Snowbound with the Santas (Forbidden Fantasies)

33. Frankie

33

FRANKIE

“ A re you feeling proud of yourself right now?” Nick asks, pacing back and forth in front of the bars.

The cell that security dropped us into clearly wasn’t built for three bulky men, but we make it work. We don’t exactly have a choice.

I used to be in the adjacent cell but ten minutes ago, a guard appeared and moved me into the same one as Nick and Archer. Archer sits on the floor with his back against the wall and one knee raised. One arm crosses his knee and his hand rhythmically forms a fist then relaxes. I sit on the slab that’s supposed to serve as a bed and bounce one leg up and down.

“Can you blame me?” I finally reply to Nick. “The second I saw his face I just…” Trailing off, I lift my hands to my temples and rub firmly. “Jerked me right back, that’s all.”

“Besides, you’re one to talk.” Archer speaks up. “You ended up in here right alongside us.”

Nick pauses his pacing and rolls his eyes. “True. I guess it was the same thing. Or, no, it’s not the same thing because you two acted like animals attacking him like that. At least I had a more immediate reason.”

“Are you saying we should be over it?” I snap, lifting my head. “That I should be able to look that asshole in the eye and just walk it off?”

“No.” Nick sighs deeply and resumes his pacing. “That’s not what I’m saying. It’s just, Rayne is now out there all by herself with that prick and—Rayne!”

The heavy door to the security cells swing open and to our surprise, Rayne walks through. She is flanked by two security officers. Just as I consider that she is here for a visit, they unlock the second cell and shove her inside.

“Hey,” Nick snaps, and he grabs the bars between the cells. “Don’t shove her like that!”

The guard sends Nick a blank stare as he slams the cell door closed. The lock clicks into place and they both leave. Rayne immediately hurries to the bars and places her hands over the top of Nick’s.

“Oh, my God, are you guys okay?” she asks breathlessly.

“Us?” Archer climbs to his feet. “What about you? Why the hell have they stuck you in here with us?”

Rayne chews on her lower lip and then slowly sinks down onto the raised slab. Her shoulders fall forward, and she rakes her hands through her hair. “I confessed.”

“You confessed?” I repeat, swiveling around to get a better look at her.

She lifts her head and nods. “Aston was already telling people, and I felt like I was losing control of everything again. Especially since you guys were taken away. So I just told the truth about the crash and that I was driving. They want to hold me here until they can contact the relevant authorities to deal with me.”

“Holy shit,” Nick murmurs, and he slides his hands down the bars. “We’re dating a prison chick.”

“Is she really a prison chick if we’re also locked up? Surely, the prison thing cancels itself out?” I smirk softly.

“It’s kinda hot,” Archer remarks. “Always had a thing for a woman in cuffs. Also, Nick, please don’t ever say chick again.”

“What, is that not the thing these days?” Nick rolls his eyes.

Archer pats his shoulder and squeezes. “It’s just not you.”

Nick snorts out a laugh and nods. “Fine.”

“How do you feel?” I ask, watching Rayne as she rocks back and forth slightly.

“Honestly?” She lifts one hand to toy with the edge of her hair. “I don’t know. Tired, I think. Like a weight’s been lifted. There’s almost something soothing about finally having people hear the truth. I don’t know what will happen, but at least Ashton can’t hold it over me anymore.” Her head tilts to the side. “He looked shocked. I don’t think he ever expected me to tell the truth. Or maybe he was more surprised that people believed me. I’m not sure. My mom…” Rayne groans. “God. I think she’s going to write me out of her will.”

“Who needs that shit, anyway?” Archer says. “We’ll take care of you.”

Nick and I nod in agreement.

Rayne looks at each of us in turn and smiles, then her brow snaps down and her eyes narrow. “So, does one of you want to explain why the hell you attacked my uncle?”

“Your uncle ?” My body recoils at the thought.

“That man is your uncle?” Archer snarls, and the disgust is so clear in his tone. I shoot him a glance since he sounds like he’s seconds away from gagging. His face is paler than normal, but I understand why. He likely has the same anger simmering in his gut that I have.

“Not by relation,” Rayne clarifies. “But yeah, he’s Uncle Cecil and you both beat on him like he pissed in your cereal.”

Nick clears his throat as if trying to warn Rayne away from the topic. Archer returns to the wall and faces it. His body is bunched so tightly that the wrong word is surely going to make him snap, so I take over. After all, Rayne has been truthful with us, so it’s only fair we return the favor.

“Rayne, do you know what your uncle does for a living?”

Rayne shrugs. “Some kind of government work, I think. Why?”

I exchange a glance with Nick and sink my teeth into the inside of my cheek. “You remember when Archer was telling you how he got his scars? And what… what happened to my brother? How there was a suit giving the orders. Bad orders. And if not for his carelessness or even recklessness, then my brother, Harry, would still be alive?”

All the color drains from Rayne’s face. “No… no, you’re not saying…”

I nod solemnly. “Yeah. Cecil Banks was the one in charge of that mission, and countless others. He might be a suit to the outside world, but he works for the Ministry of Defense and he makes shitty fucking calls. I had to spend months staring at his fucking face during the court trials, but like always, they deemed he had done no wrong and there was no way he could have anticipated the outcome.”

“As if my verbal warnings on the ground weren’t clear enough to stop the operation,” Archer snarls and he slowly turns around. “But scumbags like him? They tell you to push forward or come back and face a court martial that there’s no end to. They take away your choice so you’ll be a good little soldier. As far as I’m concerned, he killed Harry. I don’t care what the court said. I was there. I know he was at fault.”

Rayne’s face falls and the hair she was playing with becomes tightly wrapped around two of her fingers as she listens. By the time Archer finishes, there’s a crimson splash across her cheeks and her eyes sparkle slightly.

“I’m so sorry. I had no idea. I mean, I knew he had a government job and it always took him away from things, but I had no idea it was military-related. And then…” Her eyes widen. “I can’t imagine what it must have been like for you both to see him here.”

“I saw red,” I admit. “Like something swallowed me up. For years, I’ve wanted to get my hands on that bastard, but the suits are always protected. I’ve wanted to make him feel even a fraction of the pain he made me feel, but…” Shaking my head, I slump against the bars with a low groan. “It’s the sort of thing Nick tells us to work through.”

“Hey.” Nick raises both hands. “I tell you to let it go because it’s better for your physical and mental health. Keeping that pain for over a decade is a killer. But when the culprit walks right up to your face… I don’t know.” He huffs softly. “Maybe active aggression is better therapy.”

“I never…”

I hear Archer’s voice crack for the first time in my life.

“I never thought I would see him again. I thought… I dreamed of the things I would do to him and I always thought that sinking my first into his face would make me feel a hundred times better, but instead I…” Archer stares down at his bruised fist and slowly turns it over. “I still feel empty.”

“Please hug him,” Rayne murmurs, moving to clutch the bars. “I want to and I can’t.”

Nick and I close in on Archer and for once, he doesn’t shrug off the affection of close contact. We hug him as tightly as we can while Rayne watches with shining eyes.

“Maybe this will help you start to heal,” Nick says. “The both of you. You’ve held onto this hate and this pain for over a decade. I’m not saying it’s not justified, but I don’t think Harry would want you both to keep suffering like this. Not when you have a bright future ahead of you.”

Archer sniffles and lifts his head, his eyes narrow. “A bright future?”

Nick pointedly glances at Rayne.

Rayne slides her hands an inch up the bar. “Hey, we might be in jail, but I’m sure they do conjugals between cells, right?”

Her small joke pulls a dry snort of amusement from Archer, and for a moment, things don’t feel as dire. We all settle on the stone bench, getting as close to Rayne as we can.

“What do you think will happen?” she asks, resting her forehead against the bars. “To us?”

Nick sighs. “Some assault charges for us. For you? I’m sorry, but I have no idea. But whatever it is, we will deal with it.” Then he groans. “Fuck. Amanda will have a field day with this.”

“Oh, shit.” I hadn’t fully clicked that she was even here. “Why is that witch here?”

“Checking up on me or something,” Nick sighs, drawing a hand down his face and pulling slightly at his beard. “I don’t understand how she can abandon our daughter at Christmas yet somehow, I’m still the bad guy. Nothing I do will ever be good enough, but the shit she’s pulled over the years? If I did that, my case worker would close the book in my face.”

“You have more to prove than she does,” Archer murmurs bitterly. “Your past controls that.”

“I know.” Nick closes his eyes. “I wouldn’t care as much if not for how much Freida loves Christmas. And she was alone for it because Amanda came here and then got stuck here because of the second storm. And yet, I’m the terrible parent?”

“Who knows,” I murmur. “Maybe your case worker can work some magic with that?”

Nick shakes his head. “Not with assault charges on top. We all know Ashton ain’t backing down from this.”

“Excuse me.” A new voice pipes up, and all four of us snap our attention to outside the cells.

Cecil Banks stands there, looking slightly unamused. “Perhaps I can help with that.”