10. Per Diem
Per Diem
Dante
The guys head over to the house to meet the movers when they unload, but Sara and I are going to McAvoy’s.
Sara wants to hang out with her friends.
When everyone planned to come with, Wyatt reminded them the movers need someone to tell them where to put things or it would be up to us to carry things up those stairs when we got home.
Sara asked me to bring her. Finn made sure one of his father’s men came with us.
It’s just after lunchtime. We get out of the car and James the bodyguard, all dressed in black, gets out with us.
When we get to the door, I pull it open for Sara to precede me in.
James takes the door from me and nods. He’s in his forties, but almost as tall as me and just as fit.
A gold wedding band graces his ring finger.
He follows us in and then walks around the perimeter of the room before taking a seat at the far end where he can watch everything.
Sara holds my hand and pulls me in the direction of the bar where Hope and Kayla wait for her. She releases me to hug them.
“Where’s Madison?” Sara turns to look back at the door.
“She’s coming.” Kayla laughs. “I’m sure she’ll be done soon and on her way over.”
Sara’s cheeks grow pink.
Kayla glances up at me and smiles. She cocks an eyebrow. “Of course, Sara, you know how it is being in a relationship with four guys now.”
“I’ll wait over there, pip.” I lean down and kiss her softly.
When I raise my head, her smile is tender and her eyes a little dreamy. “That’s the first time you’ve kissed me in public.”
I brush my finger over the side of her mouth and kiss her again. Leaning in so only she can hear, I say, “I plan to take advantage of our ability to be out with our relationship.”
“I look forward to it.” Her green eyes sparkle as I step back. I nod to the other ladies before heading down the bar toward James.
Jason, the bartender, comes up and passes me a beer. He nods and waves off my attempt to get money out. I settle in to be here if Sara needs me.
Sara
I blow out a breath and shake off the goose bumps Dante left me with. As I slide into my chair, there’s already a daiquiri waiting for me. This is the best bar.
“How are you doing?”
I turn to meet Hope’s blue eyes. She’s wearing glasses today instead of her contacts, but I can still see the pain from her own captivity lingering in her eyes.
“Politest kidnapper ever.” I sigh, thinking of how Hope was kept for days in a basement chained to a bed. Mine just doesn’t compare to what she went through. No one cut my arm. I had a cushy room with a bathroom and was given meals.
It was like a fancy hotel except I was locked in and wasn’t allowed to leave.
“It doesn’t matter how it happened. What matters is it happened to you.” She reaches out and puts her trembling hand over mine on the bar. “It’s still traumatizing.”
My eyes fill with tears and I turn my hand over to take hers. “I couldn’t get away.”
She nods and squeezes my hand. “I can give you the number of my therapist.”
“I’d like that.”
We sit for a moment. Kayla’s talking to someone who’s come in. I turn and see Nancy.
“Nan!” I slide off the stool and hug her.
Nan laughs. “I didn’t know we were hugging people, but I love a good hug. How are you?”
“I’m good now.” I step back as Madison walks up to us.
Cooper is behind her and he brushes his hand over her hip before heading over to Dante and James.
I catch Dante’s eyes on me and warmth spreads through me.
I’m glad he’s here. As much as I don’t want to play favorites, Dante protects me.
The others would do a great job too, but there’s something about Dante that settles me, and I need that right now.
Madison hugs me tight against her. “I’m so glad you’re safe.”
When she releases me, tears are in both of our eyes. But we smile. I make sure Nan knows everyone before we all settle back down to talk and drink.
Madison clears her throat. “First order of business is a code word. That’s three of us that were in trouble and we didn’t know.”
Nan’s mouth opens like she has questions, but then she closes it again.
“Do we need another word in case everything is fine and one of you two is just getting quality dick?” Kayla asks and sips her drink. “I’ve lost another member of my harem. I’m going to need more friends.”
Kayla smiles and Nan glances at her.
“Sorry, we need to explain a few things I think.” I glance at the others.
We fill Nan in on the previous kidnapping and luring of Madison. Kayla explains that she offered to be the drama-free harem, but the rest of us are just too into dick. And I told them about my brother and how he got me kidnapped.
I leave out the part about Wyatt’s dad because it’s sensitive and we’re in a bar where anyone could be listening in.
“So you’re going to be an aunt?” Hope smiles softly, like the thought of that is the best news ever.
“Yeah, I am.” I drag in a breath. “As long as everything goes smoothly, but we’re not out of danger yet.”
“Speaking of danger.” Kayla glances around. “I think our phrase for ‘I’m in trouble’ should be I need to pee. It’s not uncommon, but usually we’d say I need to go to the bathroom or restroom. So our word is pee, because whoever has you won’t know it’s code.”
Kayla’s green eyes sparkle as she grins at her own cleverness.
“It’s actually not bad.” Nan taps her lip. “I mean, if you’re being monitored on the phone and you say I need to pee, the worst thing they’ll do is take you to the bathroom.”
“All right, but what if it’s like Hope and someone else is using her phone to tell us everything’s fine?” Madison reaches toward Hope and Hope takes her hand.
“Octopus emoji,” Kayla says.
We all turn to her with similar what-the-fuck expressions.
“Explain,” Madison says.
Kayla smiles. “So if we haven’t seen you in a few days, we’ll send an octopus emoji. If you’re fine, you send an eggplant emoji. If you’re not, you send the first emoji on your list.”
I laugh. “Are you sure you don’t want multiple eggplant emojis?”
Kayla shrugs. “Eggplants or tacos will do.”
Hope snickers first. Then we all start to laugh. Even Nan. Fuck, I missed this. Knowing Dante’s watching me makes it easy to relax. I was taken from the street, but Peter asked me to get in the car. I didn’t really have a choice, but I was never physically forced to do anything.
When we start planning for the future, Nan listens, offering some advice here and there. She’s getting her degree, but mostly to help run a charity. Her parents don’t believe that girls should work.
“They also believe I should find a big strong man to take care of me.” Nan rolls her eyes. “Though I have to admit, Dante is the hottest guy they’ve ever set me up with. If anyone could tempt me— Nope, sorry, dick just isn’t for me.”
Nan makes this face of disgust that makes me laugh.
“My girlfriend was the same way.” Kayla looks off toward Dante. “Though I mean, it’s Dante.”
“You have a girlfriend?” Nan asks.
“Ex.” Kayla sighs. “We broke up before I moved here.”
Nan reaches out and rubs Kayla’s arm sympathetically. “My ex didn’t want to come out with me. She’s dating a guy now and there are rumors they’re engaged.”
“That sucks.” Kayla touches her drink to Nan’s. “To being single.”
Nan smiles and Kayla turns to Hope. They touch glasses and then Nan touches Hope’s glass.
“Hope and I have a pact. If we’re still single by forty, we’re shacking up.” Kayla’s eyes sparkle with mischief as she turns to Nan. “You can join us if you want.”
Nan’s cheeks flush pink. I’m not sure if it’s from the heat or the drinks or Kayla. “I’ll consider it.”
Kayla smiles and takes a drink. I meet Madison’s blue eyes. She holds her drink out to me and I tap it with my own. Both of us are taken by amazing men. I was a little jealous of Madison and her guys. Only because they love her so much. Not because I wanted her guys.
I’m very happy with Drew, Wyatt, Dante, and Finn. And I can’t wait to go home to them tonight.
Dante
It’s late when we leave the bar. The sun is setting and the streetlights are on.
“Let’s stop and get you something to eat, pip.” Honestly, I’m not ready to share her again. I love playing with Sara with the others, but there’s something nice about just having her to myself.
“Mmm, yes, please.” She smiles up at me with almost closed eyes.
“Did you even count how many drinks you had?” I guide her to the car and James opens the door for me to help her in.
“Nope.” She slides across the seat and pats the spot beside her.
This could be a bad idea, but Sara needs food. If I get her food and take her home, she’ll get naked and that will be the end of it. I just want an hour with her to myself before we return to the others.
I text the guys and tell the driver to take us to a nice restaurant close to the house. I call ahead and reserve us a table. Sara leans against me in the back seat and plays with my hand.
“What do you think our future looks like, boss?”
I close my hands around hers. “You finishing school. Finding a job. Finally deciding to live with us so we don’t have to take you home in the morning.
Eventually, we’ll fall into a happy routine.
Marriage, though I’m not sure how that looks with five of us.
Kids. I’d say at least four, maybe five. But I’d be down for even more.”
When I turn to look at her, she smiles and cups my jaw. “I love you, boss.”
The driver clears his throat. “We’re here.”
James opens the door and I step out. We’re dressed casually, so I made sure to pick a place that doesn’t have a dress code. I hold my hand out to Sara and help her out of the car. I keep her hand in mine as we make our way to the door.
The host ushers us inside.
It’s a quiet and simple atmosphere. After taking my name, she leads us to our table. A low murmur fills the dining room. I keep my hand on the small of Sara’s back as we walk through.
The host sits us at a curved booth. Sara slides in one side while I get in the other.