“Make sure you play cards with her. She will like that,” I tell him and smother my glee at the thought of her fleecing him.
“Okay then, how about we get moving so we can get on the road? It’s a long drive back to the cabin, since we can’t use the helicopter.” Mickey stands up and stretches.
“I’m so glad you’re okay again.” I also stand and give my uncle another big hug. “It’s nice to see you up and around.”
He scoffs. “Please, I could have walked weeks ago, but I enjoyed Maeve’s sponge baths too much.”
I roll my eyes as he walks back into the house to take care of the gruesome task of cutting off hands.
Sage stands and pulls me into his arms. “Are you sure you’re okay?” he asks, and I shake my head.
“Not really. I got drunk this afternoon at Stacey’s bridal shower,” I confess, biting my lip.
“Oh? Well, I can’t say I blame you, because that would be enough to make anyone drink, let alone everything else that has happened.”
“I might have also accidentally been pinned between Tristan’s cock and Vienna’s mouth.” The words come out in a garbled mess, and he steps back and looks at me with his eyebrows raised. I feel a rush of panic. Did I fuck up? Is this where he will never forgive me and walk away?
“I’m going to need to hear more about that in explicit detail. Maybe a little reenactment.” My shoulders ease as the tension flows out of me. “Do you think it’s on the surveillance camera? I can hack into the feed at the mansion and watch it. God, I need some decent spank bank material. My right hand is starting to get carpal tunnel.”
I roll my eyes but tell him all the dirty details, as well as what happened in the elevator with Colton and what I heard from Tristan’s room. He groans and adjusts the front of his pants where his cock pushes firmly against the material.
“You get all the fun, but you didn’t mention X. No fun times with him yet?” he asks carefully.
I shake my head. “Things are still weird and awkward. Mario keeps insisting we need to fuck because he wants a Russo-Maricuso baby, which we both know is not going to happen, but it kind of makes it uncomfortable. Xavier is also being respectful, because he knows I still feel hurt and betrayed.”
“So what made you comfortable enough to enjoy the other three?”
“Alcohol,” I mutter, and he laughs.
“Yeah, you do tend to let your thoughts run away inside your head. Well, maybe you should take this home and enjoy it then jump his bones.” He holds out the bag of weed, but I shake my head.
“You keep it. I’ll grab more when I return.”
He heaves out a sigh of relief and clutches it to his chest. “Oh, thank God. I was trying to be all magnanimous and shit, but I need it now more than ever. Everyone in that house is getting their freak on, and unlike the mansion, the walls are thin. I need to bury my head in my pillow to drown out the sounds. I’ve taken to sleeping in the boathouse just to escape all the nauseating affection.”
“That shit needs to stop. There will be a child in the house. Make sure everyone knows. They can go down to the boathouse to get their freak on if they need to.”
“Aye, aye, Captain.” He salutes me before I grab his hand and tug him inside. “Look at you being all maternal. It’s fucking sexy.”
“It’s not maternal. I just don’t want the poor child scarred any more than she already is,” I tell him as we go to the front of the house and up the stairs to Addi’s bedroom.
The body in the foyer has been moved, and the blood is gone, so we don’t have to worry about her seeing that nightmare. Mickey must have started there. I must remember to thank him for his thoughtfulness. I assumed I was going to have toblindfold her, which probably would have caused even more trauma.
I gesture for Sage to stay put and enter the bedroom. I turn the light switch on so she isn’t terrified when she sees someone standing over her.
“Addi, time to get up,” I call, and she grumbles and rolls over. “Addi, we need to get out of here, but I need you to wake up so you can show me what you want to take with you.”
Another grumble, and she sits up, rubbing her eyes before blinking at me, then her mouth drops open. “Tori?” She looks around the room. “Where’s Macy? Why are you here?” She starts to wring her hands together, and her breathing gets choppy. “You need to go. They’ll hurt you if they know you’re here.”
Aww, what a sweet baby. She’s worried about me. I wave Sage forward. “This is my friend Sage, and you don’t have to worry about anyone hurting you or me ever again. He’s going to help you pack a bag and take you to stay with him while I help your parents with a few things.”
Sage waves at her, and even though she’s four, she isn’t immune to a pretty face. She blushes and waves back shyly before what I said registers.
“We’re leaving? And I can see my mom and dads?” She sounds almost disbelieving. I wonder if they used that promise on her before they reneged. I also find it interesting that she refers to them as her dads plural.
“Not straight away, but soon, yes. They can’t wait to see you, but you’re going to have to be a little more patient. Sage and my uncle Mickey, who is downstairs taking out some trash, will look after you. They are going to take you to my family cabin, and if you ask him nicely, Mickey will teach you to fish in the lake.”
Her eyes widen comically. “Can I swim?”
