Thick as Thieves (The Greystone Family: Stolen Hearts #3)

Chapter 55

55

Evie

Vincenzo's London.

My phone starts to ring and I see it is Jonno calling. I laugh as I answer. He’s only just left us at Vinny’s to rush off to an emergency. “What?” I ask, and wait.

“You need to come to the hospital.”

My mind is in total panic. Marshall.

“Has something happened to Marshall again?” I shout at Jonno.

“It’s not Marshall, it’s Xander. Get here, Kitten.”

“Where?”

“I’ll send you the hospital details. Get here quick, Kitten,” he repeats. “And put Tommy on.”

I hand over the phone on autopilot. Picking up my belongings in double quick time, I move towards the doors, shaking my head as panic clouds my mind. What has happened? Not Xander, not now.

“Tommy?” I ask, stress making my voice shrill.

“I’ve got the address, Kiddo, we need to go.” He pushes me from behind, signalling to Vinny we’re leaving.

We jump into the car and set off at pace for the hospital. “Do you know what it was?” I ask Tommy.

“Not absolutely. He was stabbed.”

I turn to look at him, shocked. “Really?”

He nods, his face grim. “They’ll tell you what happened when we get there, but he took badly in the ambulance and they rushed him into surgery.”

Tears sting my eyes. He can’t be taken yet, he has a baby on the way.

“He went for dinner, to Marcus’s mothers. What the hell happened?”

He doesn’t answer, he doesn’t know.

“I’ll drop you at the doors, Mick will meet you. I’ll park, and come find you.” He’s all business, and this is one of those times I thank god for having extra people around whose job it is to sort your problems out. My brain is not functioning.

I’m rubbing my stomach, sending prayers into the ether for him to be fine, when we pull up. I spot Mick rushing over, and as he ushers me in, I notice there’s a bit of a crowd moving towards the doors. “Quick, the press are here. We need to get you in.”

He pushes me forwards at a rate of knots. We fly past the reception and up to the tenth floor. Walking down a corridor that starts to look a bit more like a hotel than a hospital, my mind starts to spiral as we enter a waiting room and I spot Kell and Tarron.

I go to Tarron first—he looks on the verge of collapse—and give him a hug. He holds me tight. “Thank god you came. He’ll get better, I’m sure.”

I then move to Kellen, and for the first time ever, he looks unsure what to do. I open my arms to him and he steps immediately into me, holding me so hard I can hardly breathe.

“Thank god, thank god you’re here. We can’t lose him, Kitten. I can’t?—”

He’s repeating it over and over again. I push him back and brush his hair out of his face. This beautiful face, that looks like the world is about to end in his eyes.

I shake my head at him. “We won't lose him, Kell. He belongs to us. And I certainly haven’t told him he can leave just yet. I may have told him to get lost at times, but leave us? No.” I smile into his eyes, mustering up as much confidence as I can.

His face is pale and he hangs his head on my shoulder. “I miss you, Kitten. He misses you. We want to come home.” His voice cracks with emotion.

“You are home. I sorted things out with Xan yesterday. And there’s something else I need to tell you.”

The door pushes open and Jonno comes in and straight to me. “You okay?” he asks, looking into my face. And then he places his splayed palm on my stomach.

Tarron does not miss the gesture and gasps out in surprise.

Kellen looks around. “What? What’s happened?”

“You’ve not told them?” Jonno looks quizzical at me.

“I haven’t had a chance. I just got here,” I explain.

“She’s pregnant,” says Jonno bluntly. Honestly, my medical data is so public in this family. “So you need to look after her.”

Kellen steps back, what remaining colour was in his face draining out of it.

Tarron steps forwards. “My daughter, you wonderful girl, does Xander know?”

I nod with tears of disappointment in my eyes at Kellen’s reaction.

Tarron pulls me in for a huge hug. “He’ll definitely get better. There is no way he will leave you with his child on the way, no way.” He sits down and his whole body language has changed.

I look at Kellen, who’s standing stock still, his face blank, devoid of colour and emotion.

“Kell?” I literally croak out, terrified he’s going to go berserk again. My eyes plead with him, but he finally steps forwards, his face now ablaze.

“Oh god, I’m so fucking happy he knew. He’ll be alright. God, I love you, l love you, Kitten.” He’s kissing my face and holding me hard to him.

“Are you happy?” I tentatively ask him. “You looked weird?”

“Shocked. For a minute there I thought it was mine, but I know it isn’t.” He half grins, half looks sheepishly at me. “I should have known. Xander was different on the phone and at the dinner.'' He carries on kissing me, stroking my stomach. Then he drops to his knees, kissing the baby in my stomach.

“Hey, little one. We’re going to look after your papa.” His eyes are brimming with emotions. Jonno is patting him on the shoulder. They’re all fussing around me.

“James is on his way,” says Jonno quietly. “I rang him, Jude also.” He turns to Tarron. “Gabe and Levi are here with Tim. Are they okay to come up?” He’s taken control of the situation, and thank the lord someone has.

“Yes, send them all up,” he asserts. “They’re family.”

Everyone piles into the room. It ranges from chatter to silent and back again. Our news is shared. I’m kissed and touched, pregnant becomes public property again.

“I need a drink. Jonno, will you come with me?” I need some space, and I want to call in to check on the twins.

Kell looks at me and I mouth, “I need some air.” He nods, the worry dropping a bit from his face, and he sits with Tarron as I leave the room with Jonno.

I start as soon as we’re out of earshot of the room. “Do you know what happened? Kellen is not making any sense, and I don’t want to ask Tarron, he looks done in.”

Jonno tells the tale, from his perspective, about the dinner and the obvious committee to condemn me and Xander. How Isobel was ranting, spewing hate, and trying to get together with Kellen. How they’d brought a procession of men I’d supposedly ‘dated’ in to see Rowena. Spread a tale that the twins were in fact full term and I had lied about the conception date. I’d not even thought about that. How they made it look, and fit.

“I can’t believe they went to so much trouble.” My legs are buckling underneath me. How can people hate me so much? I know I never liked Isobel, but she did try to run me down, or at least maim me. I’m a reasonable person, and that is extreme.

“Isobel hates you, Kitten. Unequivocally hates you. And Xander, actually. She had a hit list and you and Xander were at the top. She was obsessed with Kell, completely obsessed, so much it consumed her.

“Her family forced her to marry so she didn’t look like she’d been left on the shelf when it was obvious Marcus wasn’t an actual contender. They needed the family name to be desirable. The man she was forced onto was also very wealthy. But the marriage was a disaster. He manipulated her, was a bully, mentally tortured her, and they let him do it. Her family never helped her. Too worried what the divorce would look like to the outside world.” He stops the tale, shaking his head at their inability to do the right thing for Isobel. “But I think it’s been going on for a long time. Her mother should have had her evaluated for mental illness earlier, but they were embarrassed about that as well. Rather than treat her, they let her get sicker and sicker.”

He pauses and looks at me. “I know you were pissed with me about the paternity test, but I knew someone would come. So I let him and Xander do it. Everything I do, Kitten, is to protect you. You know this. I knew after the Lauren online issues, and the fact there was so much shit about who the babies belonged to, they would think you lied about the term dates. So I let them do it. If I thought for one minute it would not have been needed, I would have told you and stopped them, you know this.”

I start to cry and he pulls me to him. “I’m sorry. I know you’re distraught over the betrayal, but I knew they would come. Too many people want things from you all, for lots of different reasons. We have to cover all eventualities. You were a target, and I needed to cover that.”

“What about the vasectomy?” I blub out.

He sighs. “That was all Kellen. He’s so fucking frightened. He thought he’d got lucky with James, and now with the twins. He’s convinced he won’t be again. He’s just not strong enough to take it. If something went wrong, it would push him over the edge, and he just couldn’t cope. He’d convinced himself if he came to you, you would lose the twins. He’s a mess on that front, but four kids, Evie. Could you imagine living with that fear?” Jonno sounds choked up for Kell. My brother and his big heart. He loves and protects us all. And he extends that out to whomever we all love. I love him for it.

“Did Tommy tell you about those girls? At Xan’s party? What they said. What they wanted.”

“Yes. You have to understand, everyone wants what you have. It shines out of the three of you. You cast a bright light. People want to be involved in it. Clearly Gabe and the gang have a different take on that than most people.”

He smiles ruefully. “I’m glad you’re all back together. Kell looks better, you make everything better for all of us.” He takes my hands. “Am I forgiven now? Am I back in your good books? I missed you, I missed my nephews.” He looks hopeful, his face full of love for me. “I’m just sorry that it’s taken something like this for us all to be back together. Don’t kick me out again, baby sis.”

“I’m older, idiot,” I tell him, but he never listens. “I’d already made the decision to forgive and move on. I want them and you in my life. I made up with Xan before we came to London, and I’m glad I did so he was with me at the clinic. But regardless, they should have told me why they did it. What they were thinking. I’m a reasonable person,” I say emphatically.

He snorts at that. “Define reasonable, Evie.” He shakes his head at me. “Kell only just now looks like he’s in the land of the living. Gabe and Levi are keeping their heads down in case you take a poker or a serving fork to their balls.” We both start to giggle.

“I’m kind and gentle,” I giggle out, and he chuckles loudly.

“You’re a very ruthless person, Kitten. James is the same. You show people how great it is to be with you, but you’re prepared to cull them in an instant, no returns if they get it wrong.”

It’s my turn to snort out. “I had a pop at you lot, and them, and you lot are still here, as are they, so not as ruthless as you think.” I look down my nose at him.

“You didn’t cull us. You would have moved you and Marshall away to Ireland. Maybe you sent a shot across our bows, and you’ve done the same to them. There will be no repeats, the message is loud and clear. Try to take advantage of your kindness and love, and you will not hesitate to get rid. They know, believe me. The same way we all know where the boundaries are.”

I laugh. “Jonno, you have no boundaries. Not a one. Don’t try and pretend you’re a reasonable person, you’re not.”

“Weellll, one out of six is not a bad ratio. You can cope with that.” He nudges me playfully. “You love them, they love you. It’s a hard road you’ve all chosen, but if anyone can navigate it, you can.”

His love and confidence pour into me as he hugs me close. And I need it all at the moment. I need to hold everyone together.