by Amanda Perry
Eyes roll dramatically around the room while I simply giggle as Austyn pulls me into the middle of the room and proceeds to dance like a crazed man around me.
“Bet you’re not annoyed with me getting you all cute now, huh?” Austyn winks, shaking his butt.
I throw my head back and laugh loudly. “You look ridiculous dancing like that. And no, I’m no longer annoyed about that.” My side aches after standing for a while, but I continue to dance with Austyn while holding my sore side and slowing my movements. Austyn clearly notices.
Laughing loudly, he plops me down in the largest chair in the room, decorated with balloons and a banner reading “Princess”.
“I had to make the birthday girl shine.” He grins, then leans down to whisper in my ear. “You have to look good for your future boyfriends.”
I push him as hard as I can, and he stumbles back laughing hysterically. “You didn’t deny it,” he sings, strolling off.
I hate to admit to myself Austyn might be right, but he is. I wouldn’t hate it if I ended up with them as mine. The idea seems too far beyond the realm of possibilities; I can’t allow myself to even consider it right now. Plus, being logical about it will only damper my blissful mood. Instead, I decide to push the subject to the side and enjoy my first ever birthday party.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Maggie calls for everyone to gather around the table filled with pretty packages on top. “Are you ready for presents?”
I glance from her, to the table, then back again. “Those are real?”
The room erupts in laughter and my cheeks burn. “I just assumed they were part of the decoration. The party and the flowers are more than enough for me.”
Jack scoffs. “We’d never let your first birthday celebration end there.”
Maggie nods her agreement. “The boys spent countless hours trying to pick these out.”
“Mom!” Talen whines, hanging his head back. “Did you have to tell her that?”
“She’s right, though.” Declan nudges Talen. “We couldn’t agree for shit on what to get her collectively.”
“That’s kind of how the table ended up so full,” Duncan admits, scratching at his jaw and grinning sheepishly. “We just decided to go our own ways with it.”
“Okay, honey, me first.” Maggie gives me a small, perfectly wrapped rectangle. I pull the paper off gently, revealing a handcrafted, leather bound journal. I hug the journal to my chest, careful not to smudge it. Tears fill my eyes, though I refuse to allow them to fall this time. “Thank you, Maggie. I love it.”
“I’m glad, honey.”
“Me next, me next!” Austyn shouts, jumping up and down next to a large box wrapped with yellow paper. Greyson may take after Lochlan with a lot of things, but his enthusiasm must come from Austyn.
I shoot him a goofy smile as I allow him to drag me over to his box. When I try to open it slowly Austyn gripes at me, so I pick up the pace. I feel eyes on me and glance around to find the guys watching me like a hawk.
I finish tearing open the box and gasp when I find it filled with bubble bath, fuzzy socks, an eye mask, and about a million other things I can use to feel and smell pretty. When I move to set the socks back in the box a paper sticking out of them draws my attention. I squeal like a little kid, attempting a happy dance.
“I’ve never been to a spa before,” I gush, hugging the socks and gift certificate. “You’re going to take me? This is the best day ever. I can’t wait to do girly stuff.”
“Hey,” Austyn yells, crossing his arms defiantly. “It’s not girly shit if I do it, too.”
“You know what I mean, Buttercup.” I wave him off, searching over the gift certificate once more. I jump up quickly, though awkwardly with my sore side, and hug Austyn tightly. “You’re the best ever.”
“I know.” He sighs happily, hugging me back.
We both chuckle as I take my seat once more.
“Me next, me next.” Greyson jumps up and down holding a Batman decorated gift bag. His similar demeanor to Austyn has me chuckling. “I picked this bag. It’s Batman, he’s a super hero. Just like Lochlan. He’s a crime fighter super hero. Dominic, too, and my daddy and my papa.”
My gaze roams over to Lochlan, and I watch as he swallows hard. He and Greyson have a special bond and I love to watch them together. Greyson referring to him as a superhero surely hits him right in the heart. He may be a hard-ass , but when it comes to Greyson, he turns into a big pile of mush. I can’t wait to witness how he acts when he has his own kids.
The sudden thought of the future takes me by surprise. The idea of being around them when the guys have kids never occurred to me until Maggie and Jack asked me to stay with them for longer than necessary. It would hurt a lot if I saw the guys with other girls. I only want them with me. I physically jolt when I realize my train of thought, tearing my eyes from Lochlan, I push all of my focus on Greyson.
Greyson spends a good ten minutes explaining superheroes to me before allowing me to open the bag. Apparently, I needed a serious lesson on every superhero and their special powers. I can’t help my gaze from drifting around the room once in a while during Greyson’s teachings. I notice Duncan, Dominic, Talen, and Collin in some sort of intense conversation off to the side. They’re voices are too low for me to hear, but they keep giving me sidelong glances.
Greyson finally allows me to reveal my gift and I pull my eyes back to him and his Batman gift bag. I giggle happily when I find a giant box of chocolates.. “Greyson, I’ve always wanted a box of chocolates all my own. Thank you, buddy.”
“Mommy helped me pick it out,” Greyson admits, eyeing the box. “We could share if you wanted.”
I smirk and lean closer to Greyson. “How about we each get to pick one after dinner tonight? Just the two of us.”
“Okay!” Greyson shouts, throwing his arms around me and hugging me tight. “Thanks, Pawker.”
“The second half of his gift is a trip to a special chocolate shop where you get to watch them make fudge in front of you,” Maggie informs me. “Greyson loves the place, and he thought you’d like to go with him.”
“That sounds perfect.” I grin widely, pulling back to see Greyson. “We can make it a date.”
Multiple heads shoot up at my suggestion. I frown at the guys and watch in confusion as they send meaningful looks to each other. What the hell is going on with them today?
I shake my head at them and watch as Talen approaches me. “Okay, this might be really dumb.” He rocks back on his heels as he hands me a gift and watches me open it. “I just got the idea, and I ran with it.”
I give him a soft smile while pulling the shiny silver paper off the box. I pull out a stuffed clownfish and a stuffed whale, both made at a store where you add stuffing and clothes yourself.
I gape at the plush animals, then Talen. “They’re so cute.” I squeeze them tightly. “I love them, Talen. They’re perfect.”
“That’s not all.” Talen chuckles. He reaches into the box and pulls out an envelope. He hands it to me, and after setting my stuffed animals into the box gently, treating them like real animals, I open the envelope carefully. It only takes me a quick once over of the paper to realize what it’s for. I squeal and dance in my seat. “The aquarium! I can’t believe you’re taking me to the aquarium! I’ve always wanted to go. This is amazing. You’re going with me, right? The second ticket is for you?” I ramble on, causing everyone to chuckle.
“Slow down, Sparky.” Talen laughs, kneeling next to me. “You’re going to pull a stitch or something. Yeah, the second ticket is for me if you want it to be.”
“I do.” I nod furiously.
Talen blushes and hugs me quickly. I hug him back and watch as Declan grabs the gift he picked out. He strides over to me slowly, shuffling a bit as if second guessing himself.
“So, listen,” he mumbles. “Don’t freak out when you open this. I didn’t really think about it before I bought it. Also, to be fair, Austyn helped me.”
“What is it?” I eye the package like it may bite. “It’s not alive, is it?”
“No, sweetheart.” He hoots with laughter. “It’s not alive.”
“Okay, if you say so.” I shrug, pulling at the tissue paper. “I trust you.”
Again, heads around the room snap to attention, all eyes on me. Something odd is going on with the guys and I want to ask what it is, but the words die on my tongue when I pull a two piece bikini from the bag. I blink at Declan a few times before falling into hysterical laughter.
“Should I ask?” I manage to get out between laughs.
“Okay, it’s not what you think,” Declan assures me, holding his hands up. “Just hear me out.”
“I’m listening.” I giggle, raising a curious brow at him as I hold onto the swim suit. It’s actually really pretty with bright purple trim around simple black fabric.
Running a hand through his hair, he shrugs. “Okay, well you almost died in the pool when you first got here. You should learn how to swim. I know Greyson wants to give you some lessons, but I thought it would be fun if I taught you how, also. I got us private passes to the public pool in town because it’s much bigger than the one at my parents’ place. I can teach you there.”
“I’m not sure, Declan,” I murmur, suddenly serious. “Like you said, I nearly died in the damn pool. I’m kind of happy to stay far away from water.”
“If you don’t want to, I won’t force you,” he promises, kneeling next to me. “I just want you safe, and I figure if the dogs decide to throw you in the pool again, you’d be okay this time.”
I chew on my thumbnail for a few seconds before finally nodding. “Okay, I trust you. You can teach me to swim.”
CHAPTER TWENTY
DOMINIC
There are those words again. She trusts him. Parker said she trusts Declan twice in ten minutes. Fuck if I’m not a jealous bastard right now. Turning away, I allow the two of them to have their moment. I vow to myself to earn her trust one way or another. I want to hear her say those words to me.
Rebecca Ship’s eyes drill into the side of my head, and I know she’s chomping at the bit to speak with me and Lochlan. Resigning myself to talking with her, I decide to take my turn with Parker quickly. Parker watches me approach, and a beautiful blush stains her cheeks when I reach for a small bag on the table, handing it off to her.
“Thank you,” she whispers, holding the bag close to her heart.
I give her a slight nod and wait for her to open the bag. She stops breathing the moment she finds the contents, and I do as well, awaiting her reaction. “I-I-I….” She stutters, shaking her head, not taking her eyes away from the sparkling diamond in her hand.
“My mother left this to me when she passed away. It’s the only thing I have that belonged to her. I want you to have it, as a reminder of how much you mean to me. To remind you how much you mean to the whole family, Parker.” Clearing my throat, I step closer to her and silently ask for permission to help her into the diamond pendant. I didn’t get her an experience like most of my brothers, but the necklace means more to me than anything I could have done with her.
Parker nods hesitantly and moves her hair from her neck, allowing me to work the clasp. When it’s on securely, she picks it up and allows the heart shaped diamond to sparkle under the lights of the party room. “I don’t want to lose it, or mess it up, or do something wrong with it,” Parker whispers, keeping her eyes on the heart around her neck.
“You won’t,” I assure her with a confidence I sense deep down. She doesn’t know I’m not only talking about the pendant, but from the expressions of my brothers, ranging from frustration to excitement, they know I mean a great deal more.
When Parker was in the hospital, Talen made us sit down and confess our feelings. Much like some bullshit daytime television show, but we participated anyway. Each one of us admitted to feeling something for Parker. In a normal family, such a revelation might be an issue. For us, it simply means we now need to decide if we are willing to pursue a relationship similar to our parents’.
A big part of me wanted to jump in feet first. Then I remembered her age. Parker is barely legal, and I’m seven years older than her. Not only that, I’m an FBI agent. I shouldn’t be going after a girl as young as her. She needs someone closer to her age, but I’ll be damned if I back off. Lochlan, being the oldest, clearly has the biggest issue with the age difference.
Declan and Duncan both claim to be on the fence, but they’d be good for her. They’re only twenty-three. Talen has some feelings for her as well and with him being twenty-two he’d also be a good fit. Lochlan and I are older, with him being twenty-six and me twenty-five. Lochlan thinks we are too old for her. He keeps grumbling about there being no possibility of her being interested in guys our age. Hell, who knows if she’d even be interested in a relationship with more than one of us or any of us for that matter. None of us said no, though. We all agreed to sit on the idea and decide later.
Parker appears to be getting a little bit overwhelmed with all of the attention, and I know Mom can sense it as well when she calls for a break, suggesting we all get a bite to eat before finishing off the gifts. As soon as she does, Rebecca makes a beeline for me, and I use all of my willpower not to roll my eyes at her. “Rebecca.” Lochlan nods, reaching me at the same time.
“Lochlan, I know you hate shop talk, but this is important. It’s about the job I emailed to you.” Her words cause my head to snap up, my full attention now on her.
I don’t dislike Rebecca, but she loves to talk about work, too often sometimes and today I simply wanted to enjoy my family and keep my focus on Parker. If she knows more information about this new job, however, I can’t leave it be. Rebecca went undercover in an attempt to get information on the case we’ve spent months working, but until now, we found nothing but dead ends. The only good thing to come from her undercover position is Parker.
Lochlan motions subtly for our fathers to join us. Pop speaks first as Dad keeps his eyes on the girls. We don’t need them getting upset over this shit. “Explain.”
“We have the information we need to finally get moving on this case,” Rebecca explains. “A man by the name of John Lopez and his partner Frank Randolf are the ones running the show, but there are a lot of other players involved. We’re picking them off slowly, questioning them, and trying to find out more about Randolf and Lopez. After taking in five of these assholes, we got one talking. He confirmed it’s a young female sex slavery ring, and Randolf and Lopez are in fact running it. They pick girls with no one to care about them, and the girls simply disappear. If anyone questions their whereabouts, words like drugs and runaway are thrown out. No one blinks. Some of the foster parents were in on this shit, demanding big payouts.”
“Do we have a location on Lopez or Randolf?” Dad asks while glancing nervously at Lochlan’s ticking jaw. Men like this need to be put in the ground, and we all know Lochlan wouldn’t hesitate to do the job. Honestly, I wouldn’t either.
Rebecca nods, but she doesn’t appear happy. “There’s more,” I state. It’s not a question, I know she has more, and I want her to tell me what she knows.
She sighs quietly and nods again. “Their locations won’t do us any good right now. Besides this one man’s word, we have nothing to go on. We can’t arrest them because some criminal said they were doing something bad. That’ll never stand in court. We need evidence, hard evidence. So far, we haven’t been able to come up with any. That’s where you guys come in. We need you to get the evidence. Follow Randolf and Lopez, find out where they’re taking these girls and what they are doing with them. We’ve counted twenty-four missing girls from the foster system that fit the same description. All from broken homes or homeless as soon as they come of age or in trouble with the law. None of them have family or friends who will search for them. We suspect there are more, but this is all we have.”
“Damn,” Pop curses, running a frustrated hand through his hair. “Coll
in, it’s your call. You know I’m on board. It’s a doozy, but we can do it. You two in?” He asks, glancing from me to Lochlan and back again.
Glancing over at my brother, I know there is no question on whether we will help. “We’re in.”
“Let’s get these fuckers.” Dad growls.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Maggie leads me over to the buffet of food, as Talen fills my plate sky high with one of everything. “I’m not sure I can eat all of that,” I admit, taking the plate from him.
He shrugs. “Eat what you can, I’ll eat the rest.”
“You guys are bottomless pits.” I snort, glancing down at his flat stomach. “Where do you put it all?”
Talen grins. “We work physical jobs,” he reminds me. “Dominic and Lochlan need to stay in shape for their jobs. Declan and I work with heavy material all day long. Duncan just likes working out, he’s an odd dude.”
“Thanks, Talen,” Duncan grumbles, walking up next to us. “You’re an ass.”
“I don’t think it’s weird.” I place my hand on his arm and squeeze reassuringly. “I like to run. Though, I don’t do it as often as I’d like.”
“Why not?” Duncan asks, picking a grape off my plate and popping it into his mouth.
The action distracts me for a moment, and I stutter through an explanation. “Erm, I’ve always lived in crappy neighborhoods. Running alone was a bad idea, especially at night and that’s usually when I found time.”
“I’ll start running with you,” Duncan offers, his eyes turning sad at my confession.
I bounce lightly on the balls of my feet. “I’d love that. I could use a running partner.”
“We’ll start when the doctor gives you the all clear,” Duncan promises.
“You two have fun running, but if you see me running then go faster because that means someone’s chasing me.” Talen mumbles around a big bite of potato salad. “I’ll just be over here, sitting on my ass, eating.”
