Malone's Fate (Haven, Texas Book 14), page 22
“Have you ever heard of privacy?” she snapped.
“You’re trying to order a ride?” he asked.
“You’re not taking a taxi,” Alec replied. “We’re taking you home.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” She was trying to keep herself from losing it, but she was on the verge of tears.
She just wanted to get away from them.
Away from Tanner . . .
Don’t lose it. Don’t lose it.
Before Alec could reply, Abby returned. Tanner pulled the blanket off her before lifting her into the wheelchair.
“I’ve got this, Abby,” he told her.
“All right. You’re in good hands.” Abby patted her shoulders. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but I hope I don’t see you back here, Lilac.”
She smiled up at the kind woman. “Same.”
“But if you ever want to catch up some other time, that would be fun. Don’t let these guys bulldoze you.”
Abby left and she was left alone with the two Malone men.
So. This was going to be fun.
34
They wheeled her down to Alec’s truck, where Tanner lifted her into the backseat while Alec took the wheelchair back.
Lilac reached for her seatbelt at the same time as him, their hands knocking together.
“I’ve got it,” she said.
Tanner clenched his jaw tight, a muscle ticking in his cheek, but he stepped back and closed the door.
She blinked rapidly.
Do not lose it. Do not lose it.
Fuck. She’d tried twice to buckle her belt until finally, on the third time she got it. By that time, Alec had returned. The drive to Linc’s place was silent.
Only a few more minutes.
Then you can cry.
Why weren’t they saying anything? She’d been expecting more questions. Not this silence.
“After we drop Lilac off, I’ll take you to get your truck,” Alec finally said to Tanner as they pulled onto the street that Linc lived on.
A rogue tear dripped down her cheek.
“That won’t be necessary,” Tanner replied as they pulled up at Linc’s house. Tanner climbed out of the truck as soon as it came to a stop.
He opened her door and reached over to unbuckle her belt. She sucked in a sharp breath.
God. She was going to miss his touch. His smile. His teasing. She’d even miss Meanie Malone.
Then he lifted her into his arms.
“You don’t need to carry me,” she protested.
But he ignored her. When she glanced up, he was still looking mad. Her stomach was knotted.
She’d known he would be upset. It wasn’t a surprise. But that didn’t mean it didn’t hurt.
Because she loved him.
She closed her eyes, wishing she had told him.
“Tanner,” Alec said warningly.
“Will you get our stuff?” Tanner asked gruffly, before turning away from the truck and heading to the guesthouse. It took a moment for his words to penetrate.
Our stuff?
“Tanner!” Alec yelled out.
“Don’t yell, the baby might be asleep.”
They reached the guesthouse and Tanner opened the door, carrying her in. It was quiet. Empty. She guessed everyone had moved to Linc’s house.
A strange feeling crept over her.
They didn’t need her now. They had Linc to take care of them.
She was surplus. Unnecessary.
Panic started to take hold of her, muffling her hearing. She was aware that Tanner and Alec were talking, but she couldn’t seem to focus on their words.
This is what you wanted.
Only trouble was, she didn’t know what to do with herself now. Who was she if she wasn’t needed by anyone? If she wasn’t holding everything together?
Would she shatter?
“Fuck, Alec, shut up. You’re stressing her out.”
“What?” Alec asked.
Tanner sat her on the sofa. Then he crouched down in front of her, placing his large hands on her thighs. “Baby, you need to calm down. Everything is fine. I’m not going anywhere. I’m going to stay here with you.”
What?
She gaped at him.
“But I need you to start breathing. Come on, you know the deal. Follow my voice. Listen to me. Breathe in. One. Two. Hold. One. Two. Now, out. Good girl. You are doing so well. In. One. Two. Hold. One. Two. Let it out, baby.”
“Fuck. I didn’t mean to upset her.”
She glanced up at Alec. She should tell him this wasn’t his fault. That he was right to protect his family. To be suspicious. She came with a whole lot of dangerous baggage.
“That’s it. Don’t worry,” Tanner told her. “I’m not going anywhere. Alec will just have to grab more of my stuff. I’m staying right here to take care of you.”
Her mouth dropped open.
“Tanner, you don’t know anything about why she searched you out. What if her brother is looking for us?”
“Why would he be looking for us?” Tanner replied. “And if he is, then Lilac would tell us.”
“Clearly not, seeing as she is refusing to tell us why she searched you out in Hopesville. Until we know what is going on, you should stay away from her.”
“I’m not staying away from her.” Tanner glared over his shoulder at his brother.
What was happening right now?
She’d thought that Tanner was upset with her. But was he angry at Alec?
“Whatever she is keeping from me, she has her reasons. I love her. She’s my girl, my responsibility. I’m going to stay here with her and look after her.”
Lilac gaped at him.
Turning back to her, he squeezed her thighs. “I don’t like that you’re keeping things from me. But I know you. You think you have to look after everyone else, but like I told you before . . . I’m going to look after you, Lilac. I’m not running off at the first hurdle.”
This man.
She definitely didn’t deserve him. But she was never going to let him go.
Tanner turned back to Alec. “You were the one who always told us that when we found someone special that we needed to do everything we could to keep her. To protect her. That I should take my responsibilities seriously.”
“That does sound like me,” Alec grumbled.
She might have smiled over his disgruntlement under different circumstances.
“But until you know the truth how can you trust her?” Alec asked.
That made her tense. It was true. Tanner would never trust her without knowing everything. He couldn’t.
But Tanner stared at her, his face serious. “I trust her. She has her reasons for keeping this to herself. And as long as she isn’t in any danger, then I will trust her to tell me when she can.”
“It’s because of me,” a voice said from the doorway.
Alec must have left the sliding door open, or they just hadn’t heard it open. Ryleigh stepped into the guesthouse. She looked slightly pale, but otherwise healthy.
Lilac breathed out a sigh of relief. “Ryleigh! You’re feeling okay?” She attempted to stand, but Tanner placed pressure on her legs, keeping her in place.
“I’m good. Are you all right? We’ve been so worried about you!” Ryleigh moved forward, giving Alec a wary look before she reached Lilac. Sitting beside her, she hugged her tight.
Lilac let out a tense breath, trying to relax in her best friend’s arms.
“I’m fine. Really. A lot of fuss over nothing.”
“Not nothing.”
To her shock, it was Alec who spoke. His voice was strained, and she glanced up to find him giving her a stern look.
“Alec is right,” Tanner said. “It wasn’t nothing. You fainted. That’s not nothing.”
“What did the doctor say? What do you need?” Ryleigh asked.
“Just some iron tablets.”
“And to take it easy for a week. No work. No stress. Lots of fluids and good nutrition,” Tanner added sternly. “I’ll be staying here to look after her. You’re all in the main house?”
“Yes,” Ryleigh replied. “But we can move back over here to take care of her. We don’t want to put you guys out.” She gave Alec a strange look.
Alec crossed his arms over his chest, staring down at her friend. She tightened her hold on Ryleigh, as though she was trying to protect her. “You should go back to the house, Ryleigh.”
“No.” Ryleigh shook her head. “It’s time. I overheard part of your conversation. Lilac told you that she sought you out when you were in Hopesville.” She directed this to Tanner, who nodded.
“She did,” Tanner said.
“She wouldn’t tell us why she was interested in my family though,” Alec added. “You said it was because of you. But who are you?”
Ryleigh stood up and held out her hand to Alec. “Hi, I’m Ryleigh Malone. I’m your sister.”
35
Fuck.
That was a twist he hadn’t seen coming.
Tanner stood, studying Ryleigh. She didn’t really look like them. Then again, most of them had different mothers, so they all looked slightly different from each other. Only Alec, West, and Jaret shared the same mom.
Still . . . this was insane.
“There are no Malone girls other than Lottie,” he said. “There haven’t been any born for generations.”
“I don’t know what to tell you,” Ryleigh replied in a shaky voice. “I’m a Malone. You don’t have to believe me. I mean, we can just do a DNA test or something. I don’t know. I don’t care. All I know is that I’m a Malone and I’m your sister.”
“And how do you know that?” Alec asked in a low, soft voice.
Ryleigh bit her lip and Lilac got to her feet, wrapping an arm around her friend.
Okay, nope. That wouldn’t do.
“Lilac, sit down.” He reached for her.
She shook her head.
“Lilac,” he said warningly. “I don’t care what family drama is about to happen, you need to rest. Sit down.”
“I’m fine. Ryleigh, I’m so sorry. You don’t have to say anything more.”
“I do. I’ve got this. It had to come out at some stage. And I don’t want them to be mad at you for keeping my secret. That’s not fair. Lilac went to meet you guys for me. I . . . I was too nervous. I thought if I saw one of you it might just all come out. I’ve never been good with secrets or lies.”
“Yo, Ryleigh, if you’ve come out here for some alone time, you might want to put your pants back on because Linc is . . . ” Opal trailed off as she walked into the guesthouse, staring at them. “Hey! You’re all having a party without me. Lilac! Babe! Thank God they let you break out of the hospital.”
Opal rushed toward her, but Tanner held a hand out to stop her. “Easy, Opal. She’s fragile at the moment.”
“I am not!” she said as Opal snorted.
“Lilac? Fragile?” Opal stared down at Lilac, concern filling her face. “Hmm. Okay, I get your point. I’ll go easy.”
Lilac ignored the look Tanner shot her, wrapping her arms around Opal.
“What’s going on?” Opal whispered.
“Ryleigh’s about to tell them.”
“Oh, fuck.” Opal drew back and turned toward the door. “Linc! There you are!”
Linc stepped inside, staring around in surprise. Kye was cradled in his arm. He looked tiny in the big man’s arms. “Uh, what the heck is going on here?”
Alec stared down at Kye, looking a bit ill. As though he’d seen something unexpected. Then he glanced over at Tanner.
“What? What is it?” Tanner asked.
“Nothing . . . he just . . . it’s nothing.”
“What?” Ryleigh asked, moving quickly to take Kye from Linc. She held him against her chest as though she thought that Alec might harm him.
“I just forgot you had a baby. Fuck.” Alec blinked, staring at Ryleigh. “Are you really our sister?”
“What?” Linc asked. “Sister?”
Ryleigh stepped away from Linc, moving toward Opal and Lilac. They flanked her, giving her strength.
“Yes, I am,” Ryleigh replied. “I’m really your sister.”
“How did you know about us?” Alec said.
“My dad told me,” Ryleigh replied proudly.
“Lilac, I want you to sit,” Tanner demanded.
“Who is your dad?” Alec asked.
“Thomas Sanders was how I knew him, but he told me that his last name was really Malone.”
“Wait. I’m still trying to catch up here,” Linc said. “You knew you were their sister before you came here?”
Poor Linc. He really was struggling to keep up.
“Everyone needs to sit the fuck down!” Tanner said.
Kye let out a shocked cry.
Linc shot Tanner a dirty look, stepping forward to take Kye out of Ryleigh’s arms. Then he started lightly bouncing him, patting his back.
“What’s going on?” Lilac whispered across Ryleigh to Opal.
“Linc has turned into Mr. Mom. It’s pretty funny. This morning when I got up, I found him vacuuming in a flowery apron.”
“Why aren’t you at work?” she asked.
“I don’t go in until later this afternoon for training. Then I start for real tomorrow. The apron was pure gold.”
“Are the two of you finished?” Linc grumbled. “And it was not a flowery apron. Those were birds.”
“The birds were sitting on flowers,” Opal muttered.
“I think the fact you were wearing an apron says it all,” Lilac added. “Flowers or birds, doesn’t really matter.”
Poor Linc. He looked rather red in the face. Tanner would be amused if he wasn’t so worried about Lilac.
“Lilac. Sit. Down.”
Whoa.
Lilac found herself sitting before she even had time to process Tanner’s words. To her surprise, Ryleigh was seated beside her.
“Whoa. Didn’t know you had that in you, Cowboy,” Opal drawled as she sat slowly. She crossed one leg over the other. “Are you sure you’re not a Dom?”
Tanner shot her a quelling look.
“Right. Enough talking. Except for you.” He pointed at Ryleigh. “You need to keep talking.”
“Don’t point at her,” Linc growled, stepping in front of Ryleigh. “And do not growl at her like that. Understand me?”
Lilac turned to Ryleigh, who was staring at Linc’s back, her mouth open in shock.
“If Ryleigh is our sister, then she’s under our care,” Alec snapped back. “And you have no say in this.”
“I have every say since I’m her guardian. And I don’t care if you are her brothers or not. Ryleigh is mine.”
“Holy moly,” Ryleigh whispered.
“Okay, maybe everyone should calm down a bit,” Opal said as she stared down at her nails. “I really need to get a manicure. Where was I? Oh, yeah. You do remember that we’re all in the room, right? All of this male posturing is cute and stuff. But we’ve all got shit to do and Ryleigh has a story to tell. So why don’t you all sit your butts down so she can tell it.”
Linc turned, staring down at them. His jaw was clenched.
“Please,” Ryleigh whispered. She had taken hold of both Lilac and Opal’s hands. “I need to get this all out and I can’t do that if you’re all at each other’s throats.”
Linc nodded and stepped away to sit in an armchair. Tanner squeezed in next to her even though they all had to shuffle over. Then he lifted her up onto his lap.
“Tanner!” she protested.
“Hush. I need this. And you’re going to give it to me.”
Damn it.
She was. Because she wanted to give him whatever he needed. And because he’d stuck by her, even when his brother was telling him not to. Even when he should have been angry at her, he’d decided to trust her.
So yeah. She’d give him whatever he wanted right now.
“When were you born?” Alec asked. He was the only one still standing. His face was stern, but he didn’t appear angry. More thoughtful.
Ryleigh told him her date of birth.
“Right, so you’re about four years younger than Tanner. Fuck, why did he never tell us about you! That fucking bastard.”
“He wasn’t a bastard!” Ryleigh jumped to her feet. “My dad was a good man. I loved him.”
Lilac shot a look at Opal. They both knew the truth about Ryleigh’s dad. And it wasn’t pretty. But they’d agreed not to tell her since she still held him up on a pedestal.
Perhaps that had been a mistake.
“A good man?” Alec asked. “Would a good man leave his sons to the mercy of a dangerous Mafia boss so he could save himself?”
“What? My . . . my dad didn’t do that.”
“If we have the same father, then he did,” Tanner said gently.
“Fuck. I’m not sure I should hear any of this,” Linc said with a sigh.
“You can leave,” Alec told him.
But Linc didn’t move.
“No. Nope. My dad was a good man.” Ryleigh shook her head.
“Was?” Alec asked. “He’s dead, then?”
“Y-yes. He died about nine months ago. He had liver cancer.”
She felt Tanner tense under her. No matter how they all felt about him, that was his dad. Was he upset to hear he was gone?
“Surprised the asshole lasted that long,” Tanner muttered.
Okay. Maybe he wasn’t upset at all.
“That’s a terrible thing to say,” Ryleigh said.
“Fuck.” Tanner sighed. “Look, Ryleigh, from what you’ve just said, it seems you had a different relationship with the old bastard than we had. But I haven’t seen him since I was around nine or ten. I don’t even remember what he looks like. All I know is that he was never around. That he left us with a series of nannies. And that when shit went down and we were all in danger, Alec was the one who stepped up and saved us all. In fact, the old bastard probably did me a favor. Because no doubt that Alec is a hundred times the father he ever was.”
“You . . . you never saw him after that?” she asked. “Really?”
“He never even knew I was alive most of the time,” Tanner told her.
“He abandoned you all?” She looked to Alec. “I can’t believe it.”
