Chapter 20 – Riley Thomas
Riley Thomas
"L isten Riley, it's nothing personal. You know how my family is," Jeremy says, sighing. "I know you're not a bad mom. Okay? That's why I tried to keep you out of this."
"What the hell are you saying Jeremy?" I hiss the question, trying to put some space between us.
"They're half my DNA and my grandfather doesn't want them floating around the country God knows where," Jeremy says, yanking me to him. "You should have stayed away. I tried to distract them. My fiancé doesn't want the hassle of getting pregnant."
"What the fuck is wrong with you?" I fight him, holding Lily closer to my chest. I hold her so tightly I'm afraid I might hurt her.
"You can keep that one," he says, nodding to Cove. "She's mouthy. Just give me the fucking baby and we can be done with this."
A shiver runs down my spine at the look on his face. I've seen that look before. He's willing to do anything that has to be done to get what he wants.
"You can't just take my baby," I whisper, trying to back away. Jeremy releases me with a huff like touching me is a hardship for him.
"Riley, we both know you've got no one. Those kids are mine if I want them. I'll destroy you in court and you'll never see either of them again. Is that what you want?" Jeremy asks, rolling his eyes and stepping in front of the door. "Do you always have to be such a stubborn little cunt?"
He's not taking my girls without a fight. His scent fills my nostrils as he looms over me.
"Hey, beautiful girl. Time to wake up," Cannon's deep voice rumbles. It drags me out of the nightmare I'm currently stuck in.
"Where are my kids?" I whimper. My hands fly to my face as I sit up. My breathing is ragged and air isn't saturating my lungs properly.
"Kills is probably on the way back with them now. He wanted them to be here when you woke up," Cannon says, studying my face. "Riley, are you okay?"
"No," I whine, shaking my head violently. "He was going to take Lily."
Cannon curses as he grips my arms, pulling me into his chest. His calloused hands slide around under my ass and pull me into his lap. My legs wrap around him and I rest my face against his throat, sucking in calming hits of his scent.
"He won't take the girls. No matter what.
The guys and I are pretty well off and I can guarantee you, we'll gladly go broke fighting that bastard in court before that ever happens," he says, locking his arms around me.
One hand is under the material, gently rubbing the bare skin above my ass.
I'm not wearing anything under Killian's shirt.
Normally I would be self-conscious about it since I can feel a cool breeze on my bottom, but I have more important things running through my mind.
"His family is like American royalty," I whisper.
Cannon grunts, pulling me tighter against his chest.
"Aren't you happy you agreed to be my friendly date to that thing as you call it," Jasper says.
I startle at his voice, tipping my head to see where he is. He saunters into the room in a pair of low-slung sweatpants and a white t-shirt. He's barefoot and sleepy.
"You might not know this, Riles…" Jasper tosses himself onto the bed and Cannon grits his teeth.
"My family likely trumps your douche canoe of an ex.
We're a quite well-known shipping magnate.
My grandfather and his packmates branched out into commercial fishing and all sorts of other endeavors. Fear not. Your tiny clones are safe."
He stretches over pulling my shirt down in the back.
"No, they aren't," I sob into Cannon's chest.
Breaking down, I tell them everything McAnders told me about the paperwork I signed being hush money and to force my silence. I don't go into detail about Jeremy's identity. I only explain what the lawyer said about family pack laws and needing a will to ensure custody if something happens to me.
"You trust this lawyer?" Jasper asks, studying my snotty, tear covered face.
"Yes, my brother was a pretty well-known musician before he died," I whisper, looking away from Jasper's searching gaze.
Cannon holds me tighter like he knows whatever I'm about to say, hurts to think about.
"Jamen Jacobs owns the record label Bryan was signed to.
At his funeral Jamen told me to call if I needed anything.
I needed something so I called and he immediately put me in contact with McAnders and McMillan. "
Jasper's jaw drops. "Your brother was Bryan Thomas? The guy from Ruin ? That one that chick, the daughter of rock, or whatever… She wrote a song in his honor?"
I nod. Well it was Lyric Sinclair and Callan Crewes from what I understand, but I only listened to the song a time, or two. It hurt too much. "Jamen has no reason to hurt me," I say softly. "Plus he's got his own name and power. That's why I reached out to him after all this time."
I pause, I'm almost calm again, until I say, "I can't lose my kids. I fucking can't ."
"You won't," they say in unison.
"You going to call your dad?" Jasper asks Cannon.
Cannon nods, he's rocking me like I'm a toddler having a tantrum and it makes me cry harder.
I'm falling apart at the seams over a dream.
Except it's a dream that was very close to a memory.
Jeremy made a lot of threats to make me fear him.
The one thing I fear more than anything?
Losing my girls. I couldn't survive it. It would break me .
"One of Cannon's fathers is a litigator," Jasper says, also running his hand over my back. "He's fucking terrifying. I'm pretty sure he's actually made an opponent or two piss themselves inside the courtroom. He'll know if you've got a good lawyer or where to lead us to find one."
"Us?" I whisper.
"Yes, I'm afraid you're stuck with me until after the winter gala. I'm short a date and you might have need of my last name and financial backing. Let's help each other," Jasper offers, brushing a finger over my cheek.
I glance up at Cannon who shrugs.
"My family is well-respected, but his family is exactly what he explained. Although for the record I think it's royally fucking shitty to leverage a date over something so important," Cannon says, glaring at Jasper.
Jasper pales. "That wasn't what I intended. Riles, you know that right? I'll help you anyway I can. Honestly, a little good karma couldn't hurt me right now. No strings attached. I thought you might feel better accepting my help if you did something in return, but seriously no pressure."
"Thank you," I say, sniffling. "I'll be your friend-date."
"We'll talk about that more later," Cannon says, studying his phone. "Killian is back with the girls and I'm going to give my dad a call. Why don't you get dressed? Take a few minutes to settle your nerves and come down and have some breakfast."
Cannon gently sets me on the bed. Giving me a quick kiss on the forehead, he lifts his phone to his ear like he's making the call to his father right this very second. The door shuts quietly behind him.
"You know Riles, I've just got to say…" Jasper grins, swiping a tear off my cheek. "That ass though." He laughs. "Highlight of my week," he adds wistfully.
I shake my head, trying not to laugh.
"You'll be fine," Jasper says, rolling on his side to face me.
The strong muscles of his chest and stomach flex under his t-shirt as he moves.
"Killian has practically turned into Mr. Mom.
He's not going to let anything happen to those girls.
Your ex might think he's got the biggest dick, but we'll just see who wins in a measuring contest."
I snort a laugh. "I don't even want to know what that means, but thank you Jasper. I'll take all the help I can get."
He bites his lip, giving me a serious nod. "Alright, put some clothes on, omega." He groans. "The smell of your pussy is driving me crazy and not even Killian Adler's scent is dissuading my dirty thoughts."
I scoff. "You're ridiculous, but thank you for trying to cheer me up," I say with absolute sincerity. "It means a lot."
"Anytime, Riles," he says, winking. He runs his pointer finger over my cheek. "No more stressing. Let's keep that smile on your pretty face."
Then he's up and swaggering out of the room. My heart pounds violently in my chest and I swallow thickly. Jasper might think he's interested or get some satisfaction out of these playful flirting games, but he's not the stick around type of guy.
Shaking my head, I hop up and go get dressed. I have much more important things to focus on.