Brazen and Breathless (Untouchable Book 6) Read online

  “But I do feel I should apologize to you, not only for the way Maddy ambushed you… I thought you knew we were seeing each other.”

  Gag. I blew out a breath. “Does it matter? I mean, really? I think the people you should be apologizing to are your wife and your child.”

  He gave me the slightest of nods that I couldn’t even begin to interpret. “But this division between you and your mother…”

  “Is really none of your business, Mr. Standish,” I told him, and I kept my tone stiff.

  His lips flattened, and he slid his hand back into his pockets. Archie did that sometimes when he had to hold himself back or edit himself in front of others. Was that just a trait shared by his father? Or was I trying to read too much into it? “Of course, I’m overstepping.”

  “You could say that.” I popped the door to my car open. “It’s not like we have to speak. I know I’m here interning at your company, but if that’s a problem for you, I can request a change.”

  It would make Archie happy.

  “No,” he said, almost too quickly. “I would like very much to start over, but I suspect the issue with your mother is going to cloud things.”

  I tossed my backpack inside. “Are you for real right now?” I stared at him, and he gave me a quizzical look. “You treat Archie like crap. You’re sleeping around on your wife—and you know what? Fine, that part is none of my business. Trust me, I wish I didn’t know. But Archie is your son, and he’s a really amazing person.”

  “Archie and I do not have the best of relationships,” he admitted.

  “No shit.” Okay. There went my veneer of trying to be polite. “You treat him like crap, and that makes you the asshole. So instead of trying to do whatever this is you’re doing with me, because trust me when I say that nothing you could say to me is going to change my mind on how shitty you and Maddy have both behaved, you try talking to your son and apologizing to him.”

  “He’s important to you.”

  “He should be important to you. Granted, maybe that’s what he and I have most in common—we won the lottery on shit parents.”

  I bit the inside of my lip and then shook my head.

  “Look, Mr. Standish…”

  “Edward, or Eddie is fine.”

  “Mr. Standish,” I repeated. “We’re not friends. You doing whatever you’re doing with Maddy doesn’t make us anything. My relationship with Archie is none of your business. But if you feel some driving urge to make things right, start with your son. He deserves a lot better than you.”

  I slid into the car, but his next words froze my hand reaching for the seatbelt. “You’re right,” he said. “He does deserve better. But I can’t fix eighteen years in an instant.”

  “Then maybe you should get started.”

  “Would that make you happy?” The question was fucking bizarre, and I just shrugged and yanked the door closed.

  Engine started, I glanced over to find him still staring at me and my car. Fuck me.

  I opened the window. “Archie being happy would make me happy. Me being here and you doing whatever it is you’re doing? That doesn’t make him happy. You want to fix something, fix it with him.”

  He dropped his chin a moment, then nodded. “I understand. As for your suit…”

  Great, here we went.

  “If you want me to testify at any hearing, I will.”

  Wait.

  What?

  “Maddy will be furious,” he told me. She’d be livid. Was he insane? “But maybe I should start out fixing something small. You want your emancipation. I won’t stand in your way, and I’ll help if necessary.”

  “Why?”

  He gave a little shrug. “Because I can.” He turned and began walking away. “Drive carefully. They are calling for freezing rain tonight, and you need to get the transmission on that car checked.”

  Then he was gone.

  What. The. Fuck.

  I didn’t even know what to do with that. I picked up and put my phone down three times to text Archie, then I didn’t. Because I didn’t know even how to explain that interaction. Mr. Standish made no sense. Was there trouble with Maddy? Did he want me to smooth things over with Archie for him?

  Define irony. I have a problem with her new boyfriend, and he thinks making up with me will fix something with her.

  Wow.

  I turned up the volume as I drove and tried to sort out what just happened. I had to tell Archie, because not telling them things to protect them wasn’t going to fly. Even if the very last thing I wanted to do was stress him. But no matter which way I looked at that interaction with Mr. Standish, I couldn’t explain what he wanted if I tried. I didn’t get it.

  At all.

  Jake: Picked up Chinese earlier. Got your favorite. Come on home, Baby Girl.

  Well, at least that saved me having to figure out dinner. Funnily enough, cooking dinner or at least cutting back on how much we ordered in or picked up was a battle I’d been losing. Archie refused to be constrained to a grocery budget.

  Ugh. A battle for another day. I was too hungry to worry about it. Especially when Jake, Coop, and Ian were just as bad. Admittedly, when I wanted to cook, they also pitched in, and they each harbored little secrets—like Ian and his omelets—doling them out like these sweet surprises.

  The freezing drizzle showed up the last mile of my drive, but thankfully, I was practically home and parked. Ian’s bike was there, but covered. So was Jake’s SUV and Coop’s car. No sign of Archie’s Ferrari.

  A brief sensation of relief crawled through me. That would give me some time to figure out how to tackle this best for Archie. Definitely not hiding it from him, but softening it somehow so it didn’t add to the anxiety already piling on him. He always wanted to fix things for me.

  Backpack in hand, I slid out of the car and hurried inside. It seemed even colder out than when I got in the car at Standish. Three things hit me when I let myself into the kitchen.

  The photo that hung on the wall next to the kitchen table was gone. We were short one chair at the table. And there was a large bag of trash sitting next to the backdoor waiting to be taken out.

  Jake appeared in the entryway between the living room and the kitchen, his expression tight. “Before you say anything…”

  My stomach dropped. What had happened?

  “I got here like thirty minute ago and found the mess along with Coop.”

  I dropped my backpack and flipped the lock. “What happened? Is he all right?”

  “I’m fine,” Coop called, his voice slurring completely, and my jaw dropped. Jake grimaced and curled his fingers toward me. I barely smelled the unopened Chinese food still sitting in its bags on the counter as I went to him. Coop sat in the living room, a bottle of whisky and a full six pack of beer in front of him.

  Well, I should amend that to six empty bottles and a half-full bottle of whisky. When did we get the whisky?

  “He had a fight with his dad,” was all Jake murmured in a voice so low, I barely heard it. Squeezing his hand, I headed for Coop. To be honest, his issues with his dad were complicated and had been since Carly and he had broken up. Coop had been pissed at him for cheating. And I couldn’t blame him, it was a shitty, shitty thing to do to Carly.

  When Coop’s fingers closed around the neck of the whisky bottle, I put my hand over his. “Leave it?”

  Coop cut his head back to look at me, and his eyes were unfocused, his face flushed, and I swore there were marks of tears around his eyes. More, his knuckles were scraped and raw on both hands. I glanced at Jake, and his lips compressed. Yeah, he’d seen them too.

  “He’s not interested in reason right now, Baby Girl.”

  Fine. Then we’d go with unreasonable.

  I crawled right onto Coop’s lap, and he had to let go of the bottle or risk dumping me on the floor. He clamped his hands on my hips to steady me, and Jake snagged the bottle away.

  “Hey,” I said, focusing on Coop and threading my arms around him.
“Talk to me?”

  He tugged me into him as he sagged back against the sofa, and then he buried his face against my neck. I didn’t grimace, but holy shit, he smelled like a distillery. Coop was not one for benders. The other guys? Yes, I’d seen Jake and Archie drink each other under the table, and if egged on appropriately, so would Ian. But Coop was always the most level-headed one.

  “My fucking father,” Coop slurred. “He’s an asshole.”

  “Got that,” I soothed, carding my fingers through his hair. “Tell me so I can go kick his ass for you?”

  “Not gonna kick his ass,” Coop mumbled against my shoulder. “Pretty sure I knocked one of his teeth out.”

  Jake came back in and sat on the arm of the sofa. He had a glass of water in hand, and he shook his head. “He wasn’t here when I got here.”

  “Nah, he fucking left when he figured out I was serious.” Coop sighed. “I can’t fucking believe he did that. I mean, I should believe he did that, but how the fuck am I supposed to look Mom in the eye now?” Before I could respond to that, he jerked back and brought his hands to my face. “Your mother is a bitch, Frankie. A raging fucking cunt. I don’t want you to even have to breathe the same air as her again, okay?”

  My mother?

  “Okay,” I murmured, just agreeing. It would be easier right now. “Can you drink some water for us? And maybe let me clean up your knuckles?”

  He glanced at his hand and then shrugged, but he didn’t let go of my face. “Hands don’t even hurt. Why are parents so bad at parenting? Mom is great. Mom’s been a damn saint. So much makes sense now, and I don’t know why I didn’t see it. But fuck me, I wish I didn’t see it now.”

  “Hey, bud,” Jake said, bumping his arm, and it eased up Coop’s grip on my face. “Water, man. Before you puke all over Frankie then have to look her in the eye later.”

  I slanted a look at Jake. I could have lived without that mental image.

  “Dude, you puked on her the first time you got shit-faced,” Coop said with a snicker, but he took the glass of water from Jake, and both of us steadied it for him as he took a deep drink. Gradually, Coop slumped back on the sofa. “You remember that, Frankie? Threw up all over your shirt and your shoes. First time I saw you with tits for real. I mean, we’d seen them before, kind of knew they were there, but you had on that pretty pink bra.”

  Wow. He really was drunk if he was bringing that up.

  Jake’s shoulders shook. “Do we tell him?”

  I shook my head. “Leave him alone. I want to know what happened.”

  “His dad, apparently.” Jake raked a hand through his hair.

  “Course, then I threw up on you,” Coop said, his voice almost mournful. “And you said you threw that pretty pink bra away, and I felt bad.”

  “It’s okay,” I murmured. “Really, there was no getting burrito and beer stains out of it.”

  “Fuck, why do you even kiss us when we did shit like that?” Coop groaned.

  “And there he goes,” Jake said, covering his mouth as if he needed to keep the laughter back. “Dude, don’t remind her, or she might not want to kiss us.”

  “Shut up,” I told Jake and stuck my tongue out at him. He winked. Then I focused on Coop. “I kiss you because you brush your teeth. You also held my hair back when I got puking drunk. You guys were doing all kinds of things for me with my broken wrist, including helping me in the bathroom.” Trust me, there were things about that I never wanted to think about, and they hadn’t hesitated.

  Not once.

  “Why do you kiss me when you’ve had to do that?”

  “’Cause you’re fucking beautiful,” Coop said. “Inside and out.”

  “Well, right back at you. Do you think if we put you in a shower, got some more water and food into you, you could tell us what happened?”

  He stared at me for a long moment. “I don’t want to tell you,” he whispered, his frown tearing at my heart. “You’ll just get upset, and I’m tired of the whole fucking world trying to hurt you.”

  “We’re not letting anyone hurt her,” Jake told him. “But let’s sober you up so you can tell us. If you don’t tell us what the dick did, you can at least tell me how much damage to inflict on him.”

  Coop chuckled. “You’d go find him and kick his ass, wouldn’t you?”

  “Damn straight.” Jake cupped my elbow and helped me climb off Coop, and between us, we pulled Coop to his feet. He slung an arm around me and sighed.

  “He had an affair on my mom.”

  “Yeah, man, we know,” Jake comforted him as we got him moving. Coop wasn’t quite weaving on his feet, but he was definitely not steady.

  At the door to the bathroom, Jake left Coop leaning between me and doorjamb while he got the shower started.

  Coop turned those mournful gray-green eyes on me, and my heart squeezed at the sadness there. “I’ll help him kick his ass,” I promised.

  “I believe you,” he said with a slow sigh. “His affair was with your mom. I can’t believe he did that. To me. To Mom. I thought Archie’s dad was a douche, and it turns out my dad is a douche.” A humorless laugh broke out of him. “Hey, Archie and I can now form our own little club. Pretty sure Bubba’s dad is definitely not in it, and Jake’s dad didn’t come back…”

  “Yeah, he had his own issues,” Jake said steadily as the water pounded down in the shower, but my brain was still back at the fact that Coop’s dad had an affair with Maddy. Maddy and Carly had been friends, right?

  “Sorry, Frankie,” Coop told me mournfully, and I rubbed his spine gently. “I shouldn’t have said anything. I didn’t want to tell you. I can’t believe him.”

  Maddy poisoned everything she touched.

  “Come on, let’s get you into the shower.”

  It took Jake and me both to strip Coop, and then I dropped my own clothes and went in after him to help him shower and wash. Jake stayed right there, leaning against the counter and ready to move if Coop swayed too far from one side to the other.

  He bowed his head so I could wash his hair and then leaned it back to let me rinse the shampoo out. I got his hands cleaned up and took my time about soaping him down. Bit by bit, the stench of alcohol began to wane.

  “I have regrets,” Coop admitted in a less wavery voice.

  “Yeah,” Jake said. “I’ll bet.”

  But once he was washed, Jake took over balancing him while I toweled him off. Then we poured more water and some toast into him, and he was listing heavily. We tucked him into bed and put water, pain relievers, and a trash can right next to the bed, and I crawled in to sit next to him while Jake went for food.

  Coop didn’t move, not once the whole time we ate, and Jake leaned back against the headboard next to me and said, “I sent Archie and Bubba texts, they’re gonna crash at their places. Arch will pick up Bubba in the morning.”

  “What did you tell them?”

  “Just that I needed you tonight, told Arch you were fine and nothing bad happened today.” He rubbed my arm. “You haven’t told me about your day yet.”

  “Later,” I said. “I’m worried about Coop.”

  “Yeah, he’ll be fine, Baby Girl. He just needed to vent.”

  “Except…Maddy…”

  “That’s on them,” Jake said firmly. “That’s on her, Coop’s dad, and Archie’s. They’re the adults. They make choices, regardless of the consequences. We may end up paying for them, but they aren’t ours to own.”

  “Except Maddy breaks up marriages,” I pointed out. “And I can’t choose between you guys. Maybe I’m—”

  “If you finish that sentence, I will spank you,” Jake snapped, and that sounded like less an erotic promise than a real punishment. “You are not her. You are not sneaking around. You are honest and loving and perfect. Do you understand me?”

  It was my turn for my eyes to burn. “I just hate what she does to people.”

  “On that we agree,” he murmured and pressed a kiss to my palm. “I hate what she does
to you, too. But here’s the difference. You haven’t lied to us. You haven’t tried to take something that wasn’t yours from the beginning. We know who we are and where we stand. We’re better with you, all of us, and we’re right where we want to be. Don’t ever compare yourself to her again, Baby Girl. You’re so much better than she is.”

  He blew out a breath, and I tucked my head against his shoulder. “I love you, too.”

  After pressing a kiss to my hair, he murmured, “Frankie, not all affairs are the same. Not all relationships are. One of the reasons I got so pissed at my father was that…when Mom couldn’t handle them having a third person in their relationship anymore, he chose her over us. He chose that woman over his wife and his kids. I get it, he loved Mom and he loved Klara. Mom and Klara broke up, and Dad decided to stay there. That will never not piss me off, but that choice wasn’t about us, it was about them.”

  Holy.

  Shit.

  I stared at Jake. “I’m sorry.”

  I mean, we all knew his dad never came back. More, we knew he and his dad had a massive falling out. But there had been another woman involved.

  Jake gave a shrug. “It is what it is, Baby Girl. I never wanted to be in Germany, and I didn’t understand the relationship when I was younger. I get it now, in retrospect, and I even get why Mom made her choices and he made his. The point is, what they do with their lives is on them. What we do with ours? That’s about us.”

  Threading my arms around him, I burrowed into his side. “Hurting you guys is the last thing I ever want to do.”

  “Ditto,” he whispered. “But we’ve got this…”

  Coop made a sound and turned. Jake and I sprang apart. I’d never seen Jake move so fast. He got the empty trash can under Coop’s head before he vomited, and I helped support him.

  I met Jake’s gaze, and we both smiled.

  “We’ve got this,” he repeated. “But fuck, that smells awful. Thank you for still being willing to kiss us.”

  I laughed.

  Because it was so much better than crying.

  Red Flag

  Archie: The parts we ordered will get in today. But I want to be there for Frankie’s meeting.