“My lamb,” he whispered, rubbing my back in slow circles.
“I’m fine, Pres.”
It wasn’t a lie. I was fine. Last night didn’t bother me. I’d seen enough death now. And I certainly wasn’t scared of Prescott for what he’d done. If anything, I only fell deeper in love with him, if that was even possible. He protected me. It made me aware I had a seriously skewed sense of justice, right and wrong, but I no longer cared about any of those things. Not when I was with them. The loves of my life.
He let me go and pulled me over to sit down next to him at the table. His blue eyes were intent on mine as he placed a possessive hand on my thigh.
“What did you tell her?” I whispered, looking over at Rosie, who was busy preparing breakfast.
We had turned up on her doorstep, rain-drenched and muddy. It was a good thing she hadn’t seen the blood on Prescott’s polo shirt. That would have raised alarm bells and we couldn’t afford for Rosie to find out what he’d done last night.
“That you came to work for us and things happened… then you were pissed after you remembered us, but we’re all okay now. She doesn’t know about Stuart or any of the other shit we’ve done. It’s going to stay that way.”
“Did you tell her we’re all together?”
“Not yet.”
I gave him a look.
“You can’t keep it from her.”
“She knows we’re together.”
I snorted.
“Well, I think that’s pretty obvious.”
He leant closer and pressed his forehead to mine. I slid my hand along his shoulder and cupped the back of his neck.
“Is it? Should I make it even more obvious?”
“Pres—”
I couldn’t finish my sentence. He kissed me, making me sway into him. Then I pulled away, putting space between us. Rosie was watching us. I couldn’t read her expression. Was she okay with me being with her son? We’d been inseparable as kids, but we were grown up now. I didn’t know if it might be weird. It wasn’t for Eliza and Jasper, but they were different. They only wanted Francis to be happy when he’d spent so many years tortured over the fact he felt like second best. They saw the way I raised him up when we were kids and how I did the same for him now.
I could only hope Rosie would see how much I loved Prescott. How I would do anything for him. He was my entire world.
“What’s wrong?”
I looked at Prescott who was frowning at me.
“I’m just worried she will hate it,” I whispered when Rosie went back to making breakfast.
“What? You being with us?”
I nodded. He stroked my cheek, those blue eyes of his softening.
“Listen, I don’t need her approval. I love you, little lamb. I couldn’t leave you even if I tried.”
He let go of my thigh and wrapped an arm around me, drawing me against his chest. His warmth and reassurance bolstered me. We’d been in this bubble between the five of us and now reality was intruding, reminding me our relationship wasn’t something society would look upon favourably. It wasn’t normal. But I didn’t care about normal. I cared about us.
We drew apart when Rosie brought breakfast over. She’d made a full English for us, something I appreciated after all the energy I expended last night. She didn’t ask where I’d been, only querying how I was now and if I was glad to be back with my best friends. Prescott and I skirted around the issue of the real nature of our relationship until I nudged him with my foot after she asked if we were happy together.
“Mum, I feel like I need to explain something,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck with one hand.
“About what?”
“Me and Scar… and the others.”
Rosie raised her blonde eyebrows, eyeing the two of us with concern.
“Drake, Francis and West?”
“Yeah.”
“So tell me.”
She looked between the two of us when he didn’t immediately respond. I leant forward on my elbows.
“You asked if we’re happy and we are,” I started, trying to think of the right words to say. “Pres, West, Frankie, Drake, and I are happy together… as a family.”
When Rosie frowned, Prescott took one of my hands, entwining our fingers together.
“What Scar means to say is we’re all in a relationship with her and it’s okay if you’re not on board with that, Mum, but we’re not going to hide it from anyone. We love her and she loves us. I won’t abandon her. Not now. Not ever.”