Siren in the City

Chapter Twelve

Lucas Cameron came out of his daze to the sound of two people talking. It was all hazy at first, but they seemed to be arguing about something. The whole world seemed thick and heavy, but their voices were light and filled with warmth.

“What’s wrong, Sam?” the feminine voice asked. “You seem to be struggling with something.”

Lucas felt the bed shift as though someone was wiggling.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Abigail.” Sam’s voice was deep. “I love it. It’s very comfortable.”

“Is it? I’m glad to hear that.” There was a wealth of amused satisfaction in the female’s voice.

“It’s the best day of my life,” Sam said with a little bite in his tone. “I don’t know why you complained about it all this time. You must be a wimp, Abby.”

Abby giggled. “Or maybe I’m just better at insertion than you are.”

Sam snorted. Lucas tried to open his eyes. If there was something being inserted somewhere between those two, he wanted to see it.

“I’m a master at insertion, baby. Just tell me one thing, Abby. Why pink?”

Abigail’s laughter seemed slightly maniacal to Lucas. “You love pink, Sam. Turnabout is fair play. Remember all those times you told me how cute I looked with a little pink plug?”

“You just could have picked something more masculine, baby,” Sam complained.

“Next time I’ll see if NASCAR has a line of licensed butt plugs.”

Lucas forced his eyes open. He definitely wanted in on this conversation.

“Oh, look he’s awake.” The lovely redhead peered down at him. Her hazel eyes were full of mirth, and she was wearing pajama bottoms and a tank top that showed off her breasts. Even with a massive hangover, Lucas could appreciate them. “Hello, Jack’s brother.”

“Hello, Jack’s wife,” he managed to mumble. Sam helped him sit up. The sheet slipped down. Someone had stripped him down to his boxers. He held his head. “What happened?”

“Apparently you can’t hold your liquor.” Sam pressed a cup of something warm into his hands. “Coffee. It should help.”

Lucas brought it to his lips. He didn’t really like coffee, but he didn’t want to disappoint Sam. He was surprised to find it smooth and rich. It wasn’t horribly sweet like the lattes he’d had before. He took another sip. Maybe it would clear his head. “Where am I?” The last thing he remembered was talking to the guy named Jeremy. He’d been planning on spending the night with him. How had he ended up in the middle of his brother’s ménage?

“Jack brought you up,” Sam explained. He shifted as though he was slightly uncomfortable. “He said you passed out in the bar downstairs. You’re in a room in the hotel over the club. We’re in the suite next to you. Abby wanted to come in and stare at you while you slept.”

Abby slapped at Sam, looking horrified. “I did not. I wanted to come in and take care of him. Besides, Jack won’t let us leave until he comes back from whatever it is he’s doing. Now, I ordered breakfast. I hope you like bacon and eggs.”

He nodded. He did like them. He hadn’t had them in months since he’d been playing the vegan for his Hollywood friends. His stomach rumbled. He couldn’t remember anything about last night. How much had he had to drink?

Abby put a tray in front of him, and the heavenly aroma hit him. He was suddenly starving. He shook slightly as he held the fork.

“So, you’re going to blackmail Jack?” Sam asked.

Just like that, his appetite took a nose dive. He stared at the two people sitting on his bed. His eyes slid down, unable to meet the faces of the people he’d inadvertently threatened. They would have been hurt, too. Now that he thought about it, he’d threatened them just as much as he had Jack. “Sorry about that. You’re safe. I’m not going to say anything.”

“Really?” Abby sounded upset. Lucas looked at the redhead. She was pouting slightly. It was really sexy on her. “That is very disappointing, Lucas.”

“You want me to blackmail Jack?”

“No.” Sam rolled his blue eyes. “She thinks if you sell our story to the tabloids, she’ll get to be on all kinds of talk shows. She wants to be on Ellen.”

“Don’t forget Regis and Kelly,” Abby added.

Lucas shook his head. “Aren’t you worried about the public finding out?”

Abby winked Sam’s way before answering. “Am I worried that the public will find out that, at the age of thirty-seven, I managed to get not one, but two superhot multi-millionaire cowboys to marry me?”

Lucas couldn’t help the laugh that shot out of him. Put like that, it didn’t seem so bad. He felt the need to point out some facts to her, however. Someone had to be realistic. Lucas was surprised it was him. He wasn’t known for his practicality. Something about Abby Barnes brought out his protective side. His brother’s wife was a sweetheart. He used some of the intelligence he’d dug up on her. “Abigail, what about your family? Your mother is still alive. Won’t she be upset?”

Sam waved that question off. “She lives in our guest house. She knows some weird shit goes on, and she’s fine with it. We love her daughter.”

“Often,” Abby agreed. “And usually with toys involved. Besides, I got kicked out of my hometown at the age of seventeen. I was pregnant and had a flaming affair with a boy from the other side of the tracks. She’s used to me causing gossip. And don’t think it will upset my baby girl, either. I have it on the highest authority that she’s dating a musician. Her bohemian friends thinks it’s cool she has two step-dads.”

“Musician?” Sam’s voice rose signaling his outrage. “When the hell did that happen?”

Abby wrinkled her nose. “Well, I didn’t want you to scare him off. She seems crazy about him. His name is Aidan. She’s bringing him to Sunday dinner in a few weeks. I’m sure Jack will threaten to horribly murder the boy if he so much as touches a hair on Lexi’s head.” She shook her head at Lucas in a manner that made him think she knew that more than Lexi’s head had likely been touched already.

She wasn’t getting it. Lucas tried a different approach. “Okay. How about the business? Have you thought about how a scandal could affect Barnes-Fleetwood? Who wants to buy beef from pervert cowboys?”

Abby laughed long and loud. “They’re organic cattle ranchers. Have you walked through a Whole Foods lately?”

“Well,” Lucas said, defeated, “it’s just as well I decided to not go through with it, then.” There was a moment of silence as they regarded him expectantly. “I’m sorry. I really…I don’t know. I’m just sorry. I’ll be out of your way as soon as I can get a shower.”

Sam exchanged glances with Abby before turning back to Lucas. “Where are you going to go?”

Lucas shrugged. That was the question he needed to answer. Where did you go when you didn’t have a home? “Back to California, I guess.” He needed to sell everything he owned so he could pay off his debt. After that, he had no idea what he would do. He knew he couldn’t crawl back to his father.

“Are you going to do more crazy drugs and wild sex stuff?” Abby asked. “I loved that cover of you, by the way. It was the one where you were covered in cocaine, and the headline read ‘Is he killing his father?’ I thought that one was really funny.”

Lucas felt himself flush. “It was baby powder. A friend of mine took it. I’ve never actually tried it. I don’t do drugs. I don’t really drink that much, either. I’m really kind of boring.”

Abby sighed. Her mouth turned down in a disappointed little frown. “See, I knew those things were fake. It’s like pro wrestling, except with famous people.”

“Abigail, pro wrestling is real,” Sam insisted, but Lucas didn’t miss the twinkle in his eye. “And I don’t think Jack is going to let you hightail it back to California.”

“What do you mean?” Lucas sat up straight and wondered if his brother had decided to kill him anyway.

“He means I’ve decided to take you in hand, Lucas,” Jack said, walking into the bedroom. His brother was a huge presence in the room. He was tall and broad, and everything about him screamed authority, though strangely not in the way their father did. Lucas had always seen his father as a suffocating presence, even when he was ignoring him. Jack was the kind of man whom you knew would take care of things. Now his brother was rolling a luggage cart containing a strange cube of metal. It was about the size of an ottoman. He rolled it up to Sam.

“There you go, buddy.” Jack was cheerful as he patted the cube.

“What?” Sam glanced down at the gift.

“Damn it, Jack Barnes,” Abby cursed. “You have got to stop doing that.”

Sam’s face fell. “You cubed my motorcycle.” His hands went out to pat the cube. He stroked it sadly.

“Yep,” Jack agreed. “The good news is now it’s safe for our wife to sit on. And you’ve both got a cube.” He shot Lucas a look. “I cubed Abby’s car about six months ago. I’ve found that crushing a vehicle into a tiny square makes it less offensive to me.” He took his wife’s hand. “Now that I’ve dealt with Sam, will you follow me, please? You’ve had a little delivery I’d like to discuss with you, Abigail.”

He started to pull his wife along. Abby hustled to keep up. “Now, Jack, let’s talk about this.”

Sam was grinning as he got up. He winced a little as he straightened his spine. “Come on, Luke. This is going to be good.” He tossed Lucas a pair of jeans and sighed at his cube. He patted it fondly before he walked out.

Lucas pulled on the jeans and wished they were a little looser. He struggled to get the jeans on and then hurried to follow Sam into the suite next door. Lucas let his eyes go wide as he took in the crazy amount of boxes in the living area. They were all from Neiman Marcus.

“How much, Abigail?” Jack was asking.

Abby chewed on her bottom lip. “I was a little upset, Jack. I guess I was trying to get your attention. I can take it all back. Well, everything except the stuff I already wore.”

“Consider my attention completely focused on you, sweetheart. How much?”

Her face bunched up sweetly. “Fifty.”

Lucas was pretty sure she wasn’t talking about fifty dollars. His brother’s face flushed, and Lucas prepared for a screaming session to start. He hoped Jack didn’t get rough with her. Lucas would have to do something about that. She seemed like a really sweet lady. Instead, Jack took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

“All right,” he managed evenly. “I can handle it. You haven’t exactly been a spendthrift since we got married. We have plenty of money. Let me make another rule, Abigail. Purchases of over twenty thousand dollars need to get cleared by me. I think that’s reasonable.”

Abby nodded eagerly. “Absolutely.”

Jack’s eyes narrowed. “I can let the money go, but there is one thing I won’t stand for, Abby. You know the rules.” He picked up a handful of delicately colored fabric. Lucas stared at it for a moment before he realized it was a big mass of panties.

“Jack, what are you doing with my brand new undies?” Abby asked the question, but it sounded to Lucas like she knew what was about to happen.

Sam snorted and elbowed Lucas. “He’s going to do something crazy now.”

Jack opened the door to the big balcony.

“Jackson Barnes, don’t you dare!” Abby shouted.

Jack walked straight to the railing and opened his hands. Designer panties rained down from seventeen floors up.

Abby stomped her bare foot. “Damn it, Jack! Those were La Perla.”

“I don’t give a damn whose they were,” Jack replied with a smirk. “You’re not allowed to wear underwear.”

“They matched my new bras.”

Jack shrugged. “Do you know what matches every bra you own? Your lovely, naked pussy. It better because that’s all you get.” He pulled a long box out of his pocket. “Maybe this will make up for the loss of your precious panties, darlin’.”

Abby took the box, a stubborn look on her face. She looked like she would reject anything he gave her. That look slid off as she opened the box. She gasped as she stared down at the diamond necklace. Even from his place, Lucas could tell it was stunning.

“Oh, Jack.” There were tears in her eyes as she held it up. “Put it on.”

Lucas felt so jealous as he watched his brother fasten the diamond choker around his wife’s throat. Jack belonged somewhere. Jack had people who loved him enough to fight with him.

Abby fingered the diamonds that marked her as Jack’s. “I love it. It’s the best collar ever. I promise to be fairly submissive when I wear it.”

“Good to know,” Jack said sarcastically as he leaned down and kissed his wife. It was a simple, sweet kiss that made Lucas wish he had someone to buy jewelry for.

“As for you,” Jack started, turning to Sam.

Sam crossed his arms over his chest defensively. “I already got my dream bike made into a foot rest, and the other thing. It’s pink, Jack. She picked the pink one. Isn’t that enough punishment?”

Jack laughed and kissed the blond man swiftly. It was just as sweet as the one he gave his wife. “No punishment, Sam. You need a collar. You’ll lose anything I give you, so I’ve arranged for something else. There’s a car waiting. You do everything they tell you to do.”

Sam nodded, his face slightly flushed. “All right, Jack.” Sam gave Abby a quick kiss. “I’ll be back.” Sam walked out the door to wherever Jack was sending him. It shocked Lucas, but Sam didn’t ask questions. He didn’t argue. He just did what Jack requested. The trust he placed in his lover was awesome. Lucas had never trusted anyone the way Sam trusted Jack.

Jack was watching him. “Don’t look at me like that. I’m sending him to a tattoo parlor. Trust me, he’ll be thrilled.”

“He’s wanted one forever,” Abby said with a grin. “What’s it of?”

“It’s a very tasteful tattoo. Julian knows a skilled artist. She drew it up for me this morning. It has our initials wound together with barbed wire and a little rose for you,” Jack explained. “I’m going to get one, too, though not on the back of my neck. I think my chest is the perfect place for it.”

Abby went up on her toes. “I am so glad the boss is back.”

“Love you, baby,” Jack whispered before kissing her. He turned back to Lucas and eyed him suspiciously. “So, you think you can handle this? I have no intention of hiding the way I live my life, son. If the fact that I sleep with both Abby and Sam is going to bother you, then maybe you should head home.”

Lucas tried to follow the conversation. “I thought I didn’t have a choice in that.” He shoved the stupid hair out of his face again. He should never have let that hot celebutante talk him into this ridiculous haircut. “You were going to kill me if I didn’t leave and promise to never open my mouth.”

Jack’s hand was around his wife’s waist as he stared at Lucas. Lucas felt a little like squirming but managed to hold his ground. “I changed my mind, Lucas. I don’t have much family. You’re my brother, but you’re also an asshole. I think we can change that.”

“Really?” Lucas hated that the question came out as an expectant squeak.

Jack’s face took a paternally amused air. “Yes, really. A friend recently pointed out to me that sometimes we get a chance to pay the universe back for the good things it brings us.”

“It’s karma.” Abby cuddled close to Jack. “You’re Jack’s karma. Julian took him in when he was a young man, and now he’s going to do the same for you.”

It took everything Lucas had not to break down. He held himself still for a moment. They could be playing with him. Sometimes people liked to do that.

“I know about your money trouble, Lucas,” Jack said firmly. “Here’s the deal I’ll make with you. I’ll pay off your debt, and you come and live with us for a year. You’ll work on the ranch. Think about this, son. This is hard work. This is physical labor. You’ll live in the dorm I have for the unmarried ranch hands. There’s only three of them, and I think you’ll get along. You’ll eat with us, though. You’ll be my brother, Lucas. You’ll be part of our family. At the end of the year, you can stay on, or I’ll pay for whatever training you need to get a good job. I’d love it if you worked for me. I could use a lawyer or an MBA. It’s your choice.”

“Why?” Lucas heard himself ask. He fought hard not to cry. No one ever offered him anything like this before. No one offered him something in return for just working hard and being himself.

“Because it looks like you could use the help,” Jack stated plainly. “But, son, that hair is going to have to go.”

“Thank god,” Lucas breathed. “Can I do that today? This hair is awful. I hate hairspray, and it’s constantly in my eyes. And I promise to get some jeans that fit, and I won’t ever wear guy-liner again. I get to work with cows, huh?”

“Yes, Lucas. You’ll get to work with them and be kicked by them and probably step in more of their crap than you ever dreamed possible. It’s not easy.”

“I can do it.” He felt himself get a little defensive. He heard his father’s voice insisting Lucas couldn’t be trusted with anything.

“I know.” Jack’s voice was strong and encouraging. “You can do anything you set your mind to, Lucas Cameron. Do you have anything you need to get before we leave tomorrow? Let me warn you, Willow Fork is a small town. There’s no Best Buy out there.”

Lucas shook his head. He didn’t own anything he gave a damn about. He had that house in California, but it would be easy to sell it. The thought of a whole new life without the encumbrances of his old one sounded heavenly. He was ready to let it all go. “I’m ready whenever you are.”

Jack nodded. Abby was smiling at him kindly.

“You’re going to love living on the ranch, Lucas,” she promised him.

He wasn’t so sure, but he was more than willing to give it a go. Not a go, he promised himself. He would make it work. He would give his brother a year of hard work and then decide what to really do with his life. Jack would help, he suddenly knew. Jack would give him advice, and he would probably lecture him on all sorts of things. Jack would ride his ass, and there would be times when Lucas would wish his brother would keep his nose out of his business. Lucas smiled. It sounded great. “I know I will.”

Jack’s green eyes narrowed. “What kind of car do you drive, son?”

“Whatever kind you tell me to, sir,” Lucas replied quickly, remembering the little metal cube that still sported a visible Ducati symbol. He wasn’t going to mention the two-seater roadster he kept in LA. He had a feeling it would be cubed and added to Jack’s growing collection of offensive vehicles.

Jack nodded. “Good.”

Abby sighed. “Well, at least you’ll fit in.”

Jack gave Lucas a look that told him he should probably do whatever Jack said next. “Go on and get ready. We’re leaving in the morning. You should enjoy your last night in civilization. Don’t drink too much.”

“Okay,” he promised as he opened the door.

“And Lucas,” Jack called out. “Stay away from that Slater fellow. I don’t like him.”

“You got it, Jack.” That was the easiest promise Lucas had ever made.