Page 53 of Brewing Temptation

“Slow down. Axel, Mav, shut up.Noel. Start from the top.”

So she did. Noel told us her whole story. He was a subtle psycho—I guess El would probably call him a narcissist. The point in the story where he started verbally abusing her and distancing her from her support group was the point at which I slammed my truck into reverse and decided to get us home. Sitting still would cause questionable behavior on my part, and a fuck ton of paperwork for Charlie. I snatched my cell and hammered out a text at the light on the full Rhodes family thread.

Jameson

Emergency family meeting. The Main House in ten. Rhyett. Call me if you have wheels on the ground.

Grindingmy teeth at the awareness that this was the ‘personal bullshit’ he’d kept from me, I decided I very well might deck him when I saw him next. Being a dad didn’t get him a free pass for being a class-A jackass. Men like Eric didn’t take well to be challenged. They received their reputations being compromised even less. Which meant she’d been sitting here in danger and: A—I'd been an insensitive prick; and B—we didn’t know she needed protection, and he didn’t think to fucking tell me.

Juniper was waiting on the porch, looking twelve kinds of confused when we pulled up. For all she knew, me and the boys were out on the water already. Seasons were stupidly structured, and missing a set could be catastrophic to a bottom line by the end of the summer.Mecalling the meeting and being the first one here? Yeah. She knew shit wasn’t good. The moment my mother spotted Noel, her visible concern ratcheted up, and as she came down the stairs, she pulled her gray hair back into a bun.

“Sweetheart, what on earth is going on? You’re supposed to be out on the water.”

“Hey, Mom,” I said, still accepting her hug. You never turn down a hug from Juniper Rhodes. Not even mad. They’re like gold. And yes, my brothers say the same thing. But the woman embodied love and somehow transferred a bit of it when she wrapped up another human. Fucking magic. Breathing a little deeper with my mom in my arms, I sighed. “Plans changed. Noel—Lizzy—is in trouble. We all need to talk.”

Her little concern furrow never left her brow. Not as she led us all upstairs, as the girls filed in behind us, not as tea was served, or as Milo came stomping inside pissed as a hornet.

“What the hell is going on?” He demanded as he slammed the front door. “Where the f—” he coughed when he saw Noel, “—heckdid you three run off to? We were due on the water an hour ago.”

I took a deep breath as Mom took him his cup of Earl Grey and turned back to me expectantly.

Elora came to sit beside Noel, setting their knees together in silent solidarity. “Guys, what’s going on? You’re scaring me.”

“Same,” Leighton said, tucking black curls behind her ear. They looked nice. She never styled it, and I wondered if it was left over from the wedding. “Are Rhyett and Brex okay?”

“Please tell me they’re okay,” Alice said, worrying her bottom lip.

“Everybody is fine. But we need a new Rhodes family game plan for Noel,” I said, doing my best to be reassuring.

“Who?” Kaia questioned.

“Me.” Everyone turned to face her as she rose to her feet and sucked down a breath. “I’m so sorry, you guys. I didn’t mean to inconvenience anyone, and I never thought this would follow me clear up here, but I haven’t been entirely forthcoming about what brought me to Mistyvale.”

Thirty minutes later, Juniper and Elora both had arms around Noel’s shoulders, hugging her close and whispering reassurances.

“You did the right thing,” my mother said, lovingly tightening her grip on Noel.

Elora’s wide eyes looked devastated, but I knew her well enough to see the anger beneath them as she repeated, “I’m so sorry.”

“What about the restraining order?”

“He either isn’t afraid of it or made it vanish along with my case,” Noel said, rubbing at her temples. “I’ll call my lawyer. Everything just happened so fast.”

“Damn,” Leighton murmured, shaking her head. “Is this one of those mafia, immortal—that’s wrong—illusion?”

“Illuminati?” Kaia supplied helpfully.

“—yes,Illuminati, masons, higher upper families?”

“Apparently,” Noel said, shaking her head. “They’re all in politics or government of some sort.”

“Red flag,” Kaia said, blowing a breath between her lips. I laughed. The twins had always made me laugh, but the sound caught Noel’s attention, a tiny smile immediately on her lips as those gorgeous brown eyes found mine. If I looked at her any longer, I was going to go to her, pull her onto my lap and never fucking let go. So, I walked around the couch, braced my hands on the back of it—anything to keep them occupied—and forced my eyes to my father. That’ll sober you up real quick.

Infamous Captain Milo Rhodes sat with his knees wide, elbows braced atop them and his face resting on his hands, brow furrowed, expression stoic. He looked as grim as when the cannery announced unexpected price cuts.

“It would be hard, but I could leave one of the boys here. Mav, would—”

“I’ll stay,” I blurted. Every single pair of eyes slowly tracked over my direction and for the first time since Mom had found my porn stashed under the mattress as a junior high punk, I had absolutely no idea what in the hell to say. I looked over to Noel—my Skittles—and back to my father’s solemn face. “It should be me if one of us stays behind.”

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