Chapter 61
It turned out that it was a lot harder than he’d imagined.
Of course, his helper did get a bit carried away. If North had been allowed to follow the recipe, he was certain the baking would have come out fine.
“Hmm, great at everything you do, huh?” Jared said with a smirk as they all stared down at the flat, slightly crispy cake.
“I’m not sure where we went wrong,” North said.
Angie, who was perched on a seat at the counter, beamed. “I’m sure it will taste good, Northie.”
Jared eyed her. “Did you get any flour into the mixture? Maybe that’s where you went wrong.”
Hmm. He could have a point. Angie was basically covered head-to-toe in flour. There was also flour all over the floor, the counter, and his shirt.
Shit.
He couldn’t remember the last time he’d gotten a mess on his shirt like this. He was always immaculate.
Grabbing a towel, North tried to clean himself up. But the mess just seemed to spread.
“I never knew baking was so messy,” he said as he attempted to clean himself and the kitchen simultaneously.
“I think it was fun!” Angie cried. “I want to bake something else.”
“Absolutely not,” North replied. “Look at this place. Look at you. Look at me.”
“Oh. I’m sorry, Northie. You’re right.” Her face fell and he felt like the biggest asshole in the world.
He glanced over at Jared, hoping he’d know how to fix this. Because he hadn’t meant to upset her. But Jared just shrugged.
Great.
Some help he was.
“We can bake some more,” he told her.
“No, no, you’re right. It made a mess.”
“There’s nothing wrong with making a mess,” he told her.
“You hate mess,” she told him.
“You really do,” Jared said. “Although you should learn to like it.”
“There’s nothing wrong with making a mess, Northie. Except the fact that you have to clean it up.”
“Yes, I know that. I just prefer things tidy.” He turned to place some bowls in the sink. “However, I’m sure we can bake neatly and cleanly if we stick to the recipe—argh!”
As he turned back to face Angie, he got a handful of flour right in his face.
Holy. Fuck.
What the hell?
“What do you think you are doing?” he gritted out as she burst into laughter.
That. Brat.
He used the towel to wipe his face as he stared at Angie. She was bent over, tears streaming down her face as she laughed.
And beside her, Jared was staring down at her with a strange smile on his face.
He looked younger, softer.
And North paused for a moment. Their girl was laughing like she didn’t have a worry in the world.
She was carefree. Happy. Safe.
Which he always wanted her to be. So he secretly scooped up a handful of flour and flung it at Jared. Some of it landed on her but most of it hit the side of his face.
Jared slowly turned and North smirked at him. Shock filled Jared’s face. Then he grinned back.
“Oh, it is on.”
Angie didn’t think that she’d laughed so hard in her life.
Jared had sat her safely down at the table so she didn’t get hurt. But watching her two men engage in a food fight was utterly hilarious.
Of course, by the time they finished, Jared had North in a headlock and was grinding his cock against the other man’s ass while he bent him over the kitchen counter.
Hot.
Freaking hot.
The kitchen was a disaster, though.
“It’s going to take you guys a long time to clean all this mess up. And we still haven’t baked a proper cake for the tea party.”
Both men shot their gazes to her and straightened.
“It’s going to take us a long time?” North drawled. “You participated in this. In fact, some might say you started it. So perhaps you should be the one cleaning up the mess.”
“I can’t. I’m too Little.”
Jared folded his arms over his chest. “Little girls need to clean up after themselves.”
She let her lower lip drop out on a pout. “But I’m injured, too.”
Jared and North shared a look.
“I’ll clean it,” North said.
Jared nodded. “I’ll help.”
North raised an eyebrow. “Since when does the boss help with clean-up?”
Jared shrugged. “I’ll expect payment later.” His phone started ringing before they could begin cleaning.
And she did intend to help, she had just been pretending.
He frowned as he glanced at the screen. “Zander? What is it? What are you talking about?” Jared moved to pick up the TV remote. He turned on the TV mounted to the wall, flicking through the channels.
Angie gasped as the news reporter started to speak.
“Two bodies have been found buried in a forest near Stugley, Wyoming,” the reporter said. “Police are not speculating about the identity yet, but it is believed that they could be the bodies of two women that have gone missing recently.”
Several photos came up. There were two women missing near where she’d lived?
All of them blonde. All of them small.
And all of them looked like . . . her
“One piece of information that we have discovered is that the bodies were not intact. The heads were found first, buried separately.”
“Fucking hell,” Jared said.
“I’m going to be sick!” she cried.
North scooped her up, carrying her into the bathroom off Jared’s office. He set her down on her feet and held her gently around her middle as she vomited.
The stitches on her side pulled and her stomach screamed in pain as she vomited. But she couldn’t stop. With his other hand, he held back her hair.
“N-north,” she said, teeth chattering as she finished.
He flushed the toilet, closing the lid then turning her so she sat on it.
“I know. I know,” he said as he wet a cloth and wiped her face.
“Those women . . . they were beheaded. Like Rex. Like Antony.”
“I know they were, Angel,” he soothed. “I know.”
“Is that . . . is that field where they were found? Is it close to where I was living?”
“It is,” Jared said grimly from the doorway. “Are you all right, baby?”
She shook her head, sobbing. “Those women looked like me! And they were beheaded.”
“Yes,” Jared said. “And if there is a connection, then it seems that the person who killed Rex and Antony may not have been after me. The threat may have been toward you. I’ve just been talking to Zander and he thinks the same.
I promised to call him back as soon as you’re feeling well enough to talk. ”
She was shaking. Cold and numb.
In shock.
Pull yourself together.
“You don’t have to talk yet,” North told her, grabbing hold of her hands. “You’re in shock. Jared, she needs a drink and to brush her teeth. And a blanket.”
North picked her up and placed her on the counter as Jared left. He grabbed a toothbrush and helped her clean her teeth before Jared returned with a blanket.
North wrapped her up tight in the blanket and lifted her, holding her against his chest. Immediately, she started to feel better.
“You’re getting good at settling her down,” Jared commented.
“She needs her pacifier and whales,” North replied briskly. “You take her while I run up and get them.”
Jared cradled her in his arms, walking into his office to sit on the sofa with her.
“Is your side all right, baby girl? You aren’t too sore?” he asked in concern.
It was throbbing but she didn’t feel like talking right now.
Two women were beheaded.
Small, blonde women like her.
Was this . . . did this have something to do with her? Is that why Antony and Rex had been murdered?
Because of her?
“All right, we’ll just sit for a moment.” Jared shifted his weight so he could grab his phone from his pocket and then he set it down next to him.
She eyed it.
Zander was waiting for her to call. Keira had to be freaking out over all of this.
Pull yourself together.
But she couldn’t. She was shaking. Upset. Her breathing was too fast and so was her heartbeat.
North returned with her pacifier. He crouched next to her, holding it up to her mouth.
She didn’t want it. She didn’t want anything.
“Suck on it for a moment, baby,” Jared urged. “It might help you calm down.” Wally and Lina were placed on her lap. She’d cuddle them but she was wrapped up too tight.
“I’ve got her heated blanket as well. We’ll swap the blanket out.”
North had bought her the most amazing blanket that actually heated up. They managed to switch her around without jostling her too much and then Jared sat with her again while the two of them quietly talked.
She simply closed her eyes and shut the world out for a while.
It was too much
It was all too much.
And she just needed to drift.
Jared leaned down and kissed the top of Angie’s head. He was holding himself tightly, trying to control the anger flooding him.
“This person was after her all along.” North shook his head. “Who is it? How did they know she was here? And why kill Rex and Antony?”
Jared shook his head. He didn’t have any answers. He just hoped that Angie might.
North scowled as he studied his laptop. The other man’s tight control seemed shaken as well. He was still wearing his filthy clothes. They all were.
The messy state they were in was nothing compared to the chaos in his mind.
“Did Zander have any idea what this was about?” North asked.
“No. I need to message him,” Jared said, reaching for his phone.
“Call him,” she whispered.
“What?” Jared asked, staring down at her.
She’d pushed the pacifier out of her mouth and was now shifting around. “Help me out of the blankets.”
North set his laptop down and reached over to free her.
She let out a deep breath and moved to sit next to Jared. He frowned, not liking that. He preferred to have her on his lap. Where he could take care of her.
He had to keep her close, make sure she was safe.
Was some maniac trying to murder her?
Fuck. Fuck!
“Please call him. I’m okay,” she said. “I can do this.”
“Do you have any idea what this is about? Who this could be?” North asked.
She shook her head, frowning. “I don’t . . . I don’t know.”
Shit.
Jared called Zander, putting him on speaker phone.
“About time,” the other man said, answering the call. “I’ve been waiting for-fucking-ever for you to call back.”
“Sorry, Zander,” Angie said in a croaky voice. “My fault. Had to vomit.”