Chapter 12
Chapter Twelve
Ripley (Ripper)
As much as people would assume I enjoy dragging beautiful women to my house, I don't. Especially not when she's begging me to tell her where her car is so she can, and I quote, get the FUCK out of here.
Koa laughed at that one while I just continued pulling her down the path to the small neighborhood family homes we built. The main reason I didn't give in to her half-assed pleading was that at no point did she actually try to yank her hand out of mine.
She walked willingly, even though her mouth was spouting off.
With her head held high and eyes sharp as daggers, Cassie doesn't even glance around our main level. I would be a bit offended by how unaffected she's behaving, but I'm close enough to hear her gasp as we walk through our front door.
The way her whole body sags like our home is the comforting hug she needs gives my possessive side something to hold on to. She loves our house even if she's sticking her nose up at me across the island.
"Maybe you should feed her," Koa mumbles beside me as he hastily gathers our dishes from breakfast. He's panicking, wanting her first time here to be perfect.
His suggestion gives me something to think about. Does she feel like she needs permission to eat? What's ours is hers, or is that not clear? "Are you hungry, Kitty?"
"Why do you call me that?" Cassie asks, still poised like a proper lady on our island stool. The corset spilling her cleavage out negates the prim look, though.
This is maybe one of the times I wish I wasn't so fucked in the head. "Because I can."
Huffing, my woman shifts her attention to Koa. "Maybe you can be a bit more realistic, Koa, and let me leave? Maddox doesn't want me here, and I don't know what the hell you guys are thinking, acting like we're a done deal."
"I'll make you some pizza rolls," Koa replies.
For a wonderful moment, her eyes light up before shuttering again. How long will it take for her light to always shine around us?
The second crack in her pissy demeanor is the slight shift in her seat. If I weren't studying her every twitch, I might have missed it. "May I use a bathroom, please?"
"Why?"
Koa sighs and slaps a hand on my shoulder. "Rip, you don't ask questions like that."
Rolling my eyes, I uncross my arms and plant my hands on the counter. With my eyes locked on Cassie's, I respond with a thick rumble in my throat. "She could be using it as an excuse to flee. Or maybe she's hurt and needs to stop the bleeding. Are you hurt, Pet? I'll kill whoever touched you."
As I continue my taunting ramble, a real fear blooms. Who hurt her? When? How did I not know? I'll slice the toes off them and—
"Oh my god, calm down!" Cassie's exasperation snaps me out of my fear-induced murder plans. "I need to pee."
Studying her expression, I look for the light in her bright blue eyes. Her plump red lips are parted ever so slightly, and her shoulders wiggle with the rest of her. "Are you sure?" I ask, leaning in even further.
Cursing me under her breath, my fiery Cassie rolls her eyes and hops off the stool. "Yes, you overbearing man. I drank a bottle of lemonade on the way here, then was dragged around and told what to do for who knows how long. Where's the bathroom?"
I don't like the sound of that. "Lemonade has a lot of sugar. You need water."
"Koa!" she growls, turning away from me with a wild look in her eyes.
My partner laughs and points down the hall. "Second door on the left. And we will know in under ten seconds if you step outside."
She stomps away, mumbling about being a prisoner and this being a very cozy jail cell. I have half a mind to chase after her and demand to know how she knows what a jail looks like.
"Would a blow job make you less manic around her?"
Turning, I raise my brows at Koa. "What did I do? You know lemonade is bad for her. Plus, who the fuck knows what she's going to do in the bathroom."
"What exactly do you think she's going to do with a toilet and a sink, Ripley?" Koa sounds like he's teetering between frustration and amusement. "Once she lives here, you can control her water intake, but you can't be upset because she had lemonade before arriving."
"I can be upset about whatever I want," I snap back.
Another voice chimes in, letting me know Parker got home before us because I didn't hear the front door open or close. "Does that mean I can be pissed she's in our fucking house? Whose grand idea was it to bring her to the only place we can really be ourselves?"
Shit. We've taken away the only place he can rest and be who he truly is at heart—a man who loves and cares so deeply it fucking terrifies him.
Parker lives in constant fear of his loved ones being taken from him. It happened to his dad. Parker's mom was kidnapped before we were all born, and while she was rescued after a few weeks, it took a toll on his dad. Then they lost her other husband, my uncle, a few years ago.
It's a whole chaotic mess of loss, trauma, and loving people so much it hurts. Now, we've brought the woman Parker loves deep into his life; there's no telling how he will push and push just to not feel a thing.
At our silence, Parker clenches his jaw and continues.
"Well, you're lucky Mads declared she stays on the compound for the foreseeable future.
Now that Victor's seen her face, and no doubt noticed the way you three love-sick fools took possession of her, she's in even more danger if she's out there on her own. "
With that, he stomps off like a broken man ready to rip his beating heart out of his chest so he doesn't get hurt. I wish he didn't always assume love led to pain. He's given us his trust and love. How long will it take for him to admit his feelings for Cassie too?
Sighing, I place my elbows on the cool countertop and press my forehead into the marble next. "Fuck."
Koa places a hand on my lower back and agrees. "Yep."
I have no clue what the hell is going to happen, but it's going to be a rough ride if three of us are adamantly refusing the situation.