Surviving (Surrender 2)

“Shut up, Jimi, for Christ’s sake, he’s my brother.”

I get the feeling I’m not going to like this very much. I keep my mouth shut and concentrate on my pounding head.

Ella cages me in the small seating area, and I start to sweat.

“Spit it out, Abbi, you’re making me nervous.” I swallow the bitter coffee.

“I found out that Raven is not alone in Paris. Finn surprised her on the plane, he’s working for the same group this summer.”

For about the millionth time, since I found out, my stomach knots. “I know, Jenna told me.”

None of them says anything, but there’s a look on all three of their faces that tell me there’s more to the story. No one talks but my mind starts to put it all together. His disgust with me over the sex tape, his reaction to her kidnapping, his emotions at the hospital, his disappearance for weeks, and then showing up in Atlanta to help Charlie move home. It’s all there. I’m no longer slightly sweating; I’m panicking.

“Fuckin’ A. He’s in love with her.”

No one moves, but the nods and the look Jimi gives me says it all. I can’t breathe. I think the coffee spills on my hands, but the bile in my throat makes me push Ella out of the way so I can get to the bathroom. I puke everything I’ve consumed in the last day, and my throat burns from the whisky. I stay on the floor for a long time until I’m sure I have nothing left in me. I wash up and brush my teeth before I go back to get answers.

The mess on the table is cleaned up, and the broken coffee mug is in the trash. Since I know I need to hear everything, I clear my throat and compose myself.

“Tell me what you know. All of it and don’t leave anything out.”

Jimi talks first, “She doesn’t know. Hell, even I didn’t know until a few weeks ago. Finn is closed emotionally, but when she was kidnapped he turned. He changed after her rescue. He’s always been more protective and nurturing than the rest of us, but we figured it was because of his relationship with Robbie. We all tried to talk to him, but he shut down.”

He takes a sip of his coffee and continues. “We took him out several times trying to get him to talk to us and get out of his funk. Every single time a girl would hit on him, he flinched. The guy is a magnet for girls, and he’s never been shy before. One night we heard loud noises coming from his room and laughed because we thought he was finally getting laid. But when we heard a scream and crash, we figured out he was having a nightmare. He hadn’t had

a nightmare since he returned last spring, so we became worried. Then when you couldn’t find Raven and called him to trace her phone in Atlanta, he changed. When he talked to her that night, it was like a light switched. He was back to normal. Look man, Finn’s more than my best friend, we’re all like brothers. I don’t feel comfortable telling you anymore but he is one of the finest men I know. I want him to be happy; we all want him to be happy.”

I grab the counter trying to understand how this happened. “So are you saying you want him to be happy with Raven? Are you honestly sitting in my fucking bus telling me you want the love of my life to fall in love with your best friend? Should I kick your ass or give you a gun to put the bullet through my heart? Which one works for you?” I yell at him not caring that everyone is in the small room now. By the looks on their faces, Blake, Nate, and Cooper heard everything.

“Declan, you’re the one who fucked up here. Jimi, Ella, and I wanted to let you know what was going on. Don’t be a fucking prick and shoot the messenger.” Abbi screams at me.

Jimi grabs her arm to calm her down and glares back at me. “You know I didn’t want to get involved but because I love your sister, I decided to tell you what you’re up against. What you do with this information is up to you. In my experience, men like you and I don’t fall in and out of love. We find the one and want it forever. I’m pretty sure Raven is your forever. She and Finn have been like family for sixteen years. He wants her happiness as much as we all do. So what I’m telling you is–don’t fuck this up, and do what you need to do the next six weeks.”

I sink to the closest chair, “What do you suggest? I’m broken, and now I think about her with him knowing he is a better man than me.”

“Nah man, she loves you. What I’m suggesting is that you perform, stay clean, get something going with MJ, and do your best. At the end of the summer when she gets off that plane, have good news for her that makes this all worth it. You know how proud she was after your performance at Bonnaroo. She knows you can do this.”

“I really need to talk to her. I’d do anything in the world to hear her voice.”

Ella clears her throat and smiles. “It may be my birthday but we have a present for you. Go get ready and let’s enjoy the day. I bet you’ll talk to her before your show tonight.”

For the first time in weeks, I smile. God, I love my sisters!

Chapter 2

Paris

Raven

Paris is a dream. I can’t wrap my head around the fact that I’ve been given this opportunity. When my dad set me up with his old friend Jack Michaels for a summer job, I had no idea this would be a vacation, too. I thought I’d be slaving my days away in an office and have my weekends to explore and regroup. When my dad told Jack about Finn’s interest in a position as well, Jack created two positions. Since there are two of us, our work days are lighter. Finn and I go into the office from nine to three every day and have every other Friday off.

Jack arranged for us to stay on his property. We share his guest house and have our own bedroom and bathroom.

Jack’s company is almost an exact replica of my dad’s security business. He doesn’t work much with the government on Special Forces Operations, but his security side was all inclusive. Since Finn has such a knack for tracing and hacking, he was put on a team looking into corporate corruption. I have no experience in anything security-wise, so I am assigned to an organizational team helping go through emails and website violations. It isn’t glamorous, but it isn’t awful either.

Since I had such strong experience in social media, my first project was to research and determine if there was evidence of an affair going on between a CEO and member of his administrative staff. I worked closely with a private detective in the company. We were hired because the CEO’s wife suspected her husband was cheating on her, and she was pregnant. It took me three days, but I finally found a link. He was indeed having a relationship with one of the secretaries. There were several photographs taken of the middle-aged man and young blonde on his yacht. The pictures were tagged through her friends, so I had to go through several channels to get details. But, we were able to conclude they were in Monte Carlo a few weekends ago when he was supposed to be in London on business. Our private detective got the details of the party and located the photographer hired. We went through hundreds of pictures, but finally came up with six very compromising shots to deliver to the wife.

It was a terrible situation, but Jack was pleased with my work. He set me up with similar assignments and pretty soon I was comfortable working the computer research alone.