“No,” Damien said, then glanced at Ryan, who nodded.
“All right. What else is going on?” Jackson asked as Nikki squeezed Damien’s hand in solidarity.
“Let’s go on in and sit down. I’ll fill you in while Ryan gets Alaine.” He frowned, for the first time noticing that Jamie and Sylvia had disappeared.
“They’re setting us up with bourbon and coffee,” Jackson said, nodding toward the third-floor kitchen that had become the heart of the home. “Right now, I’m thinking we’ll all be going with bourbon.”
“You got that right,” Damien said. He dragged his fingers through his hair. “This will fuck Alaine up if it’s someone on his staff. He’ll never forgive himself for not vetting his team well enough.”
“So would you in his shoes,” she told him. “But you’ll also tell him that you understand that.”
“I will,” he said, following his brother toward the sitting area. Nikki, however, held back, and he turned to find her with Bree.
“You can go on to your place,” she said. “Thank you so much for staying with the kids.”
“Are you kidding? Of course. But I—well, could I have one word with Mr. Stark, first?”
“Damien,” he said. “You know you can call me Damien.”
She nodded. “I know. I just—well, what I want to ask…”
“I’ll go help Jamie and Syl,” Nikki said.
“Oh, you can stay.”
“It’s fine,” Nikki said. “Unless you need me to?”
Bree shook her head.
“I promise he doesn’t bite. Not hard, anyway.”
Damien fought a laugh, and Bree visibly relaxed, the joke breaking the lingering tension. “How are you doing?” She’d been released unharmed after she and Anne were taken, but the trauma would linger forever. And now she’d learned that the home they’d considered a fortress had been breached.
“If this is making you nervous,” he added, “I’m happy to let you stay at the apartment until we beef up security and, hopefully, find who did this.”
“The apartment? Oh! You mean downtown?” Half of the top floor of Stark Tower was his personal residence. One of them, anyway. “Oh, no, Mr. Stark. I mean, Damien. No, it’s nothing like that.”
“Then what’s wrong?”
“I—I, well, you remember how I was seeing Rory,” she began, naming the man who had been Anne and Bree’s kidnapper.
“Of course, I remember.”
“Right. She pressed her lips together, then drew in a breath. “Um, listen, I hate to be the person who thinks like this, but could you do me a favor?”
“Probably,” Damien said, wondering where she could possibly be going with this conversation. “What do you need?”
“I’ve been seeing this guy for a few weeks. He’s been here a couple of times, and Nikki’s met him. He’s really nice. Funny and charming, and I trust him completely.”
He saw the truth of her words in her eyes. And he saw the guilt, too. “You want me to run a background check.”
She blinked, but nodded. “I hate myself for asking, but I trusted Rory, too, and now—now I don’t trust myself, you know?”
“I do,” he said softly. “And of course I will if it will make you feel better. But Rory was the exception, not the rule. At the same time, you’re doing the right thing by checking this guy out. It’s a matter of your safety and the safety of the kids. So thank you, Bree, for being so responsible.”
She managed a smile. “I still hate asking.”
“Well, technically, you didn’t. Text me his name and any other concrete information you have on him. I’ll get Ryan on it.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” He started to head back to Nikki and the others, then hesitated. “Any word on your book?” She’d moved back from New York to attend a low residency masters program in creative writing. She’d finished her first novel and was well into a second, but so far hadn’t found a buyer for it.
“Nothing yet, but everyone says these things take time.”
“Well, you let me know if you need anything, okay? I enjoyed it,” he added, glad that his words were the absolute truth. “I’d love to see you get it published.”
“Thanks, Mr.—thanks, Damien. If it’s okay with you, I’m going to sleep on the playroom sofa tonight.”
He smiled. “I thought you might. And, Bree?”
Her brows rose in question.
“I’m glad you’re part of the family.”
Her smile lit her face. “Anne and Lara and Bradley mean the world to me, and so do you and Nikki. You’re role models, you know? And what makes you good ones is that you’re human.” She cocked her head toward the stairs. “I’ll text you that stuff tonight before I crash. Let me know if you learn anything about that horrible thing,” she added, pointing toward the note.
“You’ll know when we do.”
He watched her go, then turned to find Nikki coming toward him with a glass of bourbon. “You look like you could use it.”
“She wants me to investigate her boyfriend. She shouldn’t have to worry about running background checks on the guy she’s dating.”
“It’s not your fault.”
“Isn’t it?” The words snapped out of him, pushed by fury, not reason. “Someone was in this house, uninvited, fucking with our personal space.”
“I get that you’re mad.”
“Do you?”
“You think I don’t?” She stepped closer, her back straight, her expression fierce. “You’re more angry at yourself than at him. Because you didn’t anticipate it.”
“Damn right, I am.”
She grinned at him. “I told you I understood.”
The fury that had been building in him backed down, and he drew in a breath, ratcheting back the desire to punch something. “Come on. We need to fill the others in before Ryan gets back with Alaine. I’m not telling Alaine about the video, but Jackson and Sylvia should know.”
“I’m sorry. You don’t have to tell them, you know. Or at least not tonight.”
He considered it. God knew he didn’t want to talk about the damn video again. And he sure as hell didn’t want to talk about what happened back when he and Sofia were both children and victims.
But all he said was, “Yes, I do. They’re family, aren’t they? And after what you and I both suffered through, the most important thing in my life next to you and the girls is doing family right.”
“I love you, Mr. Stark.”
“I know,” he said. “Where do you think I get the strength to do this?”
8
“So what’s this about?” Alaine asked as he stepped off the elevator that opened into the third floor kitchen. He was alone, Ryan having stayed behind to speak with the staff. And since Nikki and the others were in the living area, it was only Damien and Alaine.
“Hopefully nothing,” Damien said. “But we’ve had a bit of vandalism in the house, and I’m trying to nail down the source.”