As much as she hated to admit it, she liked the way he seemed drawn to her. That was an even bigger reason to hope things with Phoebe were resolved soon so Alek could move on. Everyone was right about her not being the casual sex type. That didn’t mean she would give up the sex as long as Alek was in the area. Nope, he was far too much temptation.
“What did you need?” she asked.
“I’m going to check out a lead on Phoebe,” he said as he leaned down to kiss her.
“Do you have to run out right away?” Tempest asked.
He shook his head. “I can stay for a little while, why?”
“We need your help with something,” Tempest said, and Trish’s eyes widened.
“We shouldn’t involve Alek in any of this,” Trish said quickly.
Caitlin looked thoughtful. “It’ll work better if he helps us.”
“Do what?” Alek asked.
Trish let out a sigh. “I heard Justin, Noah, and Aiden want to do some mind control experiment on me.”
Alek’s lips thinned, and his cheeks flushed with anger. “Yes, I’d heard that, but I’ve already told them it is not going to happen.”
“You should encourage them to do it,” Tempest said.
“Absolutely not!” Alek said.
“The thing is,” Trish told him with a smile, “It never worked on me before. I faked it.”
Alek’s lips twitched. “I’ve never had a woman say that to me before.”
“So, will you help us?” Trish asked.
Alek looked at his watch. “I have a little time before my meeting, but we can’t do anything elaborate.”
“Can I make a suggestion?” Caitlin asked.
Chapter Thirty-One
Alek could not believe he’d allowed himself to be talked into playing such an immature prank on his nephews, even though they deserved it. While he understood their curiosity, experimenting on Trish was wrong. Then he had to wonder if he’d feel that way if they were considering experimenting on a woman other than Trish.
He found his nephews watching a soap opera on the Spanish channel. “What exactly are you doing?” he asked.
Aiden flashed a lopsided grin, looking a little embarrassed. “Watching my favorite show.”
“We’re just making fun of him,” Noah stated a little too quickly.
Alek would definitely have to remember to tease his nephews about this later. For now, he had to help the ladies with their plan before his meeting. “I was thinking about your idea for the experiment with Trish.”
“We already promised we wouldn’t do it,” Justin replied with annoyance.
“After some thought, I think we should,” Alek said. “If I’m going to spend time with Trish, I should know if I need to watch myself. I also need to know if she’s susceptible to compulsion in case Phoebe finds her.”
“That makes sense,” Noah agreed, still looking a little skeptical. “What did you have in mind?”
“I was thinking I’d have her come in here and try using mind control to get her to do something she wouldn’t normally do.”
They all nodded. “That sounds reasonable,” Justin said.
Alek walked a little way down the hall and yelled out, “Trish! Can you come in here for a minute?”
Entering the room, Trish had a sweet smile on her face. “What did you need?”
“Come here for a minute,” Alek said, and she walked over to where he was standing. He was keeping his fingers crossed this worked. To make it convincing, he had to actually push the compulsion into his voice. Otherwise, his nephews would know he was messing with them. “You want to seduce Justin. There is nothing you want more than Justin, and you can only hear my voice.”
“Not funny, Alek,” Justin protested as Trish sauntered toward him. Her ample curves were making Alek hard. Justin, on the other hand, looked mortified.
“Make her stop,” Noah demanded.
Trish straddled Justin’s lap, pressing her breasts against his face.
“Stop, Trish,” Justin said, trying to use compulsion to end the game.
“Oh God, I need you so much,” Trish said as she wrapped her arms around his neck.
Both Noah and Aiden moved to intervene at the same time as Caitlin burst into the room.
“What the hell are you doing, you cheating prick?” Caitlin screeched.
Hannah, Tempest, and Willow followed her.
“Justin!” Tempest said before glaring at Aiden. “Are you just going to stand there and let him cheat on Caitlin? She’s our friend. How could you watch this kind of perversion?”
“This is Alek’s fault,” Justin shouted, still trying to get Trish off of his lap without hurting her.
“No,” Trish said and stood to glare Justin, Aiden, and Noah. “This is all of your faults. How could you even think about experimenting on me? I’m not some kind of lab rat. Oh, and for your information, the other times you thought you’d controlled my mind, I was faking it.”
The women all started laughing at the dumbfounded looks on his idiot nephew’s faces. That is, until Tempest doubled over, spewing out a string of profanity that would make a sailor blush.
“Okay,” Tempest said through gritted teeth. “That one was probably real.”
Aiden’s face paled, and he looked like he was about to pass out. Caitlin was immediately on the phone, getting in touch with the OR team. Justin was completely in control, looking confident and prepared, his mind focused on what needed to be done.
“This may be a little earlier than we expected, but you know we have everything ready.” Justin assured Tempest. “I want to do an ultrasound to make sure the babies are still looking good, and then we’ll get you prepped.”
Tempest looked downright amused. “Isn’t it funny that we’re the only calm ones?”
Justin laughed. “I may need to sedate Aiden.”
“I’m fine,” Aiden claimed, snapping out of his panic. “Let’s go check on my babies!”
They hurried out of the room, and for a moment, Alek couldn’t take his eyes off of Trish’s radiant smile. When she noticed him watching her, she smiled even brighter. “Isn’t this exciting?” she asked.
Alek chuckled and kissed her on the nose. “It is exciting,” he admitted. “I’ll be back as soon as possible.” As he walked out the door, Alek felt a strange mix of emotions, most he wasn’t ready to deal with.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Trish wasn’t sure what to do while Tempest was in the operating room. Justin said it would be a little while before anyone could come out to update them. Noah and Hannah had already taken Hope home, since they weren’t that close to Aiden and Tempest. Willow also had to head out for her shift at the women’s center she helped run, but Ivy was on her way. That left Trish on her own, since Caitlin would be assisting with the newborns, and Alek was still investigating the lead on Phoebe.
Since she wasn’t that close to Tempest, she wasn’t sure how she should react. She’d always loved babies, so she was excited, but she wasn’t likely to see the triplets very often. Reaching a hand down, she absently placed it on her own belly. After having unprotected sex with Alek, she’d gone back to check the date of her last period, and she should be okay. Then again, she’d been on birth control to help regulate her cycles until her accident. With everything going on, she’d missed two pills before her accident and hadn’t thought about taking one since. That meant she needed to wait until her next period to start again. It also meant her cycle was probably off, something she had no intention of mentioning to Alek.
She’d thought about the Plan B pill before mentioning it to Alek, but then she’d started fantasizing about being a mom and knew she wasn’t going to take it. She knew Alek would want the baby, even if they weren’t meant to be together. If she was pregnant, she’d figure out a way to make things work with Alek without making him feel like he had to marry her. If Hannah and Nathaniel could work things out, so could she and Alek.
The doorbell pulled her from her musing
s, and she was pretty sure it was Ivy. Nathaniel had given Ivy a key, but she never used it.
When Trish opened the door, her suspicions were confirmed.
“Hi, Auntie Ivy!” she said with a bright smile.
“They’re here?” Ivy practically screeched. “What did she have?”
“I haven’t heard anything yet,” Trish admitted. “Justin took her back to the operating room about an hour ago. He was waiting for your cousin, the anesthesiologist, to get here, so I think it will be a little while before anyone can slip away to update us.”
Ivy nodded. “I’ve been a nervous wreck since you called me, but I had to finish the group session before I could leave.”
Trish had called Ivy last because she was sure Ivy would be worried, and there wasn’t much to do other than wait. Just then, her phone vibrated, and she saw it was a message from Caitlin.
Two boys and a girl. Everyone is doing fine.
She grinned and turned the phone toward Ivy, who squealed and hugged her. “I can’t wait to see them!”
“I’m assuming they’ll bring you back once Tempest is settled into her room, but that probably won’t be for a couple of hours.”
They’d converted a suite on the lower level to accommodate Tempest, Aiden, and the triplets until Tempest was ready to go home.
Just then, the door slammed open and banged against the wall. “Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God! I’m going to be a freakin’ grandmother!” Lydia screeched as she bounced into the room.
Roman followed at a more leisurely pace, looking calmer than Trish suspected he was. “My granddaughter is the mother of those babies. Wouldn’t that make you a grandmother already?” he asked.
Lydia stuck out her tongue. “Bite me,” she said.
“I thought you said you’d wait until Tempest was ready for visitors?” Trish asked. That was what Roman had said when she’d called to tell him the babies were on the way. Then Lydia had gotten on the phone, and the conversation had gotten confusing fast— a common occurrence when talking to Lydia.
Roman gave his wife a patient smile. “When you didn’t call back in twenty minutes to let us know everything was okay, Lydia panicked and insisted on coming over here right away. I distracted her for an hour, so you should be thankful for that much.”
Trish just shook her head. “Lyd, I told you the anesthesiologist wasn’t even here yet. It takes time to get everything set up, and then they were trying to handle three babies and putting Tempest back together.” She was intentionally vague because Lydia was not fond of any childbirth details.
“We just got the message about the babies,” Ivy chimed in.
That’s when Roman lost his trademark cool demeanor. “Are they okay?”
“They’re fine,” Trish assured him. “Two boys and a girl.”
“Excellent!” Roman said with a smile. “We’ll head home.”
“Shouldn’t we wait and pretend we want to see them?” Lydia asked.
Trish had trouble containing her laughter. Neither Roman nor Lydia was into babies. Most would consider it sad that Lydia couldn’t have children, but Lydia preferred being a fun aunt.
“I’m sure Tempest would prefer her privacy while she recovers,” Roman reasoned.
Lydia nodded, looking relieved. She hugged Trish and stepped back to examine her. “How are you doing, sweetie?”
“I’m doing better,” Trish said. “Although, I’m not sure I like staying here.”
“Why are you staying here?” Lydia asked.
“I wondered that as well,” Roman said.
“Because Phoebe might have taken her wallet,” Alek said as he walked into the room. He’d obviously entered through the kitchen.
“How the hell did that happen?” Roman asked.
“I had Drew take me to the mall,” Trish said.
“Yes, I’m aware of that and still can’t believe my brother allowed Drew to take you anywhere,” Roman said while glaring at Alek.
“Hello!” Trish called out. “You do realize I’m right here, don’t you? You also know I’m a grown woman who makes her own decisions, right? Don’t answer that, because we all know you don’t. Alek does not make decisions for me. None of you do. I am seriously about to move far across the country, just to get away from this stuff.”
“Isaiah or Aiden would find you,” Lydia said with a smile. When Trish glared at her, Lydia put her hands up and laughed. “What? It’s true. Good job standing up to these guys. You’ve been letting them boss you around for way too long.”
“She’s never let me boss her around,” Alek grumbled.
“I let you drag me off to this house,” Trish argued.
“Only because you agreed it was a good idea,” Alek said.
Roman was watching their exchange with a strange intensity. “I’d like a word with you, Alek,” he said.
“No,” Trish said, glaring at Roman. “You will not take Alek into the other room and threaten him. There will be no more going behind my back to decide what’s best for me. Alek followed your rules until I seduced him.”
There was stunned silence as everyone looked at her like she’d grown a second head, everyone except Ivy who smiled and gave her a thumbs up.
Roman cleared his throat. “I was going to tell my brother I might have been hasty when I tried to keep him away from you.”
“You were?” Alek asked.
“Yes,” Roman said. “It seems I was unfair to you. Despite your past, you obviously have feelings for Trish.”
Trish nearly laughed. Roman was reading things completely wrong, but if it got him off Alek’s case about spending time with her, then it didn’t matter.
Lydia’s gaze shifted between the two of them. “I’m not sure I approve, but Trish is a big girl, and she can make up her own mind. You still owe me an explanation for that shopping trip with Drew.”
“I wanted to buy some personal items, and I knew I could get Drew to leave me alone,” Trish explained.
“You need to teach me that trick,” Lydia said. “I can’t get that boy to leave me alone for five minutes when he’s at my house.”
Trish considered explaining that Drew hung around Lydia because he liked the reaction he got, but she’d let Lydia figure it out on her own.
“Unfortunately, as you already know, Phoebe saw them together,” Alek explained. “We thought everything would be okay because Drew was sure he’d lost his mother when she followed them. Then Trish discovered her wallet was missing.”
“It was found at Victoria’s Secret, so I may have dropped it there,” Trish said. “I’ve been a little distracted lately.”
“But we don’t want to take any chances,” Alek added. “Phoebe could have checked her receipts to find out where she shopped last.”
Roman nodded. “Would you consider leaving the country temporarily?” he asked Trish.
“No,” she said, crossing her arms in front of her chest. “I have classes starting soon, my last semester, and I have a job.”
“I didn’t think you would,” Roman said with a sigh. “Then this is the safest place for now. With any luck, we’ll find Phoebe soon.”
Lydia hugged Trish again. “Call me if you need anything.”
“I will,” Trish assured her.
“I also expect full details on this seduction,” Lydia told her with a wicked grin.
“You know you’re insane, right?” she asked Lydia.
Lydia shrugged and tried to flip her ankle-length blonde hair. “That was so much sexier in my pre-Rapunzel days.”
Trish giggled. “It’s much funnier now.”
Lydia hugged her again. “You can always stay with us. That is, if you get tired of having sex with Alek.”
Trish smiled and shook her head.
“It is funny seeing the two of them together,” Ivy said after Lydia and Roman left.
“I agree,” Alek said. “My brother has been grumpy and isolated most of my life. Seeing him with Lydia is like looking at a different man.”
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“Love can change a person for the better,” Ivy said with a wistful smile.
Trish snorted. “While I’m willing to accept that Roman changed after falling for Lyd, I don’t think it works that way most of the time.”
Alek’s expression sobered, and he looked almost angry, but Trish had no idea why. “I need to follow up on a few things, so I’ll see you later,” he said in an icy tone.
With that, he walked out of the room, leaving Trish wondering what she’d said to upset him.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Trish hung around to keep Ivy company until Tempest and the babies were settled into their room. After Ivy went off to enjoy her auntie time, Trish headed upstairs to the suite she was sharing with Alek. Surprisingly, she was exhausted at eight in the evening. Then again, she’d had a stressful week and hadn’t gotten much sleep the night before.
The room was masculine, likely because it was the room Alek used when he stayed at the house. Nathaniel had a surprising knack for decorating and enjoyed coming up with ideas that fit a person’s personality. This home differed greatly from the ones she’d lived in. Before her dad’s death, they’d had a nice four bedroom home because her parents had wanted another child. After her dad’s death, they’d stayed in a small two bedroom apartment until her mom’s salon started making good money. When her mom had finally been able to afford a three bedroom, Trish had been thrilled to have an extra room for guests.
She undressed and slid between the sheets. With a sigh, she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep. Trish wasn’t sure how long she slept before the door to the room opened. Come to think of it, she wasn’t sure where Alek had been all of this time. “Hi,” she said, giving him a sleepy smile.
“Hi yourself,” he said. “Please tell me I’m right, and you aren’t wearing any clothes.”
“I’m too exhausted for sex, Alek.”
“What if I promise to do all the work?” he offered as he stripped out of his own clothes.
“How can I say no to that?” she asked with a sleepy smile.
Naked and aroused, Alek climbed into bed and pulled her into his arms. “I love finding you in my bed,” he murmured.
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