JARED (Lane Brothers Book 4) (3 page)

“Father, I—”

“You need to remember our talk, Paulette. We’ve been over this before and—”

“I’ll thank you to stop intimidating my daughter and get your ass out of my hospital, Franklin Hayes.”

That growl and the agitated screech that comes after it makes me smile and step back with a chuckle.

The cavalry has arrived, and I know I won’t have to say a Goddamned thing now. Not with Ma and Pop here to go toe to toe with these animals.

I’m still tripping off the look of fear in Cupcake’s eyes, so I abandon the melee and make my way to her, taking her trembling hand in mine as Ma advances on Tanya and stands frowning so hard, I see the bitch swallow nervously.

Franklin Hayes just turns away and meets Pop’s gaze with more bravado than I thought the worm capable of. My pop may be heading towards sixty, but the man is as huge as his sons and fitter than a man his age has any right to be considering his heart condition and the doctors’ worries.

Pop could probably take poor Frank with one hand tied behind his back, and I look forward to seeing that if the man should be foolish enough to argue.

“Now see here, Lane—”

“No, you see here,” Pop snarls, curling his fists with a growl.

“That girl is my kid from here on out. You’ve done a piss-poor job of being parents to her and tried to marry her off to a man who’d rather beat her half to death than give her a kind word. You’re mixed up in this mess, I know you are, and I won’t allow her to suffer another day because of your greed. Now I told you to get the fuck out of here. You’re upsetting my kid and she needs peace and quiet to heal.”

Wyatt starts chuckling under his breath and I have to resist the urge to laugh outright when old Frank draws himself up and takes a threatening step closer.

“You have no idea who you’re messing with, Lane.”

“Yes! No idea,” Tanya chirps, quieting down immediately when my perfectly coiffed mother takes a step closer, her fist curled and ready.

“One more word and you’ll be drinking soup out of a straw, Tanya Hayes.”

It’s a spectacle and I’m enjoying the heck out of it as Cupcake scoots closer and her trembling starts affecting her whole body. It’s the most natural thing in the world to pull her into me with an arm curved gently around her shoulder, and I almost pop a chubby when she snuggles in and sighs contentedly, accepting the comfort easily.

“This is ridiculous! Paulette is engaged. She can’t just—”

“Well she is. That farce of an engagement you set up with the Huleys doesn’t hold water and you know it. She’s ours now, so you may as well run back to that pack of wolves who almost killed her and tell them that if they so much as breathe the same air as my kid, I will make them regret ever looking at her.”

“George. Please, you need to be reasonable. The Huleys are not a family to trifle with.”

Ah, so there it is. Frank is terrified of them, and if what Pop alluded to is true, then the Hayes clan is just as deeply involved in this mess as my baby was.

Looks to me like they’re afraid and reasonably so, but I can honestly say I don’t give a fig. Let the Patriots and the Huleys do to them what they will, I really don’t care as long as my baby is out of this shit and under my roof where she belongs.

“I am being reasonable, Frank. I’m letting you slink out of here unharmed when, in fact, I should beat you half to death for putting Paulie in that position in the first place. Don’t think I haven’t seen your game here. You gave her to them knowing what would happen. Look at her,” he snarls and I’m almost certain that if they say or do the wrong thing now, Pop will lose his cool.

Frank swallows and refuses to turn, not acknowledging Paulie at all.

“She did that to herself. I warned her not to go snooping.”

Jesus. The man should be shot for his poor parenting skills. I promise myself that I will never let a day go by that my and Paulie’s kids don’t know the depth of love I have for them.

“Get out.”

“George—”

“I said get out of here, Frank, and take that viper with you before my Judy rearranges her jaw!” Pop yells, stepping back from the door.

I watch with amusement as the two of them scuttle from the room with their tails tucked between their legs and only let out a chuckle when Wyatt turns to Pop with a smile and high-fives the old coot.

“Good job, old man.”

Everyone is laughing by this time, and I feel myself relax and just soak it all in as the stress and strain of the last few days calms and melts away. At least that’s what I feel for all of two seconds before Cupcake starts sniffing and breaks out in huge sobs that shake both of us.

“Hey, Paulie, baby, don’t cry for those assholes,” Ma croons, coming over to embrace her with her own eyes misting up tearfully. “You don’t need them and…oh, honey, don’t cry. We’ll call them back.”

Paulie

Jude Lane is hugging me. Me! The girl who nobody likes. The girl who betrayed the man she loved because she was too dumb to come up with a better plan than to get so involved while collecting evidence.

She’s hugging me the way I’d always dreamed a mother hugs her kid, and what do I do? I start bawling enough fill the Nile while everyone just looks on with pity.

I should stop, because the truth of the matter is that I do not deserve a moment of their kindness, and certainly not the way they all came to my defence, but who can blame me?

After seeing George Lane claim me as his own kid and the way Jared came to me and took me in his arms...this is everything I’ve ever dreamed of and held dear and wanted for as long as I can remember.

And I don’t deserve a minute of it.

I’m also crying a little because while I love that they just did all this, I’m going to have to decline their support and go back home. I need that stash I hid under the floorboards in my room, and I need it yesterday.

“Paulie, honey?”

I sniffle a few more times and wipe at my leaking eye, wincing when the salty burn smudges over the cuts and scrapes and starts the thing throbbing again.

“It’s okay, I don’t want them to come back.” I hiccup, licking my lips with care before pulling away and looking at them all with a small smile that feels bittersweet. “They’re right, though. I promised them all I’d do it and—”

“I don’t care if you promised the pope, Paulette, you’re not going back there. The Patriots will only try to finish what they started, and I’ll be damned if they get there fucking hands on you again. Now shut up unless you have something constructive to say,” Jared growls, pulling away from me to stand.

I miss his heat and the strength his touch lent me so much, I feel my heart trip and the monitor starts beeping wildly. I’ve always been prone to panic attacks, and these stressful situations are the worst kinds of triggers.

I’m surprised the monitors didn’t start blaring sooner, and that no one realized how hard my heart was beating the whole time because I felt so afraid when Father turned to me that I swear my chest almost cracked open to let the thing free.

“Jared—”

“No! You want to go back there and let that animal hurt you again?” he says and I rear back at the violence simmering free.

“I, it wasn’t Andrew,” I whisper.

That prize goes right to Clyde, though I keep my mouth shut about the fact that it was Andy who held me down that one time…

No, Paulie! Don’t think about that now
, I yell silently, breathing in short bursts as the memories try to break free and the heart-rate monitor starts beeping so wildly, an alarm actually goes off this time.

The shakes start again, and this time I know that the panic attack I’ve been staving off for several minutes is unavoidable. I can’t breathe, can’t move as the terror grips me and starts curling its way through every cell under my skin.

My muscles lock up as the shakes get worse and my vision starts blinking on and off as the worst of it hits me a second after I hear a curse and the worried yells around me.

It’s then that the fit hits me and I’m almost relieved for the reprieve it brings when my body seizes up and everything starts melting away.

“Cupcake!”

Did he just call me Cupcake?

My body stops responding and flops down with a thump I feel in my back and hip.

I can’t hear or see properly as the attack goes on and on, leaving me blind, deaf, and mute. All I know is the feel of hands grasping at me and the smell of Jared’s expensive cologne penetrating what’s left of my senses.

These attacks. I call them fits or panic attacks, but I can’t really tell you with any certainty what they are. I just know I’ve had them for ages now, and that stress brings them on without thought or mercy for the situation.

I’ve had so many lately that I’m surprised I’m still alive after some of the headers I’ve taken, but that’s from knowing that no matter what I do, I’m screwed. The situation I’m in is irreparable.

Unfortunately, that’s one of the reasons Clyde could get to me so easily and one of the reasons I couldn’t even fight back. I wasn’t able to, pathetic as it sounds, and it got worse when—

No, not again Paulette. Push that other shit aside and focus
, I snarl as I feel the onslaught lessening slowly and become aware of hushed voices and the feel of methodical hands running over me.

When my eyelid is raised and the blinding glare of the doctor’s light hits my eye, I cringe and pull back with a moan and a jerk that wrenches my aching neck.

“She’s okay, Mr. Lane. It looks to me to be a panic attack—”

“That looked like a seizure!” I hear Jared yell and it makes me want to smile when I feel the doctor’s hands tremble as he adjusts my head comfortably and releases my eyelid.

“Sir, Miss Hayes is not epileptic and suffers from no physiological signs of tumors or other disorders. From what you described, I can confidently say that was a panic attack, albeit a rather severe one. It worsens with stress and I’d say she’s been having them for a long time now just by looking at her back molars and feeling some of the lumps on her head. She needs rest and calm right now.”

“You think I don’t know that, asshole?! You saw her! How the hell—”

“Son, calm down. Dr. Steve is right and you’ll have to accept it. Paulie’s had a very stressful time lately, and she’s always been a skittish little thing.”

“But, but she’s already so hurt. She can’t be having these things,” he croaks and I wonder if that tone is as soft and caring as it sounds or just my own, hopeful, foolish imagination.

“They will lessen over time with proper care and minimal stress. I’ve seen these before, Jared, and it’s not life threatening or anything serious. Just keep an eye on her, and if she seems to be getting upset try to calm her.”

I hate that it’s happening now, in front of these people, and I hate even more that it’s another thing to make others pity me. And I freaking despise knowing that it’s all psychological shit messing with my body this way.

“Cupcake.”

Great. He did use my nickname after all, and while I feel a small amount of relief, I also feel total dismay. He’s being nice now. After all this, he’s being nice, and I know that if not for this episode I’d still be staring into cold eyes that hold nothing but loathing for me.

That hurts more than his dislike, and I look away with a frown, refusing to meet his gaze.

“I need to go home.”

“Cup—”

I’m so sleepy all of a sudden and I just barely manage to shake my head and cut him off.

“It’s all under the floorboards beneath my bed,” I whisper, letting my eyes droop closed.

***

Jared

Her eye finally drops closed and I hear her even breathing as the medication the doctor gave her takes effect and knocks her out fully. My own relief pours through me and I look away from her battered face with a curse, only to see my family standing, looking at me with anger and compassion.

“She doesn’t need you yelling at her at every turn, Jared Esiah Lane,” Ma mutters, wiping at her wet cheeks as Pop pulls her closer.

“Bro—”

“I can’t let her go back, no matter how hard I have to be on her. They did not just beat her, Wyatt,” I say, pulling at my hair as anger and a feeling of hopelessness hits me.

I don’t know how I’ll tell them this. Hell, I don’t know how I’ll tell Paulie if she doesn’t know, which seems likely now that I know that it could have happened while she was having an attack and dead to the world.

“Explain,” Wyatt says and I stiffen when Dad draws himself up and narrows his eyes at me.

“What are you saying?”

I can see they all know and yet none of us want to believe it. Fuck, I can’t even think it without having the urge to tear this place down brick by brick.

“She was bleeding…vaginally when they checked her out.”

With all the trauma she sustained, they can’t say for certain that she was raped, but I feel…terrified at just the thought of my cupcake having to endure that horror on top of the pain she suffered.

“Jared, you need to talk to her about it,” Ma croaks, sniffling loudly into Pop’s shoulder as Ellie covers her mouth with her hand.

My throat is too tight to speak, and for a guy like me, who never cries or shows emotion unless necessary, I feel a part of myself crack with the need to cry.

“I don’t want to talk about it, Ma.”

“But, honey, you must. Paulie needs you to be strong. She needs you to be there for her and to help her through all this. You can’t hide from this sort of thing, Jared, and if they did…hurt her that way, you need to help her heal from it.”

How? How do I help her when just the thought of it makes me feel like I’m breaking inside?

“I’ll take care of it,” I mutter, pacing now that I’m calmer and starting to plan again. “Pop, how’s that transfer going?”

“The nurse will be here shortly to start readying Paulie, and the ambulance will be here to transport her home. Ma already had the room set up—”

“She’s with me,” I growl, stopping to look them both in the eye. “She’s my woman, she sleeps in my bed.”

“But, Jared, think of the stairs and—”

“I’ll carry her anywhere she wants to go. After the doctor clears her from bed rest. I’m not letting anything else take her from me again, not even your concern, Ma. Paulie and I have a lot to work out and we’ll be doing it from my wing of the house. In private.”

Ma throws her hands up and shakes her head and Pop starts chuckling.

“You boys are just like your father. Thank the good Lord I have some daughters now to cut through the stubbornness.”

That sets Wyatt laughing and I join in when Ellie elbows him and scowls deeply. The women my brothers have married are all stubborn and hotheaded. Not to mention my own mother and her temper and penchant for meddling.

“Oh, that reminds me, Jared. I got this perfect little ten-carat—”

“I’ll buy my own engagement ring, Ma!”

Christ. She’s given each of the women a ring before my brothers could, and it would chap my ass if Paulie got one before I could get to the city to pick out the perfect one.

Trace, Clari, and Ellie already wear their own “Ma” rings with more pride than they wear the rings they got from their men. Females.

“Jared—”

“Pop, take your wife home, would ya?” I say, grinning when the old man starts pulling her out with a chuckle and a slap to her rear.

“Settle down, Judy baby. You want to give someone a ring…”

“Oh, George! Behave yourself.” She titters and I almost die when my dad grabs her ass and gives it a squeeze.

“That’s not what you said this morning, darlin’.”

“Oh Christ,” Wyatt mutters, rolling his eyes as he claps my back and starts pulling Ellie away despite her protests. “I’ll see you at home.”

When I’m alone with Paulie again and I feel calm enough not to lose it for the hundredth time today, I approach the bed and lower myself into the chair beside it, taking her hand and placing a tender kiss on the fragile skin and bones cradled in my own.

I still have so much to do, including tracking down my brother Roman and ensuring that Lynn is still locked up tight, but right now I’m exactly where I want to be. I feel nothing but contentment when Cupcake squeezes my hand in her sleep and lets out a sigh.

Whoever it was, whoever did this to her, will suffer when I find them. They’d all better hope one of my brothers is there to save them, because if not, people are going to die.

I’ll admit that some of my rage is because I feel guilty for not having been there to prevent or stop this shit from happening, but the bottom line is that she was messed with and they all need to suffer for that.

I’ll start with her bastard parents first.

“Yo, what’s up?” Jace answers on the first ring, and I hear a feminine groan and what sounds like kissing noises echoing through the line.

“Are you having sex?”

Another moan reaches my ears and I grimace at the thought of Jace answering the phone while—

“No. You think I want anyone hearing my baby like that? I’m giving Trace a foot rub, perv,” he says and I hear another moan and some very unladylike cursing when he moves away. “Be right back, baby. What’s up, bro?”

I keep my voice low and my eyes on Cupcake for any movement, though I doubt she’ll wake up anytime today after what the doc put in her veins.

“I want you to get Case up here. The Hayeses are in on this thing up to their eyeballs, and I want a man watching them twenty-four seven till Paulie is back on her feet.”

What I don’t tell him is that I have every intention of beating the truth about Paulie’s reaction to Frank right out of them, or that they’ll be lucky to survive if I so much as hear that he’s laid a hand on her all these years.

A low whistle reaches me and I roll my eyes, knowing what his heat is before he even says it.