Feathers and Thorne Series Books 1 - 3: The Complete Collection

Chapter Five

Isabella

It’s well past midnight by the time we make it to Carter’s family home. Everyone is spread out in the living room, still in their nice clothes, as they opted to stay there and watch the election results at the house. I stretch and yawn while I follow him into the kitchen, wearing a loose set of shorts meant for bed, while my top is something I stole out of Carter’s closet.

Anita greets me with a tight embrace, the greetings going down the line of the entire Italian family. There are too many people here to count, but I know most of them, if not all of them, already. Carter pulls a barstool out for me, and I jump into the seat, my legs still numb after our stint in the bathtub.

It didn’t take me long to come once, but the next four times made me weak.

Anita pulls out a pan, even though the house is stocked with snacks from the watch party. “Well, Isabella, what are you hungry for?”

“I’m fine with whatever you want to make,” I reply.

“Careful now,” Carter pants into my exposed shoulder. “She’ll spend four hours making pasta if you let her.” He tips his head when Anita swats at him with a spatula. He scurries off into the living room, greeting everyone one by one. “Come here. I want to talk to you.”

I catch a glimpse of him pulling Nicolas into the nearest room on the first floor. My stomach drops, and I dare to jump out of my chair, but Anita pulls my focus.

“Don’t worry about them,” she sighs. “Nicolas shouldn’t have said what he did.”

“You know about that?”

She gives me a pitiful look. “Yeah, nothing gets said in this family without everyone hearing about it. That’s why I’m surprised most of my boys in that living room haven’t ended up in prison yet. But we don’t rat on one another. We also don’t hold anyone’s past against them.”

I sip a glass of iced tea that she sets down before me, the cold liquid sliding down my throat.

“How is Carter being adopted fair game for that remark? It’s his past, sure, but it’s not like he chose to be adopted. It’s not a bad thing. I’m just confused about what would make Nicolas say that in the first place.”

Her features droop with her reply, “Yeah, it wasn’t wise of him to stoop to that level, but he was drunk. He’s also frustrated. Carter hasn’t been around as much as before. I think some of the guys are just aggravated that he’s been distant, that’s all.”

“Some?” I reply. “It’s more than just Nicolas?”

She gives me a demure nod and goes about cooking something, but my appetite is gone. It’s not necessarily my fault that Carter has been away from the family business. He isn’t the type of man to be controlled by me and my whims. It’s nearly impossible for me to convince him to do anything at all.

Still, this could have all been avoided somehow.

Even though I know I shouldn’t, I kick out of my seat and hurry to the room, around the corner from the busy common space. The door is cracked open enough for me to hear Carter’s voice, something solid about his tone and unwavering in his movements.

He strikes Nicolas right across the cheek, his cousin falling to the floor at once.

I press my fingers over my lips, gasping lightly. Carter swings the door open at the sound of my exhale, leaning on the doorframe while Nicolas tries to make it to his feet behind his back.

“Dove, go to the kitchen.”

I swallow but can’t seem to move. “I don’t want you to hurt him,” I mutter. “It’s not his fault.”

His brow rises. “Really? So, whose fault is it?”

“Mine,” I admit. “You’ve been with me since the entire Lacey thing went down. You wouldn’t have been in that mess if not for… for me.”

“I will not go through the semantics of that war with you again,” he says. “I’m done letting you take the fall for things around here. Jacob Lacey would have met his fate one way or another. It had nothing to do with you. Believe me. He was as dirty as a rat and wouldn’t have lasted long with me anyway.”

I can only nod, Nicolas storming past us both. I manage to make it out of his way, but not before he throws the front door open. He retreats into the night, not uttering a word to any of the onlookers in the living room. Carter comes up behind me, his hand slipping down my spine while he watches the people gathered in the house.

Everyone is still, silent, and unwavering through the tension.

“Killian Hughes is going to come after me,” Carter says, his voice no longer his own. “We’re going to have to tighten up around here. If anyone has anything to say about my role in this family, then let’s talk.”

No one moves an inch.

“Good,” Carter adds. “Everyone working with guns, drugs, and clubs can meet me in the office. We’re going to talk over a few things.” He leans sideways while everyone moves toward the office. He kisses my temple, his lips coming down to my ear. “Go eat dinner and then go to our bedroom in the tower. I’ll be there eventually.”

I want to protest, but I can’t. He leaves my side and wanders into the office, the door shutting me out. It’s the first time he’s been so geared up for work, especially after the trouble we just went through with Jacob and William Lacey. I don’t want to interrupt now, not after the issues with Nicolas have risen to a breaking point.

Falling back into my chair in the kitchen, Anita gives me a woeful look.

“What’s wrong, dear?”

I shrug, not wanting to hurl my issues at Carter’s aunt, but given I don’t have anyone else to confide in right now, I don’t really have much of a choice.

“It’s just been hard trying to find our new normal, that’s all.”

She nods knowingly. “Yeah, there’s no normal after what happened to you and Carter. Everything that went down was unfortunate, but you made it through.”

Swallowing hard, I speak lower in volume. “I just… I can’t fight the feeling that something else is coming.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, there’s the new mayor. Killian Hughes. I haven’t seen enough about him to know what his plan is, but Carter is going to go head to head with him through the streets rather than the election.”

She seems to follow so far. “Okay, I can see that happening. But it’s nothing he hasn’t handled before.”

“True, but that doesn’t make it right.”

She pauses over the stove, the food bubbling before her. “And what is your definition of right? The Blackthorne family has never been a clean penny. We’ve had our bad side for generations. Carter was just the first one to pull us all together to profit from it collectively.”

“I’m not saying I would be upset if he got a parking ticket or something, but they interrogated him for two weeks, Anita. What if he never came back from that?” I hang my head lower than before. “What if everything catches up to us, and we fall?”

She comes closer to the kitchen island, her light brown eyes sinking deep into my soul. “If there’s one thing we don’t do in this family, it’s give up on one another. We don’t run from trouble. We handle it. Carter is the best at that, dear. You have nothing to worry about.”

I can only nod, making sure to never mention this out loud again.

The only person really concerned here, apparently, is me.

***

I turn over in bed, feeling the spot beside me is still empty. My eyelids are weary and tired, but they crease open enough to see a dim light in the corner of the bedroom. Sitting up, I cling to the blanket that still offers me a hint of warmth.

Carter is clicking around his laptop on the desk; his back is turned toward me while the screen nearly lights up the room. I almost ask him to come over to the bed, but I can see he’s far too invested in his work right now. I lie back down, watch him work, and wait for him to join me.

When he finally closes his laptop, he stands and turns, his eyes catching mine.

For a second, he doesn’t move.

He doesn’t say anything either, tucking his hands into the pockets of his sweatpants. I sit up straighter, admiring the swell of his erection that pushes against the fabric of his pants. He must see me focusing on it as well, the sight of his arousal only growing while I chew on my bottom lip.

“Why are you up?” he asks, catching me off guard.

I swallow, turning the question around on him. “Why are you up?”

He shrugs. “Just checking on a few things. I have to be at the old office in an hour. I figured I’d brush up on a few details before heading in.”

I nod along to his explanation. “Okay. Can I come with you?”

“No,” he replies, almost a little too fast. “I have a special job for you tomorrow.”

My senses perk. “Really? Does it have to do with the new office design?”

“No, I bought a house.”

I try not to sound as shocked as I feel. “Really? When?”

“A few hours ago. I wired the money to the owners and bought them out of their house. They were selling, no realtors, and it’s over now. We have somewhere to move to, somewhere new. The place has been vacant a while, and I’ve already emailed the movers to bring our things there.”

It’s been his goal to have a fresh start since everything happened with the Laceys and Frances. As much as I would have preferred to be in that decision making, it’s obvious that Carter is on a rampage right now for control. He can’t grapple it from Nicolas or anyone else whispering behind his back, and he just lost the election.

He needs to feel in power again, or he will crumble. I’m okay with that, too. I just want us to be together, maybe somewhere simple and cozy, but I’m fine with whatever he chooses. He is finally letting me work on a project that actually has to do with my passion for architecture.

“Okay, so where are we moving?”

He points out the tower window to the street below. “Next door.”

My heart leaps out of my chest. “Really? You bought the house beside Anita’s?”

He nods. “Yes, I did. She mentioned that it was vacant and that the owners didn’t trust the banks. I bought it as-is, so it might have some issues. But it’s something near family, so I figured it would be worth a shot. How does that sound to you, dove?”

For once, being deep in the veins of the Blackthorne family actually sounds good. “I can’t wait.”

He leans over the edge of the bed with a sly smile. “Good. When I come home tomorrow after work, we can unpack. Or undress. Whichever comes first.”

I kiss his lips deeply, giddy over the option I know Carter is going to choose in the end. I look forward to that and being near the rest of the family. Everyone sees Aunt Anita’s place as a safe haven, as a fortress, and being right next door is going to help Carter gain his sense of security back.

Maybe this move will be really good for us. After all, nothing can break us apart now.