It’d been a crazy two weeks, but blessedly, the chaos was finally starting to die down. And that was mostly because of Everett and the many interviews he’d given to answer the endless questions about why he was in Seattle. None of us had expected the Lyft driver to heed my warning and keep his mouth shut, so we’d had to strategize on how to deal with the inevitable fallout. We’d ended up talking about it that same night as we’d gathered around the kitchen table and eaten the dinner Gage and Charlie had made… except for the burned rolls that had started the whole damn thing. Those went straight into the trash.
Though I hated the way the truth had been forced out into the open for Everett and Reese, I was glad it was behind us. It meant we finally had a chance to move forward.
All of us.
Reese and Everett were taking their time reconnecting. There’d been quite a bit of awkwardness between them over the first few days that was made worse by the reporters that kept showing up at the house or following Reese to his therapy appointments. We’d finally ended up having to have the local police stationed at the end of the driveway to keep reporters off the property, but that didn’t keep them from trying to sneak on the grounds now and again on foot. And they definitely didn’t stop hounding any of us when we left the property.
Charlie probably had the worst of it, since she didn’t really understand what was going on. Everett and Gage had talked to her about what was happening, and while she hadn’t really understood the magnitude of the issue, her only concern had been that Everett, Reese, and I were leaving. Once she’d been assured that we weren’t, she’d told her father she’d just tell those rude people to leave her family alone or she’d sic Medusa on them. From that point on, Gage or Phillipe had driven her to and picked her up from school each day.
When the reporters could no longer just drive up to the front door, they’d resorted to calling Everett’s cell phone or the landline for the Fortier house. Everett had finally given in and started doing interviews on several local and national television shows. Reese had joined him for a couple of them to settle the rumors that he and his father were estranged. It’d been hard to see both men having to fall back into roles that they’d been trying to escape for so long. But the strategy had worked, and we’d finally gotten to a point over the last couple of days where no reporters had shown up and only a half dozen called each day. It hadn’t hurt that there’d been a huge story about the latest wall street scandal to distract them.
As Everett and I made out, I felt that little burst of energy that I always did when one of my men was nearby. I tore my mouth free of Everett’s and turned to see Gage leaning against the closed door.
“Well?” he asked, pinning me with his eyes.
Everett tried to step back from me, but I refused to release him, since I had plans for both him and Gage. But first, I needed to get my overprotective men past one glaring issue.
“He suspended me,” I finally said. “Indefinitely.”
“That fucker,” Everett snapped as he tried to get free of my hold.
Presumably so he could get his phone and give Director Hill an earful.
“He had no choice,” I said. “And you know it.”
My answer didn’t mollify either man, but Everett calmed and looped his arms around my neck. “You seem surprisingly okay with it.”
“I am,” I said as I bent my head to brush my lips over his. “I was never going to accept the assignment anyway.”
“But it was your dream,” Everett said. “It’s the White House, Nash. It was going to get you closer to what you’ve always wanted – to protect the president.”
“I am protecting the president,” I said softly. “And fucking him,” I added as I kissed him gently. “And loving him.” Another kiss. “And becoming a family with him.” I kissed him again, then leaned back so I could look at him. “That was always the real dream, Everett.” I looked at Gage and said, “And I got to do it twice.”
I’d known that along with the reporters would come the potential loss of my job, and for about ten seconds I’d had to deal with the crushing blow of knowing I’d failed. But one look at my new family as we’d sat around the kitchen table eating slightly burned tuna casserole and joking about the gassy dog lying at our feet had caused an overwhelming feeling of rightness to come over me.
“I’m exactly where I belong,” I said. “We both are, aren’t we, Everett?”