Chapter 29
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
She felt the tension the second she stepped into the kitchen.
“Everything okay?” She glanced at her brothers, but they were ignoring her. Axel was checking the ribs, Oscar was pulling the sides from the oven, and Jasper and Finn were twirling the girls in circles.
Xander was beside her in an instant. “We’re good.”
She didn’t believe him, not for one second. But since the girls were racing through the kitchen, she’d shelve her concerns for now. “Alright, girlies! Grab your plates and let me know what you want.” She glanced at Xander. “We do a buffet-style Thanksgiving.”
“Yup,” Finn said, picking up Josie and setting her on his hip. “Grab what you want, and we all eat in the living room and watch football.”
“And because it’s Thanksgiving, we don’t have to eat any vegetables!” Josie exclaimed, waving her princess wand in the air.
Twenty minutes later, Freya sighed. She was stuffed. Glancing around the room, it appeared as if everyone else was too. What was it about Thanksgiving? It’s not like they weren’t ever going to get to eat again.
She looked at Xander and let out a nervous breath. Seemingly being able to read her mind, he ran a soothing hand up and down her back. “If you want to tell them, I’ll be right next to you,” he murmured “If you need help, I’m here.”
“Thank you,” she whispered before glancing at her brothers once more. Their focus was on the football game, so she waited until a commercial break and then cleared her throat.
“Girls, why don’t you two go upstairs and watch a show in the playroom. I need to talk to the guys and then—”
“Did Uncle Finn get in trouble again?” Andie asked as she rose from her little table.
“Hey now!” Finn snagged Andie around the waist and flipped her upside down as she squealed with delight. “Why am I the one you say is always in trouble?”
“Dammit, Finn, she just ate,” Axel grumbled. “She pukes, you’re cleaning that shit up.”
“Because you’re the naughty uncle!” Josie exclaimed, jumping on Finn. When she was also upside down, she pointed at Axel. “Daddy, you said two bad words!”
“That’s two quarters!” Andie cackled.
Freya’s chest squeezed. God, she missed this. Her brothers drove her crazy, but she missed them.
Xander wrapped his arm over her shoulders.
She leaned into him as her nerves built.
If it weren’t for the man beside her, for his quiet support, she’d probably never have the courage to tell her brothers about what was going on.
But as she was coming to learn—first by sharing with Xander and then with his team—the more people who knew what was going on, the more people looking out for her, the better.
“Alright, girls,” Freya called out, clapping her hands. “Upstairs you go. Go watch an episode of Bluey, and we’ll have dessert after!”
The girls cheered and ran out of the room.
Once she heard their feet stomping upstairs, she turned to her brothers. They all looked at her in concern.
“Everything okay, Frey?” Oscar asked.
Xander took her hand in his and squeezed. She clung to him like a lifeline and exhaled.
“Holy shit,” Finn said. “Are you pregnant?”
“What? No!” She glared at her brother, and he held his hands up.
Xander coughed, and when she looked at him with narrowed eyes, he smothered his snicker. Wise man. “Sorry, baby.”
She cleared her throat. Loudly. “As I was going to say, since we’re all together, I wanted to talk to you guys about some stuff . . . some trouble that’s come up.”
For the next few minutes, she opened up to her brothers. About the photos she’d received on Sarah’s birthdays and death anniversaries, about her car getting vandalized, about getting pushed down at the parade, and the photos that had been delivered to her apartment door.
All the while, her brothers sat in stunned silence.
Until Axel surged out of his chair. “Why the fuck didn’t you say anything, Freya?”
She bit back a groan. Typical, Axel. Typical. She readied her reply, but Xander cleared his throat.
His body had gone tense beside her, but his voice remained calm when he said, “I don’t have siblings, so I’m not claiming I’m an expert on family dynamics, but I’m assuming this”—he waved his hand at Axel—“is exactly why she didn’t say anything.”
“I asked you a question, Freya,” Axel said, ignoring Xander.
She was going to kill her brother.
“Uh-uh,” Xander said. “You don’t get to give Freya shit for not talking to you.”
“Stay out of this,” Axel spat.
“No way in hell. If she hasn’t said anything, it’s on you, because you make her uncomfortable. And after spending time with you—limited as it’s been—I can see why.”
Axel crossed his arms over his chest, and that smarmy look she’d always wanted to smack off his face bloomed. “Enlighten me.”
“You’re a condescending prick. As your brothers pointed out earlier, you’re also an asshole.”
The corners of her lips twitched, and her other brothers snorted. Xander wasn’t wrong. But she was pretty sure the only people who ever called Axel out were sitting in this room.
“You look down on her,” Xander continued. “A woman who’s worked her way up to be at one of the most sought-after resorts in the fucking world. You know nothing about what she does or even who she is, and that pisses you off. But again, that’s on you.”
Xander’s defense of her had her falling even harder. This amazing man was something else.
“So what, Frey?” Axel grumbled. “You think this rent-a-cop can help you? You could be in legitimate danger and mall cop here is your savior?”
She narrowed her eyes. “What are you talking about?”
Axel continued as if he hadn’t heard her. Hell, considering the rant he was on, he probably hadn’t. “Shit happens, and instead of calling me—your brother who’s a fucking detective—you turn to a security guard?”
Utterly confused, she glanced at Xander, who shrugged. “I may have said I worked in security. Didn’t feel the need to clarify.”
Shaking her head, she chuckled. “Of course you did.” Letting out an exasperated sigh, she turned to her brother. “Xander works for Hudson Security. Pretty sure he’s more than qualified to keep me safe.”
Axel’s eyebrows rose, and for once, he was silent.
Then Finn laughed. A loud guffaw of a laugh. “Holy shit, Ax, even I’ve heard of Hudson Security.” He turned to the twins and gestured to Xander. “They protect billionaires and shit.”
“Anyway,” she said, trying to rein the conversation back in. “I just wanted to let you all know what was going on.”
“You should move back here,” Axel said. “We can keep an eye on you.”
She shook her head. “I love you, but no. Besides, I have a job.”
“But between all of us, we can keep an eye on you.”
She was shaking her head before he’d finished speaking. “Did you not hear what I just said? Xander works for Hudson Security. I’m fine.”
“This person knows where you live. That’s—”
“Ever since the photos were left at my apartment door, I’ve been living with Xander.”
It was complete silence for three blessed seconds.
“For fuck’s sake, Fre—”
“Axel, it’s fine. When I’m not with him, he’s assigned one of his personal-security officers to be with me at work.”
Axel’s mouth snapped shut. Finally.
“After the shooting at the resort earlier in the month,” Xander began, his voice calm, “Hudson Security was hired to revamp and upgrade the security at Pacific View. Not only do we always have a PSO within a hundred feet of Freya, but we have another security officer on-site as well. Part of the upgrade involved their cybersecurity. Trust me when I say we have nearly every inch of that place under video surveillance.”
Axel crossed his arms over his chest and remained silent, but that judgy look remained. God, it took everything she had not to clobber her brother.
“Look,” Xander said, releasing her hand.
He leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees.
“You and I may not see eye to eye right now. Hell, maybe we never will. But one thing I can promise you is that I’m taking this threat to Freya seriously.
Seeing as nothing has happened over the last couple of weeks, I may be going overboard with the round-the-clock security, but I don’t care.
Overboard or not, I’ll do everything I can to protect her. ”
Axel let out a breath and ran his hand through his hair, nodding. “We can agree on that.”
Freya was taking that as a win. “Axel, I’m safe on Hudson. I just wanted to let you all know what was happening. And going forward, I’ll be better about communicating with everyone.” She met each of her brothers’ gazes. “I promise.”
Oscar nodded. “We will too.”
“And we’ll get out there and visit you soon,” Jasper added.
“Do you get an employee discount at your resort? I mean, shit—” Finn made a face. “Have you seen the daily rates at that place?”
She chuckled, and when Xander’s arm wrapped around her waist, she leaned into him.
After telling her brothers and being honest with them, she felt like a weight had been lifted from her chest. Yeah, she was sure Axel was still pissed, but at least he knew.
Baby steps, right? “I’ll see what I can do, Finn. Now, how about dessert?”
The next few minutes were chaos. On top of the three pies she and Xander had brought, there was also ice cream, chocolate chip cookies, and cranberry crumble cheesecake bars compliments of Oscar and Jasper’s long-time receptionist.
“Looks like I’m going to need to hit the gym tomorrow,” Xander muttered, adding a cheesecake bar to his already full plate of pie. He shot her that lopsided smirk she loved. “Unless you can think of another way we can burn off these calories.”
“Holy fucking Christ, dude. I’m standing right here.” Finn groaned, disgust all over his face.
“That’s the two-dollar naughty word, Uncle Finn!” Josie called out as laughter filled the kitchen.