Chapter Thirty-two
***Autumn***
Iretreatedtothe playroom with the kids after that. Griff had to talk to Tom again, and Zeke and Con were on their way home. No matter what happened, I still needed to be with the kids and take care of them. They deserved my attention. They needed me. I spent the rest of the morning holding them while we watched movies. Jones even let me hold him against me for a bit. I didn’t want to leave them. Things had changed so much since I’d arrived. We’d come to an understanding with each other, and I hated the idea of walking out on them and ruining it.
I was surprised by a woman walking in that evening. Grace instantly jumped up and ran over to her, calling her Momma. A twinge of pain radiated through me as I officially met the woman who’d won Con over all those years ago.
“Hi, I’m Jenny. Autumn, right?” She hurried over and sank down next to me on the couch. “Con called me over to take care of the kids while you all handle the problem.”
I cringed. “Did he tell you?”
She smiled a sweet smile that reached her eyes. “Con and I are best friends. We’ve been best friends for a very long time. Long enough for me to know a lot about you. I’m sure it’s not the whole story, but it’s enough for me to like you and want you to win. Especially over you know who.”
I sat up. “You know…all of it?”
“I know that you have three men downstairs worried sick that you’re going to walk out of here.” She cupped my face like she’d known me my whole life. “Go on. Go put them out of their misery, one way or another.”
I nodded and stood up. “Um. Jenny?”
She smiled up at me. “Yeah?”
“I’m sorry. For before.” I crossed my arms over my chest. “I didn’t know he was getting married.”
She waved me off. “You did nothing wrong. Con was the jerk in that situation. He was also a stupid kid, though. I hope you take that into consideration when you hear what they have to say.”
I nodded at her and hurried downstairs. They were in Griff’s office, looking morbid enough that my knees went weak. “It’s too late, isn’t it? She leaked the photos?”
Zeke hurried over to me and wrapped me in his arms. “No, baby, that’s not what’s happening.”
I let him pull me down on the couch next to him and wrapped my arms around myself. “What’s happening?”
“We found the leak. It was the same guard who got fired. There was a mix-up, and no one revoked his credentials for the system.” Griff shook his head and sank onto the couch across from us. “I’m so fucking sorry, Autumn. This is my fault. I should’ve checked to be sure he was out, but I let it slip. He’s out now, and he’s been charged for what he did. He’s already sitting in jail, waiting for arraignment.”
I sank into the couch further. “Does that mean Stacy won’t be able to use the pictures?”
Con sighed. “No. She can still use whatever she has in her possession. We can sue her afterward and press charges, but she can still do whatever she wants.”
“I feel sick.” I put my head between my knees again and groaned. “My life is over. I’m going to get fired. I’m going to be looked at by people I don’t know. They’re going to see those pictures and see something bad, or something deviant. They’re not going to see—”
“That we fucking care about you and that there’s nothing wrong or deviant about this.” Con grimaced. “Maybe a little deviant, but not in a bad way.”
“I’m going to meet with Stacy, figure out what she really wants to stop this shit.”
I looked up at Griff with tears rolling down my cheeks. “The kids. She wants the kids. And you can’t let her get her hands on them. Just the little bit of time she spends with them now is damaging enough. She can’t hurt them. Not for me.”
Griff stood up and walked over to his desk, his body stiff. In a rage, he slammed his arms across his desk and sent everything flying. “The fucking monster! She can’t do this!”
“I have to go. Maybe if I leave, she’ll stop.” I cried harder, but my point was clear. I had to go.
Con sat forward and shook his head. “We want you to stay. Do you hear me? If you truly want to leave us, if that’s what you really want, we’ll have it all taken care of and we’ll take you wherever you want to go. That’s not what you want, is it, though?”
Zeke pulled me into his chest and held me. “It’s your choice. We’re not ready to lose you, though. As weird as this shit is, we’re not going to make you choose. You can have all of us, every part of us, Autumn. You stay with us if you want us. We’ll figure the rest out together.”
Griff walked over and knelt at my feet. Taking my hands and holding them, he held my gaze with so much intensity, I couldn’t help but cry harder. “Sweetheart, we want you. We care about you. Please, don’t go.”
“But Stacy…”
“Fuck her.” Growling, Griff pulled me into his arms and held me. “We’ll figure it out together. The four of us, I guess.”
My heart ached, and a laugh bubbled up through my tears. “You guess?”
He pulled back enough to smile at me. “I’m still a selfish man. Of course, I want you all to myself. There’s something about the three of us each taking care of you in our own way that works, though. I trust these idiots to care for you no less intensely than I would. That’s enough for me.”
“So, I keep all of you?”
Con came over and sat behind me on the couch. “You keep all of us. And we all fight to protect you from whatever Stacy has planned.”
“I’ve never felt the need to settle down before now, Autumn, but it’s there. I want you. If that means sharing you, I’m okay with it, too.” Zeke stroked his hand over my hair and shrugged. “I feel like this is how it should be.”
“This is how it was always meant to be. I told them about us. From before. About how fucking stupid I was to let you go and how much I’ve regretted it almost every day of my life.”
I looked from Griff to Zeke. “You’re not mad? I just…didn’t want to talk about it. I didn’t mean to hide anything from you.”
Zeke smacked his brother on the back of the head. “You didn’t do anything wrong. It’s this asshole who thought he could cheat us out of twenty million by not revealing that pertinent detail.”
I frowned. “Twenty million?”
Zeke’s face went blank and he tilted his head like he wasn’t sure he heard me. “Huh?”
I looked from him to Con, who looked like someone had just told him there was a bomb in the room, to Griff, who just looked pissed. My stomach twisted even more than it had been. “What did you mean?”
Con shook his head. “It’s nothing. Just this silly thing we did. It means nothing now.”
“Then just tell me about it.”
Zeke forced out a laugh and rolled his eyes. “We just made a silly bet to see who would get you. And now it looks like we all win!”
I lurched forward and vomited all over Con’s shoes.