“Shut up!”
“Sorry, but I had to say it. He gets worked up. You understand.”
“Jeezus, Andy, shut up!”
“Sorry.”
Hannah throws up her arms. “We talked about so many things.” Her voice is low, too. She’s honoring my right to keep this information safe within the walls of the people we can trust with it. “Why didn’t you tell me about her? This makes no sense!”
“I didn’t want to ruin a perfect night. What if you didn’t believe me? When we met I thought you were leaving town soon. I had no clue how much you were going to get under my skin!”
“Oh shit,” Ben mutters, sitting down.
Hannah blinks at me, her hand suspended with nowhere to go.
Ethan tells her, “Hannah, he’d just beat the guy in that fight, took back his title.”
“He didn’t say anything because that night he just wanted to put it behind him.” Gabriel mutters, “We do that. It wasn’t about you.”
She whispers, “Excuse me. I just need a minute.” Her shin bangs into the table as she hurries to get out.
Emma grabs a glass before it hits the ground. “Got it!”
“Tobias,” Sofia whispers.
I glance over to see her motioning for me to follow Hannah. She doesn’t have to tell me twice. As I make quick strides I growl at a table of nosey fuckers, “Show’s over. Go back to your booze.” They avert their eyes.
Holding onto the railing and looking down at the dance floor with distant eyes, Hannah is absolutely stunning in a short black skirt and sleeveless blouse.
My throat’s closing up again.
I want to touch her so badly.
I clear it and mutter, “You thinking of jumping?”
She blinks a few times. “Not funny.”
“I saw what you said to those reporters.”
“Yeah?” she whispers, her mind spinning.
“It was pretty great.”
Her gaze is still locked as she tries to process everything I just told her, eyelashes low. “I was trying to forget you.”
“Me too.”
Her lashes flutter up. “Something happened between us, didn’t it?”
Taking a step closer I rasp, “Fuck yes. Something big.”
No more anger.
Just that fucking sadness.
“Babe…”
We come together, both of us stepping closer, reaching for each other. She tucks into my shoulder like a little girl.
“I’m sorry. I was going to tell you. I needed more time. Those fuckers who posted that video, they took something from us.” She pulls her head back to listen. I slip my fingers into her soft hair. “They took our beginning.”
Searching my eyes and looking more beautiful than ever she smiles, “No, they didn’t.”
“This wasn’t supposed to be like this. I was supposed to meet Emma when I was holding some fancy drink in my swim trunks under an umbrella so you didn’t get your pretty skin all burned. You and me were supposed to sit around and be lazy, make out all day long. And maybe she and Andy could have had a threesome with Sofia.”
Hannah’s eyes go big before she laughs. “Emma would never say yes to that.”
Happy I made her smile, I joke, “Why not? I can fuckin’ picture it.”
“Well, stop picturing it!” she laughs, reaching up to cover my eyes. “Don’t think about my cousins like that.”
Grabbing her hand I kiss her open palm and search her eyes. “Babe, you’re the only one I see.”
Her eyelashes flutter closed as I lean in to kiss her. The second our lips touch relief and happiness takes me over. I know she feels it, too, because she whimpers a little.
Touching her face, I groan, “I never thought I was going to see you again. You care about me?”
She nods. “Maybe a little.”
Our jaws unlock in a hot, forgiving kiss, and I push her against the railing, doing my damndest to keep this family-friendly since I know her people are probably watching. And probably the rest of this balcony, too. But she feels so good I can’t stop kissing her.
Andy’s voice comes up behind me, “Hey.”
Hannah and I tear away to look at him. “I’m busy here!”
He jogs his thumb over his shoulder, smiling. “Your family wants to blow this popsicle stand. Get some food. You guys up for getting out of here? Also, haven’t you had enough P.D.A. pics taken of the two of you? Might want to clear this mess up in the Media before canoodling in public again.”
I cock my eyebrow, “Canoodling?”
Hannah’s hands drift over my chest. “What are you trying to do to my reputation?”
I bite her bottom lip and grab her ass, “Make you an honest woman, after what you told those reporters.”
She laughs and pushes me off. We head back, the three of us, and her brother is first to shake my hand. “Great fight. Glad you knocked that piece of shit to black out. I’m Gabriel, her brother, but I guess you got that.”
This feels weird, going from wanting to take them out to greeting them like old friends, but I’m so happy I embrace it with everything I’ve got.
“Tobias. Thanks. He deserved worse.” My arm stretches out to shake Ben’s hand next. “How tall are you?”
“Six-six. I’m Ben, Hannah’s cousin.”
“I heard. Good to meet you. You’re the one with the ranch?”
“Just got my own. But you probably heard the stories from childhood. That was my Dad’s.”
“Lots of ‘em. I also heard about this one pushing someone down.” I point to Emma and go to shake her brother’s hand. “You’re Ethan, right? Heard she took you out?”
His brown eyes narrow in confusion. “When did Emma push me down?”
Sofia and Emma answer, “Myrtle Beach.”
“Oh right!” he laughs. He crosses his arms and nods to me. “We’re going to need to verify your story.” Off Hannah’s look he gives her a lopsided grin, “Kidding! It’s so fucked up it can’t be fake. Sorry about the uh…” He motions to where they’d formed a wall to protect her. “We Cockers take care of our own.”
“No worries, man. Andy, you pissed?”
Andy laughs under his breath, “Furious.”
The fingers on my left hand are entwined with Hannah’s and I feel like I’ve been given a second chance at a good life. I graze a steady glance over the men, respecting them. When I lock eyes with Sofia, she gives me a wink and squishes her mouth up like she’s sorry. I’m not sure if she and Andy had words or buried the hatchet while I was gone, but that’s between them.
Hannah officially introduces her best friend, “This is Emma, Tobias.”
She’s got a sweet face and a lot of shyness. I shake her delicate hand. “Heard all about you. You enjoying the city?”
“Now I can,” Emma says, glancing to Hannah. “But her dad had to go and call my brother, Gabriel and Ben to watch over us…so how am I going to meet anyone?”
Ethan laughs, “I’ll be meeting lots of women, so do what you gotta.” He turns and mutters to Gabriel, “Anyone touches her you let me know.”
“See!” she shouts. “What kind of a vacation am I going to have with these guys here?” Locking eyes with me she smacks my arm, her soft brown eyes glittering. “Your fake marriage ruined my vacation.”
Hannah rests her head on my shoulder. “I think we should go night-paddling.”
“Oh fuck yes!” Ben and Ethan shout.
Andy’s voice is all business as he steps closer, his voice low. “Let’s get out of here. Get some food. These two are going to hide until I can make some calls in the morning.” At the raised eyebrows he explains, “Tobias is going to come out and say Carla left, won’t grant him the divorce.”
“The hell I am,” I growl.
He looks at me. “You are and you will.”
Grumbling obscenities under my breath I tighten my fingers with Hannah’s.
She looks worried, she and Sofia staring at each other.
&n
bsp; “Should we leave the club separately?” I ask her.
She holds my eyes, strength pouring from hers. “I’m not afraid of the Press anymore. This is my life. I do what I want. Fuck what they say.”
A slow grin spreads as I cup her chin. “I’m so into you it’s wrong.”
Tribe’s Protection - Hannah
At the bottom of the stairs Tobias asks the bouncer, “Is there a back door?”
“Nice,” the guy smiles, nodding his head with relief as he sees our fingers entwined. “Follow me.”
Our large group pours into an empty alley through an emergency exit, nodding thank you to him as we pass. My brother is the caboose of our train and he pounds fists with the bouncer as we all relax a little. A warm, salt-water scented breeze wraps around our bodies as we fan out. Andy is leading the way like he’s guarding his client.
Sofia’s smooth voice echoes off graffiti, “Where does this Carla live?”
Tobias chuckles like he knows where her mind is headed. “We’re not threatening her.”
My eyebrow cocks up at Sofia’s impatience. “What do you want to do, Soph?”
“Threaten her.”
My family starts laughing under their breaths.
Tobias and Andy share a look and my fingers get squeezed as Tobias says, “Hold up. Let’s stay where it’s quiet a sec.”
Forming a fairly symmetrical circle where everyone can see and be seen, people assuming different stances of repose – some crossed arms, some hands in pockets, and most everyone is standing with their legs like superheroes. It’s moments like these when I feel very lucky to have this family.
The boys flew out the day after I told those reporters there’s nothing wrong with touching a man wherever I want, when we think we’re alone. They took rooms on the same floor as ours at the Wyndham and have been playing bodyguards ever since.
We haven’t had any fun yet.
I haven’t been in the mood and they all knew that Tobias was different. Nobody made fun of me, and by nobody I mean Gabriel. Elijah even called from Yale and told me he was proud of me, and “I would’ve punched that reporter out.” He meant it.
But now I’m holding hands with a man I thought I couldn’t forgive. Surrounded by people who want to help us solve this. Grateful, table for one Hannah Cocker.
Sofia’s locked on my man, her chin set. “I could make her go back to Greece.”
He shakes his head, amused and not doubting her for a second. “She’s a mother now. Her family is here.”
Gabriel, standing on the other side of me, says, “Then we inspire her to come clean.”
Andy waves a no in the air. “It’ll come out that Tobias married her for her citizenship.”
Gabriel, who is standing on the other side of me, lowers his gaze. “No to jail time.”
“There’s always a way if you look for one,” Ethan offers with a deep and steady voice. “When I’m coding I think of the outcome I want. Then my mind starts searching for how to make that happen. The human brain needs solutions. It’s designed to figure things out; you just have to set it on a course. So what do we want?”
“Her gone,” Sofia mutters.
“Other than that.” He looks around our faces for an answer.
I speak up. “We want to be free. The Press off our asses.”
Blinking at the concrete, Emma asks, “How do we do that?”
Gabriel adds, “Without jail time or sending her back to Greece.”
He and Tobias lock eyes. “Thank you.”
My brother nods, with respect in his eyes. That was nice of him, to honor Tobias’s wishes. I reach over and touch Gabriel to thank him. He nods to me then focuses on Ben as he cracks his knuckles and starts to speak.
“The Press thinks you’re married. The government thinks you’re married. Now whoever knows the story from the news, they’re on board with it, too. That’s a lot of convincing you’d have to do to tell them you’re not. And if you did that, it’ll expose you and she could get deported, etc. So what we have to do is find a way to end the marriage while still making you look like a good guy.” Now Ben motions to me. “We can’t have Hannah out in the open dating someone who cheated. She’s too good for that.”
“Agreed,” Tobias growls, bringing my hand to his lips to kiss my fingertips. “I want her protected.”
“We all do,” Emma nods.
Ben takes focus again. “What we haven’t asked is, what does Carla want? More than staying in America.”
Tobias’s eyes go darker blue as shadows sweep over them. He meets Ben’s look. “She only wants Vance.”
Everyone starts throwing ideas into the circle until finally we come up with a plan. With my heart skipping at the possibility I ask Tobias, “You think this could work?”
He shrugs, “Don’t know.” Our eyes are locked, everyone watching us. He kisses my nose. “Thank you for wanting to go through all this bullshit with me.”
A smile spreads as I tell him, “I was just going to say that to you.”
He chuckles and faces the group. “You go get something to eat, or enjoy the rest of your night doing whatever the fuck you all want to do. I need to be alone with Hannah now.”
Muttering to herself, Emma rummages through her purse. “No way are you two going back to your hotel together.” She pulls out sunglasses and hands them to me. “Take a separate taxi. Wear these. Ethan, give her your jacket.”
“She’s going to look ridiculous,” he laughs, pulling it off and handing it to me. I slip it on and he loses the smile. “Oh, I forget how tall you are.”
“And how big that rack is,” Sofia laughs, because that’s what he was thinking but couldn’t say it aloud since we’re related.
“Jeezus,” Gabriel mutters, shaking his head on a smile. “Don’t make me look, Soph. That’s fucked up.”
“Have you seen these?” she asks, pointing at her own chest.
“Stop it!” he mock-shouts, covering his eyes and peeking through his fingers to Tobias. “Sofia is demented, in case you didn’t catch that.”
Andy calls out, extra loudly, “Oh I caught it.”
Sofia smacks his arm, hard. He side-eyeballs her and gives her a wink. “I like it rough.”
“No you don’t,” she mutters. “I tried and you whined like a baby.”
“I did not!” His jaw drops, aghast.
She gives me a devilish smile and concedes, “He didn’t. He took it like a champ.”
“Thank you! Don’t tell them I whine. I don’t fuckin whine.”
Sofia waves for this to stop. “Alright, okay. Enough. This is how it’s going down. You want sneaky? I’ll give you sneaky. Tobias, you and Andy grab some booze bottles and head back to your hotel room together. Then Ben, you’ll take Hannah there about twenty minutes later. You don’t need that stupid jacket.”
“Hey!” Ethan mutters.
“It looks dumb on her,” Sofia flatly says, “With you it’s passable, but I’d go shopping because what the fuck, green? Really?” Pointing between Ben and I she continues her master plan. “You guys walk in with Hannah wearing those shades, her hair pulled in a high, tight bun, hanging on your arm, both of you engrossed in happy, casual conversation. You’ll come off as a couple tourists and nobody will give a fuck. Then you and Andy leave separately. Nobody cares. Tobias and Hannah are alone again doing all kinds of things Gabriel doesn’t want to picture. You picturing them now?”
My brother shakes his head, staring at her. “You’re a sick woman, Sofia Sol. Seriously. Go back to Louisiana.”
She smirks, “You love me.”
Emma’s shoulders release like, so that’s settled. “Hannah, you want to eat something with us since you have some time.”
Tobias turns to me, and I face him, too, everyone disappearing as he tells me in a private voice, “It’s a good plan, but I’m gonna hate waiting for you.”
“Me too,” I gently smile. “Make one of those bottles vodka.”
“You got it.” He kisses
my nose, out of respect to our company.
I call out, “Close your eyes everyone!” and hear them grumbling and turning away from us. Tobias’s lips press into mine and I melt in his strong embrace. He tastes so good I want to stay in these arms forever. Our tongues briefly touch and we smile, happy.
“Okay,” he chuckles to the group who’s oddly silent. “We’re done.”
Ethan locks eyes with me, and there’s a strange look on his face as Tobias squeezes my hand and goes off with Andy, the two men talking in lower voices about the plan we’ve all devised to get us out of this mess.
Sofia points the other way into the dank alley. “We’ll all go this way.”
She and Emma walk side by side with Gabriel and Ben flanking them as Ben asks, “Guess you guys have to be pretty sneaky in the Ciphers?”
She just nods, unable to give away any details of her club and the secret missions that rule their lives. But the three of them start asking her questions anyway. And she keeps shooting them down.
Ethan and I are leading the way, and he’s awfully quiet.
Looping my arm through his as we walk, we’re both in our worlds. But I’m curious about that look he gave me. “What are you thinking about, Ethan?”
Licking his lips, footsteps steady and in time with mine, he stares ahead. “Nothing.”
“You were staring at Tobias. Do you not believe him or something?”
“Nah, I believe him. It wasn’t that.”
Since he doesn’t offer more, I have to pry. Now he’s got me very interested. Ethan is an introvert as many computer geniuses are. He’s more comfortable coding software than he is with relationships. We bring him out of his shell, all of us have that effect on him, but he’s gone back inside now. And I want to know why.
“You don’t like him?”
“No, I do.”
“Why did you look so unhappy?”
“Pensive,” he corrects me, his eyes following a stray cat as it jumps onto an abandoned chair. “I’m happy for you, not unhappy.”
“What made you pensive?”
Exhaling through his nose because he knows I won’t give up without the answer, he says, “You remember when you said my house was too big?”
Cocky Senator's Daughter: Hannah Cocker (Cocker Brothers of Atlanta Book 8) Page 15
