33. Adjusted Basis
Adjusted Basis
Sara
It’s after dinner, which we had in the dining room without Tom and Natasha.
The house is quiet now. We’re sitting in the living room.
I’m snuggled between Wyatt and Dante as I try to get into the book that I found in the library.
It’s an old romance and I’m having trouble connecting with the characters.
Drew and Finn sit across from us in chairs. Finn has his laptop out, working on a client account.
I put my book down in my lap and sigh heavily. If I had my phone, I could download any number of books that would definitely be better than this one. “When can we get back online?”
“Not here.” Wyatt turns the page of the report he’s reading. “Not until we know it’s safe.”
“When will that be?” I straighten and toss the paperback onto the coffee table.
It’s like my insides itch. There’s nothing to do here.
It’s dark outside and we’re just trapped.
There’s always sex, but it’s been nice having a break after yesterday’s lovefest. Though I’ll definitely consider it an option if it will alleviate this restlessness crawling inside.
I’d love to text the girls and see what’s happening. Maybe get coffee and invite Nan. Fuck, I’d be fine just having access to streaming services again.
Wyatt sets his report down and narrows his eyes on me. “We need to contact the Feds and have them meet us.”
“We’d need to drive far enough away that they won’t trace us back to here.” Dante’s fingers drift lazily over my arm. “We need to keep Sara and Natasha off Peter’s and their radar.”
“Which means we’re splitting up again?” Drew lifts his gaze from his book. Holding his place with his finger, he sets it in his lap to look at all of us.
Finn doesn’t look up from his laptop. His fingers fly over the keyboard.
“Yes, that means we’ll need to split up.” Wyatt blows out a breath. “It makes sense for me and Drew to go since we’re the ones who had contact with the Feds when Tom gave them the info.”
“Should Tom go?” Dante asks. A muscle ticks in his jaw. He may encourage me to forgive Tom eventually, but I’m not sure Dante ever really will. Honestly, I hope in time he will because they were as close as brothers.
“No.” Drew leans forward and meets my eyes. “They seemed intent on keeping Natasha and Tom to safeguard them. We need to keep them safe too.”
“What if Peter tries to take you two?” I ask. Nerves slice through me. Peter doesn’t have the same incentive to play nice with my guys. He could potentially hurt them to get the information he wants.
“Peter knows when he’s lost, flower.” Finn snaps his laptop shut and his determined green eyes meet mine.
“He has to realize that whatever plan he had to get Natasha back didn’t work.
He’ll lick his wounds and figure out a new plan.
But hopefully the Feds are keeping him too busy to launch anything yet. ”
That’s not comforting. I offer, “We could all go together.”
The guys all protest at once, making it hard to distinguish their words, but they all are negative on me going.
I hold up my hands in surrender. “Okay, I don’t get to go.”
The guys settle. Dante tips my chin up his way.
“We can’t risk you out in the open if Peter is still looking for you.” His pale blue eyes search mine. “We don’t know what he’ll do or how desperate he’ll become. It’s not a risk any of us wants to take.”
I cup his jaw. The concern in his eyes is enough. “So Drew and Wyatt will ride off into the distance, and Finn, Dante, and I will stay away from Tom.”
Wyatt’s fingers tangle with mine. I meet his dark brown eyes. “He knows what he did was wrong. He’s also working to wrap his head around our relationship.”
I drag in a breath and nod. It’s all going to take time. Which is all we seem to have here.
“We’ll go tomorrow and see if we can get an update.” Wyatt turns and meets Drew’s eyes. “It might take a day before we get back. There’s still work to be done, but we can also download emails and anything we need while we’re in town.”
“Can you grab a burner phone?” I ask, thinking about how much I’d love to talk to the girls and check in with Mom and Caitlyn.
Wyatt nods.
With that decided, I lean my head against Wyatt’s shoulder and everyone goes back to their distractions. My book doesn’t interest me. I want to sit and be with the guys, but I also need to do something with all this energy.
“I’m going to go bake something,” I announce.
“Want me to come with, pip?” Dante glances my way.
“No.” I bite my lip. If they come with me, I doubt I’ll get any baking done. While I want to fuck them, I’m still a little sore from yesterday. “I’ll be fine.”
When I stand, Wyatt’s fingers brush the side of my thigh. I meet his eyes and see the fire in them. It makes me want to start something.
He smirks, knowingly. “Have fun baking, trouble.”
Finn stretches and gives me a cocky smile. “We could do something more interesting, flower.”
I shake my head. “How’s that spreadsheet going?”
Groaning, he opens his laptop. “Fuck. Later though.”
“Of course.” I wink at him before walking past Drew. He catches my hand and I look down at him expectantly.
“I love you, princess.” His brown eyes shine.
My heart fills and I lean down to kiss his cheek next to his ear. I whisper, “I love you.”
He releases me and I pause at the doorway to look them over. They all go back to quietly working and reading. My chest aches at how much I love them. I wish I could be as content to sit, but I need to do something.
And baking is my thing. It usually helps settle my mind at least.
I head through the house, admiring some of the furniture and decorative pieces.
It’s a huge mansion, and you can tell that whoever lived here cared what other people thought.
The usual family pictures are missing, and instead, artwork hangs in their place.
Carefully curated to blend well with the room, but they still stand out.
I can’t imagine the man who owned this. Wyatt’s father? A little pang tugs at my heart. I don’t know much about the man, but I know what he did to my family and what it cost Wyatt. That’s enough to make me hope I never meet him.
Muffled voices come from behind the kitchen door.
Well, fuck. I pause. Maybe they won’t be in there much longer. I walk to the door, and just before I push it open, their voices are clearer.
“My mom is the best. She’ll love you no matter what.” Tom’s voice is solid.
“She won’t hate me for what happened to your sister because of my father?” Natasha sounds uncertain.
I rest my head against the door trim. No, my mother will love Natasha. Because she doesn’t blame anyone for the things their parents did. She may want only the best for Tom and me, but she also recognizes that people have flaws and those flaws are what make people lovable.
Like my three guys. She could have discouraged Tom from playing with them. He could have been friends with anyone. But he chose Dante, Wyatt, and Finn. And my mom and dad brought them in and took care of them like they were their own.
“My mom won’t blame you, but she’ll probably blame me.” Tom’s voice is a little more quiet. “I should have done more to protect Sara. I thought if she didn’t know anything, they wouldn’t hurt her or my friends.”
There’s a pause in the conversation and for a moment, I wonder if they’ve left the kitchen.
“Your sister told me to ask you why she’d be upset about you setting Verity Baron up with Wyatt. Though maybe I don’t have to ask since Sara is involved with Wyatt now.”
“There’s more to it.” Tom sighs. “You know Verity has a reputation.”
“She’s not a nice person.”
“She and Sara used to be best friends in high school. Like do-everything-together best friends. Verity knew about Sara’s crush on Wyatt. Though anyone with eyes knew about Sara’s crush.”
That’s not at all embarrassing. I press my hand to my warm cheek.
Tom continues, “When they graduated, Verity pulled the rug out from under Sara. She’d been working against her behind her back the whole time. Anything that Verity did wrong, she blamed on Sara until everyone thought Sara was the bad guy.”
I hear a sharp intake of breath. I’m numb to this story now.
“She tried to destroy Sara, but Sara’s a good person and that’s something Verity never could master.
She can pretend to be nice but it always feels fake.
Verity acts like she’s all that, but she’s just trash.
She doesn’t deserve happiness. Honestly, when I found out you were friends, I was worried that she was doing the same thing to you that she did to Sara. ”
“My father would have crushed her. So why would you set her up with your best friend?”
“To go to the benefit with you. I wish I had a better answer for you, but it boils down to that. Wyatt needed a date because his usual date was busy that night. I didn’t think about Sara and how it might make her feel.”
My chest aches, but that’s Tom.
“You didn’t care that she hurt your sister?”
“I took care of Verity years ago.” Tom chuckles lightly.
“I picked apart Verity’s life after she hurt Sara.
She took Sara’s friends away, so I turned hers against her.
It wasn’t hard to do. They knew what she did to Sara.
They might have believed what Verity said about Sara, but when you start a whisper campaign about someone, everyone around you wonders what you’re saying about them behind their backs. ”
“You told them?”
“These girls came panting after me and my friends at our house. I knew these girls. I went after them one by one until I had them convinced Verity was out to get them next. I made sure anyone who turned their back on Sara did the same to Verity. Not that she cared. Verity isn’t built to actually care about other people. ”
I never knew Tom did that. I put my hand over my heart. Verity didn’t maintain friendships after high school. I just figured she was done with them too.
Tom’s tone turns soft. “I’m sorry she was your only friend.”
Natasha makes a dismissive noise. “I grew up surrounded by snakes. I know one when I meet them. Verity was never a friend. She was an acquaintance that my father tolerated. Probably because he knew she was after power.”
“What else do you want to know?” Tom’s tone is soft.
“What happened with Wyatt?”
“Fuck, that one’s harder.”
“Tell me.”
“Wyatt and I are best friends. We grew up together. My parents basically adopted my friends. They were always at my house. They didn’t have anywhere else to go.
” Tom releases a breath. “Wyatt found out about his real dad. A guy that turned out to be the worst kind of con artist. We didn’t know it back then though.
One night Wyatt tells me he’s sneaking off to be with his real dad. ”
Tom stops talking and I’m left hanging, waiting for his next words. My eyes close, trying to focus.
“What happened, Tom?” Natasha’s tone is gentle, like she can see how much pain Tom is in.
I put my hand over my mouth to stop from crying. My father is the hero of that story and I know how it ends.
“I told my father about the meeting. About what we knew. That Wyatt was getting his real father.” He curses softly.
A weight presses against me and a hand falls over mine as my eyes pop open. Finn’s devilish green eyes look into mine and I relax against his hand. When he opens his mouth, I cover it with my other hand.
“It’s my fault, but I blamed it on Wyatt.” There’s anguish in Tom’s voice.
Finn tips his head toward the door but I shake my head. He rests his forehead against mine and curls his hand around my hip. His warmth seeps into me.
“I told my dad what Wyatt had said. I didn’t want to lose my friend, and I knew Wyatt was going to run away with his father who was under investigation.
” Tom drags in a breath and the volume of his voice fluctuates like he’s pacing.
“I didn’t want to lose my friend. My dad took me with him because Mom and Sara were away for the night.
I can’t even remember where. We got to the docks and found Wyatt and his father. ”
“That’s the night your father died?” Natasha sounds comforting.
“Who knows what Wyatt’s father planned, but most likely he would have ransomed Wyatt back to his mother.
Maybe even sent him back piece by piece.
The guy was an asshole. My father had called the police, but we got there first. My dad tried to reason with Wyatt’s, but they got in a fight and then there was so much blood. ”
He lets out a growl of frustration. “Wyatt’s dad turned on us, but the sirens were getting closer. We ran together. His dad didn’t have time to come after us and risk being arrested, so he fled.”
There’s a moment and then Tom says, “I didn’t blame Wyatt that night. I blamed myself. For being selfish about wanting to keep my friend. Now, I’m glad I did, but then I just knew that because of Wyatt’s dad, my dad was dead.”
“He was protecting both of you.”
“Fuck, I understand that now, but back then, I had to face my mother’s tears and my sister’s questions. Their pain. Every. Fucking. Day. My friends tried to help me but they were grieving too. They’d lost the father figure they loved.”
She says some very quiet words. Finn searches my eyes. His thumb caresses my hip and I’m surrounded by his sinful scent. I want to stay. I want to hear Tom tell his love what he did to mine.
“I blamed myself for a while but then I blamed Wyatt. When I noticed him looking at Sara differently…” He blows out a breath.
“They all looked at Sara differently. Fuck. I knew it then. They all wanted her. My little sister. But Sara chose to put all her effort into chasing Wyatt. She didn’t know about our father’s death.
So I told him I’d tell her. That she’d hate him if she knew he was the reason our father was dead. ”
Natasha sucks in a breath. “Tom.” Her tone is chastising.
“I was a teenager, angry at the world, wishing my dad was still there to help me navigate who I’m supposed to be. The thought of Sara and Wyatt together tore at something fundamental in me. I didn’t understand it then, but it was jealousy.”
I gasp but they don’t hear me.
“He was my friend and he wanted my sister. I didn’t want to share him. I didn’t want to lose him. If they broke up, he would leave me and so would my other friends. I couldn’t lose them. Not like I lost my father.”
Finn cups my cheek and smears a tear across it. He rests his head against mine before dipping to whisper, “Let’s go, flower.”
I nod and he takes my hand, leading me back the way I came.
I glance back at the door to the kitchen.
Tom didn’t tell me about taking away Verity’s friends.
And as vapid as she was at the fundraiser, Wyatt wouldn’t have given her much attention and probably would have humiliated her, even not knowing what she did to me.
Maybe I can find a way to forgive Tom for some of it. But part of me still feels trapped by his decisions. He left me vulnerable to protect someone else. And did she even need protecting or was there another way they could have solved their problem? We’ll never know now.