Darkness Falls (The Darkness Duet #2)

Chapter 49

Kyler

L ast night was beyond words. Watching her writhe under the three of us, begging for more, was the most gorgeous thing I’ve ever seen. We took her multiple times in countless positions, stopping for some food and rehydrating in between, but I swear, no time with her will ever be enough. She is hands down the best thing to come into our lives, no matter what the circumstances were.

After waking up and having breakfast, we decided to come over to the house Natasha is staying in to spend some time together as well as take the opportunity to talk to her about the women and children of Rogue. Callie promised them she would return to Mary’s farm when she could, and I think making the trip sooner rather than later would be good for everyone.

Today, we want to see how Natasha feels about setting up a foundation funded by Gabriel's offshore accounts. Barrett was able to gain access fairly quickly, and there is more than enough to utilize. We could find them new homes as well if they want anonymity from the government. They are more than welcome to continue living their current lives with a steady flow of income that we plan to place in an account for them monthly if they prefer.

Word has already begun to spread about some of the more prominent men who have gone missing. The compound has been plastered all over the news, and people don’t exactly know what to make of it yet. We’re running out of time.

Callie thinks we should buy a large enough property near us in Braxton Falls for her mother to run things from. It would be a central place for anyone affected by cults to use as a resource to escape with no questions asked. This all depends on whether or not Natasha is interested in running it. I'm sure if she isn't, Callie will do it herself until she finds someone suitable for the job.

I glance down at the pool to see her happy and smiling, and it makes my heart so fucking full. It’s been a long time since we’ve had a relaxing pool day as a group.

"What the fuck?" Barrett says as she splashes him in the face with the water and giggles. "You're going to pay for that, princess."

He swims to her as fast as he can, but she’s quicker, and she desperately tries to swim away from him to avoid his wrath. "KY!" she yells, and I shake my head.

"You got yourself into that mess, wanderer. You have to deal with the consequences." I smile down at her, debating on whether or not I want to get back in.

Sebastian and Natasha are sitting on the far end of the pool, perched along the edge with their feet in the water. They seem to be deep in conversation, which is good for Seb. He's come out of his shell so much more now that he and Callie connected. He deserves to finally be happy like the rest of us. The fact that she was able to help him get there makes it that much better.

"KY, PLEASE!" she cries out with a giggle as Barrett closes in on her.

Seeing my family so happy and carefree is everything. "If I get in that water, I'll be helping him, not you," I tease.

Barrett wraps his arm around her stomach and pulls her back to his chest as she screams and kicks her feet. He leans down and peppers kisses all over the side of her face, tricking her into relaxing into his hold before he bites down on her neck. Although she cries out, I can tell she's resisting the urge to moan at the same time. Our dirty girl.

"I'm going to go get the food going. It should be ready in about ten minutes," I say as I watch Callie turn into Barrett’s hold and wrap her arms around his neck.

"Yeah, we'll be there," Barrett says with his entire focus on her.

I shake my head, thinking back to when we first brought her here. These fuckers told me I was her little lap dog and that she had me on a leash. Looks like we're all leashed and collared by our girl now.

When I walk past Seb and Natasha, they follow me inside, most likely wanting to give Barrett and Callie a moment to themselves. The three of us make quick work preparing dinner, getting the burgers and sauteed veggies cooking. It's a fairly simple dinner tonight, but Seb's burgers are better than any gourmet restaurant.

As Natasha is setting the table, Callie and Barrett saunter inside, holding hands and whispering to each other. She locks eyes with me and runs over to where I am standing, wrapping her arms around my waist.

"You were supposed to come save me," she teases.

"Last I checked, you weren't the kind of woman who needs saving, wanderer." I lean in and kiss her cheek tenderly.

"Maybe I wanted to pretend to be a damsel in distress so you can rescue me."

"I like the idea of you being in distress and at our mercy." A sly grin spreads across my face. "Maybe we can throw you back in that cell for a night or two and do some role-playing," I say, only half joking.

"Only if I can watch." Barrett laughs from the other side of the room, and she turns the brightest shade of red. It's cute how even the simplest words still affect her, especially after last night.

"Enough, you three; we have important things to discuss with Natasha," Seb interrupts, and I think we all roll our eyes at him at the same time.

"You need to take him to bed. He's being grumpy again. Have your way with him and cheer him up," I tell Callie, and she slaps my arm.

"Stop it, my mom's here!"

"LeeLee, I can leave the room if you all need a moment."

"Oh my god!" she exclaims, and everyone laughs .

It feels good to have a normal, playful banter between all of us without some sort of darkness looming on the horizon. Although we have some serious discussions planned for the dinner table tonight, none of them involve our sex lives with Callie.

"Nope, we're done talking about my personal life. Momma, we need to talk to you about the women and children of Rouge."

Natasha's eyebrows furrow, and instantly, the playfulness of the room changes its tone. She straightens her back in her seat, expecting to hear some sort of bad news. We did tell her we blew up the compound, but we only spoke of the men. I'm not sure if she considered what happened to the rest of the society.

"Are they—" she whispers, not able to finish the sentence.

"We aren't that cruel, Momma. That would make us no better than Father and the rest of the men with Rogue. The women and children are all safe and have been staying at Mary Mayweather's farm."

I don't miss the way Natasha lets out an exhale, allowing her body to relax over the news. She cares about them, and I don't blame her. A lot of these women only had each other to talk to, based on what Callie told me.

"Callie spoke with them and let them know their husbands are all dead. They were surprisingly understanding about the whole ordeal," I interject.

"Of course they were understanding. I'm sure most of them spent their entire lives feeling like nothing. Rogue wasn’t kind to us, no matter how hard we tried to pretend it was. The men were raised to believe a woman's place is by his side, and there were so many who were treated even worse than Callie and I were. We all knew not to talk about it because if word got back to our husbands..." she trails off and shakes her head before taking a bite of her food.

"Momma, I know you've been wanting to find something to devote your time to. What if you led them?"

"Me?"

"Well, yes, you. They trust you. You were married to their leader for such a long time, and they feel comfortable around you."

"I don't know, Callie. I just got free from that life."

"If I may interrupt." I cautiously look between them. "We aren't suggesting you give them rules or tell them how they should live. Only that, maybe, we could have a place for them to come to if they need help. We are thinking of a broad spectrum here. What if it wasn't only limited to the people affected by Rogue? What if you had a place where anyone who feels like they need to escape can go?" I give her a moment to soak in the words because I truly think she is the perfect person to fill the position.

“That does sound like something that the world would benefit from,” Natasha says, thoughts clearly spinning in her mind.

"We would set it up with the money father had hidden away, so it’s already fully financed. Anyone who was part of Rogue can receive support by name or anonymously, with no questions asked. We could even build housing just off of the main location for those needing somewhere temporary to stay."

"That is a wonderful idea LeeLee." Natasha smiles and nods. "I would love to be part of something like that. That is work that I would be proud to assist with."

"It would be mostly you, though, Momma. I don't mind helping when needed, but I don't want to be the face of this," Callie admits.

“That is why you were asking if I wanted to lead it? I don’t know if I can be that person. I can barely keep myself in check some days.”

“It’s valid for you to feel like that, but you’re so much stronger than you know. The women of Rogue were all in agreement that you would be the perfect person to lean on. What if you just give it a chance, and if you don’t like it, we could find someone else?” Callie suggests.

“I think I could do that. Where exactly would we be setting all of this up? Certainly it wouldn’t make sense to be here with everyone at Mary’s farm.”

Everyone drifts off in silence for a few minutes to eat and mull over their thoughts. I wait quietly for someone to suggest the cabin because why not? It’s vacant, private, and close to where the women already are if they don’t want to stray far from Tennessee.

“I found a folder on Gabriel’s flash drive with a list of nearly one hundred properties scattered across the country. I haven’t had time to go through all of them yet, but we could use one of these places. It seems Gabriel was buying them up to potentially expand Rogue,” Barrett says.

“Does he have any that are close to Rogue?” Callie asks.

“Yeah, there were a few. I believe he was keeping you in them when you weren’t on the compound.” Barrett gives her a half smile.

“Where did you find this flash drive?” Natasha asks.

"There is a cabin not far from Rogue. We found the coordinates inside Gabriel's notebook. He used it to house blackmail on everyone Rogue crossed paths with and kept it under guard. I think it would be the perfect place to get the foundation started. We would just need to move the files elsewhere," I suggest.

"How far is it from Rogue, exactly?" She questions, clearly intrigued by the cabin.

"It's close, just north of it," Barrett says, pulling out his phone to show her the approximate location. Natasha closes her eyes and takes a deep breath.

"If we're talking about the same cabin, it belonged to my parents. When I married Gabriel, he told me he sold it. He said I didn’t need it any longer since our lives were on the compound. I never considered the possibility of him using it for other things. I was young and impressionable and took him at his word. If that cabin is still around, I would love to see it again. It would be the perfect place to start the foundation." Her eyes light up, and Callie smiles at her.

“We could always use the other houses as safe places for people who are not in the Tennessee area to go,” Callie suggests .

“I think that’s a perfect idea, wanderer.”

“So we’re going back to Tennessee?” she suggests, waiting to see what her mother says.

“Yes, we are. This could be the start of something I think I could really be proud of. Thank you for considering me,” Natasha beams.

"You’re the perfect fit, Momma. You’re kind and caring, and you always try to do the right thing.”

“I’ve failed in that respect, but I appreciate you saying otherwise.” Natasha’s eyes fall to her plate for a moment.

“You did the best you could with the cards you were given.” Callie smiles at her.

“We would need a name," Seb speaks up finally, and all of our eyes land on Natasha.

"The Maxton Foundation," she states plainly, and it fits better than anything the rest of us could have thought of.

"It's perfect," Callie whispers as she walks over to give her mother a hug before sitting down next to me again.

"We should get back there as soon as possible to settle things, tomorrow ideally. You can speak with the women on the farm, and they will let us know how they would like to move forward with things," I say, and Natasha nods.

"There is one other thing I need to tell you," Callie says nervously.

I wasn't sure if she was going to tell her mother the news about Avery being her sister or not since it's all still so fresh. I guess this is my answer. The only thing that matters is that Callie feels confident enough to get this off of her chest. Hopefully, it won't change the dynamic of her relationship with her mother. Natasha doesn't seem like the type to feel insecure about something like this, but you never know.

"I'm all ears," her mother replies, listening intently.

"Avery..." Callie sighs. "Avery is my sister."

Natasha gasps. "How is that possible?"

"The short version is that the Stones didn't die in the house fire. They thought I had died, so they changed their names and started over. They had Avery and kept Rogue a secret from her until they were killed by Damien. They revealed their real identities in a letter and gave her a box with Rogue’s symbol on it."

"Oh honey, I'm so sorry. If I had known they were still alive, I would have found a way to get you to them. I would have gotten you away from Gabriel and Rogue and all of this mess." Tears fall down her face, and her eyes are full of pain and regret.

"To the world, they were dead, Momma. There’s no way you could have known. Besides, I'm glad you kept me. You’re an amazing mom, regardless of all the other factors. You did the best that you could, and I’m not upset with you. I love you."

"Thank you for saying that, LeeLee. I love you too," Natasha chokes out.

"I just wanted you to know about Avery because we agreed there wouldn't be any secrets going forward. She will most likely start spending a lot more time with us since her parents aren't around anymore. I don't want her to feel alone, and I don't want you to be caught off guard if I refer to her as my sister."

"You don't need to explain any further. I love that the two of you are going to spend more time together. I think it's good for both of you."

"It doesn't mean I plan on spending less time with you though. I just got you back," Callie tells her.

"Any time you want to spend together, I will gladly take." Natasha smiles and continues eating her food.

We all fall into a hushed silence for the rest of dinner now that everything is out on the table. Tomorrow, we will go back and help the survivors of Rogue move forward.

When we finish eating, Barrett takes the plates into the kitchen to do the dishes, and I catch Callie giggling and whispering with her mother. The two of them are talking about ideas for the foundation, and it seems like Natasha is genuinely excited to get things started. It’s something she can be passionate about and call her own.

I hate the idea of interrupting the evening, but we really should get back home to prep for the drive tomorrow. I also want to get my hands on my wanderer. "We should head home. Tomorrow is going to be a long day, and I think we could all use the rest before the trip. I'm not sure how long our stay will be, but anything you don't pack, we can buy while we're there," I suggest to Natasha.

"Yeah, we should be getting back," Barrett agrees, his eyes landing on Callie. If he thinks he’s getting her in his bed tonight, he's sorely mistaken.

Callie gives her mother another big hug, whispering something to her that I’m not able to hear. It makes both of them cry, and they squeeze each other tighter before Callie releases her and walks over to me to slip her hand in mine.

"Let's go home." She smiles, and with that, we all funnel out of the house and into the car.