Ms. Stephanie huffed a sound so impatient, I almost laughed. “Really?”
With a shrug, Jasper said, “We gotta entertain ourselves. But Freddie’s not gonna run.”
Wait. “I’m not?”
“Nope,” he said, then slitted his eyes open to look at me.
“You bet on me not to run.” It wasn’t a question and Jasper just smiled, closing his eyes again. I licked my lips. He believed in me enough to put money on me.
“You boys.” Ms. Stephanie couldn’t manage to keep her amusement out of her disapproval.
“Want to add some side action?” I asked and she gave me the most scandalized look, I had to laugh. It was laugh or cry, and I didn’t want to cry anymore.
I didn’t even think I had it in me to cry. Not after… No, I wasn’t thinking of what happened before. The guys had come for me. They knew that. They hadn’t rejected me then. Maybe they wouldn’t if I ever told them what happened. But I didn’t want to talk about that part.
“Maybe,” Jasper said. “Whatcha got?”
“Oh, fine, if we’re doing side action,” Ms. Stephanie said, pulling something out of her purse and it took me a minute to realize it was knitting and needles. “Count me in.”
“Ms. Stephanie,” Jasper said in a slow teasing voice. “Have we finally corrupted you?”
When she bounced a ball of yarn off his head, I started laughing. I couldn’t stop either. I laughed until I cried and neither one of them left me. They didn’t go when the next wave of shakes hit either.
But they did make me a bet.
CHAPTER 16
FREDDIE
“Okay, sign here and here,” Liam said as he slapped the papers in front of me. It was almost entertaining. “That will make it legal and transfer power of attorney to me for the time being.”
“Yeah, because being adopted at twenty-one is what we all dreamed of.” I kept it light because I’d rather get this shit over and done with and get moving. But Doc insisted we needed a paper trail. Fortunately, I had an easily accessible history of substance abuse and a troubled psyche. Even my school records said so. We didn’t have to manufacture shit.
“Cleary?” I double-checked the name. “Not O’Connell?”
Rome glanced at us from where he’d been leaning against the wall. Everyone was in the sitting room, including our guest, who refused to be removed from the discussion no matter how much Milo huffed and he puffed. Man was gonna have a damn heart attack if he kept it up. As it was, she hadn’t taken her gaze off Liam since he’d arrived.
He’d barely glanced at her when he’d walked in and flipped open folders with a dozen different legal forms. Some were dated today, others for years past.
“The O’Connells only adopted one son,” Liam said without a look at his twin. “Though they were more than willing to adopt my siblings. The rumors about having other brothers are strong enough, we can just lean into it. Your medical history will help out there, too.”
“Cause I’m a fuckup.”
Jasper glared at me and I shrugged.
“Just saying,” I told him as I signed the first sheet and followed it to the next tab. Whatever it took to just get us moving. We’d been away from Boo-Boo for days. Days. If what Lainey told us was true, and she seemed pretty damn confident it was, then Boo-Boo needed us to move our asses.
Exactly as I’d been telling them all along.
“I’m the kind you keep hidden so that it doesn’t affect your reputation.”
“Right,” Liam said with a snort. “The point is, that world knows I have at least one brother. Very few actually know he’s a twin. Enough think I have others.” He made a sweeping motion to the rest of them. I half-expected Jasper to comment, but he just took a long pull from his beer. “Okay, Doc, you need to go over these.” Liam dropped another packet of paper in front of Doc.
“I’m not even going to ask where you got these.” Doc had the folder open and I leaned over to look. Medical records. But...those weren’t mine.
I glanced at Liam and raised my brows. His bland look told me to just shut up. I shrugged. Cause really, whatever.
“Okay,” Doc said. “This means I’m recommending you to a treatment of at least thirty days but no more than ninety.” Scratching his jaw, he cut a glance at me. “That means you could be stuck in this place for thirty days before we can even move legally to get you out.”
“Yeah, if they can keep me,” I said with a shrug. “My plan is simple. Get in. Get Boo-Boo. Get out. It’s easier if I’m all the way in.”
“You’re gonna have to watch it,” Doc told me. “You won’t be armed. They can medicate you—not a fan of that considering your history, but I’ll make sure I note it.”
No one said anything.
“You also need to remember…”
“Doc,” I said before he could push on. “Nobody has to tell me how to act like a whackjob who needs to be committed. I got this.”
“Freddie,” Kellan said and that surprised me. I actually thought that comment would rankle Jasper, but he’d just shaken his head. “No one likes leaving you in there with no one to watch your back.”
“Cause I’m a fuckup?” I could take the heat.
“Pretty sure if you were that bad of a fuckup,” Lainey said and that yanked all of our attention, “none of these guys would be okay with it. But let’s continue to debate your worthiness, we’ve got all the time in the world.”
I grinned. “I like her. She’s my kind of people.”
Milo stared at the ceiling. Jasper snorted. Kellan frowned then looked at Lainey. The remoteness in his expression shut me up. “You’re here as a guest,” he informed her. “You brought us information. We appreciate it. This is about our family, so if you’d be so kind as to sit down and shut the fuck up, the rest of us would appreciate it.”
“Kel,” Milo snapped, but Kellan didn’t even look at him. His icy gaze was fixed on Lainey. The firecracker with the balls of steel just raised her hands.
“I’m worried about my friend.”
“So are we,” Vaughn informed her. “Freddie is also our brother. Tell me again why we can’t just go in, shoot these people, and take her out?”
The last wasn’t directed at Lainey but at Liam and Doc. To be honest, I was okay with that plan too. However, Vaughn wasn’t usually the guy advocating blunt force. That was Jasper.
He was still silent as hell though. That was—weird.
“Would you like me to start at the top?” Doc asked.
“How about, because the minute we go in there guns blazing we bring in law enforcement, their security, and more. The heat that comes down on us would be one thing,” Milo said, his expression stone. “The other is Ivy—fuck my life—Emersyn could be hurt.”
“Not risking Boo-Boo. Besides, I look harmless. That’s all they're going to see. My pretty face, my shitty history, and my weak character. I’m not a threat.” I knew my strengths.
Jasper said something under his breath and stood. Then he was gone, stalking out of the room.