Duplicity (Victory Lap Book 2)

by Mercedes Jade

  “Come on, Tess. I’ve arranged a ride. They should be waiting. We have other places to be,” War said. “You’re looking much too beautiful to lock you up inside here. There’s not even a proper place to dance.”

  He kept his eyes on Marla while he talked. The look said she would bear the consequences if she took one step towards Tess.

  Bastion released Tess’s hand.

  War pulled Tess’s chair back, so she could stand up.

  Bastion stood first, offering Tess a bow and his arm to help her up.

  War stiffened. It was almost imperceptible, but Kade had a clear view of War’s face.

  Were their friends about to get into a fight?

  Kade and Keir pushed their chairs back and stood with haste.

  “Luce, it’s okay,” Tess said, accepting Bastion’s hand.

  She let go once she was up from her seat and turned to face War.

  “I didn’t think I could steal a prince without some princess crying foul,” Tess joked.

  War broke into a big grin.

  “Did you hear the pitch of that screech? She wasn’t a real princess, you know. The crystal didn’t shatter.”

  Tess laughed.

  Marla decided that War’s threat had gone down with his smile. She started forward again, grabbing a hold of Bastion by his shirtsleeve and yanking him.

  War didn’t lay a hand on Marla. He grabbed the same shirtsleeve from Bastion with two hands and ripped it right off.

  Marla released her stepson in shock, almost falling back on her heels as she stumbled a few steps in retreat.

  War handed the ripped sleeve to Tess.

  “He’s giving you the shirt off my back,” Bastion said.

  Tess got that twinkle in her eyes that said she was amused.

  “I think this counts as a change of you clothes. Would you like to leave now?” she asked Bastion.

  Marla regained her courage. “Just all of you. Riffraff. Don’t you ever come back!”

  “I won’t let him,” Tess said. She dropped the sleeve on the tiled floor. “Consider your prince stolen by Cinderella. I’ll strip him of all of his fancy dressings if that’s what it takes to free him of your cursed spell.”

  A few of their captivated audience members tittered. Probably the idea of Bastion getting naked, although hopefully, Tess’s message was heard as well.

  “He can’t leave!” Marla exclaimed.

  Tess gave Marla a disparaging look and scoffed. “Yes, he can choose to leave. He’s an adult. We’re engaged. You just said I’m not welcome in your home. Seems like a no-brainer to me.”

  “I’ll tell his father!”

  “Please do,” Bastion said in a soft voice. “Let him know how you kicked me and my fiancée out.”

  Marla deflated.

  The tables had been neatly turned on her. Bastion couldn’t have planned it better.

  War took one of Tess’s arms and Bastion had the other. They escorted her together to pass Marla.

  Someone started clapping, then another, and then so many that it was impossible to count.

  “He’ll be back,” Marla muttered as Kade and Keir walked pass.

  “Not even for a crown,” Kade told her.

  15

  Tess

  Let the Games Begin

  “This is a kidnapping van. Not all that different from the limo.”

  Bastion laughed.

  War frowned.

  Tess pointed to the heavily tinted windows. “Is that even legal? Who are these guys your dad hired?”

  “They’re professionals,” War defended.

  “War didn’t hire kidnappers to help with your plot to steal me from my wicked stepmother. Even he wouldn’t waste his money to indulge your fantasy that far,” Bastion injected.

  Tess swung her gaze back to him. Sitting in the middle between these two at the back seats had been a bad idea. They already had gotten up to enough mischief in Bastion’s bedroom.

  If there hadn’t been such a scene quickly made in the greenhouse at the tea party, Tess was sure they would have used the toy they put inside her to continue their trouble there. As it was, somebody had remembered the remote when they left and thought now was a good time to use it.

  Tess was hoping to distract them from their play until she was free to react.

  That would not be in the kidnapping van.

  All she needed was to add screams to make it seem really authentic.

  “I can’t believe you stole Bastion from his castle,” Keir said from the middle seats.

  “Kind of backwards for the fairytale,” Kade commented.

  “Cinderella is copyrighted,” Tess retorted. “Consider this an original spin.”

  “A much better story,” Bastion said.

  The vibrator turned off.

  She leaned her head back on the seat and let out a little groan of frustration.

  “Can you tell us what happened up in Bastion’s room? It seems like we missed a lot,” Keir said.

  He sounded innocent. Way too innocent to be playing with the vibrator to torment her.

  “Do you have the remote?” she asked.

  This was Keir. He was very good at playing tricks.

  “No,” Keir answered. Then he gave a dark laugh.

  He didn’t sound so innocent anymore.

  “There’s consequences for wrong guesses,” Bastion reminded her.

  “If I scream, then for sure, this is going to look like a kidnapping van. We’ll get pulled over.”

  War laughed.

  “She’s obsessed with kidnapping. Add it to the list. How about handcuffs, Kitten?”

  There was only one way to handle this teasing. She had to play hard-ball.

  Or was that better put: blue-balls...?

  “You’ve got big hands, Warrick,” Tess commented. “Why bother with handcuffs. You can just restrain me yourself. No gag needed, either. You know what goes along with big hands and can keep my mouth occupied?”

  Nobody turned on the vibrator.

  “Kitten, do you think you could tell us all apart if we blindfolded you?” Bastion asked.

  Tess licked her lips. Bastion knew how to turn up the tension even without toys.

  “Yes.”

  Kade and Keir let out mutual groans from the middle seat.

  “Suppose this means getting engaged didn’t make us best men, then?” Keir asked.

  He sounded vulnerable.

  The poor twins. They hadn’t had a chance to explain anything to the twins before she announced her engagement to Bastion.

  “Guys, it was for show. Enough of our relationships have been rushed. Getting married is not going to be one of those things. We thought it would help ease the way out of Bastion’s house. That’s all.”

  Kade sighed, loudly.

  “I’ve never been so jealous of Bastion in my life,” he admitted.

  Bastion grabbed her hand. The one with the ring.

  “I want it. The timing was wrong, I know. You’re right about that. I just want you to know I’m serious. I want to be with you. I also want us to be with my friends as long as you’re okay with that, too.”

  “More of a promise ring?” Kade asked.

  “A commitment ring,” Tess said. “Between all of us.”

  “We could get it engraved or add little bands from each of us. This one’s kind of plain,” Bastion said.

  “It was your mother’s ring,” War guessed.

  Tess squeezed Bastion’s hand.

  He hadn’t said that to her when he gave her the ring. It made sense. The ring hadn’t been inside a case, but lying wrapped in tissue in his nightstand drawer. It had a few scratches. She had thought it strange that he just had a ring sitting around.

  His mother’s marriage wasn’t what the ring symbolized. It was something Bastion’s mother possessed once and passed on. A precious memento of her life and the short time she had with her son before death took her too soon.

  “I don’t want to change your mothe
r’s ring, Bastion,” Tess told him.

  “We can each get you a ring for your other fingers on the left. Close together. All joined by one hand. Would that be okay?” Kade asked.

  It was romantic.

  “That sounds perfect,” Tess agreed. Then she blushed, feeling greedy. “Uh, if you want to get me rings. It’s not necessary!”

  Somebody turned on the vibrator.

  The romance was over. These boys wanted to play dirty.

  “Kade, hand me the remote!” Tess demanded.

  Bastion tsked. “Racking up quite the debt, Kitten.”

  There was only two of them left. She had a 50:50 chance.

  The van pulled into War’s drive. She could only tell by the feel of the tires going over the cobblestones because her sight was blocked by the tinted windows.

  “Bossy. It’s my turn to have the remote.”

  Bastion slapped it in her hand with the vibrator still turned on. She scrambled to shut it off before they got stopped and the kidnappers opened their van up and forced them out of hiding.

  “Which button?” Tess asked, pushing them all.

  The vibrator went faster. She was practically seeing stars, not buttons at this point.

  “There’s a passcode,” Bastion calmly said from beside her.

  “What kind of idiot puts a passcode on a vib—toy?” Tess asked with a groan, just barely correcting herself in time.

  The van stopped.

  War wrapped his hand around her mouth just in time. The climax was hard but fast. Bastion took the remote from her and turned off the toy before the van doors opened.

  She bit War’s hand and he released her.

  “That’s ‘Sir Idiot’ to you,” Bastion said as he handed her back her defused remote.

  “Whatever, sir,” Tess snapped back.

  “Add forced climax to the list,” War whispered for her ears only.

  Tess decided to ignore that comment since the van doors were open. She unbuckled, but didn't get out of her seat yet.

  Were her legs going to be able to hold her up?

  “I’m going to need a hand. The heels,” she excused.

  War gave her a knowing look, then offered her his hand to get out of the van. Bastion followed closely behind and kept a hand on her hip.

  Tess was sure either one of them would offer to carry her if she asked.

  “Mr. Stewart, sir?” asked one of the smartly dressed men that had driven them. They were dressed almost as nicely as Bastion and the latter had just left a fancy party.

  Well, nicely before Bastion got tea all over his shirt and had it ripped.

  “War is fine. Come inside. I’ll introduce you to the butler and he’ll get you settled in a downstairs office to set up operations. Do you know if the rest of your staff will be arriving tonight?”

  The man offered War his hand to shake.

  “War, good to meet you. I’m Carl. We have a couple late arrivals tomorrow. They’re flying in. Give us thirty minutes to set up and then we would like to meet with you to discuss our work plan going forward.”

  They did sound and look professional. Tess was impressed.

  “Tessa!”

  She looked up at Jason in shock. It was just in time to prepare for a body-crushing hug from her younger brother.

  “Are you okay? Jacobson told us about what happened at the airport! Did they hurt you?”

  Her brother’s enthusiastic greeting was so different than when she had arrived back home the first time to take care of him and Ashley!

  “I’m fine. The guys were there to take care of things,” Tess explained.

  “Was this an attempt?” Carl asked.

  Jason was still holding her tight, like he was afraid to let her go or didn’t believe she was really here.

  “I think so,” Tess tried to answer.

  Air was becoming a precious commodity.

  “Jase, ‘lemme go. You’re smothering me.”

  Jason released her just for Ashley to take her turn.

  “Were you scared? I would have been so scared!” Ashley said.

  Her hug was less tight but no less enthusiastic. The kids didn’t care that there were cool guys from school watching as they showed affection to her.

  “I was scared,” Tess admitted.

  “It was our mistake. Carl is going to make sure that kind of thing doesn’t happen again. Not to any of us,” War said, sounding confident.

  “I’m the one that ran off,” Tess admitted.

  “You did it for us,” Ashley said.

  “Running is not the answer,” Bastion said. “Let your sister go. We have to get her inside and these stilettos off her feet. I believe most women refer to them as torture devices.”

  Ashley let go and stepped back.

  “Oh yeah,” Ashley said, giving a whistle. “Those are some high heels. They look great on you, though!”

  “Bastion’s right. My feet are done,” Tess admitted.

  War directed them all into his house, taking the lead. He let Jason change places with him to help Tess, along with Bastion on her other side.

  Jacobson was standing at the grand entryway, waiting for them all with the door wide open. He quickly took over showing the bodyguards a quick tour of the house and the office they were being given to use.

  The rest of them were advised that there were snacks laid out in the kitchen. War showed her to an empty guest room with a private ensuite so that she could take care of the toy still nestled inside of her.

  A few changes of clothes were laid out on the bed that were from the clothing she had left behind in the townhouse.

  The kids must have gone back to get supplies.

  Cleaning up and getting more comfortable, Tess headed back down to find the kitchen.

  The kitchen wasn’t the stainless steel, robotic trend that Tess had expected. Ruby had made it homey.

  There were little crocheted teakettle holders and a big farm sink with a tiled apron showing slight imperfections from natural stones.

  The back of the kitchen opened into a curved ceiling-to-floor window with a custom table and bench to fit it. That’s where they were all seated, enjoying fresh fruit and pastries along with tea and juice.

  “Where’s Sneaks?” Tess asked once seated with the rest of them.

  “Ruby took him to be groomed. He was getting kind of shaggy,” Ashley answered her.

  Jason swallowed his bite of apple and piped in, “The toe-biter tries to sneak into her bedroom at night. Ruby said he keeps her feet warmer than a hot-water bottle.”

  Tess gave that a raised-brow look.

  “Your mom is brave,” she told War.

  He nodded his head.

  “Mum was the first one to get Rex to approach her when we got him from the pound. She really likes dogs.”

  “Rex went to get groomed too,” Jason told her, anticipating her next questions.

  Tess reached for a shortbread cookie from the tray on the table. Jacobson must have spoiled the kids if this was the way he had been feeding them all weekend long. Those special diets of theirs probably had gone wayside the last couple of days.

  Ashley gasped.

  Tess froze, the shortbread cookie halfway to her mouth.

  “What?”

  “Is that a ring?”

  It was very obviously a ring, but Tess knew what her sister was really asking. She shoved the cookie in her mouth and shot Bastion a look that begged him to intervene.

  “Your sister has agreed to a commitment with me,” Bastion dryly explained.

  Jason took a big drink of his juice.

  “Like an engagement?” Ashley asked.

  “A commitment. We’re kind of exclusive. That type of thing,” Tess badly explained.

  Kade and Keir shot her hurt glances.

  War laughed.

  Jason finally put his juice down and decided to ask questions. Tess had known they were coming. Her little brother was growing up and trying to take on the ‘man of the house’ re
sponsibilities.

  “I thought you weren’t dating any of them?”

  “I’m dating all of them,” Tess admitted.

  She quickly reached for another cookie, this time shooting her pleading look War’s way.

  “We’re group dating. Tess meant we’re exclusive as a group. Bastion gave her the first commitment ring, but the rest of us are planning on giving her rings as well,” War said.

  His explanation was good, except for the fact that they were doing something so irregular. The kids looked a mix between confused, concerned, and flustered.

  “We all like Tess. She doesn’t have to choose. Openly dating a few guys isn’t unheard of, so wipe those gobsmacked looks off your faces!” Keir said.

  “Candy twins!” Ashley blurted out, then turned beet red.

  “Well, kind of,” Kade said. “Your sister is special, so don’t go thinking we’ve done this before, despite the crap they say about us at school. And remember, it’s not just Keir and I dating Tess. War and Bastion are her boyfriends, too.”

  Jason gave each of the guys an assessing look, ending with Bastion. Ashley didn’t say anything, though she did stop blushing and looked back at Tess’s ring.

  Tess offered her hand to her sister, so Ashley could take the closer look that she was clearly wanting.

  “Fine,” Jason approved with a lot of reservations in his tone.

  Bastion gave a little snort, but he didn’t treat her younger brother disrespectfully.

  “Don’t worry, Jason. Your older sister is in charge. I swear to you, none of us will do anything to purposefully hurt her. When I told you to trust that we would keep her safe, I meant it!”

  “I’m gonna hold you to it,” Jason said.

  That deeper than his usual voice drew nods from the rest of the guys like it signalled the terms to a manly agreement.

  “The girls at school are going to go nuts when they see Bastion’s ring on your finger,” Ashley said.

  Tess hadn’t thought about that.

  She pulled her hand back from her sister with a slight frown. There was going to be three more rings on her hand soon if the guys had their way. She didn’t really like the idea of all the attention it would get her.

  “We’ll say it’s a group-member thing,” Kade suggested.