Looking Back

Chapter 28

Victor

Owen and Avery came into the kitchen hand in hand. She was wearing one of his pullovers and a pair of shorts, her hair in a loose ponytail. She looked positively fuckable and I had to adjust myself slightly. I cleared my throat, "You left this down here last night," I said to him as I passed him his bag.

"Oh, yeah. I got a package just as I was leaving, but I didn't take time to open it," he said as they both sat down. He pulled out the brown packet and cut it open when North passed him a letter opener. "Well, I'll be damned," he muttered, then dumped the contents on the table.

"Holy shit, is that what I think it is?" Silas asked.

"Yeah, backstage passes and what appears to be an open invite for the afterparty for myself and all my guests," Owen said. "I sent word via Gabe's manager that I'd be attending. I may have neglected to give full details about who was coming with me, but I at least wanted him to know I'd be there. I wasn't sure if we would get a chance to see him otherwise. I never expected all of this." He shook his head as he looked at it all.

I blew out a breath, "Well I guess the worst that happens is he has me thrown out on my ass."

Avery frowned, "He will not. I won't let him."

I gave her a hug and laughed, "My protector." She slapped my arm and rolled her eyes as we all chuckled. "Seriously though, I appreciate the vote of confidence. I'll remind you of it that night too."

"I'm not ready to go back to school," she pouted.

"You just don't want to sleep alone," North teased her, touseling her hair. She gave a low growl. "Ohh, watch it there, tiger."

She stuck his tongue out at her as Luke laughed, "Kota will be there, baby. You can sneak him into your flat once in a while. I'm sure he wouldn't object."

Kota's face lit up, "Not at all."

"You realize I blame all of you for spoiling me rotten," she huffed. "Not to mention, after the concert, Sean's going to be an entire continent away for stars only know how long."

He stepped up and pulled her into his arms, "I can be anywhere I want, dear. I'm not under a contract. My work is strictly voluntary. Once I'm done with this last assignment, we can discuss what our future looks like. I'll be back before you know it, I promise." She sighed and leaned into him, her head resting just below his collarbone as he stroked her hair and back.

I understood her worry. Out of all of us, Sean's job was the riskiest and most unpredictable. He was going to be far too close to the raging war in the Ukraine for all our comfort, but he felt he simply couldn't back out now. He was scheduled to return in mid to late March.

Owen cleared his throat, "So are you all still planning to stay at my place?"

"Will we fit?" Silas asked. "I mean, I didn't know how large your place was now?"

Owen smirked, "Well, let's just say I may know the owner of the hotel and have it on good authority that the penthouse suites are all vacant except mine. That allots for four other suites - each with three rooms. Does that sound like enough space?"

Silas, Kota, and North's eyes widened in surprise. Of course, Luke and I had done the same when he told us on his initial visit. "Damn, Owen, you're fecking loaded," Avery breathed.

"I've made several favorable business moves over the years, so yes, I'm rather well off," he grinned. "Of course, if any of these idiots had ever bothered to look into their own holdings I started, they'd realize they are far from paupers themselves. How do you think Sean manages to do volunteer work all the time?"

"Wait, what?" I sputtered.

Owen and Sean laughed as Owen dug five folders out of his bag, passing one to each of us. "I meant to tell you on that first visit, then I forgot once Luke surprised us. When I learned they would all be here, I thought this was the perfect time."

"Holy shit!" North exclaimed, clapping a hand to his chest. Luke looked like he was going to cry or pass out when he looked at his folder. Kota and Silas had similar expressions as Kota numbly sank into a chair, muttering under his breath.

"Open it," Avery whispered.

I gave her a hopeful look and opened the sleek folder. My breath caught in my throat. Two and a half million dollars. I had a nest egg of two and a half million dollars. My eyes shot up to Owen, "How?"

He chuckled, "I'm good at my job." He motioned for all of us to sit and then explained, "When we all separated from the Academy, Phil held our funds thinking we would return. About two years after we left he finally realized that was never going to happen and sent all of the funds to me. Back then it was worth about twenty-five thousand a piece. Some of you I simply couldn't locate, while others were dealing with their own matters." He gave Luke a sympathetic look. "I decided to act as your liaison one last time and invested all of your portions into various stocks, bonds, and mutual funds. The world markets are far more lucrative than the American ones and as you can see, all of you are now millionaires in your own rights. Granted Sean's is the far largest, but that also happened because our dear doctor is a stock market whiz."

Sean gave a knowing smirk. "What can I say...apparently numbers aren't so difficult to understand, especially when you speak multiple languages."

Owen looked at me, "Now you know why I refused to release the details to your ex-wife. Technically the funds were not marital property so she had no legal claim to them."

"Can you create a living trust for me?" Luke asked. "I want Erin to be taken care of if..." his voice trailed off as tears fell. Both North and Avery hugged and comforted him.

"I'd be honored, Luke. We can even set up custody arrangements and stewardship for Erin and her funds should something happen before she reaches adulthood."

"I want Avery and Victor to raise her if something happens to me," he said. Avery made a choking noise as she wiped away tears. He cupped her face, "She already thinks of you as her mama, and maybe when we're ready you will be."

She nodded, "Thank you," then kissed him. I just stared in shock that he would ask me rather than North, but then it dawned on me that his real hope was that we would marry her and become a family again...all of us.

"Not that I want anything to happen, but I would take care of her as if she were my own, Luke," I told him.

"I know you would," he grinned. "You'd take care of both of them."

Author's Notes:  When the author is emotional, you get emotional scenes, my lovelies.  Comment, vote and follow, please