of times I’d been here, I hadn’t seen her family but I had heard them. Today, one of her uncles was yelling across the house to her cousin about some game they were playing.
“They’ve never heard of headsets or discord or manners,” she added as her uncle yelled out an obscenity and her cousin laughed.
“How many of you live here? And it’s not like I haven’t heard the word fuck before.”
“It feels like too many somedays, but yeah, I’ll bet you’ve heard it,” she teased and winked as she pushed open the door to her room and let me in. Like before, it was cluttered, but cheerful with colorful blankets and pillows. There was even new art on the wall, and I grinned at a photograph of the two of us taken at the homecoming dance. “I know it ended up being a shitty night, but we look fucking fantastic right there.”
It was from the dance floor, and I could make out Coop’s arm and Archie’s. I was pretty sure Jake was somewhere behind me, just out of frame. “We really do look great, and I love it. You don’t have to get a different one.”
“Cool.” She moved over to her desk and flipped her laptop open. “C’mere, I want to show you something.”
On the screen were pictures of woman in panties and a corset. She was kneeling amidst some flower petals, and it looked amazing and erotic. “Wow,” I said as I set my bag down and leaned against the chair she perched on. “What are these?”
“My hobby.”
“Your hobby is hot girl pics? I think the guys have that ‘hobby’ too, but that’s not what they call it.”
Rachel pinched me and laughed. “You’re funny.” Head tilted back, she motioned to the screen. “I took this picture.” Tabbing through, she showed me a few more. They were all beautiful and tasteful, but it was the same woman. Definitely erotic with teasing angles and ample curves, but nothing quite pornographic.
“Holy shit, for real?”
With a little shrug, she tabbed to a different set of photos. “Been doing it for a couple of years. Mostly for friends, sometimes for model friends. Started out as a whim more than anything…but…”
“But nothing, are you going to go to school for photography?”
Laughing, she shook her head. “Not a lot of money in that. And this is…well, it’s kind of just my thing. I like keeping it personal.”
Personal.
And she was sharing it with me. “You’re really talented.”
“Thank you.” A hint of a blush flushed her cheeks. “However, I’m not showing you these to fish for compliments. This is my idea for your Valentine’s Day gift for the guys.”
“You want to do shots of me like this?” I glanced back at the screen, and Rachel gave a little shrug.
“You’re stunning. I’ve got a couple of corsets, and we can find something else. You can even do it in a T-shirt and panties if you want. Seriously, the pictures should reflect you as much as the aesthetic. I can do your makeup and help with the hair. It might take us a couple of sessions, and then we can pick out our favorites… I can do some touch-ups, not that I think you’ll need it, and we can either print and frame them, or you can just give them access.”
I dropped to perch on the edge of her bed and stared at the laptop screen, then at her. When I didn’t answer right away, she swiveled to face me.
“If you hate the idea, we don’t have to do it. You just seemed stressed about what to do for Valentine’s.”
“Well, that’s more because Valentine’s Day is like candied hearts, goofy cards, and waiting for all the chocolate to go on sale the next day, then making myself sick on it.” I’d never had a boyfriend before, much less four. “It feels kind of stressful. Like I should make it special for them, but it’s not like their birthdays where I can just focus on one of them so…yeah…I guess I am stressing.”
“So like the idea? Hate the idea?”
I studied her and my gaze dipped to the fresh set of hickeys, and I rubbed a hand over my face. “Fuck, I don’t know, Rachel. I think the guys would love them and you obviously tak
e really good shots, but I have no idea if I could pose for something like that without laughing my ass off.” The women in those pictures looked so intense and kind of earthy. That just wasn’t me.
“So you laugh, that’s you. This isn’t about making you look like someone else. It’s about revealing another side of you or maybe just a deeper look at you. The confidence you have now is just…stunning. You’ve always been a looker, but those boys, as much as they irk me at times, have been good for you.”
“You like them,” I told her as I flopped back on her bed and stared at the ceiling. She abandoned her chair and crawled over to lay on her back too. Rachel had star patterns on her ceiling. I bet they were cool when the lights were out.
“I do,” she admitted. “But we don’t discuss that. It’s more effective if I’m the friend they need to be wary of so they don’t do something stupid again and hurt you.”
“They’re not going to,” I told her, and she linked her arm with mine.
“Frankie, honey, I love you, but guys are dumb. They do dumb shit all the time. They mess with your head, and they turn things inside out. They can be the best and worst thing that ever happened to you.”
The vehemence in her voice had me cutting a look at her sideways.
“What’s his name? I’ll ask Jake to go kick his ass. He likes beating up jerks.”
“Whose?” But the flicker in her expression there held just the barest hint of guilt. “Fuck,” she said with a sigh.
“You don’t have to tell me,” I promised, squeezing her arm. “But now I’m more worried about those hickeys. You kind of go through girls like tissue paper, and if you’re going to throw guys in…” Though… “I thought you didn’t like guys.”
“I don’t, as a rule. I don’t. Most of them are too controlling, and I prefer vag and boobs. Not going to lie. But there are some guys…”
I bit my lip and glanced over at her, and Rachel sighed.
“I promise, I’m fine,” she told me and met my gaze. “I’m working on figuring things out. But I don’t want to get into it right now. Let me focus on you? It helps to get out of my head.”
I studied her for a beat. “I adore you, you know that, right?”
“The feeling is mutual. I promise, I’m not running away and obsessing over my crush on you to keep myself safe from feelings elsewhere.” She made a face. “Or at least I’m mostly sure, because I’m ninety-nine percent certain you’re never going to throw those guys over for me.”
The corner of my mouth curved. “Only ninety-nine percent sure?”
“Well, they are guys and I am me, so there’s always a chance, however remote.” Humor filled her eyes, and I chuckled. “See, there’s always hope. Now, tell me about what’s got you all tangled up, because that boudoir photography idea is killer and I know those guys would lose their minds. Tell me everything, and I’ll see if I can help you figure it out.”
And just like that, I told her everything. Maddy. Eddie. The DNA tests. The secret trust. The mysterious grandparents. Trina. Carly. Alicia. Jake’s sisters. The fact that Ian wouldn’t tell me what his parents said, just that he was handling it and it would be fine. He asked me to trust him, and I was. I told her about the music we’d been recording and the fact that we were all still waiting to hear back on what the producers thought. And that I was terrified I might have screwed up his chances. Finally, I told her about Harvard and the other colleges.
By the time I finished, my throat ached and I swiped away the tears I hadn’t even realized had been falling. “I shouldn’t be crying about any of this, life is pretty awesome…”
“Awesome doesn’t mean stress free,” she murmured. “Good stress is still stress, and, honey, you’re living with four guys. I think you should get a fucking medal because you haven’t killed them.”
I laughed, wiping away more of the tears as I sat up. “They’re not so bad. I mean…they have their moments. Archie is never going to accept a grocery budget. He orders in even on nights we’re supposed to be cooking, and I think he finds mac and cheese a personal affront.”
“I shouldn’t ask, but now I have to know… Why do you say that?”
“Because I used to stock it. It’s cheap and good food for an emergency. It’s also filling, and you can make it with just water, no butter or milk, though it is kind of gross that way, it’s still better than nothing.”
“Uh huh.” Rachel eyed me. “And?”
“And the boxes keep disappearing from the kitchen. If he shops with me, they vanish from the cart. If I do manage to get them home, they disappear from the cupboards. I actually hid two boxes in my dresser the other day. So far, he doesn’t seem to have found them. But…yeah, those are not things that make me too crazy. Coop and Jake both know how to do chores. Ian’s learning to cook, and so is Archie. He built the robotic vacuum, and then he and Jake just built a litter scooper that’s better than the one they sell…”
Rachel laughed. “He’s building toys to do chores.”
“Right?” I spread my hands. “It’s adorable and aggravating and…my life is good. And in a couple of weeks, I’ll be going to court and hopefully severing my last tie to Maddy.”
“It’s still a lot,” she said and rubbed my back. “Ice cream? Epic fail videos?”
“Oh my god, yes.”
Our lives took on a new rhythm. One that definitely helped with the stress. Twice a week, I went to the gym with Jake and worked on my punching. It was fun. Archie tagged along once, and he actually got Jake into the ring to spar. That was highly entertaining. Archie also had more skills than he’d let on.
Ian and I still worked on music, and he had me playing more than three chords on the guitar. Coop continued to spend more time with his family, but we’d taken Trina to the movies and we’d had Trina come over to my place, too.
It was still a struggle for her, but when I told her I had a therapist too, she’d lost some of her defensive edge. The fact that his dad was showing up at the apartment was grating on him, and honestly, I got that. I still couldn’t believe Maddy had done that. While I didn’t actively avoid going over there if I knew his dad was going to be present, I had no idea what to say to him.
Mr. Standish was bad enough, and I’d only seen him once recently when I’d been at the office. He’d stopped by a meeting Bryan and I had been attending. When he’d taken the time to talk to Bryan and me, I kept it polite and to the neutral topic of the internship. At least I could tell him honestly that I’d been enjoying some of our work.
We were in research and development for two weeks because it covered so many areas, and the labs were just cool. Suddenly, I could see exactly what Archie would be doing when he came to Standish to work. Though, I refrained from bringing that up.
The guys surprised me on the morning of Valentine’s with roses and breakfast in bed, followed by the invitation to go out on a date with all of them that night after they picked me up at Standish. Apparently, they’d taken a vote, and Valentine’s—like Christmas—was a group holiday going forward.
Archie got me a locket heart and key charm for my bracelet. Ian gave me a musical note pendant on a chain necklace. Jake found the most adorable stuffed cat that looked exactly like Tiddles and my very own pair of boxing gloves in cherry red. Coop held up a jar of candied hearts with a coupon book attached to the front. “There’s chocolates, too,” he promised. “But I didn’t think you’d want to eat those for breakfast.”
I laughed, but the coupon book made me laugh harder.
It had coupons like redeem for one orgasm. Redeem for a cock to blow. Redeem for foot massage. Redeem for an evening of pampering. A lot of other sexual favors were included in the various offers, but my favorite one was the last one.
Redeem for whatever you need.
“Dammit,” Archie said. “Outdone by something you probably could have made in elementary school.”
I swatted him and laughed, even if my face was red. “He could not have offered me a cock to blow in eleme
ntary school.”
“No, but I could have in junior high,” Coop said with a wink, and I grinned. “Besides, don’t get your panties in a twist, Archie. I just happen to know how to be the favorite.”
That got him playfully pummeled by Jake and Ian. However, I hugged my cat, my jar of candies, my necklace, and my charm. “I love them all, don’t be silly.”
They were still grinning when I reached for my phone.
“Which reminds me, I need to give you your gifts.”
“You didn’t have to get us anything, Baby Girl. We have you as our Valentine.” Jake gave my foot a squeeze, and Ian grinned.
“That was smooth, man.” Ian fist bumped him.
“Thank you, I liked it.”
I rolled my eyes, but opened the password protected file on my phone and uploaded the whole set to the shared cloud they’d set up over Christmas. Each of their phones pinged, and I traded my phone for my coffee and stared as they tabbed through.
“Holy shit,” Coop said and jerked his gaze up to me.
Archie’s mouth formed a wide smile. “I like the red…”
“When did you do this?” Ian asked, his eyes hot as he glanced at me.
“Who the fuck took these pictures?” Jake demanded, the growl in his voice sending all kinds of delicious shivers through me. The look he pinned on me should not have turned me on. While overprotective Jake used to annoy me, possessive Jake just turned me into mush.
“You don’t like them?” I played innocent, and Coop turned away smothering a snicker, while Archie just lifted a brow.
“Oh, we just want to know who has been looking at you wearing next to nothing, babe. Because Jake’s going to have some feelings on that subject.”
“Like you fucking don’t,” Jake snapped.
It was Ian biting back a smile this time, though he did give me a bit of side-eye. “They look professionally done.”
“Just give me a name, Baby Girl. I love them. I’ll have to thank them, in person.”
“You do not fool me, Jacob Benton,” I teased, and I could kiss Rachel. She was right, this really was the perfect gift for them. Something they could all enjoy, and I’d had a blast doing it. I’d done pictures in their boxers and in their T-shirts, as well as a few in a corset and lace panties. I’d even dug out a couple of the sets they’d given me for Christmas that I hadn’t had occasion to wear.