FRACTURED (15 page)

Even if I thought they were on the up and up, there's no room here, and there are too many people that would be endangered if something goes awry. I know you know I'm right about this."

I sighed, not wanting to discuss the matter.

“Okay, but I don't want you running them out of town. Not yet. I know you don't believe their intentions are pure, but you also know that I have a way of knowing those kinds of things. I don't get anything from them that leads me to believe that they're going to do anything other than annoy the shit out of you and take over my third floor," I argued. “The bathroom situation might get sketchy here soon, but I've dealt with you. I can deal with them too.”

Fine,” he said, turning on his heels to stalk out of my room. “But we are still going apartment hunting tomorrow. I hope these assholes have money. And, yes, Alice, I know you can still hear me."

He had already conjured up insulting pet names for them. I couldn't tell if that was good or bad.

“But then how will we keep an eye on them if they move out?” I asked, feeling like we were going in circles.

“I guess I will have to go with them,” he mumbled, clearly unhappy with that reality. “You, however, will be staying here. Far away from them."

“Um...didn't you just tell me that you weren't going to babysit them on your own? I may be blonde, Cooper, but this is getting confusing even by brunette standards."

“I know,” he snarled, his eyes flaring gold. “You are going to stay here because that is what's best." He shot me a glance that nearly seared my flesh. “I don't want you around them. Am I understood?”

And then it hit me. Cooper was pissed because he had no choice but to babysit the boys. I couldn't do the job because of my lack-of-Scarlet status. He was torn between wanting to punish me and wanting to keep me alive.

“Do you want me to send them away?” I asked sheepishly.

“Yes,” he snapped, “but I know that, for whatever reason, you're convinced they need to stay. I'll play along with that plan for now, but I swear on all that's holy, one screw-up and they're dead. Not sent away.

Just dead."

“I wish I could explain it to you, Cooper...”

“I'm in no mood to hear it even if you could, Ruby.”

Ruby―not Rubes. Things were worse than I had thought.

“Okay. Not tonight,” I said softly, thinking of something else I needed to talk to him about that he wasn't going to be happy to hear.

“Coop? There's something else,” I admitted quietly, not wanting to get into the whole Matty deal.

“Does it involve anything life-threatening?” he asked, rubbing his forehead.

“Um...no.”

“Is it about P?”

“No.”

“Great. It can wait then. These guys are sucking away my will to live at an obscene rate. I can't deal with any other issues today."

Without another word to me, he stalked into the living room and ordered the boys upstairs, threatening them with bodily harm and death if he heard them rouse at all before morning. Alistair started to complain about being hungry but seemed to think better of it when Cooper began growling at him. I watched the three of them disappear from my home before Cooper slammed the door behind them, waiting to hear their footsteps ascend to the loft above. Once he seemed satisfied that they were where they should be, he walked down the hall to his room and closed the door. He didn't even toss me another glance.

I was too wired to go to bed, my mind reeling with all the newly gained half-truths and warnings from Gavin, and the new reality that Cooper would be moving out. Instead of trying to sleep, I went to the living room and plopped down on the couch in silence. The quiet was sobering and isolating.

Who knew living with so many others could make me feel so alone?

14

I didn't want to open the shop the next day. I'd slept terribly, leaving me with sunken eyes that just couldn't quite focus on anything no matter how hard I squinted. Eventually, I just stopped trying.

Cooper was milling about the apartment, and as much as I wanted to talk to him to figure out a solution to our family crisis, I just couldn't deal with any more hostility from him. Instead, I studiously avoided him, sneaking into the bathroom as best I could while he banged around in the kitchen cabinets. Unfortunately for me, I wasn't nearly as stealthy as I thought I was.

"I know you're up," he called from the adjacent room. "And you pee louder than anyone I've ever met. If you're trying to avoid me, it's not going to work. Besides...I owe you an apology. You might want to come out here so you don't miss anything."

I finished up in the bathroom before joining him in the kitchen. He was leaning his hip against the edge of the stove, arms crossed, face stern. He didn't look like he was feeling overly remorseful.

"I'm sorry I snapped about you leaving me with the
girls
yesterday. I don't like them being here―that hasn't changed―but as much as I may dislike it, they did help you, and if you feel that they're legit, I'm going to trust you. You know...trust? That thing that you and Sean don't have? Yes, that trust. We're a pack, Ruby. We are going to start acting like one. And, as my first official order as your alpha, I want to reiterate the casually-made comment from last night that I don't want you alone with them.

Period. End of story."

I was dumbfounded. I hadn't expected an apology, no matter how creatively it was wrapped.

"I can't explain why I want to help them, Coop; I just do. But you were right to be mad at me. I can't just dump them here and then go along like everything is fine and dandy, business as usual," I replied, moving in to wrap my arms around his waist. It was easier than having to look him in the eye. I sucked at apologizing. "
I'm
sorry, Coop. I'm just not quite sure how to fix this until we find them somewhere to go." I hedged slightly before amending my statement. “Somewhere for all of you to go."

"Well," he started, squeezing me a little tighter, "you could start by getting that boy toy of yours to lend me his Navigator so I can cart them around in style while we look for apartments."

I laughed, thinking that Cooper was far more desperate to get his hands on his own car than I'd thought.

“Why don't you take their car?”

“Apparently, it wasn't so much
their
car as it was an
acquired
vehicle. They ditched it outside of town when they came here. That's where it's going to stay. We don't need the cops finding a stolen vehicle here, nor do I need them driving around town unsupervised."

"Agreed,” I said with a smile. “And, yes, I'm pretty sure I can sweet-talk Sean out of the SUV."

"Oh, I have no doubt that you can get just about anything you want out of that one at this point, except maybe the truth, though I'd really rather not think about your methods for trying," he said, pushing away from me slightly. "I'm going to go wake the ladies up for our long day of house-hunting. Wish me luck."

"You won't need it," I called to him as he reached for the door. "Just wiggle that ass of yours at the realtors and you'll get whatever you want."

"Ha! Too bad it doesn't work on the trio upstairs."

"Maybe it does," I said with a wink. I was met with one in return.

"Perhaps I'll go test out your theory..."

“Don't be upset when it works!”

A harsh laugh rang out through the hallway as he closed the door behind him. And with that, he was gone.

*

Having firmly decided to be an irresponsible business owner and keep the store closed for the day, I posted some lame excuse on the shop's door before deciding to head over to Ronnie's. I was grateful that my inheritance had left me enough money to be mildly aloof regarding
REWORKED
when situations arose, but it wasn't a luxury I would have forever, a fact I needed to keep tucked away in the back of my mind.

The reality was that I was far more concerned with Peyta and whether or not she had let her mother in on her little secret than I was about working that morning. If she had told her, I wanted to be sure that Ronnie was handling it well. Nothing was more important to Ronnie than Peyta, but when blindsided, her reactions weren't always the most well thought out or sensitive.

I entered
Better With Age
to find nobody awaiting my arrival; it appeared deserted. Just as I was about to call out for her, my panic rising, I heard a laugh from the back room.

A
giggle
.

Then I heard the low rumblings of a man's voice.

More laughter.

"Ronnie? It's me," I said tentatively. I wasn't entirely sure what I was interrupting.

"Ruby!" she yelled before an outbreak of scurrying and whispering broke out in the back storeroom. "I'll be right out."

"Don't worry," I mumbled under my breath. "I'm not coming in."

A minute later, Ronnie stumbled through the beaded curtain, smoothing her vintage blouse out and fussing with her hair. A moment after that, a familiar man followed.

“Ruby, you remember Malcolm," she said, trying her best to not look like she'd just gotten caught making out under the bleachers in high school.

“Yes," I replied with a tight smile. "It's nice to see you again."

He looked a tiny bit sheepish as he ran a hand through his disheveled hair.

“Always a pleasure to see one of Ronnie's friends."

The three of us stood awkwardly for a moment, ignoring the neon pink elephant―or herd of them―in the room. I felt like they were multiplying while I stood there. Eventually unable to smile uncomfortably any longer, I cracked.

“Is this a bad time, Ronnie? I could come back later...”

“No, no, it's fine. We were just,” she started, taking a pause to grin at Malcolm, “
looking
for something in the back.”

Like a condom...

“Right, well, I just came over to ask about Peyta,” I said, shooting her a glance that said 'read between the lines, please'. She got me loud and clear.

“You can ask whatever you need to,” she informed me, taking a step closer to Malcolm. “He knows. He knows everything."

“Oh, okay.” I stumbled on the words. Was I missing something more than I thought? The two had history, that was plain from the first time I'd met Malcolm Reed. He was a
friend
from a long time back. A friend of her husband's. A friend from the
Underground
. The piece of the puzzle that I seemed to be lacking was when he'd become someone present enough in Ronnie's life to warrant knowing the most intimate details of her daughter's mental well-being. Perhaps I had missed more in those three weeks than I bargained for. “So Peyta told you? Told you
everything
?”

“She came to me about it yesterday,” she replied, regaining some of the sharpness of feature that I was accustomed to seeing on her face. “She said you were going to tell me if she didn't.” I nodded. “I'm so glad you pushed her about this, Ruby. I had no idea.”

Her guilt wove around me, wrapping me in an energetic blanket that nearly suffocated me. Ronnie was not likely to forgive herself for her oversight anytime soon. Maybe never.

“So you're getting her help? I looked up some really great places that deal with this specific disorder. Did you find somewhere for her to go or do you want the list?”

“Malcolm was able to help get her into a therapist in Boston. The doctor is an old grad school buddy of his. We never would have gotten in without his help. There's a one-year waiting list, and it's a cash-only practice. Even if I could have secured an appointment there, I wouldn't have been able to pay for it.” Her gaze dropped as she fidgeted slightly, picking at her nails. It was apparent that Ronnie thought she’d not only failed her daughter in emotional support, she also thought she'd failed to provide for her too.

“Hans was a housemate of mine,” Malcolm started, allowing Ronnie to get a hold of herself. “We've kept in touch over the years. I called in a favor to him and he agreed to take Peyta on as a courtesy to me.” He smiled warmly and took Ronnie's hand in his. “Veronica, there's no need to feel badly about it; besides,” he said, a tiny glint of mischief flickering in his eyes, “it gave me a chance to bring up some interesting photos of him that I found in my attic not too long ago. He'd have done anything to keep those off of the internet.”

“You didn't!” Ronnie gasped.

“No,” he roared with laughter. “But that snapped you out of your self-loathing for the moment, didn't it?”

I had to laugh too; his move was well played. I could see why Ronnie liked him. I was starting to like him more as well.

“So she's in good hands then?” I asked, trying to compose myself.

“The best,” Ronnie replied. “And I have you to thank for that too, Ruby. I'm not sure I would have ever figured out what she was doing without you.”

“If I hadn't caught her in the act, I wouldn't have either, Ronnie.

None of us would. You should have seen Cooper after he walked in on the aftermath. He was in bad shape about it. He blamed himself for not being more of a help to her.”

“He was busy doing his job, Ruby. He was out looking for
you,”
she said, her voice taking on that familiar seriousness that I'd come to find comforting from Ronnie. From anyone else it would have seemed threatening, and on occasion, it still was. “Peyta isn't Cooper's responsibility. She's mine. Tell him it's not his fault, please.”

As if just putting it together, she narrowed her eyes and cocked her head slightly to the side.

“Is that why he left the house the other day looking pale as a ghost?

He walked right past me without so much as a word. I figured he'd overheard something he didn't mean to and that had freaked him out a little. Now it's starting to make more sense.”

“Yeah, poor guy. He might need a therapist now too,” I joked, trying to lighten the mood slightly. “Got any other friends you can call favors into, Malcolm?”

The room boomed with his low and hearty laughter.

“I'm afraid not, Ruby. But I have some senators I can blackmail if that ever comes in handy.”

“You never know,” I cautioned. “I'm pretty adept at getting myself into trouble.”