Chapter 17
Chapter
Seventeen
CYRUS
“ Y ou’re quiet.” I look out of the corner of my eye at Harper. She passed out in my bed last night an hour after we got home from Declan and Emerson’s match. I couldn’t sleep, so I started a new painting. “Is something wrong?”
“No.” She reaches over and links her fingers with mine. “I’m just enjoying the drive.”
“Excited to see Banks?”
“Yes. I miss him.”
“Have you decided what you’re going to say to him about this?” I lift our joined hands, her diamond sparkling in the sunlight.
“I’m going to accept his proposal, but not until I talk with Declan and we figure everything out. He’s been so busy with the end of the season that I haven’t had the time to really sit down with him. I’m hoping we’ll find the time when we’re on vacation.”
“I’ll make sure of it. It shouldn’t be too hard to coax Emerson away for a few hours.”
“Do you think you’ll finally cut ties with your uncle?” she asks.
“Yes.”
If all goes to plan, I should do more than cut ties with Georgios. I’ve been laying the groundwork for weeks now to help pull off a coup in his organization. Andreas, one of his top men, is sick of watching him push too far with the police. Even Nicholai is in on it.
I can’t tell anyone about the plans, though. I know they’ll tell me it’s too dangerous, and without a doubt it is, but I can’t let my uncle pull my strings all the time. I’m not going to live my life as his puppet.
“Are you excited to be going back to Greece? Do you miss living there?”
“It’s beautiful, but no, I don’t really miss it. It makes me think of my parents, and I do miss them. But America has been home for so long now and Emerson and Declan are my family. You’re my family. Anything I could ever want is here.”
“That’s a good answer.” She relaxes against the seat. “You’re part of my family now, too.”
I smile and lift her knuckles to my lips.
“But I am excited for Greece. I hope we can do some touristy things while we’re there.”
“We can do whatever you want, asteraki mu.”
I’d carry her up Mount Olympus on my back if she asked. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for her, or the guys for that matter. Even Banks is now included in that sentiment.
We’ve got a few hours before the match, so we head to the hotel. Luckily there was still a room available for us at the hotel where the team is staying. It’ll make it so much easier for us to all be together after the game this way.
“Do you want to take a short nap before the game?” Harper asks as she drops her purse on the desk. “Banks said he’d just meet us at the stadium. I know you didn’t sleep much last night.”
“If that means I get a few extra Harper cuddles then count me in.”
She slips off her shoes and pulls the duvet down before getting in bed. I toe my shoes off and pull my hoodie over my head. I’ll get too hot if I leave it on while we sleep. While I’m doing that, she sets an alarm just in case we oversleep.
As soon as I’m down in bed beside her, she turns to me and tucks her head under my chin. I rest one hand on her hip and the other gently scratches her scalp. She presses into my touch like a lazy cat stretching and purring. I press a kiss to her forehead and inhale the orange and vanilla scent of her shampoo. I’ve noticed that she uses two different types. It makes for a fun guessing game every morning.
My pulse jumps when she presses her lips to the base of my neck in a soft kiss. I have to force myself not to get hard by thinking of the least sexy things. She probably doesn’t even realize the effect she’s having on me right now. Or maybe she does.
She’s a quick study of everything we enjoy. Not just sexually but day to day stuff, like how I take my coffee. Or that Emerson always has to have a bottle of half frozen water before he goes to bed. The other day I came home from class and found all of my aprons had been washed and put right back where I prefer them to hang.
Her thoughtful nature is one of my favorite things about her, even if I hate how she came to be like this. I know she grew up anticipating her father’s needs, catering to his whims. All in an effort to avoid his wrath. Which of course didn’t work because he still managed to concoct reasons to hurt her.
Evil fucker.
I still need to finalize plans for his demise. I thought I’d have to wait to take my uncle out until he fulfilled his side of the bargain, but luckily Andreas is his point person for those arrangements anyway.
“What are you thinking about so intently?” she asks while tracing my tattoos with her fingers.
“That if you don’t stop touching me like this neither one of us is going to get much napping done.” I smile as I cover her hands to stop them from wandering any further.
“No fun.” She pouts. “But since you were up all night and then refused to let me drive, I’ll stop.”
She rolls over, so I can curl my body around hers. After a few minutes, I hear her breathing deepen as she falls asleep. I follow soon after.
Harper is sandwiched between Banks and me with Cillian and Annabelle behind us. Their bodyguard, Felix, sits on Annabelle’s other side, alert and tense. I feel Cillian’s hand squeeze my shoulder and look back at him. He gestures over his shoulder indicating he wants to speak privately. I lean over and tell Harper I’ll be right back.
He leads me up the stairs and finds a quiet alcove. “I didn’t want to say anything in front of Harper and Annabelle, but we’re closing in on whoever is harassing them.”
“Really? That’s great.”
“It is.” He glances around us. “But it’s also making them more aggressive. Felix chased someone off the property last night. They broke into the house while we were gone.”
“Did they take anything?”
“No which almost worries me even more. We checked for new cameras but didn’t find any.”
“Check the cameras you have set up to make sure they didn’t set up a network to spy through them.”
He nods. “We’re already on it. I just wanted to let you know, so you can pass the word along. I don’t think it’s worth telling the girls and getting them all worked up.”
I don’t particularly like not telling Harper everything. I feel like she has a right to know what we’re dealing with, but for now I let it go. We’re away to support Declan and Emerson, I don’t want to spoil the weekend for her. Once I fill in the guys, we’ll tell her together.
We walk back out to our seats right as the match is starting. I’m going to miss watching Emerson run around the pitch in his kit. The thighs on him are a work of art. I should take a few photos from today and paint them to give to him as a Christmas gift.
When I look over at Harper, she’s watching the game intently. Her eyes following the ball but also staying attuned to where the guys are on the field. Declan gets fouled, and she shoots from her seat yelling. Much to my surprise Banks joins in her outrage, both of them stay standing until Declan gets up.
I see him look over at us as he stands. He gives us a small wave to let us know he’s good, and then he’s right back in the game. He gets a free kick for that foul and scores with a shot right into the top corner of the net, right above the goalkeeper's hands.
We all shoot to our feet cheering and giving high fives. I do a double take when I notice Annabelle not only hugging Cillian, but also her bodyguard. That’s interesting. Cillian doesn’t even seem to care because he just watches it happen with a mild look on his face.
Emerson and Declan are already back in position for the game to continue, no celebrating until they win. As the match continues, the opposing team scores right before half time. Felix stays with Annabelle and Harper when they go up to use the restroom, so I take the opportunity to scoot over and fill Banks in on everything Cillian told me.
“Do you think they’re going to try to break into your place next?” he asks when I finish.
“We have security cameras all over and alarms on every point of entry, it’d be very hard to break in.”
“I wonder what they were looking for.”
“Who the fuck knows. I just want this guy or guys found so Harper can move on with her life. She doesn’t deserve this after all she’s been through.”
“I know. I never liked Scott; he always made my skin crawl with his good ol’ boy preacher facade.”
“Did he ever do anything to either of them in front of you?” Cillian asks.
“No.” Banks looks up at him. “I saw him yell at Harper a couple times early on, but he never unleashed on them when I was around. It’s one of the reasons I always tried to be around. I honestly had no idea that Annabelle was being abused the way she was.”
He glances up and sees them walking back down to us. We all stop talking and make room for the girls to come back to their seats in the middle. Cillian tells us after the game he wants to take us all out for dinner to someplace that Annabelle got reservations for.
As the second half begins, it’s clear that Trinity has this in the bag. Declan scores another goal and has an assist for the goal that Emerson scores. The final goal comes from one of the other guys on their team scoring off a header. As the buzzer sounds, the team floods center field, confetti dropping from the ceiling of the dome the championship is being played in.
Emerson and Declan embrace each other before a bunch of the guys, Declan included, lift Emerson onto their shoulders and begin chanting. A few of the other seniors on the team are lifted into the air to join him as they celebrate this last win.
Harper, Banks, and I go down onto the field to celebrate with them. Declan sees us first and swoops down to grab Harper, spinning her in a hug with a huge smile across his face. Emerson pulls me into a sweaty hug.
“You can congratulate me later. In bed,” he says into my ear.
Fuck yeah.
I’m not going to argue with that.