Chapter Twenty-One
Kari
Kari was hit by the familiar scent of home, suddenly realizing he’d missed it more than he thought. Popi came striding down the stairs towards him and came in for a hug.
“Popi,” Kari kissed his cheek, hugging him back.
He held on a little longer, needing something to ground him.
Bowie’s request, made when he was in Little space, had meant Kari slept for shit.
He needed Bowie to make the request when he was more cognizant, so Kari had done everything he could to think of anything but the request.
“Hello darling, when did you get back from New York?” Popi asked, glancing at Bowie, who hovered in the doorway, glancing around.
“Early this afternoon. We had to co-ordinate with Booker and Frey, so I drove Bowie home so he could drop off his things before driving here.” Kari heard voices and glanced in the direction of the dining room.
Popi let him go and went to Bowie, hugging him the same way he’d done to Kari. “You look radiant, Bowie.”
His brows shot up. “I do?”
Kari gave Popi a warning look, despite agreeing with him. The visit to the club had left Bowie with a new friend and sporting a grin that never seemed far away.
“Have Booker and Frey arrived with Emmy?” Kari asked, going with the reason they were all there. He had kept his thoughts centered on why they wanted them all there tonight.
“They should be here soon.”
Silas appeared, hands shoved into his trouser pockets. “Look who it is! You managed to grace us with your presence!”
“Behave Silas,” Popi warned, slipping an arm through Bowie’s. “Let’s talk about why I want you all here.”
Kari followed Bowie and Popi, Silas matching his stride. “I think our lives are about to become baby orientated.”
“Possibly. They’re gonna need help for sure,” Kari replied, matching his tone to Silas’s. “But let’s see what Popi has in mind.”
Kari sat next to Bowie, listening and staring at the chart that Popi had created to support Frey and Booker.
He couldn’t fault it, and approved of how all the PAs also got on board with helping their friend.
Bowie was quiet, more so than usual, and Kari believed it was to do with what he’d talked about before they’d gone to the club.
Tyres crunching on gravel had Popi skip out of the room at a speed that had Dad groaning.
“Here we go,” Jupiter chuckled, looking completely unphased by the turn of events, unlike Kodi, who cast several accusing glances in Kari’s direction.
Bowie fidgeted next to him, glancing at the doorway.
“Do you want to go and speak to Frey?” Kari questioned quietly.
The nod was hesitant, but Bowie rose, so Kari followed, not paying any attention to the chatter going on around them. His concern was for the man whose smile had disappeared.
In the entryway, Kari watched Bowie as Popi held court, Emmy clutched in his arms. The nervous chewing of Bowie’s lower lip gave Kari the desire to slip his arm around him, only he couldn’t when his family were there and Bowie hadn’t said he was ready to share what was between them.
Bowie took a step towards Frey, pausing.
“What’s up?” Frey asked, placing a hand on Bowie’s arm when he didn’t reply. Bowie kicked at the floor with his sneakered foot.
As the seconds drew out, Kari fought the need to reach out.
“I… you see…” Bowie sighed and rubbed at his flushed face, dislodging Frey’s hand. “You won’t give up that little girl if things don’t work out for you and Booker, will you?”
Frey blew out a breath much the same as Kari at the unexpected emotional punch to his gut.
Kari stepped back and watched Frey drag Bowie in for a hug, struggling a little to get his arms around his shoulders. In the end he gave up, slipping his arms around Bowie’s waist, drawing him in and whispered in his ear, “I would cut off a limb before I’d give up my baby.”
With his wolf’s hearing, he heard every word, and he didn’t doubt that Frey meant every word.
Except Kari wasn’t concerned about that.
All his concern was for the man whose cheeks Frey was currently cupping.
“She’s mine in every way. I helped bring that baby into this world, possibly even saved her life.
Her daddy asked me to help, and I am going to honor his life by doing just that. ”
Bowie’s eyes searched Frey’s in a way that Kari recognized as him searching for the truth. “What if you get pregnant a-and don’t want her ‘cause you h-have your own flesh and blood?”
“I can’t have children. I took heat blockers for too long, and they messed up my hormones. I don’t have a heat the same way because of it.”
“You what?”
The strain in Booker’s voice got Kari glancing at his brother. Clearly he wasn’t aware of this information.
Bowie wore a panicked look and muttered, “I’m so sorry.” He ran into the house, past Kari, eyes full of tears. Kari chased after him, guiding him into an empty entertaining room when he caught up with him.
Kari cuddled Bowie the second they were inside the room, resting his chin on his head, rocking him slightly. “Babycakes, this is not your fault. So, whatever you have going on in your head right now, I want you to stop and listen to Daddy.”
Bowie sniffed loudly and buried his face in Kari’s shirt. “I just wanted to make sure.”
Kari got the jist after hearing the conversation, and though he wanted to continue this discussion, with his family a couple of rooms away, it was not the time.
He kissed the top of Bowie’s head, squeezing him a little tighter.
“I know, and I think we need to talk about the reason for that later, when we get home.”
Bowie tensed, so Kari placed another kiss on his scented hair. Kari wished they were anywhere but where they were.
“Let’s meet Emmy properly.” Kari couldn’t help Bowie the way he wanted to, with his family so close by, so having something else to do felt like a good distraction.
Kari’s thoughts were never far away from Bowie’s reasons for the talk with Frey as he watched Bowie with the other PAs with Emmy.
He noticed the slight withdrawal from the others, but he was sure the others didn’t.
The radiant boy from before was gone. He’d learned every nuance, and Bowie was lost. Hurting.
To Kari, it felt like someone had tied Bowie’s hands behind his back and sat him down to eat a meal that required cutlery, and then told him he couldn’t help.
“Kari, a word.” Dad kept his voice down, and Kari followed as he walked to the far end of the room where the drinks and cookie platters sat.
“When you dropped off your things at the apartment earlier, did anything strike you as odd? See anyone hanging around?”
It took a concerted effort to act naturally as he glanced sideways, witnessing the angry scowl. “No. I’ve upgraded Bowie’s security system and although he never gave Rex a key, we changed the locks as a precaution. Why? Has something happened I’m not aware of?”
“I mentioned Rex’s boyfriend kicked him out?”
Kari nodded, recalling the message from a week earlier. He’d expected it would happen.
“I take it he’s back living in the apartment above Bowie.” Kari hadn’t seen him, but where else would he go?
Dad glanced at Bowie, his eyes revealing his unease.
“He is. I’ve kept the investigator monitoring him.
I still have some contacts in the press office in town who rang to clarify if Rex had any grounds for what he is spreading around town.
The idiot is spouting off that Starling Enterprises has a vendetta against him.
He’s not wrong, but there is no evidence to support such a claim.
I know this, but the man is smarter than I gave him credit for.
He’s volatile, we know this after what he did to Bowie. ”
Kari twisted to face away, to prevent Bowie seeing his reaction at why Dad was worried.
“Fuck. Maybe I need to move home with him,” he joked, but was half serious. Bowie would never agree to it, and Kari would never push. Where did that leave him?
Dad placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezed. “That man is a loose cannon. You need to watch your back.”
It didn’t need saying, and Kari wasn’t letting that scumbag anywhere near Bowie. “Thanks for the heads up. Is your investigator going to continue watching Rex?”
“Yes. Unfortunately it’s not twenty-four-seven, so as I said, keep vigilant. I don’t want you getting hurt either.”
“What are you two whispering about?” Kodi asked, sauntering over.
“About what I mentioned before,” Kari replied, holding his brother's gaze, witnessing the second he understood. “The text you sent from the burner phone did its job.”
Kari hadn’t told Dad who sent the text after he’d said he’d deal with it. He didn’t look surprised and slung an arm around Kodi, giving him a half hug.
“I’ll keep you both updated. Now, we should go and see what Popi is up to before you get allocated baby duties.”
Kodi was off marching to where Popi was, muttering, “I’m not changing nappies!”
Dad and Kari looked at each other and burst out laughing. No one could outmaneuver Popi.