Page 25 of James (Big Northwest #6)

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

JAMES

“ I s it weird being back?” Charlie pushed up her glasses and smoothed down the front of her floral sundress. “I bet this place seems boring after living in Las Vegas.”

“It’s a little weird.” James eyed the line of people waiting to come into the cafe. “It’s changed a lot.”

Understatement of the year.

Shadow Pine had come a long way since she was there last. Her sisters had transformed it from a three building blip into a thriving tourist destination. They’d expanded and revamped what was there and erected new buildings, creating a perfect feminine foresty aesthetic that suited them more than most people would ever know.

The white-sided bakery was so freaking cute with antique glass cases, a green and white checked floor, and twinkling chandeliers. The pancake balls Sam churned out were nothing short of amazing and the newly added cinnamon beignets were to die for. The cafe where she and her sisters stood now was what she imagined a French bistro might be like. It had huge windows and an outdoor eating area that overlooked the street, complete with hanging baskets and umbrellas shading each wrought iron bistro table. The metal chairs were painted the same deep green used in their logo and the umbrellas.

The attention to detail was insane and impressive.

Charlie snorted. “That’s for sure.” She shook her head. “It’s pretty crazy how many people come here. I keep expecting them to get bored with us, but it doesn’t seem like the divine feminine rage will be subsiding anytime soon.”

Looking back at the pack of women patiently waiting outside, she had to agree. “No. It doesn’t.”

It probably would if there were more Phillip Fosters in the world, but those chicks would have to find their own. She wasn’t sharing hers. Even if he might be a lot to handle.

Everyone was actually lucky she’d made it to the meet-and-greet. After last night, it was a miracle she could still walk. Phillip’s timing might have been a little off their first round, but he for sure got better with practice. Hopefully all that practicing didn’t leave her with a UTI. That would be a tragedy.

Especially since she was hoping for another Olympic level dicking tonight. And since Phillip was calling Nathan now to change his travel plans so they could stay in Washington a few more days, that was a very real possibility.

Charlie stepped a little closer, dropping her voice as she laced an arm through one of James’s. “Can I ask you a question?”

James turned to give her sister her full attention. Charlie was the closest to her in age, but they were about as different as it got. Charlie was sweet and soft and innocent. The most gentle of the Karlson girls. No one would ever accuse James of being gentle. Especially Phillip. But he seemed to like that she was a little... Tempestuous.

“Sure.” She glanced to where Charlie’s fiancé Adam stood, her eyes narrowing in suspicion. Was he being a jerk to her? Was he taking advantage of Charlie’s na?ve nature? “What’s up?”

“I was wondering…” Charlie leaned in, her voice barely a whisper as she asked, “How long have you been fucking Phillip?”

James blinked. Her brain stumbled over the collection of words that just came out of her sister’s mouth. “What?”

“I’m not judging.” Charlie widened her eyes. “Trust me. Fucking is great.” Her mouth rounded, like a thought had just occurred to her. “Do you know about the finger in the butt thing? Men freaking love it.” Her brows pinched. “But only do it if you want Phillip to marry you because once you get up in there, you’ll never get rid of him.”

“Uhh...” Her mouth opened and closed, but there were no words to form that would adequately bring voice to her current thoughts.

“Anyway.” Charlie waved one hand like she could brush away the mental image of her finger-banging Adam currently eating into James’s brain. “Back to you and Phillip fucking.” She rocked up onto her toes like the thought excited her. “Is he amazing in bed? I feel like he would break you all the way in half.” Carlie’s expression turned serious. “In a good way.”

“Uhh…” Apparently it wasn’t only the town that had changed while she was gone. But as traumatizing as this whole conversation was, it brought up an issue. “How could you tell Phillip and I were sleeping together?”

Charlie snorted. “It’s really obvious.”

Was it? Because that could be a problem.

“I mean, he looks at you like he’s about to eat you with a spoon.” Charlie rolled her eyes to one side. “I was a little worried he was gonna drag you up to his room halfway through dinner last night. The man looked ready to lose his shit if he didn’t get his hands on you.” Charlie wiggled her brows. “And his penis inside you.”

Well shit. James glanced around, checking to see if Kenneth was letting the line of visitors in yet. When the coast was clear, she turned back to her sister and asked, “Do you think anyone else noticed?”

“Umm, if they didn’t, they’re freaking oblivious.” Charlie thought for a second. “So Sam might not have noticed, but everyone else probably did.”

“Shit.” James let her head fall back. She’d been hoping to keep the state of her relationship with Phillip under wraps for a couple more days so she could find a way to ease her sisters into her decision to go back to Chicago with him. If they figured out she and Phillip were a thing, they might already be connecting the dots, and she didn’t want anyone to be hurt. Especially not when they’d gone to such lengths to have her back.

“It’s okay. No one would blame you. The guy is hot.” Charlie shrugged. “I mean, Frankie was going to bone him when she first met him, so…”

“What?” James’s head bobbed back in surprise. “Frankie wanted to have sex with Phillip?” That was fucking news to her.

“But then she found out who he was and thought about killing him instead.” Charlie kept going like she wasn’t spilling all the secrets there ever were. “But she was actually only hot for JD and trying to make him jealous, so it would have just been spite sex.”

Her head was spinning. A little because of the words coming out of Charlie’s mouth and a little because of the information contained in those words.

“Is that why it took you so long to get back here? Because you were busy riding Phillip’s dick?” Charlie grinned. “Because no one would blame you for that either.”

“No. I wasn’t too busy riding Phillip’s dick to come back.” She actually only recently got to ride Phillip’s dick, but that was beside the point. “There was some… craziness happening and I didn’t want to risk bringing it back here.”

She might as well get it all out there since it sounded like there was no hiding anything around here. And now was a great time to start spilling, because maybe hearing about how she’d been chased across the country by a crime lord would make Charlie stop talking about putting her finger in Adam’s butt.

She gave her younger sister a quick rundown of what went on and how it turned out to be Enzo who’d come after her.

Charlie listened intently, engrossed in every word. When James was finished, her sister’s brows pinched behind the thick rim of her glasses. “So it was Enzo the whole time?” She tipped her head. “Wouldn’t he have been pissed that the guy who came to your club was going to be gross with you before he brought you to Enzo?”

“I mean, yeah.” She lifted one shoulder and let it drop. “But one of his guys had been gross to me before.”

Charlie pushed out her lower lip in a thoughtful pout. “But that guy would have had to know you’d tell Enzo when you got there. And I would think if he was as hot for you as he’d have to be to chase you across the country, he’d cut that dude’s hand off or shoot him in the face or something, right?”

It was a good point. One she hadn’t thought of in the whirlwind of Enzo showing up at Phillip’s office and her trip here. “I guess that might have been what he would do.”

“I’m just saying…” Charlie’s eyes went to where Adam stood, her expression filled with adoration. “Adam isn’t a super aggressive guy, but he would fuck someone up for hurting me.”

James pursed her lips as she considered Phillip’s reaction to discovering the man who’d landed Enzo’s name on that list had been in his office. It was pretty clear he would have shot the guy if he’d known. “Huh.”

“Come on, girls.” Kenneth clapped his hands, interrupting her conversation with Charlie and her thoughts of the past week. “Time to get started.”

“Get ready.” Charlie grinned. “Everyone’s going to go nuts over you being here.”

Phillip had suggested to the first group of visitors who crossed her path that she might be at the meet-and-greet yesterday, but she’d managed to avoid it. Today however, saying no didn’t feel like an option. It was the least she could do. Especially since she’d be leaving soon. Again.

At least now she’d be able to come back. As often as she wanted. Free to spend time with her sisters and Jude and Lily and the little bun Sam had cooking in her ovary oven. And maybe one day she’d be bringing her own heathens along.

James stepped back as the doors to the cafe opened and the crowd poured in, the energy they brought slapping her like a wave as it rippled through the space. “Holy shit.”

Charlie wrinkled her nose. “Yeah. It can be a lot.”

A lot was only the half of it.

Two hours later—an hour longer than normal because of her surprise appearance—she was exhausted. Not in a bad way, just in the ‘drained of her life force’ sort of way.

It was similar to how she’d feel at the end of her shifts in the club, only happier. More fulfilled.

And less cash heavy.

“What did you think?” Sam nibbled on a cracker—delivered by her husband Tate the second they were finished, right before he ducked out to get back to work—and sipped a can of ginger ale. “Kinda crazy, huh?”

“Kinda.” James smiled even though her cheeks ached from wearing the expression for so long. “Do you guys do this every freaking day?”

“Not anymore.” Frankie slid off her stool. “JD put his foot down when I started having issues. Now we only do it Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.”

“I guess that’s not too bad.” She scanned the cafe, looking for any sign of Phillip, just in case he’d finished up working and decided to come over, but there was no sign of his handsome face. “Whatever keeps them coming back, right?”

Alex bumped in beside her. “You would know all about that, wouldn’t you?”

James swallowed hard, thinking her sister was about to confront her about Phillip right here in front of everyone.

Instead, Alex said, “You sent us a shit ton of money.”

A little of the air trapped in her lungs eased free. “I wanted you guys to be taken care of.”

“Oh, we were taken care of.” Sam crossed her arms. “You should have kept some of that for yourself.”

“I kept money for myself.” Not a lot, but enough to allow her to live places way nicer than where they’d grown up, and keep her fridge stocked and her gas tank relatively full. “I just didn’t realize you were killing it here.”

Danny tilted her head, gaze sharpening. “Why didn’t we hear from you for so long?”

James peeked Charlie’s way, hesitating to tell the rest of her sisters the story she’d shared with her. Admitting she was an idiot to Charlie was way easier than fessing up to everyone.

Taking a deep breath, she braced for their reaction and started laying out what had gone on while she’d been out of contact. The accidental ways she sort of outed herself to Enzo and Leonard, and the rest of the men on the list she gave Phillip. She told them about the guy she accidentally killed at the club and the one she hit with Phillip’s rental car. Described their escape out her apartment window and Phillip’s strut through the crowd of her neighbors. After ending with Enzo’s arrival in Chicago, she looked around at the faces staring at her, shifting on her feet as she waited for what they’d have to say.

Sam was the first to speak. “Did Phillip tell you about the guys who came to take me and Lily?”

“Umm.” James did another sweep for the man at the mention of his name. “Were they the ones who were eaten by bears?”

Frankie snorted, one hand coming up to cover her mouth. “Sorry.” She made a choking noise, unsuccessful at getting herself under control. “I can’t help laughing every time I think about those dumbasses.”

“It’s not as funny when you’re right up in the mess.” Sam’s lips twitched. “I mean, it’s a little funny in hindsight.”

This explained how she could kill and assault without being bothered. Another genetic quirk to add to her list.

“What Sam is trying to say is you shouldn’t feel bad for accidentally giving someone a glimpse of who we are.” Danny gave her a warm smile. “It’s happened before and it might happen again. If it does, we’ll deal with it.”

A little of the weight on her shoulders lightened. Her sisters understood why she’d been out of touch and didn’t judge her for the mistakes she’d made. Hopefully they’d be just as understanding when she told them she was leaving to travel the globe with Phillip, hunting down jerks and seeing the world.

Speaking of Phillip.

James inched toward the door. “I think I’m going to go take a little nap. This last week has been pretty crazy.”

“Me too.” Sam yawned. “This kid is sucking all my energy.” She moved in at James’s side. “I’ll walk with you. Jeffrey lets me nap in their bed so I don’t have to drive all the way home to rest.” She looped one arm through James’s as they exited the cafe and made their way toward the B&B. “It’s nice having you back.” Sam leaned her head onto James’s shoulder. “Hopefully you don’t stay gone so long next time.”

James stiffened.

Sam laughed softly. “Come on. You didn’t think we’d all expect you to stay here, did you?” She gave James’s arm a little squeeze. “I mean, I might have hoped, but you’ve always needed more than this. And I would never expect you to settle.”

They passed by the large windows of the bakery, peeking in at where Tate was now helping the employees pass out paper bags of warm treats.

“I don’t want you to think I’m not happy being with you guys.”

“We would never think that.” Sam lifted her head, meeting James’s eyes. “We know you love us, James. We also know you need to go live your own life.” She smiled, her expression warm and soft. “And if you want to let Phillip Foster drag you around the world chasing people down, then we’ll support you.” She winked. “Just don’t make a habit of showing people what you are. Man-eating bears are hard to come by in some areas.”

James laughed, her throat tight even though the weight on her shoulders was gone. “I think I’ve learned my lesson. Thank God it was just Enzo. It could have been so much worse.”

They walked up the side of the building, arm in arm, laughing over the look on Phillip’s face when Enzo walked into his office and tried to sweep her away. They were just about to cross the narrow alley separating them from the B&B, when a man stepped out from behind the bakery, blocking their path.

A familiar man. One who was decidedly less attractive than Enzo, but just as dangerous.

“There you are.” Leonard Silva smiled wide, the expression making his sagging jowls look even bigger than they already were. “I’ve been wondering when our paths would finally cross.”

“Oh, for the love of—” Sam’s words cut off on a yelp when James shoved her older sister behind her back, trying to shield her from the man eyeing them both with interest.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” Panic twisted her gut, but it was nothing compared to the rage boiling through her veins. She didn’t need a mirror to know her eyes were glowing.

And she didn’t need to be a rocket scientist to know why Leonard was here.

Especially when she saw who was standing at his side.

James looked over Enzo’s right hand man, a snarl curling her lip. “I should have killed you when I had the chance.”

“You really should have.” Sam piped up behind her.

“But you didn’t.” Enzo’s man stepped closer, one hand reaching for her. Her eyes fell to the tattoo circling his knuckles. The tattoo she couldn’t see before because he wore gloves.

“Does Enzo know you’re fucking around on him?”

Leonard snorted. “Enzo’s too full of himself to think anyone would betray him.” The blob of sagging skin in front of her leered, looking like the cat who caught the canary. “I can’t wait for him to find out I’ve taken not only his place in Vegas, but also the woman he wanted.”