“Just a second, Barrett,” he answered, putting his pants back on. Okay. We were covered. I didn’t mind Barrett seeing me that way, but it was nice of Phoenix to think of it. Barrett came in and sat on the end of the bed.
“Is this a precedent? We nap in our individual rooms?” He smiled at us. “It’s a good idea, actually.”
Phoenix yawned. “Thanks.”
“What’s the matter?” There was a heaviness to Barrett that I hadn’t seen earlier.
He held out his phone so Barrett and I could see. It was an unknown number. I didn’t even recognize the area code. A text was visible.She’s better now. Take her home and leave. Before something bad happens to your family. Again.
I gasped, but Phoenix didn’t. He stared at it, hard, and then looked up at his brother. “You got this an hour ago?”
“We thought it best not to wake you until you were up. Both of you are recovering. Dads know. Eric wants to load us all up and leave. Like maybe leave the country. But Kit says that’s a bad idea. We can’t be run out of town by some text message. Except of course because of what happened to you, Brother.”
Phoenix shook his head. “We don’t even know that it’s the same person. It might very well be someone just pressing on a sensitive spot they know we have. But give it to me. I can try to track it. Maybe I can. Tell the parents I’m skipping dinner to do that.”
“No.” I usually just let them make decisions. But I didn’t like that. “Come with us. This is bigger than you’re making it, and I want you with us tonight. So you remember that we love you and you’re not alone.”
Phoenix stared at me. “I love you. Okay. I’ll do that.”
Later he could find this person. Later tonight.
9
Dinner was subdued, and all of the beautiful endorphins I’d gotten from my moments with Phoenix and my nap were gone. One thing that was particularly obvious was that their fathers and mother were fighting. Oh not that they were fighting with Rosalind. She actually seemed to be the only one not fighting, but their fathers were fighting and Rosalind was sometimes joining in and sometimes keeping her back to everyone, singing to herself in the kitchen.
Eric slammed down his soda onto the table as we ate the pretty good barbecue shrimp. I’d never had it before, and I particularly liked the buttery taste that I hadn’t expected. Not that I was particularly interested in food right that second.
He glared at Kit. “We need to go. End of story. Safety comes before anything else. We’re rich. Very, very rich. What more do we need in this life? I need Rosalind and the kids to be fine. That’s what I need. What do you need? More wins in court?”
Kit slammed his hand down. “Fuck you for saying that to me. Fine. You want to leave here? We’ll leave. We’ll go back to New York and put guards on them. Like we should have done years ago.”
My guys were tense but clearly not afraid because Julian looked up. “Alatheia can’t go back to New York. Not until her family is dealt with.”
I shook my head. “It doesn’t follow that I have to be the reason for anything happening or not happening.”
“It does.” Phoenix shook his head. “It absolutely does.”
Rosalind sighed. “We’re not going anywhere. The kids need the doctors here. Frankly, after this, I might too. We’re staying.”
All of them stared at her. Wow. She had just… told them how it was going to be. Eric stood and walked from the room, Rosalind’s gaze chasing him, but she made no moves to follow him.
The front door opened, and we all turned to look. For a second I couldn’t believe what I saw. Being wheeled inside in a wheelchair was Dina. I wasn’t alone in jumping to my feet. The woman who pushed her was new to me; she was an older woman with brown hair and brown eyes. She gave the room a kind smile.
Dina waved her very frail looking arm. “Hello, darlings.”
“Mom.” Stephen walked around the table. “We weren’t expecting you until tomorrow. We would have met you at the airport.”
She smiled at him when she took his hand. “Why waste a day when what I want is to be here?”
“Granny.” Jules rushed to her side. “What’s going on? Why are you in this wheelchair?”
We were all around her then, but I hung back. They were her family. Dina sighed loudly. I looked around. Eric came back into the room.
“How was the flight, Mom?” He kissed her on the cheek. “You must be exhausted. Come in. Are you hungry?
It was clear to me what had to be clear to my guys—their parents were not as surprised by how Dina looked as they were.But the “how long had they known she wasn’t okay” discussion could happen another time. The Lents did like their secrets.
“I know, my darlings. This is a shock, but I asked them not to tell you while Alatheia was missing unless there was no other choice. Oh, there you are, Alatheia, come here.”
