36. Regression Rate
Regression Rate
Sara
“I can leave.” Tom begins to close his computer and rise.
“We’re just here for breakfast.” Dante walks into the room and heads to the refrigerator. “You can work. For a change.”
Tom winces, but he really can’t refute what Dante’s implying. He left without notice. All his work had to be done by someone. And that fell on Dante, Finn, and Wyatt.
But they know this about Tom.
It doesn’t happen often, but he’s been known to take off without letting anyone know where he’s gone or when he’ll be back. How many times did they have to pick up the pieces when he vanished? This time they didn’t even know what clients he was working on, because he hid them.
My brother is an asshole.
Tom’s gaze returns to me and takes in Finn’s shirt and my bare legs.
When his eyes lift to mine, I arch an eyebrow at him and cross my arms over my chest, daring him to say anything.
It’s not like I had time to pack for my kidnapping.
The guys brought me stuff, but fuck it, I want to be surrounded by my man and Tom can fuck off if he doesn’t like it.
“Where’s Natasha?” Finn asks. He moves to the refrigerator and pulls out some fruit.
“Napping.” Tom glances at Finn, but then his gaze finds mine again. “Apparently that’s common for pregnancy.”
I lean back against the cabinet and keep up our staring match. I could do this all day. Usually when Tom leaves, it doesn’t affect me. This time it crashed and changed everything.
Tom seems lost still, but I can’t help him with that. Everything he’s done has turned my world upside down. He left me in danger and didn’t warn us of the consequences. I was stalked and frightened and the security that I’ve felt my whole life has been shaken.
He could have done better. Told us more.
If that was the only thing, I might forgive him. But what he did to Wyatt, and in turn me, is inexcusable. I understand the guys not wanting to upset their friendship to pursue a relationship with me, but to basically threaten to expose Wyatt is too far. He was supposed to be Wyatt’s best friend.
“Here, pip.” Dante hands me a bottle of water and kisses the top of my head.
Confusion crosses Tom’s face. The guys don’t care what Tom thinks anymore. After all, he knows about all of us. Maybe he thought the guys were just messing with me. That they didn’t really love me and want to keep me. Like I was just a phase to them. Something they had to get out of their systems.
I turn to watch Finn and Dante while they make a small breakfast for us. They act like Tom isn’t even here.
My heart aches a little because these guys were the best of friends. Sometimes guys grow apart as they get older, but not Tom and his friends. They grew closer. Shared everything in their lives. Their work. Their social lives. Not women, fortunately.
I know it’s not my fault that Dante and Finn are at odds with Tom. The only one to blame is Tom, but they felt bad about starting something with me. They were reluctant to risk their friendship.
So what is their relationship now? Where does all this leave them?
Because Tom’s part of my life. Cutting him out isn’t an option. While I’m mad at him and probably won’t trust him for a while, he’s my family and I don’t cut out my family. We’ll have it out and then be back to normal. Or a new normal. I don’t know if I’ll ever see Tom as my protector anymore.
The problem is, Tom’s their family too. That’s why this all hurts so much. They’re a unit, brothers not by blood but by choice. Tom being cut off from them will hurt him worse than anything that’s happened to me.
Finn chops fruit on the island while Dante scrambles some eggs and cooks some sausage. And Tom sits there, trying to focus on the screen in front of him instead of his sister and his best friends.
I’m not ready to forgive him. But this part will hurt to watch. Maybe with time it will get easier and we’ll be able to talk and work through our problems.
I step up next to Finn and lean on the counter with my back to Tom. Finn smiles at me and lifts a strawberry to my lips. Instead of opening my mouth and letting him slide it in, I take it with my fingers and eat it. He smiles and fills the bowl with cut fruit.
The tension is thick in here. Maybe the guys don’t feel it. Maybe they’ve cut Tom from their lives completely for what happened to me and what he did to Wyatt. But I don’t think this is the end of their relationship.
If it is, I know it’s not my fault, but it still makes me sad. The guys are as much a part of my life as they are Tom’s. Yes, things will have to change, but maybe we can make this into something better.
Dante puts the eggs and sausage on a plate and nods his head in the direction of the dining room. Finn leads and Dante puts his hand on the small of my back.
When I look back, Tom watches us with a frown, but it’s not anger. I can see the sad realization in his eyes that he’s lost something he doesn’t know how to get back. Before our gazes can meet again, I turn to leave with Dante and Finn.
* * *
Wyatt
Our plan is flawless, but we have to wait until tomorrow to leave. Even though I’m anxious to get back to Sara, the guys will keep her safe. We’ve done everything we need to do, but we have to regroup when we get back to the others and figure out our next move.
The Feds were right. Even if they arrest Peter, he won’t stay in jail long. We need to figure out a way for him to either give up on his daughter or reconcile in some way so we’re not constantly looking over our shoulders.
Drew sits on the other bed with the laptop open, typing. I access our business files to download what we need for work and review our emails to make sure nothing is urgent.
It’s still early and the night is just beginning. I have no way to notify the others of what’s going on.
But it’s not good. We need to figure out how to keep Sara safe and what to do about our living situation, because I’m not letting Sara live alone in the townhouse.
Even if her parents return, I don’t want to put them and Caitlyn at risk.
But I don’t see how it will work with Tom back.
It’s his apartment too. The company is in all our names.
We can’t just kick him out.
“Your tension is making me edgy. What’s happening?” Drew shuts his laptop and tosses it on the bed. His brown eyes meet mine with a question in them.
I run a hand through my hair and set the tablet to the side. “How do we make this work?”
Drew sighs and shakes his head. “How close is Finn with his father?”
“Not at all. Doesn’t want him to have anything to hold over his head.” Just the FBI bringing it up made me cringe. “It’s not a viable option.”
Drew nods and stares at a point on the wall while he thinks. “We need Tom and Natasha safe, so he can’t draw out Sara.”
“Exactly. I would say we give them your apartment and have you and Sara stay with us, but the seven of us will be more vulnerable apart.” There has to be a way to solve this puzzle to make everything work.
“We need to return to the city for work.” Drew blows out a breath. He turns to look at me. “My parents moved into a condo last month. Their townhome is up for sale.”
“How big is it?” I arch an eyebrow. “The mansion works because we have separate living areas. I don’t know how well Tom will take it if we share a wall.”
Sara’s not quiet and I don’t want her to be. Drew chuckles as if he’s thinking the same thing. I thought sharing her would make me jealous, but if it were just me and her, I don’t think I could be enough for her emotionally.
“It has two primary suites. One on the lower floor and one on the upper. The living space is in the middle. Which gives us options.” Drew rubs his chin. “My parents are selling because I moved out. They didn’t need all the space and Mom wanted to get away from all the stairs.”
“How much are they asking?” I don’t have to look at my bank account to know that I have enough to afford a house if we had to buy one. Put the four of us together and we can afford even more if we want to make this permanent.
Drew laughs. “I wasn’t thinking of buying it. Just figured it’d be a good place to lie low.”
“Will your parents take it off the market for us?” Because we can’t have showings happening while we’re aiming for security.
“Fuck it.” Drew opens his laptop and types for a few minutes while I wonder what the fuck he’s doing. He closes the laptop and pushes it to the side again. “I now own my parents’ house.”
“What?” These things normally take time.
“They just received a cash offer for it—as is and immediate possession.” Drew lies back with his hands behind his head. “By tomorrow, one of my subsidiaries will own the house. One that isn’t directly connected to me.”
“You didn’t need to do that.”
“If my parents owned it, it leaves a trail. This subsidiary is buried under a pile of paperwork it would take someone a month to sort through. By then, we’ll have a better handle on our situation. But until then, it keeps Sara safe.”
“At some point, we should discuss your accounting needs.” I smile.
He returns it. “Definitely, how about we order some takeout and beer?”
* * *
Dante
The bathwater is still warm as Sara lies back against me on one end while Finn sits on the other end, rubbing her feet. It’s a huge tub, but our ankles touch. Sara is stretched out between us. She insisted on all of us or she wouldn’t take a bath.
She needs to soak for a while to ease some of that soreness.
I’m going to have to talk to Drew to see if we can use his bath person to install something like what his club has.
Because I don’t think a hot tub will cut it.
Not that we’ll be able to have a bath like that in our apartment, but something to consider when we all move in together.
Which I see happening even if Sara is reluctant.
“I know we’re all naked and this probably isn’t the best time to bring this up…” Sara sighs.
“Lots of things we could talk about that would be awkward in this situation, flower.” Finn grins. “Like, what do you think you’re touching with your foot, Dante?”
I shake my head but smile a little. “Not a damned thing.”
“So that’s your foot that’s getting fresh with me, flower?”
Sara chuckles because currently her feet are in Finn’s hands. She wiggles her toes and then gets serious. “Can we talk about Tom?”
Finn arches an eyebrow. “I don’t think there’s ever going to be a good time to talk about Tom, but especially not when we’re all naked together.”
“I agree with Finn.” My hand rubs down her arm. “Now isn’t the time, pip.”
“Is there ever going to be a good time, boss?” Sara turns to look back at me. “He’s been your best friend for as long as I can remember. He’s been more of an asshole than usual lately, but he needs you guys as much as I do.”
“Maybe not as much as you do.” Finn winks before he sighs.
“He put our business and you at risk, pip.” I rub my thumb over her lower lip. Her eyes darken for me. “I don’t know how we get through this. Yes, Tom is like family, but he betrayed us. That’s not going to be easy to get over.”
Sara rests her head against my chest. “I don’t want to be the reason you aren’t friends anymore.”
“You’re not.” Finn draws her attention. “Tom made choices that he can’t take back. Maybe we’ll work through them. We still live and work together but Tom fucked up.”
“But he’s your family,” Sara says softly.
“So are you and so is Wyatt.” I draw in a breath.
“It’s not going to be easy to just let him back in.
He broke our trust. You’re right. He’s like a brother to us.
Closer than a friend. And that’s what makes the betrayal cut deeper.
I don’t know what Tom could do that would make us forgive him. We definitely won’t forget.”
For her, I’m willing to do a lot. But forgiving Tom isn’t going to be simple. And I’m not sure either me or Finn will be able to let it go completely. There will always be the fear of him betraying us again.
We may never be as close to Tom as we were, but he’s still Sara’s brother. And as long as she’s in our lives, he will be too. We’ll have to come to some sort of agreement.