by Cassie James
“What the fuck, Jackie!” Tyler’s shout permeates the weak barrier I’ve made with my hands, and I whimper into Jude’s chest. There’s no fucking way it’s normal to feel this much pain, right? Jude’s chest rumbles as he growls out a command to the others to grab our shit.
“You can’t take her—you can’t! It was an accident,” Jackie pleads as he drags me from the pool and leads me toward the side of the house on trembling legs. She follows behind us, cries and heaving sobs making her words nearly indecipherable. “I didn’t mean to—it was an accident. Don’t take her away from me, please!”
“Fuck off,” Jude snarls at her. I stumble into his side, and he grunts as he hoists me into his arms, pushing past Jackie and toward his car. My vision blurs as he carries me, and I feel like I’m on the verge of blacking out when the sounds of Tyler and Brennan running toward us meets my muffled ears.
The drive from West Ex to Malibu passes in a blur, with Jude shouting at Tyler to man up and fucking drive every second he isn’t frantically stroking my face or urging me not to pass out. I manage to blearily recite the address to Stan’s house to them as well as his phone number, but from what I can gather, there’s no answer. Much to everyone’s relief, Stan answers the gate almost immediately when we finally make it to his house.
I can’t keep up with the flurry of activity that ends with us in the house, but at some point a short time later, I blink against the brightness of the pen light Stan’s shining in my eyes. I can hear the guys talking in muted tones as they hover around Stan while he works.
“I’m fine,” I insist for the thousandth time as I push the pen light and his hand away. “Seriously, I feel much better.”
He tuts at me as he shakes his head, but he thankfully clicks the pen light off and leans back in his rolling chair. He narrows his eyes as he studies me before reaching behind him for the laptop stand, quickly lowering it to his level before reaching for my port cord. I scuttle across the bed, and he sighs tiredly. Someone’s hand drops on my shoulder, and I glance back to see Tyler offering me a grim smile that I’m sure he means to be reassuring.
“I need you to trust me, Piper,” Stan says as he scoots himself and the laptop stand closer toward the bed. “We’ve been on the same side for months, remember?”
I mutter an apology as he holds the port cord out to me. I pluck the cord from his fingers before he can get any closer. Stan speaks softly to me, “Your reactions all seem to be fine, but I’m not sure what a bump to the head like that might’ve done to you—I really need to run diagnostics if that’s okay with you. I’m afraid you might be suffering from your version of a concussion.”
As much as I hate to do it, I know I could be much worse off if I don’t. I let out an unhappy sigh as I reach toward the back of my neck and plug myself in.
My head hangs, staring at my hands sitting on my knees, as he hums over what he sees. “Tell me again how this happened,” Stan murmurs after a few tense moments of silence, and I huff another sigh. We’ve already been over this a handful of times, and I’m just… I’m tired honestly. I’d like nothing better than to sleep for a week and forget that any of this ever fucking happened.
“Jackie and I were exchanging words—”
“Jackie was in her face screaming, actually,” Tyler pipes in, and Stan’s eyes cut to him quickly.
“Jackie and I were both yelling at one another,” I clarify with a pointed look in Stan’s direction when he finally manages to drag his eyes back toward mine. “It got heated very quickly, we both said some pretty awful things, and she just sort of lost control after I said something that particularly bothered her. She pushed me, and I’m not sure that she was aiming for the pool—”
“She definitely was,” Brennan says drily, and I shoot him an annoyed glance before turning back toward Stan.
He quirks an eyebrow at me as he studies me, a critical look in his tired eyes. “But I lost my balance and knocked my head against the lip of the pool on the way down.”
“The abrasions on your leg came from the accident as well?” Stan asks as Jude scoffs at the word accident like it’s personally offended him. I nod, though, ignoring the indignant boys surrounding me, and Stan turns back to the computer with an odd croaking sort of noise in the back of his throat. He logs into my diagnostic folders, skimming them quickly as the guys go quiet all over again. Brennan hovers behind Stan, eyes wide as he takes in the intricate programming that goes into making me who I am, and I can’t help but be amused by the fact that even in a situation like this, he can’t help but nerd out over the technological aspect of it all.
The sound of movement catches my attention, and I turn my head as much as I can to see Jude scurrying around the side of the bed. “Piper,” he says as his eyes shine with some really ill-timed excitement. I narrow my eyes at him, but the grin on his face only spreads wider. “We have to get ahold of Anne.”
“Anne Kessler?” Stan asks, and I jerk my head in his direction. It’s been weeks since I’ve heard from the lawyer, not that it was a surprise since she’d already pretty much told me her hands were tied to do anything more at the moment. I nod simply, and the same spark of realization seems to hit him as Jude takes a knee in front of me, gripping my forearms in his hands as he trembles.
“Piper, she broke the contract when she pushed you in the pool today.”
Have the Hawthornes shared any proprietary information about you or knowingly caused damage to your hardware? The question slams through my mind on repeat, and my mouth gapes as I turn to Stan. His lips purse, and his fingers are steepled under his chin as he stares into the distance. I try to stop the hopeful flutter of my heart in my chest before I can get too carried away with myself. A few scrapes on my leg and a bump on my head aren’t really that severe.
“It’d be a stretch,” Stan admits, and my stomach drops in time with Jude tightening his grip uncomfortably. He then lets me go as he falls back on his haunches, head hanging against his chest as he breathes heavily. “But with your logs in the hands of Anne Kessler…” he trails off, and all of our head’s jerk in his direction as he leans back, a look of shocked disbelief on his face. “It still very well might work.”
“We have to try,” I say urgently, pushing past Jude’s grappling hands to face Stan straight on. “I can’t go back there, Stan. I’ll do anything.”
He nods slowly. “I’ll give Anne a call, see if I can get her and Roman to come out here tomorrow. You’re welcome to stay the night if you like?”
“No, my parents’ beach house is only a couple miles away, and Piper has some clothes there.” I’m not sure if that’s true, but knowing Jude and the forethought he puts into just about everything, it wouldn’t surprise me to know that he’d stocked a couple of outfits for me there after our last visit. Stan’s eyes bore into mine imploringly, silently asking if this is something I’m okay with. I nod to him, and he sighs and inclines his head in my direction.
My heart is filled with such appreciation for him in that moment that I don’t question the urge to throw my arms around him, jerking forward quickly enough to pull my port loose as I throw myself into his arms. Stan chuckles, the sound uncomfortable and strained, patting me on the back awkwardly until I pull away from him and throw myself off the bed and into Jude’s arms instead. Everything is strange and wonderful, and undeniable hope blossoms in my wildly pounding heart as Jude rocks me there on the floor in Stan Hyde’s Malibu mansion. For the first time since I’ve woken, I’m left with the distinct feeling that everything’s going to actually be okay.
27
Piper
Waking up the day after the pool incident wrapped in Tyler’s arms from behind with my head on Jude’s chest is maybe the best fucking feeling in the world. Brennan had wandered off sometime earlier in the night, muttering with no undue amount of sarcasm that he wasn’t trying to cuddle with one of the guys instead of me. I’d kissed him senseless before sending him on his way and settling into the bed between the other two, c
ontent to let the warmth of their bodies and the slow beating of their hearts lull me to sleep.
I stretch as best as I can without actually disturbing either one of them, but they’re both dead to the world anyway, neither moving an inch as I finally give in to the urge to stretch languorously. Once I settle, I lie there for a few more minutes before the warmth radiating from their bodies starts to feel suffocating, and I know I have to get out from between them before I die of heat exhaustion. I pull myself from the tangle of our limbs, picking my way toward the bottom of the bed with careful precision. I cover my mouth with my hand as I stand at the end of the bed watching them. They turn away from one another almost in tandem, rolling toward opposite sides of the bed before settling back into their deep sleep.
To be a fly on the wall when they wake up and realize I’m not here…
I shake my head and slip from the room quietly, shutting the door behind me as I tiptoe into the dark hallway. I peek into open doors as I pass them, chewing my lip when I finally come upon one that’s just barely cracked near the end of the hallway. I stick my head in, and a smile tugs over my lips at the sight of Brennan passed out on top of the covers, dressed in his board shorts from the day before and not much else. I creep into the room, pulling the door closed behind me, and pad softly toward the bed.
I crawl toward where he’s lying in the middle of the bed, curling against his side as he breathes softly. I lower my head against his chest for a short moment, listening intently to the beating of his heart—breaths puffing slowly through my lips as the sound pulls my eyes lower. As if by instinct, his arm comes up to pull me against him, and I rest my head on the crook of his shoulder, content to let the peace of the moment lull me back to sleep.
When I wake again, it’s to the feeling of Brennan’s lips brushing over the top of my head. I hum in the back of my throat as I snuggle closer to his side, wrapping my arm around his waist and nuzzling my face closer to the sound of his heart. The heat from his skin seeps into mine as he pulls me closer, and I swear there’s not a way we could get any closer as our legs tangle together. I mean… there is, but I’m so content to lie here in his arms that I don’t need any more at the moment. I know I would count myself lucky if I could wake up in the arms of one of my guys every day for the rest of my life.
He nudges me with his foot, and a strangled groan crawls its way out from my scratchy throat. My body is begging me to give it a good stretch, but I blink around bleary eyes and resist. I turn my face closer to his skin, breathing in his scent that’s still just slightly tinged with chlorine. I place a soft kiss on his chest before nuzzling into him again and closing my eyes back. His chuckle reverberates through his chest, and I sigh with contentment when he runs his fingers through my hair.
“Piper,” he starts in a whisper, and I answer with a noise that’s somewhere between a groan, a sigh, and an mmmmph. He laughs, and his entire body shakes with the action until I’m shaking with him, my own laughter spilling from my lips. This is what it’s supposed to be like—waking up in the morning and knowing you’re loved.
“Piper,” he tries again, and as much as I’d like to, I don’t interrupt him this time. “Are the others still sleeping?”
I try for a shrug, but I can’t quite manage the gesture with how I’m squished up against him. I sigh before pulling away from him and sitting up, finally giving into the urge to stretch my arms over my head as high as they’ll go, groaning at the delightful way my muscles pull and twinge. “I mean, probably,” I mumble as I blink through the grainy feeling in my eyes again. I rub the heels of my palms into my eyes before glancing back toward Brennan with a gentle smile. “I woke up a little while ago in between what had to have been the hottest sandwich in the world.”
Brennan quirks an eyebrow at me before his eyes narrow. “And what were you, the sexy filling?”
“I literally meant temperature, dumbass,” I joke back, and we’re both laughing all over again. It takes us a few minutes to calm, even though it’s not even that funny, and the overwhelming feeling of how right this all feels crashes over me again. “I literally felt like I was being cooked alive between them.”
“Well, it wasn’t particularly nice waking up next to Jude instead of you, so maybe start wearing less clothes to bed so you don’t overheat next time.” The sound of Tyler’s voice causes me to jerk around. He’s standing with his shoulder propped against the doorjamb, his hair all tousled with a glaze of sleep still clouding his eyes. The same languid sort of smile Brennan and I have been sharing back-and-forth stretches over his lips, and my heart fills all over again. If this isn’t heaven, it’s pretty fucking close.
“If this is a play to get me to start sleeping naked…” I say with a note of warning that I don’t really feel. Tyler grins in a roguish sort of way and winks before his face goes all serious, and he takes a couple more steps into the room. He tosses my phone on the bed as he says, “Roman’s tried to call you a couple times, and it looks like you have a whole shit ton of messages from him. Might want to see what he has to say.” I reach for the phone with trembling hands, and he offers me a reassuring smile when he notices. “Just remember that we’re here for whatever you need, Piper.”
I nod at his words, but I’m distracted enough by the phone to not pay much attention to him. There’s a bevy of unanswered phone calls and texts. I clear the notifications for things from Jackie before shooting a quick text to Macie.
Shit went sideways with Jackie yesterday. Meeting with Stan, Roman, and the lawyer later. Call you after, but I need all the good vibes now.
Her response is instant, and I can’t help but smile. OMG that bitch is crayyyyyyy. Hopefully everything goes okay. Lots of love and positive thoughts coming your way!!! I push thoughts of her toward the back of my mind, though, when I click into the messages from Roman. My stomach fucking twists, and I’m not sure what to expect as I start reading from the first text he sent the day before.
Just got a strange call from Jackie. Is everything okay?
Haven’t heard from you yet, and your mother is hysterical. What’s going on?
Piper, you know the rules, why aren’t you answering your phone?
I just got off the phone with Stan. I’m on my way home from the conference now. I’ll meet everyone in Malibu. Stan has already been in contact with Anne.
Do you need me to bring you anything? I can pack you a bag or something.
Jackie’s not coming with me, by the way. Just in case that wasn’t clear. I don’t think this is a situation she needs to be involved with.
Are you okay?
My mind spins with all the overwhelming emotions welling up inside of me. I can feel the bed shifting before Brennan wraps his arm around me from behind, and I lean back into the embrace gratefully. I’m lucky to have people to lean on right now.
The drive back to Stan’s place takes less than fifteen minutes, and my stomach’s a knotted mess the entire time. No amount of platitudes or gentle reassurances from any of The Thorns can ease the worry coursing through me in rough waves. Not when there’s so much fucking riding on the outcome of this entire thing. My hands twist in my lap as we approach the gate, and I don’t bother trying to stop it this time. I’m a fucking mess, there’s no use trying to hide that now.
The first thing I catch sight of is Roman’s Range Rover sitting in the drive next to a black Porsche I don’t recognize. The second thing I notice is Roman and Anne huddled together near the doorway, whispering back and forth over some papers that she’s pulled from her half-open briefcase. My stomach twists at the dark looks on their faces, and I can’t help but wonder what the hell they’re looking at and just where the fuck Stan is. Jude pulls his car off to the side, and we climb from it silently, pulling looks from both of the adults standing near the front of the house.
Anne shoves the papers back into the briefcase and passes a significant look in Roman’s direction before stepping out of the shade of the house and toward me with a tight smile on her f
ace. “Good afternoon, Piper,” she says, but the grim set to her lips tells me that it’s not a good afternoon at all. My gut wrenches as I shake her hand, and all the negative feelings from the drive over start to manifest all over again. “I’m sorry that I have to see you like this. How are you feeling?”
“Better,” I say cautiously, not sure whether the fact that I feel fine is something that will help or hurt me right now. “Yesterday was rough, though,” I add as an afterthought, and her eyebrows knit together slightly.
Anne drops a hand on my shoulder and steers me toward the front of the house with the guys scrambling behind us to keep up. My gaze drops to the ground as we get closer to Roman, and I can’t make myself look up past his shiny dress shoes as I hear the front door open and Stan ushering everyone inside. We all pause in the foyer, the guys standing protectively around me, crowding Anne and keeping me separated from Roman like he was ever really the issue in the first place.
We’re a rather odd group, I realize as we stand there awkwardly—an android girl surrounded by her three prep school boyfriends, the man who created her, the man who claims to own her, and the lawyer who swore she’d help free her. I can’t help but think that it’s strange, and maybe a little ironic, that the one person who managed to bring us all together is noticeably absent. More than strange, though, it’s just really goddamn tense and awkward. No one moves to go any further into the house, and no one utters a fucking word. I shuffle from foot to foot, but I still don’t look up from where my gaze is fixed on the floor, afraid of what I might see in Roman’s, or Stan’s, or even Anne’s eyes if I look up.
“Shall we?” Stan asks easily, and the tension of the moment fades away as I glance up at him. There’s a grim set to his face, but he’s calm in a way that I don’t really understand. I find that the longer I stare at him, though, that same sense of ease washes over me, and I pass him a grateful smile as he waves his arms in the direction of his sitting room.
