Hanging Pawns (The Fate Series Book 2) (13 page)

“I like to keep track of her, she tends to get herself into trouble,” Morgan leans toward me to mumble.

I nod my understanding.

“Film, right? That is what she wants to do… like work on movies and stuff?” I ask, taking a long sip of my coffee.

The back door swings open letting a rush of freezing cold air in with the boys when they enter, empty coffee cups in hand. Grabbing plates from the stack, they fill them with breakfast and come to sit with us.

Josh rests a hand on my shoulder, giving it a quick squeeze as he puts his plate down next to me.

“Would you like more… anything, while I am up?” he says, wiggling his eyebrows.

“Yes, but what if I become dependent on you and I forget how to do things for myself,” I reply coyly.

“Then all my hard work pays off,” he states, tapping my nose.

I shake my head, giving a light laugh and turn back to my food.

His hard work paid off months ago.

“What’s the subject this morning ladies?” Chase begins while he elbows Morgan’s arm, causing her fork to wiggle in front of her face.

She releases a heavy sigh and drops the fork. “You’re infuriating, but if you must know, we were talking about Sidney.” Lifting the utensil back up she takes the bite of eggs, chewing it and sticking her tongue out to show him what it looks like after.

“That looks delicious, can you make some for me?” Chase replies and begins eating.

Josh hands me my coffee, sits next to me, and makes a face at them. We sit quietly listening to the four of them bicker back and forth. Simon sits quietly, eating his food as fast as he can like usual so he can get up and leave.

“Will the evil sister be coming home for the holiday this time?” Dean laughs at this joke.

No one else does.

Simon sits up a little, as though he’s waiting on the edge of his seat.

“Actually…” Morgan begins when Molly jumps in.

“I think she is, Mom said something about her coming in at some point?” She claps excitedly.

Simon’s lips curl up slightly at the news.

“I might be stepping over some line…” I begin to trudge into a conversation I’m not sure I should engage in. “Why don’t you just apologize? Wouldn’t it be easier than having her avoid you forever?” I question him.

What kind of man is he if he can just continue on hanging around her family and acting as though she doesn’t exist when clearly her absence turns him into an asshole?

“That is a great idea.” He looks to Chase, then Morgan for a second before dropping his gaze to his plate. His body jerks swiftly as is releases a quick amused breath. “Someday I will, someday she’ll know how sorry I am.” He stands, grabbing his plate when he walks away.

“What if someday is too late?” I blurt out without thinking it through.

He smirks, his vision staring off to a place we can’t see. “I promise you, I won’t let that happen,” he says walking out.

“Why doesn’t he just give up and move on?” I lean to ask Molly.

She gives a small shrug and sadness takes over her eyes. That’s when it hits me, he loves her.

“Because he can’t,” she sighs. “He will do anything for her, including giving her something she was willing to give away for him.” She pushes her plate away. 

“That has to be the saddest love story I’ve ever heard.” I push my food away as well.

I can’t imagine loving someone so much you push them away to have a better life, knowing your heart will forever be broken without them.

She agrees and slowly, one by one, everyone’s dish is in the center of the table. Heartache fills us to the point of being full.

“He’ll get over it.” Chase pats Morgan’s back. “It’s safer this way; we decided that.” His hand moves to tuck her hair behind her ear.

“I know, it just sucks being us sometimes.” She gives a weak shrug.

Something tells me there is more to what happened than just a simple kiss and a trick of the mind. I don’t know Simon well, but I can see he regrets what happened every second he is breathing. I see it when I look in his eyes because it’s one I used to get when memories would overtake me. It’s a place he goes without meaning to… he goes to punish himself… or maybe just to relive it, like his own personal hell. It’s how some of us learn to adapt; we grow from the pain we have caused others in hope of becoming better. There’s sadness in his eyes, a sadness he put there, one that shows he’s lost so much in his life. He just kind of exists and everyone moves quietly around him, letting him behave in whatever way he sees fit. 

“I don’t know about the rest of you, but I am looking forward to sausage gravy!” Dean yells out with excitement trying to change the somber mood.

“How do you know Grams will even be there? And why are you three coming with us again? Don’t you have a mother… and a home?” Morgan growls, taking a sip of her coffee.

“Yes, we have both, but our mother is away and your parents are, as your mother told ours, ‘delighted to have us all under one roof’,” Chase answers as he goes back to eating.

“Let’s just be ready by three on Wednesday, please… I don’t want to get home after our parents.” Molly puts her hand up to pledge.

“Ditto.” The guys nod.

I am not going to ask.

“Oh, I almost forgot. Since our mother is out of town she didn’t want her Gala tickets to go to waste and sent them to us. It’s the Thursday after Christmas so we will have time to get ready,” Dean informs us.

“You have tickets to the Gala and you’re just telling us this… now? Dean, sometimes you are such a man, I could strangle you!” Molly snaps getting up from the table to dump the little bit of food on her plate into the garbage.

“What did I do?” He looks around the table.

“Nothing, Dean. That’s what you did.” She throws her hands up.

Watching Molly and Dean go back and forth is amusing sometimes but even he can’t be this dumb to not get it. These girls live and die for clothes. Not giving them enough time to prepare for this is a big deal to them.

When Wednesday finally rolls around we are all too eager to get away from school and relax. After a long plane ride, we finally make it to the cars that were dropped off for us.

“Okay, who is driving?” Morgan asks after we finish loading up the two cars.

“I will!” Molly and Dean yell out together.

“There is no way in hell that you two are going to drive. I think I can speak for everyone when I say we would like to make it there in one piece. But thanks anyways,” Morgan says.

I look around at everyone nodding in agreement.

“That was one time and how were we supposed to know you can’t go that fast on the highway? If they don’t want the cars to speed maybe they shouldn’t make them able to be driven so fast,” Molly says like it’s a logical thought, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

“I wasn’t talking about that time… but thanks for reminding me. The answer is now an absolutely no fucking way in hell,” Morgan says with a tone that brings the conversation to an end.

“I will drive the guys’ car and Mea can drive the girls’ car. That way there is no competition.” Josh smiles.

Matching his expression, I nod, and we all get into the cars.

“Foxy Lady, this is Big D do you copy?” I hear a voice come from somewhere in the car.

Looking around, I see Molly lift her phone and push a button on the side. After it beeps she begins to talk back.

I start the car, watching her in my mirror.

“What the hell is that thing?” I say, looking at Morgan who is sitting next to me in the front seat.

“Oh, those two morons got those walkie-talkie phones. Don’t ask,” Morgan says, rolling her eyes as she gets comfortable.

“And… Big D?” My face cringes at the nickname. I pull out of our spot and follow the boys to the highway.

“Yeah, he calls himself ‘Big D’ on these things… I think it stands for douchebag,” Morgan scoffs while Foxy Lady and Big D continue their chatter.

I’m going to vomit if this keeps up the whole time.

A few hours of New York traffic later we are almost there.

“Molly, I swear, if that thing goes ‘beep, beep’ one more time I am going to shove it up Dean’s ass when we get out of here,” Morgan screams.

I don’t blame her. He beeps us every time they change lanes, or speed, or think of something funny. I’m also ready to break that stupid thing.

The phone beeps again, and my fingers white knuckle the steering wheel.

“We have landed,” Big D’s voice yells through the speaker.

This device is going into the street.

Morgan’s nails dig into her seat.

Which one of us gets to throw it is anyone’s guess… but I’ll fight her for this privilege.

“Okay Big D! Drop off your stuff and we’ll have it taken up when we get there. You have to park the cars, so leave one of you there to take this one,” Molly sings back to him.

We
finally
pull up in front of the building and our bags are unloaded. Chase struts over to open my door.

“Madam,” he muses.

I toss the keys at him and fix my sunglasses.

“Don’t scratch the paint,” I tease since it’s his car.

He lets out a deep laugh and jumps into the car to park it.

“Miss Chandlers, your parents are upstairs awaiting your arrival.” The doorman smiles as we all walk in.

“Motherfucker! We shouldn’t have told them when we were coming,” Molly groans. “I should have known they would pull something like leaving work earlier on us.”  

“Oh no. Don’t take me down. You… you told them we were coming in. Not this “we” shit. It was you.” Morgan points at her.

We walk through the huge lobby, listening to her complain the entire way.

“Shouldn’t we wait for the guys?” I can’t help but ask as I look around at all the things they can break or get in trouble touching.

“Nah, these people know them. They’ll be fine. Besides most of this stuff is superglued down just in case. Let’s just go get this over with,” Morgan mumbles as we step onto the elevator.

Sticking in her key, the penthouse button lights up and she presses it. The doors close around us as the little room lifts us up toward their home. When it stops, the doors open into a massive living room, or a sitting room as my ex-mother would call it, because it’s where you sit with people who you don’t want in the rest of your house.

“Where is everyone?” Molly asks, looking around suspiciously.

Loud laughter echoes through the high ceilings of the rooms. The girls slip off their shoes by the wall and begin to tiptoe through the enormous room. The elevator opens a few minutes later revealing four boys standing holding their shoes. Stepping out, they place them on the floor next to the girls and follow them with the same tiptoed steps to the doorway that leads to another room.

Why are we being so quiet?

“Who is here?” Simon whispers.

My heart slams in my chest with worry.

I shouldn’t have come here… If they are anything like my family this is going to be another Christmas from hell.

Morgan uses her makeup mirror to look around the corner.

“Dammit! My uncles, Grams… I think that is it,” she whispers back.

I have a feeling they are exactly like my family… I stand here, stomach twisting with anxiety.

“Oh great. See, it’s times like this, I wish their mother was here,” Molly sighs, motioning to the triplets. “Now we have to deal with all that.”

“Where are your parents, though? They might not let anything bad happen since we’re in the city,” Chase comments.

Loud-heeled footsteps can be heard from somewhere, and my heart thumps with every step that comes closer.

Everyone looks around with a nervous expression on their face, and my hands begin to shake with fear. The room is so enormous the sound echoes through, making it hard to place what direction the footsteps are coming from. That is, until Morgan spots a woman standing in the doorway at the other end of the room staring at us.

I try to figure out an exit plan.

“Ladies and Gentle… well… never mind. Stop planning your way through the house and come have something to eat. It must have been a terrible drive here. I don’t know why you wouldn’t let me send a limo.” She waves her hand to rush them through the room. Her loud heels give us away and soon everyone is standing in the huge doorway to greet us.

“Hello, I’m their mother, Mrs. Chandler, and that is what you may call me.” She smiles a pleasant smile at me when she extends her hand toward me.

I have to admit, this isn’t how I thought their family would be. Judging by Morgan, Molly, what I have heard about their sister, Sidney, and what I’ve seen go on between the guys and these two, I expected a little louder but laidback family. But it turns out they are just a larger version of my family.

Giving my best smile I extend my hand to take hers, and she gives a weak finger shake before taking her hand back.

“These are the girls’ uncles: Mitch, Matthew, and Sal. This is their Grandmother-” She is interrupted by the woman, who gives me a warm smile.

“You can call me Grams,” she beams and pinches my cheek.

“Where is Dad?” Morgan asks, ending the meet and greet.

“Oh, he is in his office doing work. He will be done later,” she says, giving what could be mistaken as a smile but looks more like a scowl.