38. Hayden
38
HAYDEN
W e pulled into a driveway that led up to another damn mansion. The massive brick home rose into the air, soaring above us. Stately was the only adjective that came to mind when I looked at the place.
I chuckled.
The Holts definitely didn’t do anything in small measures. That was for damn sure. Not the beach house. Not the Vegas apartment, and not Walker and Lillian’s place and for damn sure not the doc’s place. Even though he wasn’t a Holt, he was Holt adjacent. Then there were the hotel rooms they’d secured for us in New York. I could see Declan eyeing me at each new, swanky ass residence, but after the way his family flocked to each other, supporting Katie and Jackson, and Walker and Lillian as well as all of us on the team, people I would’ve thought they’d see as peons, I couldn’t bring myself to even put Mara and her dad in the same galaxy as the Holts. They were night and day different and I let two bad apples ruin the whole damn orchard. Hell, even some of their weird ass sayings were rubbing off on me.
So, yeah, the issues I had with Declan and his family’s Scrooge McDuck kinda wealth were dissipating. And I was glad because I wanted a life with my husband.
And our girl.
I smiled. Fuck me, she was sexy as hell, but she was also sweet and funny and so damn nurturing. Just the few days we’d spent with her in Washington told me all I needed to know about who she was.
That wasn’t to say she was perfect—no one was. Her self-worth needed addressing. Especially after something Priest and Cameron said when I talked to them the other day. Declan and I needed to right her mindset about her spot in our marriage. Because while we couldn’t marry her, I wanted her to know this was a three-lane highway, all of us heading in the same direction. And I knew Declan felt the same. It wasn’t the two of us and her. It was the three of us, equally.
Once we pulled to a stop, Scott and I watched the surroundings as Liam and Foster hovered while Jackson struggled to get out of the SUV. After seeing the wounds he had, I gave the guy props. He had to be in some serious ass pain, but he didn’t let it stop him from doing what he felt needed doing. He would’ve made a damn fine Marine.
“Hey, cuz! How’re they hanging?”
I turned, my mouth falling open at the sight of a second Jackson Holt.
“They’re fine now that I don’t have a tube in my dick,” Jackson said.
“Asher, if you make him pop a stitch, I’m gonna whip your ass, son,” Foster threatened the guy who I’m assuming was his actual son since Foster pulled the guy into a tight embrace.
“Hey, Dad.”
I looked up at the porch as another guy stepped out of the house. Foster pulled him into a hug as well. This guy was Foster’s mini-me.
“Any clue when the others are coming back?” Jackson asked.
Unlike Jackson, my partners were speaking to me, so I knew that Katie were still held up in the studio with the band. Marcie, Declan, Heidi, Lucia, and Celeste were all with her.
Foster’s son, the one whose name I didn’t know, said, “Jackie doesn’t give a fuck about ‘the others.’ All he’s worried about is his girl.”
“You rib me again, and I’m gonna fuck you up. Oh, and leave Jackson be. I think he and Katie have enough shit to deal with, assmunch,” Asher told his brother.
Liam circled his finger as he said, “Jackson, get a move on. No less than fifteen minutes. More if you can handle it.”
The guy sighed and moved off toward the back of the house. Liam grabbed his medical bag and headed into the house. Scott, Foster, and I watched Jackson walk away, and we all breathed a sigh of relief. Foster’s kids trailed after Jackson as Liam instructed, but he wasn’t the boss, so I asked, “Do you want Scott and me to follow after them?”
“Nah. Y’all have been put through the wringer since we stepped off the plane in New York. Asher and Bauer can handle babysitting Jackson while he follows Liam’s orders.”
Foster turned back toward the SUV, pulling out his phone. “I’m going to call Walker and the admiral with an update, then my wife. If the boys are here, she’s dealing with the younger ones on her own and is likely ready to kick my ass. Y’all go on in and get some rest.”
Scott and I nodded, then followed Liam into the house. Once we were out of earshot, Scott pulled me to a stop and asked, “Why’d you lie last night?”
“What’re you talking about?”
Scott looked around, then said, “Last night when Jackson asked for an update while we were eating, you said Katie moved Marcie into the house. But I know you told Priest and Cameron to stash Marcie here. Then, when Jackson pushed for more info, you said, ‘Who the fuck knows?’ defensively when he asked if we could trust her.”
“Marcie isn’t keen on Katie knowing how close she is to some of the security team.”
“You mean you and Declan, because the rest of us aren’t drooling over the woman like we’re in heat.”
“Males don’t go into heat, dumbass, but yeah. You’re right, Declan and I are interested in her, but we want to respect her wishes.”
“Well, y’all suck at subtle, you always have,” he said with a laugh. “You might need to work on that before Katie figures it out on her own. Or Jackson.”
“Thanks.”
I slapped him on the shoulder, shoving him into the house ahead of me. I made a beeline toward the kitchen. I couldn’t believe how starved I was. Jackson had us up before dawn, rushing us to get here.
Why, I didn’t know. Katie had been at the studio all damn night. My two bratty subs had to be exhausted, but I wouldn’t interfere with them working. When they finally made it back to the house, I’d ply them with food and forced rest. And a few orgasms as well for all of us, but first, I wanted to have a heart-to-heart with Marcie. I had to be certain she was fully onboard with where Declan and I wanted the relationship between the three of us to go. We’d waited long enough.
Declan wanted the conversation to take place in person, with all three of us present. I got that. I did, but… It was a conversation that should’ve happened right after what occurred between us in the kitchen in Washington. Oh, well. Declan hadn’t done a damn thing right from the beginning why should we start now.
When the fridge yielded nothing but ingredients, all of which I could prepare, but I lacked the desire or energy to do so. Pulling up the delivery app, I placed an order for enough food for all of us, then added more than enough for the others when Declan texted, saying Marcie was working on getting Katie to rest since she was slowing down and the band was on their last legs.
Once the driver dropped off the food, I bit the bullet and went out to the patio where Jackson had been standing since not long after we arrived.
“Something wrong?” he asked as he glanced at me.
I shook my head. “Nope. I was hungry, so I ordered some food. I figured you’d wanna eat while it was still hot.”
Jackson nodded, but he didn’t move, not even an inch. He just stared unseeingly at the back of the house.
“Come on, man. If you plan to win her back, you’re going to need all your energy,” I said as gently as I could, resting a hand on my shoulder.
He studied him for a moment, then asked, “You think it’s possible?”
I knew what it cost him to ask me, of all people, that question. It only made him stronger in my estimation because I wasn’t sure I could do it.
I looked at him, hoping what I was going to say didn’t cause him to take another swing at me.
“From what I’ve heard, you turned an ice princess into a sexpot, so if anyone can do it, it’s you.”
I exhaled a sigh of relief that he took it in the humor I intended. The sound of an approaching car drifted on the breeze toward us, and Jackson held his breath and took off, not toward the car that held his heart and mine, but instead toward the house.
My confusion must’ve shown on my face because he said, “If I go to her now, which is what she’s expecting, she’s going to get her dander up, and she will push back as hard as she can. If I give her a bit, then she’ll be more subtle until she can’t take it anymore. That’s when she’ll lose her shit, and we can fight this out.”
Amusement and disbelief at the guy’s plan hit me. “You really think that’s going to work?” I asked.
He rubbed the back of his neck and muttered, “It has to because it’s the only fucking plan I’ve got.”
As we stepped into the house from the patio, Katie and the others entered the front door. Declan and Marcie looked just as I thought they would—fucking exhausted.
I went to the kitchen island where I laid out all the food and started making up plates. Jackson did just what he said he was going to do. When she stepped toward him, he moved away from her, grabbing the non-Liam-approved meal I ordered him—after being shot and his girl trying to break up with him, he deserved a decent meal—and took a seat at the table with Asher and Bauer.
I turned my attention back to the two people who had my heart in a vise. Declan stood next to me at the island, his hand resting on my back right above my ass. But it was Marcie’s pretty-in-pink flushed face that my gaze was locked on. When I glanced at Declan, his was as well.
Remembering Scott’s words from earlier, I looked around the room and noticed Jackson staring at me with his brow cocked.
Shit! The cat was outta the bag. We’d have to address our relationship with Jackson and Katie sooner rather than later. At least in my opinion, but at the end of the day, it would be Marcie’s decision.
Katie, with her red-rimmed sleep-deprived eyes, came back into the room. Jackson ignored the girl, focusing instead on his food. Watching them was like watching two trains collide in slow motion. A glance around the room told me I wasn’t the only one glued to the scene playing out before us as if it was a blockbuster movie and we were the lucky assholes who’d been given a ticket to the prerelease early viewing.
“Jackson?” Katie called his name.
“Yep.” I had to hand it to the guy; he stuck to his plan. He was making her come to him.
“Can I speak with you?”
I thought for sure he’d cave, but he still didn’t look at her. “I’m eating. Maybe later.”
“Jackson!” Katie yelled.
“What do you want from me, Katie? You made your choice. I’m only here to make it easier on the teams protecting us.”
He stood, walking toward Declan, Marcie, and me. He threw his dishes filled with his half-eaten meal in the sink, then turned and walked out of the house, Katie hot on his heels.
Through the patio doors, we could see them fighting. Declan turned to me and said, “Let’s get the hell out of here. I’m in no mood to watch their relationship implode.”
Another glance around the room gave me the opportunity I wanted and needed. I pushed Declan ahead of me and grabbed Marcie’s hand, threading my fingers with hers as I pulled her behind us.