Chapter 11
CHAPTER 11
C assidy saw Warrick—or was it Warren—looking at her to answer her brother. However, she was too afraid to speak right now. She equally wanted to strangle him for lying to her and kiss him for loving her. She saw the way he was looking at her. She needed to get her thoughts and feelings straight. The first man she wanted and he’d been lying to her for years.
Warrick answered Dylan then. He explained the situation in Crusina and the man in the alley. Then Kale jumped in with reports of who they were.
“And based on who the men who attacked Cassidy were tonight, it’s clear she has something they want,” Kale told the room.
Enough. Warrick couldn’t stand it anymore. He moved across the room and put his arm around Cassidy. He had to touch her. He had to know she was safe. It gave him a spark of hope when she didn’t move away from him.
“Well, that settles that,” Jake Davies said, with a thump of his cane.
“Settles what?” Warrick asked him.
“You need to come back to Keeneston with us so we can figure this mess out.”
Warrick blinked at him and then looked to Cassidy for her signal. Her face was blank.
“What we need to do is wake up Birch and fill him in,” Greer said to her husband.
“No!” Warrick snapped. “I’m too close to solving this and I don’t know who I can trust. I’m trusting you all because Cassidy told me I could. Don’t make me regret it.”
“Come on, come on,” Prince Mo of Rahmi said, shooing people from the room. “We will discuss the politics of it on the plane tomorrow.”
Warrick saw Dylan and his cousins trying to fight the orders of Mo, Pierce, and the uncles who, with the old ladies, were trying to get everyone to leave the room. Tammy stopped before him and smiled up at him. “You’re a good boy. We’ll help you. Don’t worry.” Then she turned and grabbed Dylan by the ear and dragged him out of the room as she lectured her children about giving their sister some space.
The door closed, and as Warrick looked around, he saw that all evidence of the fight was gone except for the dildo he was still holding. He looked down at Cassidy when she pulled away from him and made her way to the bed. She took a seat and stared off into space.
“I can explain,” Warrick said, rushing to kneel in front of her. He took her hands in his and silently begged her to listen.
“What do I call you?” Cassidy asked, finally looking up at him. “Warrick? Warren? Pooh bear?”
Warrick gave a strangled laugh in surprise. “I liked snookums.” He squeezed her hands to get her attention. “I told you. I don’t care what you call me as long as you call me yours. But Warren died over a decade ago. I’m Warrick now.”
“You never needed a cane, did you?” she asked.
“No. I never needed glasses either. They were all props to get you to not look too closely at me, same with the comic books. But, please, Cassidy, let me explain.”
Cassidy squeezed his hands back. “I thought I was alone in life, even surrounded by my huge family. I’m so stupid and selfish. You were truly alone. Not me. You had no one to help you. I’ve always had everyone to help me. You were fighting for your family. I understand that more than you know. I’ve fought many battles for my family and I know they’ll fight for me.” Warrick’s breath caught as Cassidy cupped his cheek. “But you never had that. You’ve been fighting alone too long, Warrick, and I won’t let you fight alone anymore.”
Warrick didn’t know what to say, so he simply kissed her. And she kissed him back. It wasn’t the kiss filled with lust. It was filled with love and understanding.
“I’m so sorry I lied to you.”
“You had to. I understand that, Warrick. But you don’t have to lie to me anymore.”
“I love you, Cassidy. I have for years. I’ve gone on every mission with you to make sure you’re safe. That’s the last secret I’ve been keeping from you.” He was laying his heart bare and he knew it was too much and too soon for Cassidy to feel the same, but he had to tell her in case he was killed. He had to know she knew she was loved. “Don’t say anything now. Tonight has been a lot. Just tell me, do I have a chance or should I back off? I can leave right now, no matter what your grandfather said about me coming to Keeneston.”
“Warrick, come to Keeneston. Please.”
The please shattered him. He’d do anything for Cassidy.
“Anything for you, sweetheart.”
“Then let’s take off our clothes and get in bed. It’s been a long day and I need to get some sleep. I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep tonight without you,” Cassidy admitted as she stood up and pulled off her dress.
He stared at her in her bra and panties as she unhooked the knife sheath attached to her thigh and climbed into bed. Warrick unbuckled his belt and slid his tux pants off as she watched him. There was no hiding what his body thought of this, but he kept himself in check as he crawled into bed beside her and pulled her to him.
“Goodnight, Cassidy.” He placed a kiss on her temple as she snuggled into him.
“Night, snookums.”
“Good morning!” Cady Woodson, now Davies, said with a smile as she stopped by the seats on the plane Cassidy and Warrick had taken.
Cassidy had slept in Warrick’s arms last night and it felt as if her whole body was both at peace and on edge. She had never wanted a man more than she wanted Warrick. Even before he’d come clean on who he was, she’d always thought Warrick was sexy. However, she’d never made a pass at him for two reasons. One, they worked together. And two, she knew it would be marriage or nothing and she wasn’t ready for that. At least she hadn’t been. Now she was questioning everything she’d thought before.
Morning, Cady,” Cassidy said before quickly introducing her to Warrick.
“Do you mind if we borrow her for a moment?” Cady asked. She was a sweetheart and Cassidy was happy her cousin Colton got his head on right and married her.
“Of course not,” Warrick said, standing to allow Cassidy room to move by him.
Cassidy placed a quick kiss on his cheek. “I’ll be right back.”
Cady grabbed her hand and began to drag her away. “Don’t be so sure of that.”
Cassidy laughed. “Are you kidnapping me?”
“No, but I could get you drunk again if you don’t answer our questions.”
Cassidy groaned. “That was the worst hangover of my life. Whose questions?” Cassidy asked as she glanced back in time to see her brothers and brothers-in-law approaching Warrick.
“The girls, of course,” Cady moved out of the way and there, in the back sitting area of the plane, were all the women in her life. Abby and Stella, who were married to her brothers, Dylan and Jace. Her best friends, Ariana and Delaney, and Poppy and Zinnia.
“Gosh, it was hard to escape our husbands, but we’re here to help,” Camila, Evie, Willa, and Tilly said, joining them and sitting on the floor since there were no more seats to be had.
“Don’t start without us!” sisters-in law, Mila and Sloane, said as they took a seat on the floor in front of Ariana, who was their husbands’ sister.
“What is going on?” Cassidy asked as Cady shoved her onto the couch next to her.
“We’re here to help. You’ve helped all of us at one point or the other,” Delaney answered. Delaney was married to Kale and Cassidy had become close to her right from the start.
Cassidy swallowed hard at the emotion surging up. “Oh no, don’t tell us you’re emotional too? I don’t think I can take anyone crying right now or I’ll start bawling and then the secret will be out.” Stella slammed her hand over her mouth as she accidentally slipped with her pregnancy news.
Cassidy laughed. “Don’t worry, Stella, you’re not the only one here with that same secret. Congratulations to you all. All the parents and my grandmother will be thrilled.”
Ariana cleared her throat and leaned forward. “Enough baby talk. Let’s talk about how babies are made and whether you and that sexy-ass man over there have been practicing yet.”
Cassidy snorted and then looked at them. “I tortured most of you at family dinners,” she said, wondering why it was in-laws here more than her actual cousins.
Many groaned and teased each other about family dinner. “Yes,” Tilly said, “but, you were the first to be there when we needed help.”
“Or to babysit,” Evie told her. “I know we foisted our kids on you more often than not, but it was only because we trust you so much. Jackson won’t see it that way. He sees it as he babysat you when you were younger, so you owe him. Besides, they’re over there getting all excited about the next family dinner you bring Warrick to. But we see you, Cassidy. We see what you do for the family.”
“And for your friends,” Poppy said, reaching out to squeeze her hand.
“And we really want to know if you’ve had hot sex with that man yet,” Poppy’s sister, Zinnia teased.
Cassidy looked around at the faces all filled with love and happiness for her and did something she’d never done before. She talked to them with no walls and no secrets. “He told me he loved me,” Cassidy confessed.
“Before I place this bet,” Willa said with a smirk. “Did you say it back?”
“No,” Cassidy said before cringing.
“Two months instead of one,” Tilly said to her best friend and she and Willa placed a bet.
“Hey!” Cassidy gasped in fake outrage. She’d do the same thing so she couldn’t blame them. “Maybe I should place a bet on the next pregnancy.”
“I didn’t place a bet,” Stella said, defending herself.
“I wasn’t talking about you,” Cassidy said with a wink.
“The question is, did you want to tell him you love him?” Kate, Landon’s wife, asked, bringing everyone back to Cassidy’s love life.
Cassidy bit her bottom lip and nodded.
“One, month!” Tilly said, slapping Willa’s arm. “We gotta change our bets.”
“A month,” Sloane said with a laugh to Mila, her sister-in-law.
“Three weeks, tops,” Mila said nodding.
“Two,” Camila said, pulling out her phone.
“Now, what can we do to help you?” Ariana asked.