“Yes I am,” Jessie argued. “We both are.”
“Both?” Brin said hesitantly and looked at Jessie then at Grant. “Who are you talking about?”
“Can we please have this conversation inside?” Jessie asked.
Brin bit her lip, looked around, and then nodded. She led the way back into the motel room and looked into the corner where her son was still sleeping thankfully. She sat on the side of the bed and faced them.
Grant and Jessie followed her through the doorway and shut the door before each took a seat across from her. Jessie looked at Grant who nodded.
“Brin, I know I totally screwed this whole thing up. I cannot promise that it is going to be all sunshine and roses. That is why we are taking you somewhere safe. It is also why we are having this conversation. Honey, this could get messy, and no matter how hard I try, I can’t promise you that I won't get hurt. These people are dangerous and they want us dead. I trust Grant with my life, and yours. He knows what it is going to take to get us out of this mess and understands. This is a chance for all of us. But one that will have an awesome ending if I have anything to say about it. Before, I didn’t understand what I was walking away from,” Jessie started.
Brin rolled her eyes and said, “Really, must we keep talking about that, we have nothing to feel guilt over, it happened.”
“I know, and I am sorry. But listen, one of my greatest regrets that night was walking away. I knew we shared a connection. I may not have known it was with my best friend's little sister at the time but I should have stayed around to explore it. Then when we got back, everything was so fucked up. Now though, I would like to take things slow, get to know you, develop a real relationship,” Jessie said and looked at Brin who was smiling.
“Oh…well that would be good,” Brin said hesitantly and looked at Grant who was staring intently at her.
“So does Grant,” Jessie continued. “What I mean is,” he hurried to explain when she raised an eyebrow at him in shock. “We together want to get to know you.”
“Together?” Brin asked and then looked back and forth between the two men. “I don’t know if I can do that.”
Grant nodded, “I know this is new to you, heck it is a fairly new concept to us. Even though we have been seen relationships like these succeed, we also have never actually been in one.”
“No, I don’t care about that, I am talking about the danger. I've already lost my brother. I don’t think I could handle it if I lost you too,” Brin whispered.
“Growing up, I saw how my uncles and aunts were. How they lived, I envied them. When I saw you the first time something clicked, I will be honest, I never thought of sharing you with anyone, but somehow it seemed like I was drawn to you. Then Jessie came, and I gotta tell you, things really just seemed to snap into place. That is why this is a good idea, we can go through this together. I can’t say I am happy knowing that Jessie is going to go off and do something dangerous. I just found my best friend again,” Grant said.
“Same for me,” Jessie admitted. “Grant and I grew up together, and it seemed like all of the years we had been apart disappeared when I saw him. Hey, we are just friends, I don’t have any, you know, sexual feelings for him.”
Brin laughed and shook her head. “Good to know.”
“What I am saying is, that I know I can leave and take care of things because he is going to be there taking care of you. And when all this is done with, we will have the future to think about,” Jessie said and watched as she wrestled with herself.
“I am not saying no, and not saying yes. I am just saying, I will try,” Brin admitted. She knew she had to try this, since meeting the two men, she had felt a pull to them, both of them separately and together. But the thought of being left alone with a gaping hole in her heart was something she wasn’t sure she could deal with.
Jessie’s phone rang on his belt and he held up a hand. “Hang on, let me take this.”
There was a pounding on the door, and Brin looked up in surprise. Marcus startled and woke with a small cry. Grant jumped and answered the door to Drake who looked pissed off.
“Jess,” Drake snapped as Jessie said hello into the phone. The room was silent as whoever it was on the other end of the phone delivered bad news. It could only be bad news, Brin thought as she watched the color drain from Jessie’s face.
“How bad?” Jessie barked into the phone, which made her jump. This is exactly what she was afraid of.
Thane paced the waiting room in the hospital. West was in surgery, the doctor informed him that his friend was in critical condition, and if they didn’t operate, he would die.
He called the ranch to tell them, one of the hardest phone calls he'd ever made. Arden, Mason, and Bea had been ready to fly here. Thane had to tell them to wait, they couldn’t bring everyone here, it would be too dangerous. After promising to call as soon as he heard anything, Thane had gotten off the phone. Since then, Arden had called five times, and text a million, wanting updates. He understood their panic. Hell, he was feeling that as well. It sucked.
When the doctor finally walked into the waiting room, Thane was about ready to go postal. “Doc?”
The tired man ran a hand down his face and looked at Thane solemnly. Thane braced himself as the doctor began to talk. “He made it through surgery. One of the bullets shattered his hip. The other entered in his back and ricocheted off his ribs, tearing a hole in his spleen, which we removed. It will be a long recovery, but he made it.”
Thane let out a sigh of relief. West made it. He pulled out his phone as he thanked the doctor and called Mason. Thankfully, the man was with everyone so Thane only had to tell them once. He didn’t think he could handle talking much more. The day had been stressful. When he hung up the phone, Thane leaned against the wall and closed his eyes.
He tried to piece together in his head what happened. They had not even touched the front doors and the house had blown up, so it couldn’t have been booby-trapped. Whoever had blown up the house had been watching, they knew Thane and the others were there, questioning the deaths. The Planes were murdered and Thane wanted to know why and who they were dealing with.
None of the pieces they had fit together. His phone beeped and he looked down and frowned. It was probably Arden again but when he saw the number, Thane paused. He didn’t know that number. Thane clicked on the little message box and shook his head as he read.
YOU NEED TO LEAVE HOSPITAL> HE KNOWS WHERE YOU ARE
Thane stopped pacing and stared before typing a message back.
WHO IS THIS…
The person replied.
A FRIEND…
Thane text back.
DON”T HAVE FRIENDS> WHO KNOWS WHERE WE ARE…
The person replied back.
NOT SECURE> CAN’T SAY> THEY ARE COMING…
Thane frowned and looked around. They had security, but not enough, being in the hospital was not secure, anyone could get in here. Shit, he needed to get West and himself out of there.
Chapter Eight
Brin held onto Marcus in the back seat of the truck as they drove from the airport. Something had gone terribly wrong apparently. Jessie and Grant had not told her everything. Instead, they had locked her in the room and placed guards outside of the door, then disappeared. Only to come back a few hours later and tell her the timeframe had been moved up. They needed to leave right away.
She knew better than to ask questions, so she had nodded and grabbed the bags she already had packed and walked out of the room. Everything had been loaded into the truck and she had left without even saying goodbye to Sassy as she had planned to.
They rode to the airport where a plane waited for them and once everything was loaded and they were on board, the plane took off. Before she knew it they were landing on what looked to be a private airstrip. And as quickly as they left one place, they were in another and she once again found herself and Marcus being loaded into a vehicle.
Now she was looking out the SUV
's window at the gorgeous view. For the first time in days, she felt safe. Jessie and Grant were at least more relaxed. “The house is right up here,” Jessie said and pointed.
“We are all staying there?” Brin’s asked, she was feeling a little anxious about meeting the others.
Jessie nodded. “For now, West and Thane landed a few hours before we did.”
She knew Jessie was worried about his friend. After hearing what happened, so was she. These men couldn’t handle losing another friend right now. Grant and Brin noticed how Jessie’s demeanor had changed since learning about West. She knew there was something bothering him, so did Grant but neither had been able to talk to him about it. Every time they brought it up, Jessie shook his head. So they left it alone, hoping that when he was with his teammates he would be able to talk about it.
As they pulled up to the huge house, Brin sucked in a breath. It was gorgeous. A circular three story house, with a 360-degree view and a porch that wrapped around the whole thing. The windows were from floor to ceiling as if the person who designed it wanted whomever was there to be able to see in every direction. The glass was tinted though, since there were no blinds that she could see, Brin assumed it was to keep the light at bay.
“Wow,” Grant said as they stepped out of the car, taking Marcus from her and holding him in his arms.
“Yeah,” Jessie said and laughed. “Alex’s family doesn’t do things small. There are three homes on this island. All like this. There is also some sort of rec center that has a gym, pool, and game room.”
“I think I have died and gone to heaven,” Brin said and closed her eyes and lifted her face to the sun. It was quiet, and she loved it.
“Jessie?” Someone said and Brin turned. Thane, her brother’s leader, was motioning them into the house. Jessie nodded and put an arm around her and led her inside. Grant followed and soon they were in a luxurious living room full of people. Brin recognized most of the men. They were her brother’s teammates but Jessie still introduced her.
“Hi,” Sable said and walked to her with her arms open. “Welcome to the hideout. Arden and Mason will be down shortly. They are finishing getting West settled. Thane and he arrived a few hours ago. We were so worried about everyone.”
Brin nodded and looked at Jessie whose jaw had hardened at the mention of the man who was wounded. “How is he?”
“Stable,” Thane said from behind her.
“Is there a doctor here as well?” Brin asked. She had already offered her services.
“Upstairs, he is leaving as soon as he meets you,” Thane admitted.
Brin nodded looked at Grant. “Can you take care of Marcus while I go and see what is going on?”
“Oh can I?” an older woman said who had been introduced as Lou a few moments ago.
Brin blushed and nodded. “Sure.”
Brin and Marcus settled into the very nice room they were shown. She could not believe how large the beds were in this place. When she had went to see West, she'd been surprised to find the man in the middle of such a large bed. Brin had to crawl in next to him to change bandages. He was placed like that because of the places he was shot, the doctor had West propped up on his side so not to put pressure on his hip or his back.
Arden and Mason were both worried, and Brin had tried to ease their worry by including them in the rundown the other doctor gave her. They talked about his pain levels and the wounds. Both Mason and Arden seemed appreciative for the distraction.
By the time Brin arrived back downstairs the men had gone into their meeting room, and the women were cooking. She pitched in and helped a little but Sable and Jolie insisted she sit and relax, telling her she needed to keep her strength up now. Brin loved Sammi, Jolie’s adoptive daughter. When she learned what happened with Marie and Ted, Brin had been shocked. She liked the couple, even though she had only met them once. Hearing what they had gone through made her sad. But seeing Sammi so happy, at least made up for it some.
Tulu and Bea had been more than helpful getting her settled. Although Tulu had ulterior motives.
“So Vince came with you, why?” Tulu said innocently.
Bea laughed and handed a sheet for the crib they were setting up. “T, you need to just come out and ask her what you want to know.” Tulu glared at her friend who continued, “What she is saying is. During one of her sessions with the boys, they told her that Vince seemed to be interested in her. Now she has it in her head that Vince is just lonely.”
Brin looked at the woman in surprise. “He is not lonely. Heck at the hotel he is so busy I am surprised he actually could leave. And during the baby shower, several of the older women in town were chatting him up.”
“The hell you say?” Tulu said angrily.
“Uh oh,” Bea said.
“Really? So if they were so important, he should have stayed there,” Tulu said with her hands on her hips. “And don’t you be sassing me.”
Brin looked around and frowned then looked at Bea, “Who is she talking to?”
Bea sighed. “The boys, they follow her around. You see, only one of them can talk to the TEAM at a time, 'cause it is too confusing, some kinda rules they have in the afterlife. Anyway, but Tulu can talk to all of them at the same time. She gets to going and it is hours of arguments. They want her to turn the TV channel so they can watch NCIS, and she has to make notes for Ted and Marie, you know to give to the babe. It is exhausting sometimes.”
Brin wanted to laugh but the woman was serious. Jessie had warned her that Tulu could speak to the spirits, but she thought it was just a joke. Apparently it wasn’t.
“No, I will not tell her that,” Tulu said and waved her hand. “If you want her to know then have Jessie tell her.”
Brin looked around, “Mark?”
“Yes, your stubborn ass brother is talking to me,” Tulu snorted.
“About what?” Brin asked.
Tulu sighed and looked around the room and appeared to listen. “Your son.”
“What about him? Jessie and Grant had our other sister and my parents placed under protective custody,” Brin said anxiously.
“He wants you to know how much it means that you named him Marcus,” Tulu said softly. “And he promises that this mess will get sorted out. In the meantime, he wants you to keep an open mind. He likes Grant and Jessie.”
Brin smiled and nodded. “I could feel you in the room when we named him. I know. And stay out of my private life,” Brin spoke as if she knew Mark was standing in the room and could hear her.
“Good job dear, tell him what is what, now enough with the yapping. I am hungry,” Tulu said and walked out of the room. Bea shook her head and followed, leaving Brin alone. She needed to regroup. Checking on Marcus to make sure he was still sleeping in the playpen set up in the corner, Brin smiled and sat down on the chair and looked out the window.
The men found Brin an hour later, but she was asleep, curled in the chair like a cat, with Marcus still asleep as if he knew his mom needed a rest.
“She looks tired,” Grant said.
“Yeah, maybe we should let her sleep. We have a bottle of breast milk Brin pumped this morning,” Jessie said.
“Uh…okay,” Grant said, shifting slightly on his feet.
“What?” Jessie asked frowning.
“I don’t know, seems a little weird talking out loud about breast milk,” Grant said. “I mean we haven’t even asked her out to dinner yet.”
Jessie laughed at him, “I think maybe we are past that.”
“Maybe, but every woman wants the romance, doesn’t she?” Grant whispered.
Jessie shrugged. “I guess we are doing this ass backwards.”
“I know there is shit going on, I mean we have to figure out what the fuck is going on. But I think we should court her.” Grant smiled.
“Dude, on a deserted island with no stores, how are we going to court her,” Jessie argued.
“Not everything has to be bought,” Grant said and smiled. “Tomorrow we
will start our campaign.”
“Hey, sweetheart, are you ready for our picnic on the beach?” Jessie asked from behind her.
She smiled. In the last few days, Jessie and Grant had begun what they called ‘courting’ her. They had taken her on walks on the beach, holding her hands as they took turns pushing Marcus in his stroller. Sometimes it was just one of them but mostly everything was done together. They explored the island, picked flowers for her, and asked her questions about her life. She was enjoying the attentiveness they besotted on her, but other than kisses on the cheek or touches as they passed by her, neither made a more assertive move toward her.
When she had caught on to what they were doing, she argued with them the silliness of it, but they insisted. Marcus was in the stroller and ready to go, so she turned around.
“Yes, I am.” She grinned.
“Good, Grant is getting the basket from Lou and we will be off.” Jessie smiled. She looked closely at him. The stress had taken its toll on all of them. The dark circles were finally beginning to fade. She hoped that meant Jessie was finally sleeping.
Grant whistled from the door and waved, “Move out.”
Brin shook her head but followed Jessie with the diaper bag as he grabbed the stroller. The island was like a gift from heaven. Since arriving, the temperatures had been perfect, the skies clear, and every day dawned with the knowledge that no one knew where they were.
“How was his night last night?” Jessie asked.
The men had helped her every night with Marcus. They insisted on making sure they had a receiver for the monitor she kept next to his bed. Last night, she assured them that she could handle it. Of course, she didn’t tell him the last week had been hard for her to have them come into her room every night and help her. They never wore shirts when they came in. Her arousal was driving her nuts.