MICAH
SIX
Watching Lailah put everything out there for her family to know, amazed me.
The faith she had in them to still stick by her after everything she told them was so foreign to me.
My parents and I had been close like that, but once I lost them there was no one in the world who could or would love me like they had.
At least, that's what I believed before I met her.
The only reason I hadn't gotten out of my seat and decked her father in the face for the things he accused her of, was simply because I knew she would be upset with me.
Family was just as important to her as it was to Brayden—they both had the blessing of a family that gave a shit.
I knew Oliver and Adriana cared about me, or they wouldn't have taken me in when I couldn't live with my aunt any longer, but I wasn't their kid.
I watched as everyone seemed to collect themselves after Cami's announcement and I couldn't help agreeing.
This trip, getting away from the school where everything happened, was important.
Lailah was fighting so hard every day to not let what happened slow her down any more than it already had.
Thankfully, she was taking her altered schedule with far more courses with the Elementi instructors in the base under the house, so she didn't have to go on campus for many things.
Being home around her parents and siblings might be just the thing she was missing and we couldn't do for her.
Something I missed all the time, the hug and affection only a mother could give, and by the looks of Bonnie she had it in spades.
"Now you all tell us how tired you are? Ladybug said something about you boys renting a place while you're out here?" Bonnie asked, once she'd collected herself. "I know it's been a long day of travel and it's night time back at school, isn't it?"
"It's only seven o'clock back home, so I believe staying up for as long as we can, would be best. It will speed up adjusting to the time change," Hudson suggested.
Leave it to the brain to come up with the logical plan for us to follow.
Although, I had to admit that since we'd come back from France and he Bonded with Lailah, he's become a better version of himself. He was far more involved with everything we did, instead of hanging back like Jay and working on his studies. He will always suck at video games, but he was becoming a match to be respected in training. Guess that’s what happens when you finally have something you want to protect with your life after almost having it ripped away from you.
"Oh, I've heard people say that, but I wasn't sure if it was true," Bonnie commented. "I feel so bad about what happened with Phoebe earlier, what an awful situation to walk into when you're meeting the family for the first time."
"I'm sure she will understand she’s a sweetheart and I think you'll all really love her," Dylan interjected, a love struck look on his face.
Parker coughed, trying to cover up a scoff and if I hadn't been an expert at the act myself, I wouldn't have noticed.
He'd had a funny look on his face when she was first introduced to everyone, almost as if he might recognize her from somewhere.
In front of Lailah we'd been putting on the best act we could, trying to get along because none of us wanted to add any more stress to her life.
If I'm being honest, I don't know that I'll ever get to the point where I'll be able to trust him.
Yeah, he pulled through for us in the catacombs, from what the others told me, but one time out of a hundred doesn't make a case.
"Why don't you tell her to come back over and we'll have a board game day," Bonnie suggested. "That way, we can all chat and get to know one another but it doesn't have to be too involved if you lot get tired. Please feel free to tell us you want to go home and sleep. It won't bother us a bit."
"Where did you say the rental was?" Luke asked.
Everyone paused and seemed unsure of how to answer this question, since we weren't sure if he was on board with us guys yet.
"Funny you should ask that, Dad," Lailah grinned. "One thing you'll learn about my boys is that they don't do anything halfway. It would seem that they bought a house for us to live in for the summer and whenever I would like to come home and spend time with you guys."
I watched her dad specifically to see how he would react to this information, but he seemed too stunned to do anything other than gape at us.
"Oh my good heavens!" Bonnie screeched, clapping a hand over her mouth. "Well, I suppose with all five of you chipping in that you could make that work, but was that really wise while you're still in college?"
Lailah snorted, as we all realized that her mom didn't know that we all were extremely well off financially. Having all of us chip in made the purchase a drop in the bucket cost wise.
"Mom, trust me, it's fine. I'm the pauper in this relationship," Lailah added.
That statement made me frown, not liking how she viewed herself.
"Cookie Monster," I growled. "I don't want to hear you say that ever again.
You have to put up with all five of us, go to school, and be Synergy—that's more work than any of us have in this relationship.
Taking care of your needs is part of being together and how we care for you, so I don't want to hear that bullshit ever again. "
Kyle seemed to choke on his drink and almost spit it out as his brother slapped him on the back. "Holy crap, she lets you talk to her like that? Man, if either of us said that, she would read us the riot act."
"Kyle, you'll understand when you get a girlfriend, but everyone has their own way of showing affection. For the record, that was Micah being sweet," Lailah explained, winking at me. "When you put it like that, I can see your point. I do have to put up with all of you, it's only fair."
My girl thought she was slick, trying to brush this conversation under the rug, but clearly we were going to need to have one of her 'family meetings' about this subject.
If we needed to make one account for us all to put money in for her to use, then that's what we'd fucking do.
Her role in life was ten times harder than ours, and who knows what would happen after all this was over.
All that didn't matter though, because she was mine and I was gonna make sure she had everything she ever needed or wanted.
"Where is the house?" her father finally asked, coming out of his stupor.
"It's in the Northwoods gated community, off of Eagle lake," Brayden answered.
“Northwoods! Those are some of the nicest houses in the area,” Dylan exclaimed. “You guys aren’t just well off if you can buy a house there.”
I chuckled at Dylan’s surprise. My boy Brayden had been the one to find it, but once he showed us the pictures and all it had to offer, we knew it was the right choice.
A house like that was perfect for having her family over to spend time with us and relax.
The other reason we all considered, is it gave her a private place to go swimming without anyone staring at her scars.
The next house was a good distance away through the woods, making it completely secluded so she could be at ease.
To us, her scars didn't make a difference, but I knew she fought with herself about them and only left them visible around us.
If that bastard Ubel wasn't already dead, I would have taken my time skinning him alive so he could feel what she went through, then burn his ass slowly like a spit roasted pig until he died.
"Micah!" Lailah's voice cut through my thoughts. "Your hands are smoking."
Sure as shit, I was burning a hole in my jeans as proof that I wasn't keeping my anger in check. "Fuck!"
Hudson leaned over Lailah and waved a hand where the embers still glowed, dousing them. Now I was wearing singed wet jeans that smelt like burning hair, as it seared my skin underneath. My fire wouldn't hurt me, but it didn't mean my hair would survive like my skin would.
Lailah knelt in front of me, checking my legs. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine, just was thinking of Ubel and lost control," I admitted, taking her hands in mine and kissing the back of them. "Looks like I'm gonna need to grab my suitcase and change. While I do that, why don't you and your mom pick out a few games we can all play."
Giving me a look that told me she wasn't convinced I was alright, she gave me a peck on the lips and stood. "Alright, but don't think you can get out of playing with us, I'll just hunt you down."
I grinned at that, loving to see the fire in her eyes when she challenged me. It was our thing, I pissed her off, she fought back by yelling or hitting me in retaliation using her new skills— it was glorious. "Wouldn't dream of it, Cookie."
"Truck’s out in the driveway," Luke yelled as I walked to the front door.
I waved my acknowledgement and stepped out into the cool spring air, with the sky covered in big puffy clouds.
Having never been to America before, I didn't really know what to expect but the term house with the white picket fence was incredibly accurate.
My phone buzzed in my back pocket and when I pulled it out I saw it was Ned, my financial guy I'd hired privately to keep an eye on things, until I could take it over once I turned twenty-one.
"Hello?"
"Micah, thank god I got a hold of you. It's your aunt, she finally made her move and is trying to put through paperwork to challenge your parents' will, stating that you have not met the requirements that they put in place for you to take over the company," Ned blurted out. “We know that isn’t true, so something else must have changed without us knowing it.”
The anger that I'd been trying to gain control of burst forth again at this, and I slammed a fist into the tree I was standing under. A black charred indent appeared once I pulled my hand out of the trunk, the smell of burning wood sharp in my nose. "Tell me you called the lawyers."
"Of course, but I remembered you telling me you would be out of the country for the summer. Did she know about that?"
Wracking my brain, I tried to figure out how the hell she could have known until it dawned on me. "What account did you use to put money down for the house?"
"Ah…" Ned started, then paused as I heard the rustling of papers. "That would be your personal spending account, you don't use it often, so it had the most funds to easily access."
"Is my aunt a joint holder on it?"
"God damn it, she is," Ned swore. "I removed her from it, I know I did. Let me do some digging and find out how the hell that happened."
"This isn't good, Ned, she’s using the fact that I'm gone to pull this shit because she knows I can't get back to fight it fast enough."
"What do you want me to do?"
"We'll need to call a meeting with all the board members of the company, and then I want a meeting with the ruling parties in our country. Seems I'm going to need to be far more aggressive in this matter sooner than I thought."
"Very good, Sir. I will see that it gets done. Is this still the best number to reach you while you're in the States?" Ned asked.
"Yes, call if you need anything I will answer day or night. This matter needs to be handled swiftly and quietly from our outside sources. Do you hear me?" I growled.
"Understood, I will call the moment I know anything." With that Ned hung up, and I was seriously contemplating whether Lailah would really hunt me down or not if I went for a run to clear my head instead of coming back inside.