Текст книги "The Dare"

Автор книги: Rachel Van Dyken

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Chapter Twenty-two

"Did you?" The agent sounded irritated.

"Did I what?"

"Break laws of national security for personal gain?"

Grandma seemed to think about the question. "Of course not."

The agent breathed a sigh of relief.

"It was for their gain. Not personal at all."

"Ma'am, that doesn't make it legal."

"I thought we've established I'm above the law, Gus? Sheesh, you're so forgetful, and I'm the senile one."

Beth

"Char? Jake?"

I was caught between wanting to make sure Jace was okay and also wanting to hug my sister and return the punch to Jake's face.

"Hey!" Char hugged me and then shoved Jake. "You ass, why'd you punch him?"

Jake cracked his knuckles. "He kissed you. Twice. Tried to steal you away. And was inappropriately touching your sister."

"Weren't you voted player of the year in Playboy?" Char asked. "Just curious."

"I'm a reformed man and happily married." Jake rolled his eyes. "Are you okay, Beth?"

"Since when is this one defending girls' honor?"

I ignored Jake's question and put my arm around Char.

"Marriage," Char rolled her eyes, "it's cured him. Disgusting, really. He won't even answer when I call him whore. Tragic, really."

"Heard that!" Jake snapped then poured some bottled water over Jace's face in an attempt to either drown him or wake him up.

"Why are you guys here?"

"Grandma kept hanging up on us." Char rolled her eyes. "And Rick's been trying to track down Jake and won't stop calling him. It seems our senator has it in his head that he isn't a public figure and doesn't need to keep his phone on."

"Sort of my fault." I meekly raised my hand. "But to be fair, neither of us have even touched technology in the past three days."

"We know." Char patted her on the shoulder. "Also, that Dr. Z needs to chill out. When we were trying to reach you, she kept saying that you were not to be disturbed, which frankly just freaked this one out." Char pointed to Jake, who was leaning on his hands and knees and now lightly tapping Jace's face.

"Wake up, bastard. Fight like a man."

"Fight like a man?" Jace grumbled, not opening his eyes. "Since when is getting sucker-punched fighting like a man?"

"I breathed hard enough. You should have sensed me."

"The man has a point, Thor," I agreed.

"Thor?" Char asked then looked at Jace. "Huh. How 'bout that?"

"She calls you Thor?" Jake gave a disgusted look.

"Wanna see my hammer?" Jace opened his eyes and made a fist.

"Funny," Jake said dryly. "The dirty senator makes jokes."

"Hilarious. The drunk billionaire comes to the rescue."

"Boys!" Char shouted. "Keep your balls on, okay? Damn, it's like the honeymoon from hell."

Jake got up from his position on the ground and wrapped Char in his arms. "I'm sorry, baby."

She sighed heavily against his chest. "It's okay. I blame Grandma."

"Economy failing?" Jake swore. "Blame Grandma."

"Can't sleep?" Char added in. "Blame Grandma."

"Please," Jace tried to get to his feet. "I highly doubt you guys have been worse off than us."

"They couldn't find our reservation at the hotel so we went to another hotel. They too were conveniently all filled up," Jake growled. "And then, wonder of all wonders, Grandma finds the perfect place for us to stay, all inclusive, nice little huts…"

"Huts?" I gulped.

"There's two of these places." Jake grimaced. "I hate damn couples' therapy. Some pictures can't be unseen, some words, unheard. I need a damn drink and a—"

"She drugged me with Viagra!" Jace blurted.

"Beth Lynn!" Char yelled.

"Not me!" I held up my hands in innocence. "Grandma did."

"But Grandma's been with us!" Jake said.

"No, she's been with us, here. She's our therapist."

"No…" Char squinted, "she's been our therapist."

"Holy shit." Jake pinched the bridge of his nose. "I'm going to strangle her. I don't care what you say, Char. I'm doing it. I'm going to prison."

"Aw, baby, you know you're too pretty for prison." Char patted his back. "They'd eat you alive."

"Drinks?" I offered lamely. "You know, before you guys decide to bury your grandmother."

"Oh good!" A voice said from the dock. "You're all here, just as planned."

I turned slowly to face Grandma. The woman had no soul.

"Well." Jake cleared his throat, "may as well get on with it. Why are we all here, Grandma?"

"Yes," Another voice rang out. "Why in the hell are we all here?"

"Hi, Kacey!" Char waved.

Jake pulled her arm down and swore.

"All my kids." Grandma clapped and then did something that I'd never before seen in my life.

She burst into tears.

Chapter Twenty-three

"Does your meddling know no end?"

Grandma squinted. "No, of course not? They need me. And by the time the story's finished, I guarantee you'll agree. Grandma's ways are best."

"I highly doubt your grandsons agree."

"I beg to differ. My grandsons love me."

"Is that why one threatened to strangle you?"

"Oh that." Grandma snorted. "He'd have to catch me first."

Jace

Funny, how a few minutes ago I was ready to kill the elderly woman, and now my heart felt like someone had pulled it beating out of my chest, stomped on it, and then placed it back inside, all twisted and dirty.

"What's wrong?" Kacey pulled Grandma into a hug and gave Travis a helpless look.

He, in turn, looked to Jake who shrugged and nudged me. Nothing. I had nothing.

"Oh, I've made a mess." Grandma wiped a few tears. "I thought I could pull it off, but…" she sniffled, "I just… I couldn't do it. The project was too big, the minds helping me plan too damn small."

"Did she just call us stupid?" Jake asked.

"No," I answered honestly. "She'll just come out and say it if she wants to, believe me."

"And now his career's going to be over!" she wailed.

I had a sinking feeling I was the his, and the career was already in the toilet, but hey, ever the optimist, I kept listening.

"Jace."

Well, shit.

"Your approval ratings are low, it's true. I've been monitoring the news briefings. As of right now, everyone believes you've gone on vacation with your new family, but someone went to the reporters and said you were bluffing to cover your own ass. And when Kerry was interviewed again, she spouted more nonsense about how you weren't a family man and often paid prostitutes."

Jake's eyes narrowed.

"Ya, cast that stone, bastard. See if it hits you or me in the ass first," I sneered.

He shook his head and crossed his arms.

"So why are we here?" Travis asked. "Seems to me that Jace needs to get back to Portland and fix this. And you need to help him."

"Well," Grandma wrung her hands together, "I may have let it slip that he was here with his fiancée and her family."

"Of course you did." I clenched my teeth, not liking where it was going.

"So that explains why you called us, and why Jake and Char panicked when Rick wouldn't stop calling them, but…"

"Oh bother." Grandma wiped another few stray tears. "I'll just come out and say it."

"Please do." Okay, my teeth were going to grind clean off.

"I told them it was a destination wedding, and that your honeymoons were cover-ups to keep the media away."

I swayed on my feet. Not a proud moment.

Grandma continued talking. "I finally reached Rick, and he said it was a good cover, but that if we could somehow leak pictures to the media of us together, it would help."

"Hmm." Travis's eyes lit up with approval. "That's actually quite brilliant."

"You think so?" Grandma beamed.

I smacked his arm. Friends don't give Grandma compliments, or access to Benadryl, or any sort of encouragement, for shit's sake.

"What?" He shrugged. "It's not like you guys actually have to get married or anything. I mean, come on, Jace, it's not like you'll ever get married again after what happened with—"

Grandma smacked him on the back of the head. He gave me a guilty shrug, while Jake looked nervously between me and Beth.

She'd been eerily quiet the entire time, driving me insane with the desire to jump into her head and find out what she was thinking. Instead, she stood there like a frozen statue, while everyone else planned the next few days.

"You'll still attend therapy." This from Grandma.

"Screw therapy," Jake argued.

"Jake, you are an ass," Grandma retorted. "Which is why you still need to follow the rules. I know how hard it is for you to color in the lines, but for my benefit, you'll go to therapy. Poor Char, having to deal with all those anger issues."

"I'm NOT ANGRY!" Jake shouted.

"Stop raising your voice," Grandma said calmly. "I'm not deaf, and you will listen to me, or I'll fire you again."

He stopped talking.

"Well," Travis rubbed his hands together, "I guess that only leaves us one thing to do."

"What?" Beth asked, her voice small.

"Happy hour." He nodded. "I learned a long time ago not to argue. Things go much easier with tequila shots, wouldn't you agree, Jake?"

His eyes narrowed, and then he did the oddest thing. He blushed as Char kissed him on the neck and laughed.

Clearly, I was missing something, but it didn't matter, because Beth was still motionless. I almost waved in front of her face.

"What say you, Thor?" Jake asked, hands on hips.

"If he's Thor, I'm Iron Man." This from Travis.

"Dibs on Green Arrow." Jake raised his hand.

"Children." Kacey shook her head. "It's like we're honeymooning with little boys and capes."

"Please, like he's cool enough to have a cape." I pointed to Jake and instantly felt judged, and ten years old.

That was what being around the Titus family did to people. One minute you were a sane adult; the next you were arguing over Marvel Comics and yelling at the top of your lungs at an eighty-six-year-old woman while she blotted her red lipstick.

Somehow, I'd lost my manhood. I'd lost my maturity and everything else that went with it. Because I wanted to beat the shit out of both Titus boys for no other reason than they were arguing with me about something stupid like comics and refused to let me be right.

I felt Beth's hand on my arm.

"So, that settles it." Travis clapped. "Avengers… to the bar!"

"Best idea he's had all day." Char's amused smile was lit with humor, making me feel slightly better about the fact that my entire career was in Grandma's hands, her meddling, terrifying, little hands.

I said a little prayer and followed everyone down the dock toward the bar as Grandma paid one of the bellhops to take the luggage down to the reserved huts.

Reserved. As in, everything was planned; it had been planned a long time.

Hell, when God created heaven and earth, He created Grandma on the final day and said, "I have a plan for those men…"

And I was just unfortunate enough to be included in said plan.

Chapter Twenty-four

"How do you sleep at night?" the agent asked.

"How lovely of you to be concerned." Grandma touched his arm. "A tiny pink pill followed by two large glasses of merlot. Works like a charm. I sleep like the dead, except for when Charles Barkley gets agitated with my snoring."

"Charles Barkley?" the agent repeated. "In your bed?"

"Well, where else would my dog sleep?" Grandma rolled her eyes. "Some people."

Beth

My vacation was over. I couldn't bring myself to feel sorry for Jace or for anyone else. Grandma was just trying to help, though her motives were so very, very illegal. Still, she loved them, and I loved her for it.

I couldn't even find it in myself to be angry.

If anything, I was sad.

Because he'd promised me six days.

And they'd been stolen from me on day three. I was owed three more days of romance, three more days of the fairytale. Instead, I was given my sister, her new husband, his brother, and wife.

Now that Jace had people watching – people who knew a heck of a lot more about his past than I did, there was no way we'd have any more stolen kisses, caresses, fights under the stars. I shivered and closed my eyes for a brief moment as I remembered the taste of his lips on mine.

At least I had that memory.

His hands on my body.

His mouth, hot and urgent.

I'd probably retell the story to my cats once I got home and fully gave up on the male species as a whole. Maybe I should count myself lucky that I hadn't fallen in total irrevocable love with him. Because at this point, walking away would be doable. Hard, but doable. Another four days, and it may have wrecked me to see Jace turn his back on us.

"You look like you need this." Char pushed a shot of tequila toward me. "Pinch your nose and throw it back. I don't care how vile it tastes, because right now you look like someone just told you Vampire Diaries got canceled."

"Not funny." I glared.

"Take the shot," Char countered.

I took it and winced as the liquid burned down my throat.

"Olé!" Jake shouted, joining us at the table.

The man could try the patience of a saint. He had the most gorgeous hazel eyes and dark hair, both Titus men did.

"Beth, seriously, if you want me to assassinate Mr. Senator, just say the word. Or nod." When I didn't do anything, he continued, "Or blink. Hell, just breathe. One exhale and I'll do it."

"I doubt she wants me dead when I can make her feel things I'm doubting you've ever made any woman feel in your entire existence," Jace said in a tense voice from behind me. His hands rested on my shoulders and then ran down my arms. I shivered in response and gave Jake a cocky grin.

"So," he returned my grin, "I guess a cheers are in order."

"Cheers?" Jace repeated.

"To the senator who found his heart." He held up his glass.

"Just like the squirrel who found its nuts." Jace winked.

"What?" I looked around the table.

Travis laughed. "Just go with it."

"Seems to be a common theme," I muttered, lifting my rum punch.

"Always is." Kacey clinked her glass with mine. "So what's the plan for the day?"

"Plan?" Grandma waltzed up to the table like a woman on a mission. "I've got everything settled. First a fake bachelorette party, and, Jake, try to keep your pants on this time. We don't want any more elderly ladies having strokes."

His eyes narrowed. "That was one time."

Grandma ignored him. "Followed by a lovely outing tomorrow morning after group therapy. Of course we'll later have a rehearsal dinner. Would you believe I already had dresses brought in? Oh, and Javier! Javier!" Grandma yelled, breaking the sound barrier and my ear drums, for that matter. "This is Javier. He's going to be taking the wedding pictures."

"Fake wedding pictures," Jace corrected. "You're not pulling a Jake and Char on us."

"Aw, we're like a verb." Char and Jake bumped fists.

I ignored their cuteness just like I ignored the excitement bubbling around me. What would it be like to be a part of this family? What would it be like to be so in love with someone, so in sync that you were deliriously, hopelessly happy?

Jake and Char shared a kiss and laughed.

"Of course not." Grandma put her hand over her chest and sighed. "I would never. Believe me, I've learned my lesson. It's best that love happen naturally. At any rate, we'll snap some pictures and lie about the wedding, saying it's too private to share with the world."

Jace gripped my hand. "So we pretend."

"Of course." Grandma's keen eyes examined our joined hands. "After all, you have three more days of the fairytale, don't you, Jace? We wouldn't want to mess with curses and folklore, now would we?"

I bit down on my lip to keep from laughing.

"Who told you?" He slammed his fist down onto the table.

"Oh, the captain and I go way back," Grandma smirked.

I hoped to God that Jace wouldn't ask what that meant, because by the looks of the way she was blushing, it probably wasn't appropriate for the general public, or anyone for that matter.

"Now," Grandma sat down at the table, "enough of that. I've set up a few outings for us to go to as a family. Javier will take pictures, and everyone will go home with smiles on their faces. Of course, at the end of the next three days."

"Does that mean I get a new honeymoon?" Jake asked. "Since you crashed this one?"

"Ditto." Travis grumbled.

"Oh, please." Grandma waved them off. "I let you have at least three days. I thought it very generous, all things considered."

"How do YOU FIGURE?" Jake asked.

"Jake stop yelling. You should be thanking me, not scolding me." She waved him off. "So are we in agreement?" Grandma looked hopefully to everyone's faces.

Was no even an option with this woman?

"Question," Jace asked calmly. "If this is all supposed to be a ruse to save my career from tanking, and I'm supposedly at my own destination wedding, wouldn't my parents be here? And what about Beth's?"

Grandma's smile grew. "Perfect timing, wouldn't you say, Your Honor?"

Jace's face drained of all its color as he slowly turned around and swore. "Father."

"Son, we need to talk."

Chapter Twenty-five

"I find it hard to believe that you were able to convince the judge to make an impromptu trip to Hawaii in order to attend a fake wedding for his wayward son."

"Oh, it didn't take much convincing." Grandma laughed. "After all, I told him it was life and death. And when that didn't work, I told the judge that his son had been kidnapped by pirates scouring the Hawaiian islands.

"And he believed you?"

"He had no reason not to."

"Why's that?"

"It's amazing what one can do with a microphone, voice encryption, and email these days. It truly never ceases to amaze me."

"Shall I add that to your rap sheet as well?"

"Genius?"

"No. Lying to a judge."

Grandma sighed. "If you must. But he won't be pressing charges. I hardly think it matters, considering his son's missing."

"The son you kidnapped."

"Details."

Jace

As a child, I'd always hated getting scolded by my father. It was rare when he had scolded me; after all, my entire goal in life had been to make him proud of me. So when I did get in trouble, it had been life-altering.

After the accident, things had gotten worse. I'd woken up with no recollection of how I'd even gotten in the hospital – my parents said a light in my eyes had died. It pissed me off that after all this time, I felt like I was still trying to get the old Jace back. The one who believed in fairytales and magic; the one who believed in optimism instead of cynicism.

I could still smell my dad's musty study. Floor-to-ceiling bookshelves lined every single wall of the room, and a green leather chair was always facing the mahogany desk. Dad wouldn't turn his own chair, not until I spoke up and alerted him of my presence. Then, ever so slowly, he'd turn in his chair, lean slowly across the table, and say, "Are you ready?"

I'd nod as tears streamed down my face, and then I'd confess what I'd done wrong. I never usually had to be told. I always knew when I was in the wrong, whether it was from disrespecting my mother or eating cookies before dinner. He was always fair in the way he scolded, always giving me a chance to plead my case before the gauntlet fell.

I was suddenly ten years old again. Waiting for the damn words I knew that he'd say in a few seconds. We walked along the beach, both of us silent as the waves crashed against the shore.

How had one week messed up my life so much? I had no one to blame but myself.

"Is mom here?"

"At one of the huts." Dad said crisply, still not looking in my direction.

I nodded, not trusting my voice.

We walked a few more feet, away from watchful eyes and people playing in the water. Finally, I sat on one of the lounge chairs and waited.

The silence was just as heavy as the flower-scented air, thick with tension, thick with shame. He was disappointed, and even though I'd tried to do everything right since the day I'd been able to make my own decisions, it seemed it still wasn't enough. Not that he ever said that – t was always assumed in the way he barked orders and the way he held himself.

"I am…" Dad's weathered face cracked into a bright smile, "so proud of you."

"Come again?"

"Nadine, or sorry, Grandma," he rolled his eyes, "confessed to everything. How you fell in love, tried to keep her out of the media, even decided to keep her from me and your mother." He sighed. "I'm proud that you didn't flaunt it. You did it right this time, Jace. Things with Kerry." His voice lowered. "It wasn't well done of us to encourage the match. We should have seen through her. We should have made you wait, instead of pushing you to commit in order to further your career. But. at least now, you're doing things right. I admire you for that."

Hell had officially landed on earth, and I, being an idiot, had jumped into the hand basket and was now floating around, ignorant of every single string Grandma had pulled until now.

"What exactly did Grandma tell you?"

"Everything." Father chuckled. "You're in love. You're using your friends' honeymoons as a way to cover up the wedding. I will admit, at first she said you'd been kidnapped by pirates. But to be fair, it got my attention. I was on the next flight out after we talked. That woman is something else."

"Yeah." I croaked. "She's something."

"So, now that we're here, there's really no reason for you not to get married. I figured now would be best, since the media's been placated for a while."

"Married." How the hell was I going to talk my way out of this one? "You see, Dad, the thing is…"

Tears welled in his eyes. Holy shit. Was he crying?

"I'm sorry." He sniffled. "I've just been so worried about you. I know you're so worried about your career. Hell, you wore a suit to school when you were in sixth grade."

"It was for career day," I grumbled.

"I know, son." Father slapped me on the shoulder. "It's just, now it finally seems like you have everything you've ever wanted. All you have to do is grasp it. Aall you have to do is say yes."

"Yes?"

"To your future." Father's smile grew. "Now, what were you going to tell me?"

I should have said something. I should have told him the truth. Hell, I'd been honest all week with Beth. Why was I suddenly having issues now? Oh right, because telling him the truth would wreck him. And in turn, it would wreck me, because then he'd know it was possible I wasn'tt the man he thought I was. Because I'd stayed with a girl under false pretenses, lying to the world, and then accepted a dare in order to get her to lie to the media about her reasons for being with me.

I was an ass.

And he was looking at me like I was the perfect son. He was looking at me like I'd always wanted him to look at me.

Which was why I found myself saying, "I'm just happy you could make it for the big day."

Royally Screwed: When the only way out is death. See also: Grandma Nadine.