Stoned (The Stone Series) (49 page)

“I have never seen him like this. He’s got it bad for you” Drea says to me after Damian leaves with Dominick and Jonesie. “You have no idea” Mac continues.

“Good, I’m glad he has someone and is finally happy and acting like a normal human being. Well, as much as he can act normal. Maybe now he’ll leave us alone and not try to control my life so much.”

“Don’t count on it” Mac, Alex and I say in unison causing Parker to look from one of us to the other then to the third.

Not one of us can fall sleep no matter how tired we are. Drea suggests going to the media room where it’s dark but as soon as I hear the word dark I tense up and say I’d rather not. I agree to catch Parker up on my life seeing as now no one can fall asleep anyway.

“Okay, we’ll let you girls have your privacy. I for one don’t want to hear the details of Stone’s sex life so we’ll be over there if you girls need us. Come on, Alex. Keep me company over a cold one” Mac says as Alex stands and follows him to the kitchen area leaving Parker, Drea and I in the living space.

“Um, I’m not sure how much of my brother’s sex life I want to hear about either” Drea teases me.

I promise to leave out the juicy details to Parker’s displeasure. I tell them how we first met in Alex’s office and about my blow job comment that went all wrong.

“You said that to him, are you crazy. I’m surprised he didn’t take you up on the offer right there and then” Drea laughs. “You know, I’ve heard he has a bit of a kinky side.”

I laugh for the first time since my kidnapping over that comment. If she only knew how kinky he was I don’t think she’d be making jokes about it. Then I wonder if I should ask who’s been saying he’s kinky. Instead I tell them about our lunch at Stone’s and before I can say anything about Damian’s other businesses Drea interrupts.

“Holy fuck Syd, he owns Hard as Stone and he’s going to fucking flip if he finds out you dance there” Drea warns.

“Yeah, kind of too late but thanks for that, both of you” I say as I point to each of them. “He found out last Saturday when he came in to see the new girl everyone was talking about.”

“Oh shit, you mean you?”

“Yep. It didn’t go over too well. I don’t work there anymore by the way, he fired me.”

We all break into a small fit of giggles that feels good even though it physically hurts to laugh.

I tell them about my job at S&S and how I designed the apartment on the first floor for Damian and that I’ve been living there since Parker left but that I’ve been spending more and more time here in the penthouse. I tell them about my past with Ryan, even Parker didn’t know. She always knew something went down between my family and I but she wasn’t sure what.

She asks, “Are you going to speak to your mom now? Does she know about Ryan?”

“I never told her and now that he’s dead and my boyfriend is the one who shot him I don’t know what’s going to happen. She’s never picked me over Robert, Ryan’s dad. She’s always sided with him. That’s why I never told her. Ryan always said no one would believe me and he was right, they wouldn’t have. Even Day’s parents didn’t believe me.”

“He lets you call him Day?” Drea questions me.

“Um, I don’t have to if it bothers you. He said other than me you are the only one he’s ever let call him that.”

“No, it’s fine. It’s just…wow! He’s in love with you. I mean he’s never even had a girlfriend that I knew of.”

“Yeah, I love him too and I just want Damian to come home so I know he’s okay. What if they arrest him for shooting Ryan for me?”

Mac hears me and comes and sits with his arm around my shoulder. He tells me not to worry about Damian. Apparently he gives a large sum of money every year to the police; he attends their fundraising events and shoots with them at the range. Mac tells me that he was not wrong about Ryan plotting to kill me; apparently evidence to support this has been obtained. He says Damian was right, he did pull a gun and was going to kill Damian and then he would have killed me. I feel better but until I see Damian walk through the door and I can be in his arms again I won’t be able to calm down.

“I know I’m harping on this but I’ve never seen my brother with a girl before let alone head over heels in love like he is with you. You really have a spell over him. I used to think him and Alex were involved” Drea says.

“Wait, what?” Alex questions as he heads over to the couch again. “I’m not gay, Damian and I aren’t gay.”

Mac has a good laugh over that. “Dre, believe me, your brother is not gay” Mac says through tears of laughter as Damian walks in the door.

I jump up and fly into his arms as quickly as I can which is at a snail’s pace due to injures I sustained. Damian catches me up in his arms and inhales my hair. “What’s so funny?” he asks.

“Your little sister here was just telling us how she always thought you and Alex were a couple man, you know a gay couple” Mac says while laughing.

“Oh, did she now? That’s funny because I always thought she liked men her own age not her father’s” Damian retorts as he slaps Mac on the back in good humor. I like that Mac and Damian seem to be forging a relationship other than boss and employee. 

“Sorry to break up the party but I’m taking Sydney to bed” Damian announces. Alex, Parker, Drea and Mac use this as their opportunity to hoot and holler. “Oh, very mature. You all need to get some sleep too. Feel free to stay here if you want” Damian says to Alex and Parker.

Drea takes Mac by the hand and starts to lead him to her room but he pauses and looks at Damian who smiles and nods his head. Alex offers to keep Parker company and watch a movie in the media room. They look cute together; maybe something good will come out of this whole mess after all.

Damian and I go to his room and close the door. Damian pulls the room darkening curtains closed, the room is blanketed in darkness and I freeze. “I need the lights on” I holler and Damian rushes to turn them on. “I’m afraid of what I’ll see in the dark. I’m exhausted but I’m too scared to close my eyes. I know what images await me in my sleep.”

“You need to take your pain meds. You are wincing every time you move and I hate to see you in pain but you have to eat something first. I’m going to get you something to eat and drink and bring you your pill. Then you will sleep safely in my arms, I promise.”

Damian returns with cheese and crackers, olives, water and my pill. We sit together on the bed and he feeds me like he did that first day at Stone’s. “This reminds me of that first day at my restaurant” Damian says.

“I was so nervous with you then. I liked you but I didn’t know what to do and I was scared of being with you.”

“We’ve come a long way in less than a month” Damian observes.

He stands up to clear away our snack and I struggle out of bed to take off my clothes. Damian comes to me and gently begins to remove my clothes while he kisses the top of my head. He runs his hands over my bandaged ribs and massages my shoulders. When I am standing in just my panties he pulls open the blankets and I climb in the bed. I watch as he undresses and winces from the pain in his own ribs. He turns off the light and climbs into bed in one fast motion. He curls around me, once again inhaling my hair and even in the darkness I am safe.

“Day, about the initiation party tonight” I begin.

“Shh, that’s been cancelled. We’ll reschedule when you’re feeling better.”

“I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to step foot in that building again.”

“I wouldn’t expect you to. I’ll take care of everything, don’t worry.”

“What do you mean?”

He’s planning on selling the building or using it for something else. He’s moving The Society to a different location, knowing I would never be able to go back into the place where Ryan touched me. He asks me to design the new place. He wants his room to be our room; he wasn’t all that comfortable using his room at The Society with me in the first place. “That’s where I was with my subs. You deserve better than that. I don’t even need a room at The Society unless you want one. I mean, I don’t know. We’ll discuss this later. I need to sleep and so do you. Kiss me” he commands. I kiss him and feel him moan into my mouth as his erection grows and he presses it against me. But all we do is kiss, we fall asleep kissing.

Damian and I sleep and do not venture out of the bedroom until seven o’clock Saturday night. When we return to the living room we find Tate and Brooklynn amongst Mac and Drea, Alex and Parker. Tate comes over to me and kisses me gently on the cheek as he pulls Damian away for a private word. On Damian’s way past her, Brook hugs him fiercely.

Tate and Damian hug before I hear Tate ask Damian if he’s alright. Brook gently hugs me as I hear Tate say, “You did the right thing man, you know that. She’s what’s important and you did what you had to do.”

A few moments later Damian comes back to me and we sit together on the sofa hand in hand. The twins are on Parker and Drea’s laps until Zoe sees me. As soon as she does she starts whining to be released from Drea to come to me. I scoop her up and kiss her fat little cheeks even though pain shoots through by body. Damian snuggles her under her chin as he looks at me worrying over my pain. Zach feeling left out scoots off of Parker and toddles over and raises his arms for Damian to pick him up.

“What the fuck happened to him when I was gone? I mean really, has anyone checked to be sure he wasn’t abducted by aliens?” Drea asks only half joking.

“Leave him alone, he’s happy. We like him this way” Brook warns Drea and the rest of her family.

“I don’t know about the rest of you but I sure as fuck need a drink. Don’t make me drink alone fellas, who else wants one?” Damian asks.

The drinks start flowing and the mood lightens. Mac and Damian are banging back the hard stuff at an alarming pace. I look to Drea for help but she just shrugs her shoulders and says, “I think they deserve to get drunk and I like that they’re getting along. Let’s just see where this goes before we intervene.” I can’t disagree.

Brook and I take the babies to Damian’s room and rig up the bed so if they roll over they won’t fall off. We change them into their cute little pajamas and lay down with them until they fall asleep.

“Will they be okay in here?” I ask.

“Yeah, these two sleep like logs. They won’t even wake up when we leave.”

“They are so cute.”

“Sydney, are you okay? Really okay? You know if you ever need to talk you can talk to me. I’ll be a shoulder, I promise I’ll just listen and I’m a total vault when I need to be” Brook offers.

I thank her and I do tell her the whole story from the beginning. I’m finding that the more I talk about it the better I feel. I’m not looking forward to having this conversation with the two people I know I must have it with, my parents, but it does help to talk to Brook and my other friends. I promise myself to call my dad soon.

Within an hour of their drinking the guys are smashed and turning into quite a show. They now have on music and are singing and dancing. Damian is clearly feeling no pain from his injuries but he’s going to pay for this big time in the morning. By midnight Tate can barely stand up and Brook says she should get all three of her children home, Tate being one of them. Drea and Parker help her to the car, they carry the babies, Brook practically carries Tate. Alex and Mac go along with them so that Parker and Drea won’t have to come back up alone but they can barely walk either.

Damian and I head into the bedroom and it’s my turn to help him undress and climb into bed. After I have him naked and laying down I take my clothes off and climb into bed next to him. He has left my pain pills on the side table next to my side of the bed and I decide to take one for the pain and to help me sleep. Damian is fast asleep before I even swallow my pill. I lay next to him and he instinctively spoons around me, holding me close and inhaling my hair. I love that he even does it in his drunken sleep. In his arms I feel comfort, safety.

We are awoken on Sunday morning to a raucous of noise coming from the living space. I hear familiar voices, one of them is saying, “You can’t go in there sir, please let me wake them up, you can wait right here.” Then the other responds, “Like hell I will, I want to see my daughter right now.” Then my father comes through the bedroom door with Mrs. Ford trailing close behind. They find Damian and me in bed together naked, the sheets only covering parts of our bodies and not all the parts that need covering.