Defiance and Dedication (Untouchable Book 9) Read online

  Defiance and Dedication

  Untouchable Book Nine

  Heather Long

  Copyright © 2021 by Heather Long

  Cover by Crimson Phoenix Designs

  Editing by Kira of Leavens Editing

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  For Sara, because fuck Brad.

  Series so Far

  Rules and Roses

  Changes and Chocolate

  Keys and Kisses

  Whispers and Wishes

  Hangovers and Holidays

  Brazen and Breathless

  Trials and Tiaras

  Graduation and Gifts

  Contents

  Defiance and Dedication

  Foreword

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Nassau County Police Report

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Second

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Songs and Sweethearts

  Afterword

  About Heather Long

  Also by Heather Long

  Defiance and Dedication

  Autumn in New York promises a turn in the seasons as we kick off the next stage of our lives. Colorful leaves falling, dropping temperatures, and the first days of classes loom even as the lingering summer heat and humidity make the city stifling.

  Summer was a time to get away, to just be us, and what a magical time it was, but we can only run away from our lives for so long. We have family, careers, friends—new and old—as well as commitments waiting for us. With a new place to call our own in a new city I’m already half-in-love with, we’re not afraid of the challenges ahead.

  Of course, not everyone is rooting for us, not everyone wants us to succeed, and some choices may come back to haunt us. But don’t come for those I love and expect me to do nothing. They might want to surround me in a layer of protection, but they’re mine and I’m more than willing to fight to keep them.

  Feel free to test me, I’ve never failed one yet.

  Foreword

  Dear Reader,

  Welcome to book nine of the Untouchable series. Nine books. It hardly seems possible that we’ve had that many and yet, there are only so few left after this book.

  When I first started the series, as I’ve often said, I imagined a trilogy. That quickly grew to ten books before I’d even finished the first one. Not all that long ago, I added two more books. Two more because I wanted to do the tale of Frankie, Archie, Jake, Coop, and Ian justice. I didn’t want to rush past moments that were so important. Just to be clear—that means we’re on book nine of twelve.

  For the majority of seven books, we traveled with these five best friends as they became lovers over the course of their senior year. In turn, they became a real family unit and eventually graduated high school. They hit a lot of challenges along the way, faced some terrible truths, and eventually overcame even the worst of their obstacles. In the last book, we got a huge summer hurrah for them after meeting Frankie’s dad for the first time.

  It was both a glorious coming of age and bittersweet, because the real world was out there waiting for them and they were ready to conquer it.

  College is not high school. You’re not living at home anymore. They may not be in a dorm, but they also have so many other challenges facing them beginning with the accident that occurred at the end of the last book.

  I can honestly say that this was hands down my most challenging Frankie book to write. The kids are growing up. Growth and change are not always easy, nor is it pain-free. I have loved every moment of their journey and this one is no different despite how difficult the journey became.

  On the home front, I had surgery to repair a herniated disc in my spine and I’ve been in rehab coming off months of bedrest and rebuilding atrophied muscles. I’m also prepping to move my kid across the pond so he can go to school in Wales for his college years. Talk about challenges and changes.

  Through all of this, a very dear friend of mine has gone through a health crisis of her own. We joked in some ways we were twinning, and yet, we got the best news possible following her surgeries.

  I’ve referred to my #girlgang before, but I truly believe I have one of the best ever. They always have my back and they’re more than willing to listen to me whine and complain as they are to cheer me on and I’m very much the same for them.

  Being a writer can be a lonely existence, but building worlds that other people come to love as much as you do? That’s priceless. If I could list every single person I want to thank right now, we’d be here for days and you’re not here for that, you’re here to find out what happens next.

  Just know if you’re reading this right now, thank you for reading, for reviewing, for reveling, and cheering. Thanks for swearing, laughing, crying, and hopefully not breaking your kindle. This series wouldn’t be the same without any of you.

  I rather doubt we need these housekeeping notes anymore, but I’d rather be safe than sorry.

  For those of you who have never read a reverse harem before, first let me thank you for picking this up and giving it a shot. Second, a reverse harem means the heroine will not make a choice in this book or any other between the guys in her life. It may take her a while to reach that conclusion, but it’s the journey that drives it. There are many ways to frame this kind of relationship, currently reverse harem fits it very well.

  Also, this is the ninth book in a series. If you haven’t read the first eight, I encourage you to pause here and go grab them. While there may be no specific happy endings at the end of each of these books, there will be one to the whole series, that I promise you. Some of these books will have cliffhangers, largely due to the size of the story, but the happy ending has to be earned as part of the journey.

  Again, thank you for reading and being on this journey with Frankie and the boys. I can’t believe I can say this again, but you really haven’t seen anything yet.

  xoxo

  Heather

  Chapter One

  Shit happens...

  Frankie

  My head hurt. It really, really hurt. The smell of antiseptic burned my nostrils. Worse, the beeping of machines seemed to add to the dull thud hammering inside my skull. I debated rolling over but my stomach revolted, so I stayed put. I had zero interest in puking.

  The air was cold and warm. Weird. It took a minute for the fact my eyes were closed to even register. Where did I get this damn headache? Ugh, I started to stretch out a hand
. There was always someone curled up nearby, maybe they could grab me some aspirin, but I didn't find anyone.

  Suppressing a groan of frustration, I peeled my eyes open. The door knocker banging away in my brain got considerably heavier and louder. The smell of antiseptic seemed to increase and I swore I could taste it in the back of my throat.

  I hated hospitals.

  Hated them.

  I hadn't been a fan of them before Homecoming, and after... a shudder raced through me. Waking up there, groggy and out of it, all of that helplessness and shock bled from fresh wounds. I squeezed my eyes shut. Maybe if I refused it, pushed past, it would go away.

  I'd survived Mitch. That was in the past. The guys and I... oh the guys. I frowned and forced my eyes open again. Why was I in the hospital? I tried to reach for the reason, but the fog in my brain swept the information away. Like it was right there on the tip of my tongue. The IV in the back of my hand stung when I gripped the rail.

  The cold metal grounded me and I licked my dry lips. Too dry. Even my throat hurt. It took me a minute to focus my eyes. I was in a room. That was something. The beeping machines were really annoying. Didn't they turn those off? At least the sound? Also, why was...

  A grunt of sound in the corner and I turned my head. A smile stretched my sore mouth and I ignored the headache. Coop. He was sprawled back in the chair like someone had dropped him in it bonelessly.

  It was one of those that would stretch out for sleep. He kind of hung off the end with one of his legs straight out and the other bent, the foot on the floor like he was ready to go somewhere. He looked—great, if tired.

  "Coop." Oh my voice came out a solid croak and I coughed. I glanced around, but there wasn't even a cup within reach. "Coop..."

  At my second call, his eyes fluttered open, and his head lifted a fraction from the fist he'd braced it on. Those gray-green eyes I loved so much were as unfocused as I felt. I probably shouldn't laugh at him, not when there was an indentation mark on his face from his own knuckles. I definitely shouldn't laugh when he frowned so fiercely the sleepiness fled from his expression.

  "Frankie?"

  If I thought I was croaky, I had nothing on him. His normally deep voice seemed rougher and far more raw. There was an ache in the word that made me want to fumble off the bed and pull him in for a hug. I had cables and wires and tubes sticking out of me for some reason.

  Even a quick sweep around me didn't reveal any quick way to ditch them and climb out of the bed. I had to settle for thrusting out my free hand, the one without the IV sticking in the back of it. Coop shot to his feet and his hand clasped mine in a grip so tight, it actually hurt.

  "Hey," I whispered as I tugged him closer. It took no effort on my part at all, I went from holding his hand to enveloped in his hug.

  "Holy shit," he whispered. "You're really here."

  "Of course, I'm here." Yeah, I was a few marbles loose at the moment, I swore the fog was eating away at my thoughts. The damn marching band playing in my head didn't help either.

  My eyes drifted closed though as he buried his face in my hair. The scent of him filled my lungs. Coffee. Chocolate. Coop. All together it was home. He was home.

  We sat like that forever. His hand trembled as he stroked my hair. It was that single thing that kept me from demanding what was going on. Well, that and the softness of his shirt, the warmth of his hug, and the smell of coffee tickling my nose. I probably shouldn't push it, considering I'd wanted to throw up just a few minutes ago. Still, I might legit kill for coffee.

  His shoulders shook, this time with laughter, and he finally loosened his grip to lean back. Letting go of my hand, he dropped the rail so he could sit on the edge and then he gathered my hand back in his.

  I met his gaze and looked at him. Really looked.

  "What's wrong?" Before he could call me on the stupidity of that question, I gave a small shake of my head. Small, because the first shake just increased the slam of the drumbeat against my temples. A droplet hit my lap and I glanced down. Runny noses were—oh, I was bleeding.

  Coop pressed a cloth gently to my nose. "Easy," he murmured. "We got this."

  It was sweet but.. "Coop, what happened?"

  "What's the last thing you remember?" The guarded tone and the careful expression set off warning bells. The cacophony joined the rest of the rock band that had taken over for the marching one to hammer away at my brain.

  "Um..." I frowned, focusing on him as I tried to get my thoughts sorted. The foggy feeling hadn't gone away, if anything, it intensified. "I... what is the last thing I remember?"

  The corners of his mouth quirked a bit higher. "I asked first."

  "Ha ha." I would have smacked his chest, but he still had hold of one of my hands and the other had the IV in it. Each time I flexed my fingers, it hurt. Why did I not notice it and then when did it begin to throb?

  "Frankie?"

  Right. Last thing I remembered. I snapped my focus back up to him and frowned. "We—we drove out to see my grandparents." That filtered through the fog, a single piece of information like it got lost and wandered out on its own. "Right, we went to the Hamptons."

  It was like putting together the pieces of a clear puzzle where the colors and images only filled in as I snapped the disparate sections together. The more I thought about it all, the more it hurt.

  "We were spending the weekend out there." An image of that first night after we'd arrived when Patience asked us to get dressed flitted across my mind like an exotic bird bursting out of the mist. It really did fall into the category of one of these things was not like the other. "We had to get dressed up for dinner, so strange. They change clothes three times a day and that's only cause they're on vacation. In the city or in more formal settings it might be five times."

  Insane. Absolutely insane. Archie's amusement at my quiet rant about it while I looked in the closet of dresses they just happened to have on hand since I hadn't packed anything remotely this fancy had been the only thing keeping me from actually getting mad.

  "It was absurd. Like a theatre of it. Why did we have to get into fancy clothes to eat dinner at home? I thought at first we were going out, but nope...just dinner in a formal dining room. Archie was in a nice tux and so was his grandfather. So was mine."

  I shook my head again. The dull thump had quieted some. Coop's small smile had a kind of sad glimmer to it, but he didn't interrupt me.

  "Anyway, it was just weird. But I refused to change for lunch the following day and my grandfather harrumphed his way through the meal." Then he did something really sweet. He hadn't changed for lunch the following day and when Patience glared at both of us, he just lifted his glass to me. It was probably the most warmth we'd ever shared.

  Grandpa Ted could get him to smile. The two of them could ramble on for hours about various subjects. But whenever I offered something, Ted would respond and my grandfather would frown into his glass. It stung, more than a little. Patience begged me to—well, have more patience and what stunned me more was that Archie said the same thing that first night.

  Coop's frown deepened as I relayed that. "Maybe they both saw something I didn't, but at lunch on Sunday, when he didn't change and instead just sat at the table with me. It was like—we finally had something in common we could share." Not that we were going to be holding hands and sharing life stories, but some of the chasm between us closed. A little.

  I'd take it.

  More, the look on Patience's face had been its own reward and Archie...

  "What next?" Coop asked, prompting me as though I'd gone quiet. Maybe I had.

  "Um," I said as I searched my memory. The moment he asked, the fog rolled in and swarmed the thoughts until it was just me, alone and drifting. "I don't know, Coop. My head hurts. My mouth is dry...I swear every muscle in my body is sore. What's going on?"

  He scrubbed a hand over his face. Interlocking our fingers, he gave my hand a squeeze and I gripped him tighter. For as long as I could remember, when som
ething bad happened, he held my hand. Good things, too, but it was when I needed steadiness, he shared it with me.

  Fear crawled through me. "Coop?"

  "No easy way to say this," he began, then paused for a breath. The tension ratcheting up my spine pulled taut. Finally, he continued, "You're in the hospital."

  I glared at him. "No shit." Only the fact the faint movement of his lips could barely be called a smile kept me from pushing it. "Talk to me," I begged him. Because the playfulness had long since drained out of the moment. "What happened?" I had to bite off the question of why was I here? If he were going to supply that easily, he would have already.

  "It's been a few months," he admitted and my stomach bottomed out even as cold raced over my skin. Goosebumps prickled my flesh. I dug my nails into his hand, waiting for the punchline. "We've been here every damn day. At least one of us, often all of us."

  "That isn't funny," I whispered, and his expression turned so tragic tears spilled out of my eyes.

  "I'm not joking, Beautiful," he whispered in a voice that held so much apology, I swore my heart cracked. "It's been months. We've been waiting and waiting for you to wake up."

  Wake up.