Chapter 40
Chapter
Forty
Dimitri
We walk into the Mastodon lobby like a team of warriors minutes into battle, knowing reinforcements are on the way if need be. There’s one desk in the center of the room, and two women sit behind it.
Waverly is biting on a pen, her hair pulled off her face in a ponytail and her attention glued to a screen. She pulls out a chair next to her without taking her eyes off the computer. Penny pushes her way forward and takes her place next to Waverly.
Penny smiles at Alana who is at the far end of the reception desk. “Oh, your dress IS cute. It’s one of those corset ones.” Waverly shoots Penny a side glance and a warning, which goes unnoticed. “My algorithm got you, didn’t it?” the heiress continues. “It’s super cute on you. I like the polka dots.”
Even in the echoes of the lobby, Alana’s voice rings out, “Those aren’t polka dots.”
Penny stiffens and opens her laptop. “Oh.”
Alana leans back in her chair, twirling a pencil between her fingers. Her gaze could freeze a penguin. “I was supposed to get coffee with someone.”
Donny seems even worse now than he did on the ride over. He’s pale and keeps bending over. Right now, his hands are on his knees, and he’s taking a few deep breaths. “Oh shit. Did you like this guy?”
Alana remains emotionless. “I didn’t find him repulsive.”
“Can you reschedule?”
She shakes her head. “No. I’ve blown him off six times now. That was my last shot.”
Donny hobbles over to the wall and leans against it. He scrubs his face and addresses Alana. “So you’re pissed, your dress was ruined, and you lost a date with a guy you liked. Fuck, how can this day get any worse?”
“Lots of ways,” I mumble. “Where are the kids?”
Before I can get an answer, more people show up. It’s Katya and her team, but behind them are Izzy and Lance, who push their way to the front.
“Why the fuck did I get a text message from Phoenix saying, ‘Is everything okay? The kids aren’t here,’ followed by a second text message from Alana stating, ‘I’m on it’?” Lance’s voice roars.
Lance doesn’t get angry. I’ve seen him annoyed and even scared, but not pissed. It would be funny if I wasn’t doing everything in my power to keep from shitting myself.
Donny squeaks, “I thought you were on your trip.”
“Well, we’re not!” Izzy snaps, storming over to her brother. “One job, Donny. You had one fucking job.”
He slides to the ground and curls his knees into his chest. “Please don’t yell at me.” What the hell is happening in his brain? “I’m having a bad day.”
Izzy punches him in the arm. “You’re having a bad day? What about my son’s fucking day!”
Lance slams his hands on the desk. “Where are the kids?” The computer screens rattle, and a cup of pens tips over, scattering its contents everywhere.
Alana watches the rolling pens and then looks back up at her friend. She points over her shoulder. “The kids are in the back, eating ice cream, coloring, and watching that movie about Bruno with the all-in-Spanish song about two caterpillars who fall in love. Even though their future involves change, they need to move forward and will still love each other no matter what forms they take.” Alana blinks at Lance, who is as confused as I am. “It’s the one about the magic house.”
“That’s what ‘Dos Oruguitas’ is about?” Donny’s voice breaks, and his chin quivers. “That’s the saddest and most beautiful thing I’ve ever heard.” Whatever emotional resolve he had has vanished, and he’s straight-up crying on the floor.
Alana exhales. “You don’t speak Spanish?”
Izzy frowns and lifts her shoulders. “We only learned the curse words in each other’s home languages.”
Lance moves behind the desk to go in the back, but when Alana stands, he freezes. “You’re not going back there looking like that.” She motions with her finger. “Your shirt is buttoned wrong, and you’ve got icing in your hair.” Lance blushes and fumbles with his shirt. His boss appears unimpressed.
He coughs into his hand. “Um, we got distracted and hadn’t left for our trip yet.”
“Well, make sure you chill the fuck out before you talk to Drew and the other kids. Thiago is back there. And the doctor already checked them out.” The door behind her opens. “I’ll be back there in a few minutes.”
Her eyes drift to Katya and her team. I’m not sure if it’s a warning glare like ‘Stay the fuck where you are’ or if it’s ‘Oh I just noticed you’re here.’ Of course, it could be one of her ‘stay quiet and let me do my job’ glances. I’ve seen that one before.
Hadeon is flanked by his dogs, and with a word in Greek, they go scattering off down the hallway to the kids. This is my cue to leave. And then it hits me, only the men are running to get the children—the women still have work to do.
Hadeon, Lance, Duncan, and I jog until we hear music. We slow when Thiago steps from a room and puts a finger to his lips. From the hall, we can hear the kids talking.
Maria: “How come Ian was the only one who got hurt?”
Drew: “He probably said something to deserve it.”
Shae (loud and outraged): “That’s so mean! You’ve been a jerk to him for the last two weeks!”
Ian: “Whatever, it’s fine.”
Shae: “No, it’s not!”
There’s a long pause before Drew finally speaks.
Drew: “You called him Uncle Lance.”
Next to me, Lance gasps.
Drew continues: “You can’t have him. He’s mine. He sleeps at my house, he wakes me up in the morning, he helps me with MY homework. I waited my whole life for him, and you can’t steal him.”
Lance’s eyes water as he glances up at the ceiling. He’s taking deep breaths, trying to maintain his composure. I pat him on the shoulder and whisper, “Being a dad is hard. I feel like sitcoms lied to me.”
Drew continues: “Besides, you’ve got a perfectly good uncle.”
Ian: “He’s not my uncle, he’s my father.”
All the men in the hall whip their heads at me.
Ian knows.
My stomach flips, and I’m not sure how to feel. Relieved? Sad?
Drew and Shae: “Whoooooaaaa.”
Shae: “Does he know?”
Ian: “Yes, my mom told me before…” He trails off for a second. “He was always more of a dad to me than an uncle anyway. But we never talk about it. And he’s been so stressed for the last few years, I didn’t want to make it worse.”
His voice is quieter, his tone sad. I haven’t heard him talk like that in over a year, and it strikes me like a thousand bullets how far he’s come.
Maria: “That’s so cool. You have an uncle dad who’s a cowboy.”
The men in the hallway share confused glances with me and each other. Even the kids sound confused.
Shae: “What do you mean he’s a cowboy?”
Maria: “Why else would he have all that leather?”
Thiago glares at me. “How does my daughter know you have leather?”
I swallow. “Um, Ian accidentally brought my work bag to school. Maria went inside to get colored pencils.”
Thiago rubs his temples, Lance starts giggling, and Hadeon shakes his head with a chuckle.
Shae: “I don’t think that’s right.”
We don’t notice Alana coming until she’s standing between us. Her lips curl in the corners. Did she hear the conversation between the kids?
Drew: “But that doesn’t explain why you called him Uncle Lance.”
Ian: “Alana once said, if there was something I wanted and it would make me happy, then I should try it. Even if it means taking small steps. So I figured I would start with upgrading Lance to uncle to see how it felt before I started calling Dimitri Dad.”
Olivia: “I don’t understand. If he’s a cowboy, where does he keep the cows?”
Lance utters a laugh-cry-snotty sort of snort and Alana motions for all of us to go in.
Duncan enters and Shae jumps to her feet. “DAD!” She throws her arms around him, and he lifts her up and holds her.
“You ok, kiddo?” His voice is thick with emotion and his accent becomes more distinct.
She lifts up her wrists. “They’re a little red, but I’m fine.”
Lance wraps his big bear arms around Drew. “Hey, Champ. Anything interesting happen?”
Drew pushes his dark brown hair out of the way. “There were bullets and explosions, and I carried Maria out of the warehouse.” He turns to Thiago. “She’s too light. You need to feed her better.”
“That was very brave of you.” Lance pulls Drew into his chest.
Maria reaches for her father. “I slept the whole time and woke up in the car.”
Olivia adds, “Me too.”
Until now, I never really looked at either of the two little girls. They were always just kids to me. But now, seeing them in comparison to Drew, Shae, and Ian, they are so tiny. No wonder the effects of the knockout gas took longer to wear off.
Ian’s head is low, his shoulders hitched up over his head, trying to hide as much as possible. He stiffens as I put my hand on his back. “Ian.”
He shrinks up even more.
As I try to coax him to look at me, Shae says, “Aunt Alana, why did Ian get hurt but no one else did?”
Alana’s standing in the doorway, her arms crossed. “That’s what I’m about to find out. But I need Cowboy Dimitri and Ian to come with me.” She takes a few steps into the room. “Ian, one day you will look back on this whole interaction and go, ‘Oooooohhhhhhhh,’” she says with understanding, followed by, “then you’ll say, ‘Ooh nooo,’” with shocked dread. “And when you do, tell me, and I’ll give you another stamp on your trauma card. Seven stamps, and I’ll buy you a pony.”
He laughs, but my irrational anger takes over. “What the fuck, Alana, don’t say shit like that to him.”
Ian lifts his head. “It’s ok, I like it. She makes me feel normal.”
He turns in his chair, and I see the damage. His eye is already purple and swollen, with dried blood flecks on his cheek, and his lip is three times the size it was when he left the house. My stomach drops, and I want to throw up. My son is hurt.
But he won’t look at me, only Alana. “Where am I going to keep a pony?”
“Same place Dimitri keeps the cows.” Her lips curl, and she extends her arm and wiggles her fingers. “Let’s go somewhere and talk.”
He hops off the seat, grabs his ice cream, and follows Alana. I trail after him, and we head toward the elevator. He holds her hand as she pushes the button for the fourth floor. I keep my hand firmly on his back.
We walk into Alana’s office. It hasn’t changed much since the last time I was here. Ian sits in a spinny chair and does one full rotation before stopping.
“Why don’t you tell me what happened?” Alana says as she leans against her desk.
Ian plays with the chair, swinging his feet around. “We were in the car, all excited, singing, and then my body felt heavy, and I got really sleepy. When I woke up, I was in a room with only one light, and my arms really hurt. I couldn’t move them. There were a few guys in the room, but they were behind me. I glanced to my left and right, but Shae and Drew were still out. I don’t know why I woke up first.”
“Was your heart beating really fast, and not just because you were scared?”
“Yeah. And I really had to pee.” He flinches, like he’s said too much.
Alana nods. “You weigh a little bit more than Drew, probably from hockey practice, and you’re taller. Plus, you had your flu shot a few weeks ago.”
Now I’m confused. “Why does his flu shot matter?”
“Because Dr. Chakin is on my payroll and he administered your flu shots, which are enhanced with a chemical breakdown agent that helps with what happened to you. Plus, there’s a tracker that monitors your hormones, heart rate, and brain function, with a GPS linked to a private satellite.”
“You lowjacked my kid?”
She lifts one eyebrow in warning. “What are you bitching about? How do you think I found them so fast? And, hell, you’ve got one too.”
“I don’t recall consenting to any of this.” I cross my arms.
Alana gasps and covers her mouth. “Oh my God, I’m so sorry.” Her face returns to its typical glower and she rolls her eyes at me. “I don’t give a shit about your feelings when it comes to your safety. It’s almost like this is what I do for a living.” She focuses back on Ian. “What else happened?”
He gets quiet and starts playing with his fingers, watching his toes kick, swinging from the chair. “I heard them talking. About Shae.”
He stops, his head drops, and he speaks quietly. “They wanted to…”
Alana slides off her desk and kneels in front of Ian. “Hurt her?”
Ian nods.
“Only Shae?”
He swallows. “It was one guy. He said he liked her.” Ian’s chin quivers as he rubs his unharmed eye with the back of his hand.
Alana puts her hand on his knee. “Okay, you don’t need to say any more about that. What did you do?”
My son takes a few deep breaths. “I told them they fucked up.” He glances up at me. “Did I use that word right?”
“Yes, but that’s not a school word, okay?”
He nods. “I’m not in trouble?”
“For saying a bad word when you’ve been kidnapped? Nah, you’re good.” I pat him on the shoulder.
He smiles but winces, and my heart shatters. My son is hurt. My blood boils and my organs feel fried from the inside as I process everything I’m seeing and hearing. And it gets worse as he continues to speak.
“The men came and stood in front of me. And one of them was wearing a Cyclops T-shirt.”
“Cyclops? Like the X-Men?” Alana interrupts, and Ian nods. “He’s the shittiest of all the X-Men.”
“I know, right?” Ian throws his arms in the air.
“I hate everything about this guy,” Alana frowns. “Continue.”
“Well, he says, ‘Why? Do you think your dad is going to show up?’ I shrugged and said, ‘He might. But that’s not who you have to worry about. Alana will come. See those two girls over there,’ and I moved my head toward Maria and Olivia, ‘those are her goddaughters. And that kid, his mom is dating Alana’s partner. And the girl? Her sister is Alana’s best friend.’ I looked them in the eye and said, ‘You are fucked.’ And he started hitting me.” Ian’s eyes drop to the floor as he mumbles, “But at least he wasn’t hurting Shae.”
My vision is a haze of red, my arms shake, and if I don’t break something soon, I will explode and take this whole building with me.
But Alana’s voice slices through my rage. She sounds quiet and almost broken. She pushes his hair off his forehead and runs her finger down his cheek. It’s the single most tender action I’ve ever seen from her. “Ian, why didn’t you think I would come for you?”
He shrugs, and my heart shatters again. “I’m not as special.”
She meets his gaze and speaks quietly. “You are incredibly special, and I will always come for you. Dimitri will have a seat for me at your graduation—all of them. I will be front row at your wedding and the first one to send a baby gift when you become a father. You are mine for life. Do you understand?”
He blinks and nods.
“One day, a long time from now, I will even tell you why you are the most special out of all of my kids.” She squints, thinking it over. “It will probably be on the day you get your trauma pony.” She presses her lips to his forehead. “And the whole ‘do what makes you happy’ speech? Yeah, I was talking about you asking Dimitri if you can get new skates for hockey.”
“Oh,” he whispers. “I think that’s why Shae and Maria came up with this whole ‘let’s see if we can meet Amanda Chase’ thing.”
Alana pinches her lips, holding back a frown. “Yeah, I should’ve been more clear on that one.”
He smiles as much as his face will allow it. “Who’s your favorite X-Men?”
She stands. “Wolverine.”
He huffs. “Kind of a basic answer.”
She cocks her eyebrow. “You’re a Russian kid with a tragic backstory who plays hockey. You’re as basic as it gets.”
There’s a knock at the door.
“Ms. King?”
Alana seems unimpressed by the formality. “Yes, Macie?”
Macie’s demeanor makes you believe she could destroy an army. “The room is ready, the Hunters have arrived, and our extra guests are waiting in a secure location.” She steps further inside, holding a tablet. “Ian has a dentist appointment in an hour. I scheduled it so he could still get the surprise. But only if he feels comfortable.”
Alana nods. “Please bring the kids and their fathers upstairs.”
I raise an eyebrow. “Only the fathers?”
“Well, for the most part, their moms will be working.” Alana shrugs. “Besides, dads should be safe, the ones you run to when you’re scared. What happens in the next—” she checks her watch “—twenty-one minutes is a job for the cool aunt, and maybe an uncle or two.”
She closes the door behind her, leaving us alone.
There’s so much I want to say, but the words are stuck. “I’m so proud of you. And I am so sorry this happened.” I pull Ian into a hug, and he doesn’t feel as small as he once did.
Did I miss it? Did I blink and suddenly he grew up? No, it’s happening too fast.
“I’m sorry we didn’t talk earlier,” I whisper. “I was worried you’d be disappointed.”
“I thought you didn’t want to tell me because you were embarrassed by me,” my son whispers back.
I tighten my hold. “Never. I am constantly amazed and proud of you, and I’ve loved you since the day you were born.”
“You’re pretty cool yourself.” He lifts his head off my shoulder, “Are you a cowboy?”
I laugh. “No.”
“Yeah, I didn’t think so.” His head returns to my shoulder. “Can you be my dad later?”
“Why?”
His voice darkens. “The Nightmare Man is the one who knocked my tooth out. I need a cool uncle.”
Mikhail. That fucking traitor is here.