Chapter 11
11
KINGSTON
T ension on the job could kill. At least on my job. However, thanks to a team who knew what they were doing, I could at least try to lean into the chaotic thoughts that kept wrapping their way around me.
Getting the call from the hospital with Claire by my side had once again changed everything.
While part of me had wanted to jump off that couch and drive hell-bent to the hospital and do whatever I could for that person, that wasn’t reality. Reality was the crushing sense of disappointment, knowing that I probably wasn’t going to be able to do it.
There were so many uncertainties when it came to what happened next.
Maybe I didn’t have enough bone marrow. Maybe I wasn’t fully a match. There was more to do than just a simple blood test. There were countless other things. Maybe I would get a cold. Maybe I’d be on a job and fall off a fucking ladder because of a dog and hurt myself to the point that I couldn’t do it. I could freeze to death in a snowstorm, and not be able to do anything.
Or maybe I could donate, bleed and be in pain and be sore and do everything that I possibly could and fail again.
My job was to keep people safe. And I hadn’t done it with Eddie.
“What’s going on, Kingston? Everything okay?” Daisy asked, as she came toward me, speaking into her mic so her voice was louder in my earpiece, and we weren’t disrupting the activities around me.
I shrugged, keeping my attention on the bigwig we were guarding for the afternoon. This was a last-minute setup, the local billionaire needing additional security for a charity event. Ford and Noah had done most of the setup for it, and Daisy and I were coming in to pinch hit for additional security since the man had gotten a few death threats.
Security details and bodyguard services were our normal job—this, and countless other things—and I needed to get my head in the game.
The fact that these death threats were because the man was donating hundreds of millions of dollars to different charities and organizations, flabbergasted me. The man was in the middle of depleting his estate he’d made after building a company that had developed a lifechanging scientific achievement. He’d made hundreds of millions in a few years and had become a billionaire because of it. Now he was in the midst of donating a majority of it to foundations to help others. Only not everyone was happy with how he spent it.
No, from the way that the man kept being headline news, he was going to need us again.
I pulled myself out of my thoughts on our client and focused on Daisy. “I’m fine.” Not quite a lie.
“Did you get contacted yet?” my cousin asked, and I nodded.
“Prep work tomorrow. Hopefully.” A few more tests and discussions. And a heartbreaking chance.
“You’re a good man, Kingston.”
I sighed, not feeling it so much right now. “It’s a kid, Daisy. A kid .” In the day since the call, the family of the young boy with leukemia had agreed to tell me a little more about their son in hope and appreciation. They hadn’t wanted it to be anonymous and while I hadn’t reached out personally, I knew that I would.
Because of Eddie.
Because of a little kid who needed me.
A little boy named Buckley .
A nine-year-old who had fought to survive for over half of his life.
And I was his last chance.
Her eyes went somber, and she reached out, squeezing my arm in reassurance. With a tight nod, we went back to work, doing my best to keep all eyes on the exits. Today was pretty quiet, not that I ever say the Q word aloud. That was just asking for an issue.
“Hey, Kingston,” Ford said as he came toward me, and I tilted my head, keeping my eye on our client.
“We good?”
“We have a few more plans to deal with coming up. Depending on when you have to donate and how much time you have to take off, let us know. We have another client coming in.”
I frowned, darting my attention to him for a second before going back to work. “Anyone I know from the books?”
“They’re filming a huge hopeful blockbuster out in Boulder later in January, and they need to beef up security for a couple of their A-listers.” He rattled off a very familiar name, and I blinked.
“Really? Doesn’t she have her own team?”
“She’s in between teams right now, and the studio wants to hire us. We will be stretched a bit thin because we have two other events that week, but I figured, if you’re up for it. ”
“It depends on the hospital I guess.” I winked. “I hate not knowing.”
“I understand. We’ve got Hugh there too, and a couple of our backups. So don’t worry, we’ll handle it. But I want you on point if you can.”
“No problem. And if I can’t?”
“Then Hugh can do it. He’s good,” he said, speaking of our British hire, who happened to be in love with Daisy.
“Sounds good. What time does this wrap up again?”
“In about ten minutes. You’re off if you want. We’ve got the rest of this. I know you have family dinner tonight.”
I snorted. “I swear, how do you know all these things?”
“Noah knew it. I’m just lucky that my husband keeps a spreadsheet.” Ford beamed as he said husband , and I just smiled at the man, before checking out and making sure that everything was set for my leaving.
I liked this job. I liked doing what I could to make sure that things just made sense rationally. I liked the adrenaline, and the puzzle solving. I didn’t like the fact that I felt as if I were on the outside looking in a bit more than I used to. Which wasn’t like me.
With an odd sigh, I said goodbye to the others and got in my car. As it had only been an afternoon event, it meant I still had dinner with my family which I was grateful for. We didn’t get to do core family dinners often. In fact, we would still have at least one straggler, if not more, for dinner. But the core group would be there. My two brothers and my three parents. I had a feeling Livvy would be there too, since she had been helping my mom with something at the shop earlier that morning, and that meant Mom would give Livvy an invite. And that meant her daughter Amelia would be there, and I loved that kid. She was fricking adorable.
Claire was working at an event tonight and would be working non-stop until a few of her events settled down. She worked longer hours than I did sometimes, and that was saying something. And it was odd to think that Claire would come to mind so easily. She’d always been on the periphery, a friend of a friend, but now she was someone I thought of first. I wasn’t sure what to make of that.
Feelings were a tricky thing. How did I feel about Claire?
I didn’t know. I wanted her. I liked her. I craved her.
But beyond that?
What did we want?
Hell. That was too much to think about right now so I wouldn’t. Claire and I were fine. We just… were .
I pulled into my parents’ driveway as they’d left a spot for me. There was usually enough street parking, but it seemed that another neighbor was having people over that night, so they had left me space. It was just those little things, but that showed they were always thinking about me. Always thinking about all of us.
I looked down at my work suit, and figured maybe I should have changed, but I could fit into my dad Lincoln’s clothes if I wanted to get comfortable. I hadn’t brought a change of clothes because I hadn’t been thinking. No, I had been more worried about making sure that I had everything in the car for dinner.
I got out and went to the backseat to pull out a dried fruit and nut tray thing that I had gotten at the store, as well as a couple of loaves of bread that hopefully were fine. It wasn’t the greatest thing for dinner, but it could stay in the car when I was at work. I hadn’t been sure when I was going to get off, because it depended on the client, and I was glad Ford had at least let me out a little bit early.
The door opened, and Ethan walked out, a wide grin on his face. “You’re here. We thought you’d be late.”
Hands full, I just shrugged. “I got lucky. Working with family has its perks.”
My dad moved forward and took one of the bags from my hands. “You didn’t have to bring anything you know. You know we always cook for an army.”
“We are an army. We need all the food. And I need some protein.” At the sound of a gleeful shout, I looked up. Amelia bounced in the doorway, and I grinned over at her.
“Hey there, baby Amelia.” My niece was freaking delightful. Livvy had put her in pigtails and a winter dress with tights and she looked like a little princess.
“Uncle Kingston! Mommy and I are here for dinner! I love dinner!”
“Me too, babe.” My dad chuckled beside me as we moved toward the house, watching Amelia bounce on her toes since she was clearly not allowed out of the doorway—smart kid.
“Amelia, darling, away from the door, please.” Livvy’s voice rang out, she ran forward, her long hair flowing down her back, and she picked up her daughter, and set her on her hip. She was getting so big that it surprised me that Livvy could pick her up so easily with how slender she was, but all moms were strong. I had learned that firsthand.
“It’s okay, I’m here, and I’ve got nuts.”
“Nuts. Nuts!” Amelia said repeatedly, clapping her little hands together, and my dad groaned while Livvy just glared at me.
I gave the most innocent smile ever, before I leaned down, blew a raspberry on Amelia’s cheek, and then did the same to Livvy just to make her laugh.
My cousin just rolled her eyes at me and then kissed my cheek. “Thanks for that,” she said, sarcasm dripping from her voice.
“Nuts. Kiss. Nuts. Kiss.”
Amelia could speak in full sentences, and was a little rock star, but sometimes she just liked to scream one word at me, mostly because she enjoyed seeing her mom roll her eyes at the whole screaming bad words thing.
As expected, both of my brothers, Oliver and Logan were there, as was my cousin Lake. I frowned at one of the co-owners of Montgomery Ink Legacy and Montgomery Security, and she just smiled wide at me.
“I heard there was food. I couldn’t help but want to be here.”
I opened my arms, and my cousin hugged me tightly. She had been through so much during the last few years, and I couldn’t help but hold her a bit tighter. Even though she was happily married, and a mother to a very beautiful little girl, I couldn’t help but remember the same Lake who had stared at me with wide eyes, and dark circles under her eye with dark circles underneath those, begging us for help.
She seemed to sense what I was thinking and tapped me on the chin. “Stop worrying about me, Kingston. I’m doing fantastic. I love Nick—he’s an amazing husband who loves me. And I have a beautiful daughter who makes every day worth living beyond any measure. I’m not in that place anymore. We have other family members to worry about.” She lifted a brow and I sighed.
“Yeah, yeah.”
“Hey, you brought nuts,” Oliver said, shaking the bag I’d brought.
Livvy groaned. “Seriously?”
My brother blinked innocently. “What? I like nuts.”
“I’m not going to say anything to that,” Logan said wisely, as my other dad came into the room, a tray of drinks and hand.
“Especially not in this house,” Lincoln said, and I pinched the bridge of my nose, as Livvy just gave up, and laughed as Amelia began to ask what was so funny.
This was family. Yes, it was our core group, with a couple of stragglers, but that’s what family was. I had eaten at Kane’s family’s house often, just as the same as I had at Lex’s. We had all grown up as siblings, and it made sense that as long as we were all accounted for, we had a place to sleep and eat at night.
With the next generation in, such as Lake’s daughter and Livvy’s, it was going to be even more so. And that there was a crib upstairs as well as a child’s bed just in case some random grandchild that wasn’t even theirs decided to come by, made me smile.
“This is incredible,” Oliver said as he rubbed his stomach as if he were a toddler. Amelia decided to mimic him, and the table erupted in laughter.
“Your dad made the brisket, I made the potatoes, and Ethan made the rest,” my mom said, looking pleased with herself.
Ethan smiled. “And you didn’t burn the potatoes.”
“I’m a good cook.”
“Just not with mashed potatoes.”
My mom sighed dramatically, reaching over to tickle Amelia at the same time. “I let it burn one time because I was trying to help Kingston get his hand out of his pants, and here we go.”
Livvy and Lake both choked on their drinks, as Amelia looked on in confusion.
“I was three, and I had just realized that if I played with my penis, it was fun. I’m very sorry.”
“What’s a penis?” Amelia asked.
“Sorry.” I ducked my head at Livvy’s glare, a smile playing on my face.
“Well, you haven’t really grown out of that newfound love of doing that, have you?” Oliver asked.
“But now he has someone else to help him with that,” Logan said with a grin, and I glared at both of them.
“Okay, it is time for cleanup,” Livvy said, as she plucked a now red-faced and giggling Amelia out of her booster. “You guys talk about whatever you need to, and we’re going to protect little ears.”
“I’ll go with you,” Lake said with a laugh. “Nick is on baby duty tonight, and I want to call before I head home, because I miss them.”
“I never asked, why were you up in Boulder?” I pulled on her sleeve slightly, smiling down at her.
“I had a meeting downtown, and instead of driving the hour and a half back through traffic, your parents told me I had to eat dinner here and drive later once rush hour was over. Well, your mom did. It was an order.”
“Yes, it was,” my mom said with a grin.
“And I don’t mind it, Nick and Harlow need some bonding time without me hovering. Because I hover.”
“Only the best moms do,” Livvy said, as the two went upstairs, and my mother looked on with a happy smile.
Then she turned her attention back to us. “I need grandkids. I know I’m way too young to be a grandmother, but please make me one.”
I held back a laugh, knowing she was only partly kidding. My parents didn’t pressure. Ever.
“I will do my best,” Oliver said, and she threw a roll at her youngest son. I laughed as Oliver caught it with his mouth, threw both hands in the air, and cheered as Logan clapped .
“I swear to God,” Lincoln said as he pinched the bridge of his nose.
“You are all ridiculous. But I love you,” my mom said.
“As for the grandkid, how are things with Claire?” Ethan asked, and I just shook my head.
“I swear, you guys were a little more subtle when we were teenagers and trying to have the sex talk.”
“We were better at the sex,” Lincoln said, “because we were really good at having sex.”
“Yes, we are. I mean, if any one of the sets of the Montgomerys are going to be good about having the talk, it’s going to be one of the triads. I’m just saying.”
Both of my brothers closed their eyes, and covered their ears, while I just laughed. I was used to their antics. We had always been open and honest about sex and growing up. I lived in an unconventional household in some respects, so that meant we had had a lot of questions when we were younger. More like why we had three parents and some people only had two. And all three of my parents had decided if they hid anything, it would make things worse for us. And they were always open about wanting to make sure we were open with them. Meaning as soon as I got my first girlfriend when I was fourteen, my dad sat down, and explained that while sex was fun, I should wait until I was older. Because emotions always came through it, even if you wanted to pretend there weren’t any. And then he had handed me a pack of condoms and said if I was going to be dumb and work with just my hormones, I needed to remember my brain just a little bit.
I hadn’t needed those condoms for a couple of more years, but I had been grateful for the new pack that he had given me because the first one had been expired.
That was my family, always taking care of us—only that meant they were always nosy.
My mom smiled. “I’m just saying, Claire seems really nice. I’m so glad that we got to meet her at that event.”
I shook my head. “You’ve known Claire for a while now. She’s Phoebe’s best friend.”
“And Phoebe and Kane are adorable. I know they’re living together now. Do you know if Kane’s planning on asking Phoebe to marry him?” My mom held up both hands. “I’m not saying that they have to be married to live together. Hello, that is not who we are.”
“I know, I know,” I said with a laugh. “I think Phoebe’s working on figuring out her new family situation, you know, with the whole secret family thing.”
Phoebe, it turned out, had a whole set of siblings that nobody else had known about, so she was dealing with the consequences of that and trying to get to know them. It wasn’t always smooth sailing, but I knew my cousin was taking care of her .
“That’s true. I don’t know, I just like weddings. And with so many cousins, that means we get to have a lot of them. Doesn’t Claire plan weddings and receptions?”
“I love how you circled back, and she does some. She likes doing all types of events, and not just weddings.”
“Well, speaking of events…” Mom began, and I was grateful for the change of subject, at least I thought I would be. “The Montgomery family party might have to be canceled.”
“Why?” Logan asked. “It’s seriously my favorite part of the year.”
We didn’t always have a multi-family holiday party in the Montgomery household, but there was always at least one major event where every Montgomery was invited. This year it was post-holiday season and things got tricky time wise. That meant a lot of bodies in one place, and a lot of planning. Every set the four main branches hosts on a rotating schedule. They did the same for the family reunions that we had. This year, it was the Boulder family, with my grandpa and grandma in charge, and that meant my parents were helping plan the most since it was their turn. It was very complicated, and there was a spreadsheet involved, because of course there was a spreadsheet involved. And I knew that one day soon, it would be our job to deal with that. But for now, I just let them deal with the planning. Or at least I thought I did.
Oliver leaned forward. “What’s going on?”
Mom’s face darkened and both of my dads reached out to pat her hands. “The place that we usually have it at when in Boulder canceled on us.”
“The lodge? Why the hell would they cancel on us?” I asked.
“Because they’re bastards. They wanted triple the money because they had another event double booked, and they canceled on us. We’ll figure it out,” Lincoln said, with a sigh. “But I don’t think we’re going to be able to work with all of the little pieces as well as we usually do. It’s going to be a little more hectic, considering all of us are in some of our busiest seasons.”
Mom pressed both hands together in front of her. “I know Claire is horribly busy, but do you think she could help?”
I narrowed my gaze, trying to see exactly where I had gone wrong here.
“Are you serious right now, Mom?”
Mom held up both hands, looking very innocent. “I swear, I just need help planning because every single other person in our family right now is doing a thousand things. I just want us to have a lovely event like we always do. But I know Claire is in her busiest season, so ignore me. And just because she happens to be your girlfriend or whatever label that you’re using, doesn’t mean that I’m really needling. Maybe.”
“I really don’t believe anything about that innocent tone.”
“There’s nothing innocent about your mother,” Ethan said as he sipped his drink, and Lincoln snorted, while my mother just glared at them both.
“I’ll deal with you two later.”
“And that’s our cue to go,” Logan said with a laugh as both Livvy and Lake came down, Amelia dancing between them.
“I’ll text her and see. But she’ll probably be too busy.”
“I know. And we’d pay her. I don’t want her to think we’re taking advantage. Because Montgomerys don’t do that. We always pay our way.”
Lake squeezed my shoulder as she walked by. “Oh, you thought of using Claire for the event. That’s good. If Claire can’t come, I have a backup, But we should use Claire. Keep it in the family.”
“Et tu, Brute, Lake?” I asked.
Lake looked so innocent, but I knew there was nothing of the sort. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
As we went to clean up the table, Mom shoved me into the living room, and I held out both hands. “I’ll ask. I’ll ask. ”
“I know it’s a big ask. And frankly, I know that Claire will probably be too busy to help. We Montgomerys can handle most things, but I also know that Claire needs things to focus on.” She bit her lip and I frowned.
“What do you mean?”
“She’s just like you and your brothers from what I’ve seen. I know she went through so much and I’m grateful that she’s doing better, but Phoebe said she’s been pushing herself and her business since. Maybe I’m reading too much into it.”
I squeezed her hand, the memory of Claire on the floor slamming into me. “She’s making a name for herself for sure. I don’t like remembering her like that, Mom.”
Mom cupped my cheeks with both hands. “She’s safe. She’s healthy. And she has you. Though I do hate that you work in a job that puts you in danger.”
“Mom…”
“No, no, I’ll stop. You’re good at what you do. I just get worried. Now, about the event…”
I exhaled and wrapped my arms around her. She had always been bigger than life, but now her head barely came up to my shoulders. “I’ll take care of it.”
“I love you. And if it’s too weird, because I know you guys are just starting out on your relationship, don’t worry about it. I swear I’m not trying to be weird about it.”
“I love you. Meddler.”
She kissed my cheek, and then went off to the rest of the family, as I looked down at my phone.
Me:
Hey, it turns out that my mom might need help finishing with the planning of the Montgomery Family Event. All caps.
I quickly tried to explain everything that had occurred, and then sighed.
Me:
I know that it’s probably too late, but if you have any spare time to help with a spreadsheet or an idea or something, I think they’re finding a venue, but they could use your help. Or my mom’s meddling. I don’t know.
Claire:
Yes. I’m in. I love Montgomery parties. And I just had a cancellation. Mostly because the engagement is over, and now I’m out their fees.
Me:
Well, shit. My mom said she’d pay you.
Me:
If that’s weird…
Claire:
Business with friends is always weird, but I can work something out. Haha. Honestly, with a cancellation, I could use the money, but I’ll talk to your mom about that. I don’t want to take advantage.
Me:
That’s exactly what she said.
I sighed, then continued.
Me:
But you do realize that you’ll be working directly with my mother and that means she is going to be sitting down and wanting to get to know you.
Claire:
I figured. But oh.
Me:
Oh.
Claire:
I’m still in.
Me:
Good. I’ll let her get a hold of you. You doing okay?
Claire:
I am. I have to get back to work. But I’ll talk to you tonight? We still have to finish that movie.
We were watching a movie over the phone, since both of us were a little busy right now, and it felt weird, and yet not.
Me:
Game on. Talk to you soon.
Claire:
You too.
I put my phone in my pocket, then headed back into the room with my family. Things were a little out of control, overlapping and making me feel as if it was all too much, but as the snow began to fall, just a little bit and it would still be safe to drive, I listened to my family laugh, and clean up. The doctors would call soon, and I would find that path.
And I would end the night on the phone with Claire.
Again.