His words made her toes curl. She wanted to fling her arms around him, and kiss him ’til the rest of the world dropped away. Instead, they stared at each other, in front of Ms. Belle’s school, one second passing, and then two… Victor cursed, breaking the spell.
Finally she said, “Okay, let go. I have to fix things.”
“You’re the one holding onto me.”
Caelen glanced down, realizing her hands were still bunched up in his shirt. “Oh, sorry.” The whole moment was so ridiculous, she burst into manic laughter.
“For God’s sake, Caelen. Are you really going to ignore me? I rearranged my whole life for you, I left my—”
Caelen froze. He was going to say it. He was going to crush the only chance she had with Dare.
The door swung open and Brynn peeked out, cutting through Victor’s rant. “Caelen, we need you. The shit’s hitting the fan in here.” She didn’t stick around, didn’t ask who Victor was, didn’t ask why they were in front of the steps, and Victor was halfway down the street. This was bad.
“Let’s go.” Caelen said to Dare, willing him back inside.
He sent one last scowl toward Victor, his hands on his hips as if contemplating what to do. Finally, he moved up the steps.
“Dare, just—Just remember, right after this mess is resolved, we’re talking. Right?”
“Caelen.”
Victor whined again.
Caelen ascended the steps, pushing Dare ahead of her and into the house. Just as he crossed the threshold, she grabbed the heavy door with two hands, and shut it quickly. She spun around and confronted Victor. In a hushed but heated voice, she said, “Don’t you dare say you left your wife because of me. You did it for yourself. I don’t ever want to see you again. I really hope you did sign those papers, because your lovely wife and kids deserve better. And, oh yeah, I
am
fucking him, and his dick is
amazing.”
Victor looked both crestfallen and shocked to the core. She knew it wouldn’t last, and she needed a little leverage. “I have no interest in causing you any trouble, but you know I have access to every important contact you’ve ever had, including the board. If you so much as look in my direction, or anyone I love, I start talking about our affair, about personal memos, about hidden expense accounts. That’s right, I know everything. Just forget you ever knew me. ’Kay? Bye.”
Caelen didn’t spare another second for Victor.
Time to move on.
The school needed her now, and if she was really going to make this her career, she was going to have to get rid of Ms. Belle’s crazy grandson.
She had no time for old news like Vic the Dick.
Searching the foyer for Dare as she made her way to Mr. Brown’s office, Caelen spotted him hustling Ms. Hattie and the usual gang quickly down the corridor, toward Ms. Belle’s office.
“Don’t forget you promised to talk to me after this whole mess is over,” Caelen called down the hall.
He shot her a look that made her thighs tighten as he escorted Ms. Scarlett down the hall. “I won’t forget. I’ll see you in a minute.”
Panic assailed Caelen once again. She didn’t need Dare in the same room with The Devil. She’d end up facing the same problem she’d just solved a few minutes ago. “Why don’t you just handle Ms. Hattie and The Ladies, and I’ll take care of this mess.”
“No.”
So much for diplomacy. It never worked with this man. “Do
not
start, Dare. I mean it! I will handle this…” a well-timed curse word floated from Mr. Brown’s office, probably from Athena, “situation. I need you for backup. What if someone comes to the front door? What if some of the customers show up early?”
Dare was almost to the end of the hall. “I will be in that room. Try and stop me.”
Oooh! That man.
A tingle went down her spine.
That stubborn, stubborn man.
She might just have a chance to make him hers. For the first time in this crazy week, she felt optimistic. “You have to promise you’ll let us handle it.”
He started to shake his head.
“Dare, please. We have to show him we can stand up to him on our own.” Her soft voice was imploring. “No interfering.”
“All
right
. But if he even takes one step toward any of you…”
“I know, I know. I don’t think that’ll be a problem. He doesn’t look the type. Just remember, no fighting!”
He didn’t bother to answer and disappeared around the corner.
Chapter 32
‡
C
AELEN TURNED AND
made a dash toward the room. She had to shove Dare to the back of her mind; the school was her number one priority. No way would some random grandson, no matter how pretty he was, be allowed to steal her and her sisters’ inheritance.
The door opened onto utter chaos. Everyone stood exactly where she’d left them. Athena leaning over the desk, Brynn observing in the corner, and Dacey pacing back and forth across the room.
Athena had her hand up with her famous ‘I’m so pissed I’m going to get up all in your face’ finger ready to go. “You take even one step, you even breathe in our direction, and I take you out. Understand?”
Great
. Not again. The idiot in front of her was going to get himself killed. Athena was no joke. She’d taken martial art classes for years; she could kick some serious ass.
“What are you talking about? I haven’t moved an inch from behind this desk.” The Devil threw his hands up in total exasperation.
“What is going on here? Since when is violence the answer? I already had to calm Dare down—”
“Why? What happened?” Dacey’s hazel gaze zeroed in on Caelen, as if she could sense something had gone down. It was a sacred gift that all four sisters held, but “the force” was strongest in the youngest. The ability to ferret out all forms of drama, gossip, and all-around shit-talking.
Caelen couldn’t resist giving them just a taste, because now all three sisters were looking her over.
“Well, I had a certain visitor that we’d been discussing earlier…” She let the sentence trail off dramatically.
“Holy shit!”
“It was him, wasn’t it?”
“I knew he’d show up. Didn’t I say he’d show?”
“Can you believe it? And Dare answered the door!” Caelen couldn’t resist adding the last piece of information, which was the icing on the cake.
All three sisters screamed simultaneously.
“It’s official. You’re all bat-shit crazy. You need to be admitted to hospital for serious psychiatric evaluation. Thank God, I am saving my grandmother’s charm school. How in the hell would the four of you be able to teach manners, decorum? You can’t even hold a conversation longer than five minutes.” The man was truly
verklempt.
He had not one clue on how to handle the Calvo Quads.
“Oh, honey. Manners, decorum? Ms. Belle was
way
beyond etiquette. You have a lot to learn,” Brynn said with her usual dry humor. All four sisters peeled into laughter.
“I have had enough.” He reached for his bag and started to come around the desk.
“Ah, ah, ah. What did I say about moving?” Athena launched back into pointing mode.
“Are you trying to insinuate I’d hurt a woman? I wouldn’t waste my breath. I deal in information, and I have more than enough to take the four of you down. I even have information on your watchdog back there; I suggest you tread carefully.”
Caelen glanced back and yelped when she saw Dare leaning casually against the door, a deep scowl on his face. She hadn’t even heard him come in. Thank God, no one had mentioned the married thing. The idea of it infuriated her. She was sick of the lies, sick of the deception. She needed to talk to Dare soon; the guilt was eating her up from the inside out. So she focused her fury on the moving target at the front of the room. “Don’t call him that! He’s a firefighter, braver than you could ever be. And he’s the best guy I know. Plus, he’s…” she said with a grand flourish,
her only chance at true love.
Her mind blanked after the explosive thought popped in her brain. “He’s—He’s—”
“A national treasure?”
“Almost as hot as you.”
“A badass that’s going to make you cry like a baby.”
Dare chuckled softly at the sisters’ descriptions, but didn’t respond. Instead, he kept a steady gaze on The Devil.
“Yeah! Except for the violent one. No more fighting.” Caelen placed her hands on her hips and directed her comment to Dare.
“If he lays a hand on me, I’ll have his ass in jail faster than he can blink,” Willem stated, a now all too familiar refrain.
Not again.
Weren’t there any real men left? Dare scowled and shook his head, as if he’d heard her thoughts. Caelen knew exactly what he was thinking,
Pussy.
“Not if we insist it was self-defense. He has four witnesses willing to testify, in court, on his behalf. Even Dacey, who seems to think you’re better than sliced bread, would defend Dare,” Athena announced with a smirk.
“You think I’m better than sliced bread?” The Devil paused, a perplexed half-frown on his face.
“Yes.” Dacey bounced on her feet, a smile as bright as the sun plastered on her face.
“But you would testify against me? Lie about me?”
“In a heartbeat.” She nodded slowly, but her smile never faltered. “That’s how crazy loyal I am. You might want to take note of that outstanding character trait for when we start dating.”
“When we—You can’t—” He threw his hands in the air. “This is a madhouse. I don’t have time for this.”
“Good. Get out.” This from Caelen, not Athena.
“Not before I make you understand. I want this school, and I have the means to take it.”
“Dacey?” Caelen asked as she moved closer toward the front of the room.
“The man has serious ducats. He’s like the boy wonder of Silicone Valley, at least for the moment. He built a major startup from nothing.”
“Yes, she’s right. And just as the little computer wiz has been keeping track of me, I’ve done the same with you. Would you like me to share?” He plopped one slender folder on the edge of the desk. “I will take your silence as a yes! The Neanderthal back there? Seems he’s not just a regular firefighter, but a Hotshot. What did you call him? A national treasure?” The Devil’s nostrils flared with what looked like glee. “That may be true, but I think he took his job a little too seriously. He became so involved in his work that he lost his wife and now will be working with the man she cheated with.”
Caelen sucked in a breath, fearful of Dare’s reaction. Goldie’s cheeks turned a deep red and his muscles looked like they grew as he tensed, but he didn’t move, so he hadn’t broken his promise.
Yet
.
“Now onto the violent one in the front.” He pointed at Athena. “Professionally there is good and bad news. The good? Athena graduated at the top of her law class. The bad? She’s done nothing with it. What? Too afraid you might fail?”
“You asshole,” Athena mumbled.
“As for her personal life, there’s more bad news, I’m afraid.”
Caelen saw Baby A close her eyes, her entire demeanor changing, shutting down, caving in.
“You might want to ask why she’s living in her big, ol’ house…
all alone.”
The room went silent. Caelen launched forward, standing in front of her sister, as if she could somehow protect her from his hateful words. Athena still hadn’t responded. Caelen yelled, “Stop it. Just
stop.
What is this accomplishing? We get it. You’re a giant prick who wants this tiny school. To what? Punish the family and friends who gave you away? Didn’t want you? This solves nothing.”
“My family wanted me. You know
nothing.”
He picked up the folder and shook it in front of them. “Brynn is the model citizen by day, for all intents and purposes, just a boring professor. But where is she going late at night, all alone? Into some not-so-savory neighborhoods.”
Brynn gasped.
Caelen had been too preoccupied with protecting her sisters to realize what he might say when he came to her. The realization came too late. She felt the weight of the world crush her, crumble her to dust. All the hope, the possibility of having a real relationship with Dare vanished when she realized the next words that would come from Willem’s mouth.
“And you, brave Ms. Caelen? So quick to judge my life? You are a home wrecker, a mistress bought and paid for, in the most antiquated of ways. You had an affair with your boss. You broke up a family. He had a wife and children, and you played house with him, letting him shower you with expensive gifts. Who are you to judge me? You’re no better than a whore.”
Caelen couldn’t look. Couldn’t stop Dare if he tore the man to pieces. But mostly, she couldn’t bear to see the look in his eyes, when he knew the truth about her.
“Shut up!” Dacey screamed, the vivacious bubbliness stripped bare. “You want to share secrets, tear people down? Should I tell them about you?”
He stood straighter, as if preparing for the blow.
“You were given up to relatives in the U.K. The abuse was so bad, they found you starved and half dead, locked in the closet.”
“Stop,” he whispered.
“Finally, family in the states heard about the neglect, so they decided to bring you home. But that wasn’t much better, was it? No one put their hands on you, but you were shuffled around, unwanted, unnoticed.”
He didn’t respond.
“How does it feel? To have your darkest secrets brought into the light?” Her voice rose and cracked on the last word. “I wouldn’t have told them any of this,” she said in a broken whisper, “but you can’t hurt my family. I won’t let you.”
Tears were streaming down Dacey’s face, and Caelen walked over and hugged her with one arm as she said, “Get out.”
He rammed the rest of his paperwork in his knapsack and fled. Caelen tensed when she looked toward the back of the room, convinced Dare would never let him by. But the space was empty. Dare was gone.
A sob escaped. The answer was in front of her, but she had to make sure, had to see with her own eyes that he’d left. Racing through the door, she wiped her eyes with the back of her hand as she silently checked each room, the tears pooling the further she ran. Circling back to the front office, she came face to face with her three sisters.