66. Kiera
KIERA
The night felt endless. No one was ready for a deep dive conversation, but given the chaos that had unfolded, some preliminary details needed to be discussed. And thanks to that very same chaos, the kids were in no mood to discuss their father.
What little we did manage to get out of Caleb was short and defensive. It was clear that he hated having to ask Spencer for help, and he hated having to admit that he’d been hasty in mentioning Jess.
For her part, Spencer seemed exhausted. Despite her best attempts to keep the calm and ease the kids’ transition into the house, I knew that Spencer was still disappointed in Caleb for his blow up and disappointed in herself for not seeing it coming.
Thank god this mansion is so fucking big — everyone needs a little breathing room tonight.
Spencer and I got the kids set up down a long hallway from my room — close enough that they could reach Spencer without getting lost, but far enough away that they could comfortably get a break from one another until the morning.
Unlike my single, the kids were living lavish in a guest suite with adjoining bedrooms. And even though they had the option to wall off for some privacy, I got a feeling from the way that Abi was clinging to Caleb that the separate rooms would be open concept for the night.
Poor girl. She puts on such a brave face, but she’s so scared. At least she has Caleb to comfort her.
Despite all of his prickliness with Spencer, Caleb was still a sweet boy at his core, and a great big brother to Abi.
“Rest up,” Spencer hugged each of them long and hard. “We can talk more about the plan in the morning. But no matter what happened tonight, I want you to remember that I love you. Got it?”
“Got it,” Abi smirked, offering me a shy hug. “We love you too Aunt Spencer. Good night, Kiera!”
“Good night Abi.”
“Love you,” Caleb muttered into Spencer’s shoulder before reaching for the door. “Good night, Kiera.”
“Good night Caleb,” I smiled. “See you in the morning.”
“Bright and early,” Spencer teased as Caleb shut the door between us.
And the second she was out of the kids’ sight, Spencer’s cheerful act dropped. “God, I don’t know if I’ve ever been this tired.”
“I doubt that’s true,” I teased. “You were a sorority girl. I’m sure you got up to all sorts of crazy partying in your youth.”
“My youth?” Spencer laughed. “Oh, I’ll fuck you up, you disrespectful little shit.”
“Watch your mouth,” I shoved her shoulder before heading downstairs to the kitchen. “What if the kids hear you?”
“Keep up your bratty little attitude, and they’ll hear a lot more than just cursing,” Spencer teased. And though I knew from the bags under her eyes that it was an empty threat, it was at least nice to see her smile for a moment on this terrible, endless night.
As we got downstairs and rounded the corner into the kitchen, Dom and Leo were already waiting for us in the kitchen.
“How’d it go?” Leo mumbled through a mouthful of frosted flakes.
“Alright.” Spencer shrugged, “I can tell Caleb’s still pissed at me, but at least he said good night.”
“Why’s he pissed at you?” Dom grumbled, leaning back against the counter. “You helped him out.”
“I remind him that he fucked up. Even when I don’t say it, he knows what he promised me. He can tell I’m not happy about it. And teenagers hate being wrong almost as much as you do.”
“Ha-ha,” Dom mocked, grabbing herself a protein shake from the fridge.
But it was clear to me from the way that they milled about the kitchen that my lovers were avoiding real conversation, which meant it was going to be up to me to broach the elephant in the room.
With a sigh, I pulled out a stool and folded my hands on the counter. “So… where do we go from here?”
The others shifted uncomfortably, staring down at their snacks or their hands absently.
I tried again. “We are trying to assassinate one of the most powerful tech execs in the world and take over his fallen empire: how does having two stowaways on board complicate things?”
“I don’t want the kids to know,” Spencer cut in.
“No shit,” Dom grumbled. “I think they’ve got enough of their own daddy baggage without taking mine on board.”
“So we keep the plan quiet around the kids,” I affirmed.
“Probably for the best, given Caleb’s slip tonight,” Leo added.
“Are we taking the kids to school tomorrow?”
Spencer bit her lip, “I want to say no?”
“Long night,” Leo nodded. “I’m happy to write them a doctor’s note if the school needs it.”
“And Bill…” His name was bitter coming out of my mouth. “How likely is he to follow through on his threat? Will he really call the cops?”
“Nah,” Dom cut in. “Assholes like that are all bluster. If he points the cops here, there’s a ton of shit in his house that we could point them back to. He’s not interested in that smoke unless his hand is forced.”
But although she nodded her head in agreement with Dom, I could see that guilt was still eating at Spencer. “What’s wrong?”
She pinched the bridge of her nose. “I don’t know. I just feel bad. You guys are taking on a lot. I should be able to handle this on my own.”
“Don’t be stupid,” Dom grumbled before Leo cut her off with an assist.
“You would do the same for any one of us. We love you, and we love those kids. So just let us help, jackass.”
“Yeah, but it’s not just about that,” Spencer sighed. “You can keep pretending like it’s some minor inconvenience, but we took a serious risk tonight. One we’re still not sure of the repercussions for. We can’t afford big risks like this right now. Not until…” She trailed off, shaking her head.
I cleared my throat, “You’re going to hate this, but everything we do is a risk.”
Spencer rolled her eyes, but I raised my hand to silence her.
“I’m being serious. Not one step I’ve taken outside of this property has been without risk.
Everything about our lives is risky. But there’s no point sitting safely inside a castle while the people we love are getting hurt outside its walls.
Sure, it wasn’t our most cautious moment.
But it also wasn’t necessarily as dangerous as you think it was.
I’d argue that leaving Abi and Caleb in that house tonight was a much bigger risk. ”
“Agreed,” Dom murmured, and Leo laughed.
“You know it’s serious when those two are on the same page.”
And as Spencer finally cracked a smile, I felt warmth bloom in my chest. “The hard part is over. The risk was taken. All we can do now is try to keep things calm and normal for the kids. Okay?”
“Okay,” Spencer nodded, circling behind me and placing a sweet kiss on my cheek. “To calm and normal.”