by KC Kean
I like my Grandmother even more now. She accepted the love between Rafe and my Dad without question, and didn’t force any of the betrothed agreement shit at them. Go, Grandmother! There is a wistful glint in his eyes as he talks about my father, the love still running through his veins.
“So how did that work? Her being my surrogate mother? It confuses the hell out of me because she shouldn’t even be in our lives.” He looks up to the ceiling, swiping a hand down his face. When he finally looks back at me, I can see the anguish in his eyes.
“Part of the terms were that Veronica would remain listed on the birth certificate, to show unity between the families. We agreed in an instant because we were just ready to have you and if it calmed the drama then that was a bonus.” He pauses to take a drink of his coffee, and I do the same. All this emotional shit has my mouth dry, I swear. “At the time Veronica seemed happy to do it, she always wanted to please her family. They did the whole artificial insemination stuff.”
“Eww, don’t tell me about that bit,” I cringe, shaking my head to push away the images, but ultimately glad my Father didn’t have to dick the bitch. I still shudder at the thought, gulping down my hot coffee to burn the visual from my mind.
“Sorry,” he chuckles. “We supported her throughout the pregnancy, but she was never really interested. She didn’t want to be a mother, so having her on your birth certificate wasn’t an issue.” He winces at his choice of words, and I stop the apology before it can even leave his lips.
“Rafe, don’t apologize for the truth. We both know she doesn’t have a maternal bone in her body. She showed up here today because someone asked her to. They clearly want me to stand with them, and they’re using her as a pawn. She’s too stupid to see it.” I sigh, looking at the bottom of my empty cup. Damn it, I’m still thirsty.
“Honestly, Luna? I think that’s always been the case. Someone has been using her for a very long time to try and get to you. I have my suspicions but no evidence to back it up. Which is why I have her monitored the best I can. When she goes off grid so easily it only encourages my thoughts.”
I look into his deep brown eyes trying to search out the answer, he can’t just throw me little cryptic lines and expect it to be enough.
“I need you to give me more than that. We’re a team, Rafe, family. A team shares everything even if it is just a suspicion,” I say with a raised eyebrow, testing him and our new boundaries.
“She’s definitely connected heavier to Rico than she lets on. Between the pair of them...” he pauses, as if the words cause him worry. “Between them I think they’re working with Totem.”
I run my tongue along my teeth as I weigh up his words. Now that he’s said it, I need to ask, to address the elephant in the room. Clearing my throat I brace myself, and his back straightens at the look on my face. My resting bitch face is on full display, as I try to not give anything away.
“I need you to give me the truth on this, okay?” He offers a simple nod and I build up the courage I need to push the words past my lips. I square my shoulders and straighten my spine. “Am I the heir?” I ask the question so quickly I’m not sure he heard.
He sits staring at me with a completely blank expression, it’s clear my inquiry has caught him off guard. The longer he says nothing, the longer I worry. My breathing starts to kick up a notch at the silence that engulfs me. My heart is about to beat out of my chest in panic, when he suddenly bursts out laughing.
I mean, he’s sitting before me leaning against the table as a full belly laugh takes control.
“I think I’m going to take your reaction as a no, although simply saying the word would have sufficed,” I grunt, scowling at him as his shoulders continue to shake.
He finally lifts his gaze to mine, and stops the bubbles of laughter from continuing. My face must give away how much he’s annoying me. Clearing his throat he stands from the table, putting his cup in the sink before turning to me.
“You are definitely not the heir, Luna,” he says, a small chuckle leaving his mouth again, which he smothers with a cough. Acehole.
“Well thanks, Captain fucking Obvious. I think your reaction gave me that answer already,” I say with a roll of my eyes.
His laughter dies out just as quickly as it started, leaving a look of seriousness to take over his features. I know something isn’t right when his gaze flits around the room, looking anywhere but at me.
“But...?” I ask, and his eyes finally meet mine. He releases a heavy sigh as he pours another coffee into a new cup. Clearly he wasn’t a fan of the unicorn, but the one he’s pulled out has ‘Fuck You’ printed on the bottom.
“I hope you’re going to do the dishes,” I state, raising my eyebrow at him.
“You have a dishwasher, don’t you?” he snarks back with a grin and I roll my eyes for the third time.
“Back to the conversation,” I say, not wanting to get off track.
“Yes, sorry. When Veronica was here it was mentioned that she was sent here by her lover. Something about him thinking you had the right attributes to stand beside the new movement. You may not be the heir, Luna, but they clearly want you on their side.”
Taking a sip of his coffee he thinks over his words, while I stretch, patiently waiting for him to continue. Lifting my arms above my head, I lace my fingers together and alternate between stretching to the left and right. A muscle pops at the top of my back, releasing some of the tension.
“When we were in high school, Veronica and Totem were a thing. There are a lot of arranged marriages within Featherstone, but you don’t usually have to step up to that commitment until you are twenty-one. Although they had ended by the time we arrived at the Academy, your mother always thought the sun shined out of his ass. Following him around like a lost puppy all the time.”
Wow. She’s clearly crazier than I thought.
“We need to track her better, we need to know for sure,” I say, determined, probably because I really would like to put a bullet through her brain right now after her little B&E. I can’t help but slap my palm against the countertop in frustration.
“While she was up here, I had Maverick equip a device on her car. So we’ll see how far that gets us,” he murmurs. Hopefully, far enough to track this bitch down. Trying to get a bigger picture of what my life was like without my actual memory is proving difficult, but something does come to mind.
“Was she connected to Dad’s death?” I whisper, blinking rapidly to keep the tears at bay. It doesn’t stop my heart from beating brutally against my chest, and my hands from sweating profusely. I rub them against my pants, focusing on the motion as opposed to the fact my soul is dreading the answer. He doesn’t answer straight away as he tries to control his own emotions too.
“A lot of things were happening around that time. That’s when it was agreed that if anything happened to one of us, the other would run with you. Maria knew, and helped cause distractions so we,” he gestures between us, “could get away.” He takes a deep breath, making me sit back in my chair as he finally sits back down across from me.
“Tell me more,” I mutter.
“That day, I was on my way home from a work trip.” He shakes his head, huffing at himself, before meeting my eyes. “I was away completing an assignment for Featherstone. We always made sure we didn’t accept jobs that overlapped. We may have only been twenty-four years old when you came into our lives, but we loved you so much. You were, and still are, our number one priority.”
A soft smile graces his lips, and I can’t help but smile back, which seems to be reassurance enough for him to carry on. My heart soars knowing I was never truly a lone ranger with the most amazing parents behind me.
“I’d managed to get back a day earlier than planned because it was Bryce’s thirtieth birthday so I wanted to surprise you both.” The little light that was in his eyes dims instantly, as the memory replays in his mind. “I err, I came up the driveway and the front door was open, which was odd. Your dad was cr
azy obsessive with security, worse than me if you can believe.”
I reach my hand out to his, offering my support as he did to me earlier. I may not remember that day, and part of me never wants to, but I can feel his pain.
“It’s okay, Pops. If it’s too much we can leave it for now.”
“Pops, huh?” He smirks at my choice of words and it pulls him out of the memory for a minute.
“Yeah, I think I may need to trial all my name options because Papa just doesn’t work for me now.” He nods at that, and the fact I’m acknowledging his role in my life must spur him on.
“When I walked in, Luna, you were curled up in a ball in the back garden and your father was gone. I won’t go into anything else because it doesn’t matter, but Veronica’s phone was in the entryway. As though it had been dropped by accident and she’d not been able to come back for it.”
My father’s body wasn’t there? Why hadn’t we gone looking for him? Why did we run? All of these questions are running around in my head, but I can’t process any of them to ask him. I rest my head in my hands as I fight to stay in control of my mind. I feel Rafe’s hand gently wrap around my wrist in comfort.
“Darling, I promised the love of my life, that if anything happened I would protect you, and Maria would search for him. I told you, priority number one was always you. We knew that, and I stand by our decision. Your father had a lot of surveillance set up around the house, and we were able to retrieve some of it. It just wasn’t enough for a full picture.”
Leaning back in my chair I swipe a hand down my face. I think I’m at my limit.
“I’ve reached my breaking point,” I mutter, loud enough for him to hear me and he nods in response. “I mean it’s progress for me to acknowledge that though, right?” I say, letting him see the pain in my eyes as I lose control of my emotions.
“Whatever you need. We need to plan, prep and monitor everything relating to Veronica. Whoever did send her here won’t be happy she came away empty handed.” I completely agree with him.
“Should we go meet the others so we can get a plan in place? I’d like to destroy these motherfuckers, and sooner rather than later. They’ve taken enough from us, and I refuse to let them take anymore,” I growl.
Standing from the table, I run my hands down my pants as I try and shake the darkness from my mind.
“Come on then. I’m sure your boyfriends will help lift your mood,” he says with a grin and I whack his arm as he walks past.
“Stop it, and quit with the cringy jokes too while we’re at it. No dad should be saying them.” I try to keep my voice stern and a glare on my face, but the smile he gives me makes it impossible. Wrapping his arm around my shoulder he leads me out of the kitchen, as he continues to tease me.
“No can do, darling. I promised your father I would forever be the cringy one, so he didn’t have to be.” He wears a smile on his face, but his eyes are welling up again. I feel like he’s aged from the heaviness of this conversation. It seems we both need a break from all this heavy talk. Although, there is a new lightness in his eyes, likely because I know he’s my Papa now.
“Whatever you say, old man.” I head for the door, opening it dramatically for him to walk through.
He passes, giving me a fake glare. “I’m no old man. Call me that again and you’re going in a time-out.”
I stick my tongue out at his retreating form. Loving how our dynamics are exactly the same, yet our connection feels deeper at the same time.
If I’ve learned anything at Featherstone it’s that, in all the pain this world brings, we will protect our family, treasure them, love them and most importantly kill for them.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
(Parker)
“What the hell is taking them so long?” Roman grumbles from the sofa across from me, his leg bouncing with anxiety.
“Would you stop? She needs a minute to wrap her head around a few things before we dig into everything else,” Oscar grunts in response, but he’s rubbing the back of his neck showing his anxiety too. Kai ignores us all as he works away in the kitchen on his own technology.
“Does anyone want a drink? I can grab some bottles of water from my room?”
I look to Jess who’s trying to deal with us all moping around waiting for Luna.
“There’s some in the fridge,” Kai shouts from the kitchen. He’s adamant the blocker they used only covered the footage, not destroyed it.
“Please, Jess. That’d be great,” I say with a smile, trying to relax the tense atmosphere with no luck. “What did your dad say, Roman?”
While Oscar and I were getting lost in Luna, Roman was trying to chase some leads. Protective should be his middle name, especially when it comes to family, and that’s what we all are. Family.
“He was trying to get someone into the surveillance systems around town, so we could keep eyes on where Veronica goes from here. That way it allows Kai to focus on the Academy’s security systems.”
I nod in understanding, leaning back into the sofa and closing my eyes. Stretching my arms out along the back of the sofa, I try to relax. I don’t want to worry about the impact my actions could have, but it’s playing on my mind. My father won’t be happy with the little show he got.
I’ve always done exactly what my father has demanded. Even though he didn’t order me to stay away from Luna directly, I still feel the anxiety of going against his word.
I feel movement next to me on the sofa as a palm rests against my thigh. Rolling my head to the side I expect to see Roman at my side. So I’m surprised when it’s Oscar I find, looking at me with softness in his eyes, completely out of character for him.
“He’s not going to get anywhere near you. Do you understand? Roman will kill him, possibly Luna too, but we’re all in this together.” His words are sincere and again, his actions take me by surprise.
Roman chimes in before I can respond, “For once I have to agree with Oscar. Whatever he tries to throw at us, we’ll get through it,” his usual nod of determination finishing off his statement.
“Can you say that again so I can get a recording?” Oscar asks, lifting his hand off my thigh to search out his phone.
Roman goes to hit Oscar as Jess steps back into the lounge handing out water to everyone. Without saying a word, she gets comfortable on the sofa beside Roman and flicks the tv on, unknowingly blocking his attack. Flipping through the channels she settles on The Vampire Diaries, relaxes back, feet up beside her, and proceeds to ignore us. Okay then.
“Why didn’t we wait in my room? We could have played some video games, instead we’re stuck in Kai’s boring room,” Oscar moans, and I shake my head at the return of his whining.
“Shut up, Oscar,” Kai shouts from the kitchen, always listening and observing even if it looks like he’s not paying attention.
“Whatever, loser,” he shouts back, as he lifts his legs over the arm of the sofa and rests his head in my lap. Who is this guy and what the fuck has happened to Oscar? Roman raises an eyebrow at me, just as surprised as I am, but all I can do is shake my head in confusion.
“Guys, I think my pussy is showing again,” Oscar murmurs, looking up at the ceiling.
“What?” I don’t move a muscle as we wait for him to explain.
“Have you ever been in love?” Really, who the hell is this guy? I look to Roman because I have no idea what I’m supposed to say here. This time it’s Roman’s turn to give his ‘what the fuck’ face. Luckily, Jess steps in.
“I haven’t, why do you ask?” She looks at him out of the corner of her eyes, her focus still mainly on the television.
“I can’t have this talk with you Jessikins, you’ll just go and blabber your big mouth,” he huffs, crossing his arms over his chest.
“Oscar, I helped you guys get Luna back without telling her, didn’t I?” She turns her gaze back to the screen fully, acting indifferent and it works on him.
“I just wondered what the signs are? I did a quiz on Buzzfeed
about it, but I feel like I need more specific examples.” Nobody says a word as we all stare at him. His eyes are closed like it helped give him the confidence needed to say it out loud. Instead of feeling awkward, he continues, “Like, is insta love a thing?”
He lifts his head slightly to look at Jess who is openly gaping at him.
“Err, I mean some say so, but I guess it depends on you personally.” She clears her throat and turns her whole body to face him, dropping her feet to the floor. “Is this related to Luna?” She asks gently, scared she’ll spook him.
“Well, duh.” He looks up at me, like it was obvious. Which I guess it is, but he’s caught us all by surprise. Continuing to stare at him I can’t give him any further answers, because no, I’ve never been in love before.
“I read that if you can’t stop thinking about them, and if you put their happiness before your own, they’re signs, ya know?” Oscar says, looking to me for guidance. I shake my head at him, and now he has me questioning myself too.
I look at Roman for his help again, but he’s sitting on the sofa, his arms braced on his thighs with his hands propping his chin up. I can see him trying to process his own emotions, which will be hard for Mr. hide-all-of-my-emotions-except-anger over there.
Kai suddenly appears leaning against the door frame that leads into the kitchen. He looks at each of us, before finally resting his gaze on Oscar.
“Oscar, I don’t think any of us know what love means, but I’m sure we’ll figure it out. We just have to learn to understand our feelings, and consider each other’s too.” Always the wise one.
“Yeah, because she’s dating us all exclusively, so you guys are practically my boyfriend-in-laws, right?” Oscar asks it so casually that I can’t control the chuckle that leaves my lips. The others start to chuckle too, which makes Oscar frown.