"It won't. I promise I will keep you and Jade and the children out of this."
"How? I know they still want me to be part of it. Every damn day I worry they'll come back for me."
"They won't. I'll make sure of it. You just have to trust me."
"And what about Mom? What if they...what if they try again?"
"I already gave them my company in exchange for her safety. If they don't honor that agreement, I will kill them. Every last one of them. And they know that. I've made it very clear. I've even spoken those words. If they want to live, they'll leave her alone."
He has that look in his eyes. That dark, threatening look that is not my dad, but the killer he used to be. It remains there for just a moment, then fades away.
"When does this start? When's the next meeting?"
"In a few weeks. I'll let you know before I go. Just as a precaution, I want your mother and Lilly to stay with you while I'm gone."
"You just said—"
"I know what I said, and I believe they'll be safe, but I'm not taking any chances. I still have plenty of enemies within the organization, and with William no longer protecting us, we have to do it ourselves."
"What about Jade? And the kids? They wouldn't come after them, would they? I mean, if they came after anyone, it'd be me, right? Or Mom?"
"Most likely, yes. But if someone wanted to coerce me into doing something, it's possible they could target any one of you, including Jade or the children. But I'll do everything in my power to prevent that from happening."
"No!" I bolt up to standing. "You're not doing this. I'm not letting you put our entire family at risk."
He stands up. "It's too late. This wasn't my decision. William is the one who decided to step down."
"Why would he do that, knowing it could harm us?"
"I don't think he had an option. I think his health is failing more than he's willing to admit. There's no other explanation. He'd only do this if he were desperate."
"You said his health was fine. You said they didn't find anything."
"He still has symptoms. No appetite. Severe headaches. Extreme exhaustion. He can't run his company in that condition."
"Then he can quit his job and just work for the organization."
"Garret, there's no use arguing about this. It is what it is and it's over. He already told them he's stepping down and it's been approved. Hopefully, it's just for a few months."
My mom comes out to the patio. "Pearce, do you want to stay for dinner? Jade was going to order something in."
"No. Let's go home. I'm tired from the trip."
"Okay." She looks at me. "Honey, what's wrong?"
I force out a smile. "I'm just tired. The kids wore me out."
She laughs. "Your dad was the same way when I'd leave you with him for the day. When you were a toddler, you'd wear him out after a couple hours."
"Very true," he says, hugging her into his side. "We should get going. Why don't you go say goodbye to the children? I'll be there in a minute."
We wait until she's in the house, then my dad steps closer to me, keeping his voice down. "Garret, I'm sorry about this. If I could do anything to avoid this, I would. But William and I worked too hard to get the organization to the place it's at now and if one of us isn't keeping an eye on it, things could be much worse in the future. It could go back to being how it used to be, and if that happens, then it's possible they'd try to get you back."
"Yeah. I understand."
I get why he has to do this. I just wish he didn't have to. I was hoping all of this was over, but I should've known it'd come back to us. The organization is part of our lives and always will be.
He gives me a hug. "I'll keep you out of it. I promise. I promised you that the day you were born and I will keep that promise until the day I die." He lets me go. "I love you, son."
"Love you too."
He goes back in the house but I stay outside to get myself together. After hearing that, I'm feeling anxious and tense and I don't want the kids sensing something's wrong.
A few minutes later, Hannah runs out to ask me what I want for dinner, and when we go back inside, my parents and Lilly have already left.
Later that night, when the kids are asleep and Jade and I are in bed, I tell her what's going on. She listens quietly, not saying a word until I'm done.
"I knew it," she says. "I knew something was wrong. When we were out there, William wouldn't look me in the eye. He always looks people in the eye, so when he didn't, I knew something was up."
"Are you mad at him?"
"No. I understand why he has to step down. He didn't look good. He was so thin and pale and weak. He looked better today but that's because he was finally getting some rest. I know this is what Grace and Meredith want, but I don't think they've thought it through. I think they're so used to your dad not being part of it that they didn't even consider he'd have to go back."
"I didn't think he would either until my dad explained it. I'd forgotten that people at William's level aren't allowed at the regular meetings. And since William doesn't trust anyone at his own level to tell him what's going on, my dad has no choice but to act as his spy."
"So once your dad does this, did he say what could happen? To you? Or us?"
I bring her into my chest and kiss her head. "Nothing's going to happen to us. Or me."
"But you don't—"
"It's not." I turn her toward me and look at her. "It's not gonna happen. But I do need you to be careful. I don't want you going places without me, at least not until my dad goes to a meeting and gets a feel for what's going on there."
"What do you mean?"
"He needs to figure out the mood, the tone of the group as a whole."
"How's he going to do that?"
"Just by being there. When you're around those people you get a feeling, a sense, that things are either calm or hostile, good or bad. When I went to those meetings, all I felt was anger and hostility and the sense that everyone was out to destroy each other. My dad said it hasn't been like that for a long time. The past few years, most of the members got along and looked out for each other. But that could easily change with William gone, and if it does, then all bets are off."
"Meaning they might try to get you back."
"I don't think so. Now that outsiders can be members, they don't want to put in all the time and effort it would take to get me back."
She's quiet. She doesn't believe me.
"Jade, I know you're worried and I wish I could promise you everything will be fine. And maybe it will. Maybe my dad will go to some meetings, nothing will happen, and William will take back his position at the end of the summer. But if there's even a small chance we could be at risk, then we need to take precautions."
"What about Lilly?"
"What about her?"
"Do you think they'd do anything to her?"
"I don't think so. They've never shown any interest in her, at least not that I know of, but I think my dad would let me know if they did."
"Is he ever going to tell her about them?"
"No. He doesn't want her to find out."
"But if she doesn't know, she might do something risky. Something that puts her in danger."
"My dad's scared her enough over the years with his warnings about criminals and con artists that she knows to be careful." I kiss her. "We should get some sleep. Ethan will be waking us up in a few hours."
For some reason, Ethan has decided to wake up at five every morning. It started a few weeks ago, and no matter what we do, he won't go back to sleep. He's wide awake and smiling and ready to start his day, which means Jade and I are also forced to start our day at that hour.
"Then I guess we'll go to sleep." She sounds disappointed as she turns on her side, away from me.
"Are you saying you don't want to sleep?"
"I just said I did."
"With an undertone that said you didn't." I pull her against my body and kiss her neck.
&n
bsp; She laughs. "I didn't use an undertone. I'm not even sure what that is."
"It's a secondary tone used to imply an alternate meaning to what you actually said."
"Yeah? So what did I mean?"
"You said you wanted to go to sleep but you meant that you wanted to have sex."
"You got all that from the tone I used?"
"I was right, wasn't I?" I continue to kiss her neck as my hand slides under her pajama shorts.
"Fine, you were right. But we have to be quick." She flips on her back and yanks her shorts off and then her shirt. "I need at least a few hours of sleep."
Jade always wants sex when she's stressed. Not stressed like when the kids make her stressed, but stressed about other, bigger problems, like the organization trying to get me back. I don't think that'll happen, but I'm all for making her feel better. Plus, I missed her. She wasn't here in bed with me last night and I missed her.
You'd think after all these years of marriage, I could go a day without missing Jade, but I can't. She's my best friend and the person I love more than anything in the world, so if she's gone for even just a day, I miss her.
Chapter Five
Lilly
"I don't know what's going on," I say, collapsing on Reed's bed, staring up the ceiling, "but my whole family is acting crazy."
He lies next to me on his side. "You still can't figure out why?"
"No. And it's getting worse. Yesterday I was over at Garret's house and he freaked out because I took the kids outside without him. We were just tossing a frisbee around in the front yard. What did he think was going to happen?" I sigh. "He's taken overprotective to a whole new level. And don't even get me started on my dad. Can you believe he won't let me drive down here by myself anymore?"
"L.A. is dangerous. He's just worried about you." Reed leans down and kisses me.
"He doesn't need to be. It's not like I stop anywhere on the way. I drive from home to here. That's it."
"When did all this start? Like a week ago?"
"More than a week. Maybe ten days? It was whenever he got back from seeing William."
"Do you think that had something to do with it?"
"I guess it's possible but it doesn't really make sense. Why would going to see William make him act this way? It has to be something else because Garret didn't even go out there and he's acting the same way. So is Rachel. And Jade. They're all acting strange."
"I don't know what to tell you, other than that families can just be weird sometimes. So what time's your dad picking you up?"
"He said around five. He'll text me if it changes."
"So we have five hours together." He slides my shirt up a couple inches and kisses my stomach. "We could do a lot in five hours."
I smile. "We could."
"Like this." His mouth meets up with mine, and he slowly kisses me, with just his lips. "And this." His hand slips under my shirt and cups my breast. "Or maybe this." His hand travels back down over my stomach and slides under my shorts, landing between my legs.
My breath catches and I reach behind his neck and pull him toward me and he kisses me again as he undoes my shorts. Even though we have five hours, I want him to hurry up. I've been waiting for this for almost two weeks and I can't wait another second. Reed must feel the same way because he has me undressed in less than a minute and himself even faster.
"Reed?"
We hear his dad's voice and freeze.
"What's your dad doing home?" I whisper.
"I don't know. He should be at work."
"Reed, are you here?" His dad's voice is louder now, like he's on the other side of the door.
"Yeah, just a minute." Reed quickly gets off me and tosses me my clothes, then picks up his own.
"Can I come in?" his dad asks.
"Hold on!" He yanks his jeans on. "Just wait there."
"Is Lilly in there with you?"
"Yeah. She is."
My face is on fire. I'm so embarrassed. We've never been caught like this, and although Dean didn't actually see us doing anything, he knows we either just did it or were about to.
"Oh." His dad sounds just as uncomfortable as I feel. "I'll just wait in the living room. Come out when you're ready."
"This is so embarrassing," I whisper as I zip up my shorts.
Reed smiles, then drops a kiss on my lips. "You don't have to be embarrassed. He knows we have sex. I'm sure your family does too."
"Yeah, but we've never been caught."
He puts his t-shirt on and runs his hand through his hair. Just doing that, he looks perfect and yet I'm a mess. I check myself in the mirror. My clothes look fine but my hair's all staticky from rubbing against the bed.
"Ready?" Reed asks.
"Are you serious?" I look at him like he's crazy. "I'm not going out there."
"Why not?"
"For one, my hair's a mess. And two, I can't face your dad after that!" I whisper scream. "I'm too embarrassed."
He takes my hand. "Come on. I don't know what he wants but I'm not letting it take time away from being with you. If I'm going, you're going."
"Then let me at least fix my hair." I turn to go in the bathroom but he keeps hold of my hand and comes around to face me.
With his other hand, he smooths my hair. "There. I fixed it. Now let's go." He tugs on my hand and I reluctantly go with him.
Dean is sitting on the couch, looking through his phone. He stands up when he sees us, smiling at me. "Lilly, I didn't know you'd be here today."
"My dad had a meeting downtown so I asked if I could come with him." I usually look at people when speaking, but I can't look at Dean right now. I try, but my eyes keep avoiding his face.
"What time is your father picking you up?" he asks.
"At five or a little after."
He smiles. "Maybe we could all go to dinner."
After the last dinner he had with my dad, I'm thinking that's not a good idea.
"We have to get home," I say, "but maybe some other time."
"Then I'll take you two out to lunch. You haven't eaten yet, have you?"
"No," Reed says, sinking down on the couch.
He's disappointed and so am I. Neither one of us cares about lunch. We wanted to spend the next five hours in his room, talking and listening to music and having sex. But instead, we'll be stuck hanging out with his dad.
"Do you have the afternoon off?" I ask Dean as I sit next to Reed.
"No, but I've decided to take it off." He sits across from us in the chair.
"Any reason why?" Reed asks.
"Because I'm celebrating! That's what I wanted to tell you." He moves to the edge of his chair, a big grin on his face. "I have big news, son."
"Yeah. So what is it?"
"I got the job! The one I applied for? I got it. I actually got it!"
"That's great, Dad. Congratulations."
Dean jumps up from his chair and walks over to the window. "For years, I've been trying to work my way up. Be an executive. Have an office on the top floor." He turns back to us. "And I finally did it! I did it, Reed!"
"I'm really happy for you." Reed gets up and goes over to his dad and gives him one of those half hugs that guys do. "So when do you start?"
"Tomorrow. I am officially done going on tour."
"Congratulations," I tell him.
"Thank you." He walks back over to me, along with Reed, and they both sit down.
But his dad can't sit still. He's too excited, his face animated, his hands moving around as he talks. "Back in the day, I was thrilled to be going on tour. Traveling the world? Attending concerts every night? Hanging out with rock bands? But now? I'm too old for all that. It's exhausting and I've had enough of it. This will give me a chance to try something new." He smiles at Reed. "And I'll get to see my son more."
When I glance at Reed, he's staring at his dad as though he's never seen him act this way. I haven't either. I don't know him that well, but whenever I see him, he's usually more laid back and serio
us. Today, it's like he just drank a few shots of espresso.
"So where should we go for lunch?" he asks Reed. "Pick anywhere you want."
Reed looks at me. "Do you want to just get a burger?"
"Yeah. Some place that has good fries."
"A burger and fries?" his dad says. "That's it? Come on. You kids can do better than that. Pick a nicer place. Someplace you'd normally need a reservation." His eyes light up. "With my new job title, I bet I could get us in without a reservation. So where should we go?"
"I don't like those fancy places," Reed says. "I'd rather just grab a burger somewhere."
Dean's shoulders slump in disappointment, but then perk up again. "Then we'll keep it casual for lunch, but tonight we're going out to a nice restaurant. Someplace expensive."
"Okay." Reed tries to act excited but I can tell he's not. Fancy restaurants are not his scene. "So what about lunch?"
"Let's go to that place I used to take you when you were a kid. Remember how we'd go there after the zoo?"
He smiles. "The one with the paper hats?"
"Yes, that's the one." Dean looks at me. "It's one of those old-fashioned diners. Reed used to love it. They give kids crayons and those white paper hats like cooks wear so the kids can color the hats while they wait for their food."
"That's why I liked it so much," Reed says. "But they also have awesome burgers and fries."
His dad chuckles. "I still have one of those hats."
"You do?" Reed asks, surprised. "Where is it?"
"I keep it in my office at work. It's the one you made me for Father's Day. You wrote 'dad' on it and drew a picture of us." His face turns serious, almost sad. "You were only five and I hadn't seen you for months. I thought maybe you'd forgotten about me, but then you drew that picture and—" He chokes on his words, then clears his throat. "Anyway, I took it to work because I didn't want your mother coming to my place and seeing it and...well, it doesn't matter now. The point is, I still have it."
The room gets quiet and I feel like I shouldn't be here. This seems like one of those father-son moments that should be followed by a long conversation between Reed and his dad. This past year, they've spent a lot of time trying to rebuild their relationship after years of Reed's mom trying to tear them apart. Growing up, Reed saw his dad only a few times a year. Dean had to travel a lot, and when he was in town, Reed's mom would try to keep Dean away from him. She knew if Reed got to know his dad, he'd want to go live with him instead of her. But now? His mom isn't around and Reed is living with his dad and everything's going great.
Lilly and Reed: A Kensington Family Novel Page 5
