Undeniable: Reverse Harem Story #3 Read online

  I jolted awake, sweat broken out all over my body. I was hot but that wasn’t the biggest problem. No, it was the immense pain in my stomach. I doubled over, vomit rising in my throat, and managed to roll over to puke on the side of the bed. I’d be in trouble for that but I didn’t care. I couldn’t help it. I lurched forward, crying out. I’d never known pain like this. I hadn’t known I could feel this bad.

  I needed help. My phone blinked. It was probably the guys texting me back, but I couldn’t even look. Everything hurt too much.

  “Dad,” I yelled. “Help me.”

  Please let him hear me. Please let him come.

  * * *

  The thought of having my appendix out had never crossed my mind, let alone that it would burst. I drifted in and out of consciousness. Words like infection and treatment drifted into my mind when I was awake which wasn’t very often.

  My parents were there or at least they came and went.

  I just kind of drifted. They obviously had me on something for pain. I couldn’t really feel anything at all.

  I woke up groggy. Next to my bed, something flashed. Was that my phone? Had I grabbed it? I couldn’t remember, although I’d place money on having done so. I doubted very much that my parents would have thought to bring it to me. I was alone. That was fine by me. The light outside was dark. It was nighttime. I hoped they were getting sleep. I really didn’t care about anything we’d been fighting about at this moment. Maybe I’d care later. I was hot, and I squirmed.

  I grabbed the phone. I had many, many messages, and I wished I could read them, but my eyes were blurry. I managed to type a note.

  Not sure how long since I wrote. Appendix burst. In hospital. Love you.

  I put the phone back where it was. I assumed I was going to live through this, but people died from stuff like this sometimes. If this was it for me, it was good I got to say I love you. All words mattered. But those were the most important ever.

  I closed my eyes.

  * * *

  “I don’t really care if you want me in there or not.”

  I opened my eyes. Was that Banyan’s voice? Had I been dreaming? Sunlight streamed through the windows. I was still hot and now I was also sticky. I groaned. This really, really sucked. How long had I been here? I looked over at my phone. Well, I had been here long enough that my phone was officially dead.

  “Banyan, that’s not helpful. Dr. Amsel, my name is Bill Banyan. I understand that you are having some trouble negotiating with the Indian government. Perhaps I can be of help with that?”

  I tried to sit up. Unless I was imagining things, and I supposed I could be delirious, that sounded like someone was saying Banyan.

  “His name is Banyan and your last name is Banyan? And what do you mean you can help?”

  “It’s complicated.” Yes, that was Banyan speaking. To my mother? How was that possible?

  The door opened and closed. Maven walked in like he had every right to be there. He turned to stare at me. “Fuck. Yes, you’re here.” He stormed over to the bed, leaning over to kiss me. “Library, you have scared the shit out of us. You okay? You’re awake?”

  My eyes were open. “Not sure I’m awake. This seems like a dream.”

  “Did he just walk in there?” My mother’s voice sounded higher pitched than it had before.

  A long laugh that had to be Banyan’s. “Yes, he tends to do what he wants.”

  I couldn’t believe I was staring at Maven. “You’re here? You and Banyan?”

  “And Chance, who is fuming in the hall, and Banyan’s father because… we needed some help and he tends to help Banyan when he needs it. Oh, and a doctor who just works for Banyan’s father. We’re all here. Took a day to arrange. We’d have been here faster otherwise.” He rubbed my hair off my forehead, his gaze going from hard to adoring in seconds. “Are you okay?”

  My mouth was dry. “I don’t understand.”

  The door opened again and this time it was Banyan and Chance. I could still hear discussions happening, but I didn’t care who was talking. Somehow, the three of them were here. In my hospital room. In Port Blair.

  Maven turned to them. “She doesn’t understand.”

  Chance was by my side fast. “Well, she’s got to be heavily drugged, right? I imagine this is confusing. You’re going to be fine.”

  Banyan was the one to finally answer me. He stood by the door, staring at me with a promise in his eyes. Of what, I had no idea. All I knew in that moment was I’d do anything to have him fulfill it.

  “Baby, it is really, really useful to be really, really rich. You haven’t seen anything yet. All of this? It’s taken care of.”

  I nodded, my throat closed with emotion. When I could speak, I could hardly make words. “I hurt.”

  But it was better they were here.

  So much better.

  Chapter 2

  I woke up later. It was nighttime again. Time moved funny in the hospital. It was slow and then all of a sudden fast again. Banyan slept, his head at an awkward angle in the chair to my right while Chance did the same to my left. Maven was on the small bed by the window. All three of them breathed differently, and they were all out cold.

  I was finally not hot. In fact, I was drenched in sweat and cold. Had my fever finally broken? Did that mean the infection was under control? I was conscious enough to know I was in pain—a lot of it—and that my stomach was wrapped in bandages. I was sure I didn’t want to see what was underneath them. Moving had been okay earlier but now not so much. With consciousness had come pain.

  Movement caught my attention, and a man who I’d noted earlier walked toward me slowly. “Are you okay?”

  It didn’t take me long to identify who he was, considering that while Banyan got his coloring from his mother—or at least I suspected he did since she was dyed blonde—the platinum blond man standing in front of him had an older version of Banyan’s face. All the ways I’d pictured meeting the man this had never been it.

  I nodded. “I’m in a lot of pain, but I think my fever is gone.”

  “That’s good. They were waiting for that. Thought it would be sometime soon. Glad it’s now.”

  “I…” I didn’t know what to say to him exactly. “I…”

  Banyan sucked in a long breath. “He’s scary, my dad.” Banyan staggered to his feet. “But he’s not meaning to be intimidating. He’s always either negotiating or intimidating.”

  His father laughed. “Sometimes I’m not. Occasionally I sleep and sometimes I enjoy a good whiskey.”

  “He’s why we could get here so fast, and he is how we are getting you home. They said as soon as the fever broke. It broke.”

  Banyan’s father held up his hands. “Let’s get a doctor before you start making more travel plans. I look forward to knowing you, Giovanna. I’ve never seen Banyan and the boys so motivated before. You must really be something.”

  “She’s not a thing, Dad.” We watched together as he left the room. “Banyan and the boys. Sounds like a rock band we should start.”

  Maven laughed, jumping to his feet. “Chance and I are not the boys. Sorry to spoil your boy band dreams, brother. Library, your eyes are clearer.”

  “She’s cooler.” Chance squeezed my hand. I hadn’t seen his eyes open but it was nice to see them now.

  Now that I could think, I wanted answers to go with my pain. “How are you here?”

  “We took my father’s plane. He was in New York so that was easy. We took my father’s doctor. He was in Dallas. We had to fly him in. That took a few hours. Then we all flew here. Stopped twice to refuel. Change pilots. My dad made a lot of calls in the meantime. He found out about your parents’ issues. He doesn’t think he can get the Indian government to relent, but he’ll help Harvard fund their next project. Everyone’s happy; we get to bring you home.” Banyan lay down next to me, jostling the bed, and I cried out. His face fell. “Sorry, beautiful.”

  Chance sighed. “You scared the ever loving shit out of u
s. I thought you might be dead.”

  “Can’t take our eyes off you for ten minutes.” Maven grinned. “Guess there’s nothing to it but to keep you with us twenty-four seven three hundred sixty five days a year.”

  That was so sweet, unbelievably so. Tears threatened again and I pushed them back. This was a happy moment, not a time for tears. “My parents have not been exactly nice to be around but they did raise a few good points. I mean…”

  Banyan stopped me with a kiss. “Later. We can hash out the universe later. I don’t care about any of it.”

  “Truth.” Chance nodded. “As long as you’re okay. I don’t care about anything. The world can screw itself.”

  Maven held up his hand. “Don’t get us wrong. We legitimately want to hear your opinion. I am in no way trying to silence you. But yes, later if you will.”

  Later sounded good. Later sounded wonderful. “I don’t think there’ll be any salvaging my relationship with them. I think it’s over.”

  Chance squeezed my hand again. “I know how hard that is. It might be over forever. Or it might not be. Life is long if we’re lucky. We never do know how things can change.”

  He did know from firsthand experience. Chance had thrown his father out of his life after his mother died when he’d started beating him. He’d been young, a teenager. That must have been hell. As hard as this was, it was nothing compared to that.

  “Chance.” My voice wavered, and he shook his head fast.

  “No, none of that.” Chance kissed my cheek. “It was a good thing. And you’re still with us. How did you let it burst? Why didn’t you say something earlier?”

  Maven scowled. “Because she was with people who don’t care about her, and I bet she didn’t want to be burdensome.”

  I wished it was that simple. “I was really busy being nasty to be around, too.”

  “She’s been with them too long.” Chance sat back in his seat. “They have her feeling bad for existing.”

  I shook my head. “No. I…”

  The doctor came in then and conversation stopped. There was lots of discussion, and I appreciated that everyone involved tried to converse in English. I was given papers even as the physician in charge of me shook his head. He wasn’t happy I was leaving but that was what was happening. Transportation was arranged, something was put in my IV, and I happily floated away, wheeled in a rolling bed to a car that could accommodate the bed, and all the way to an airplane.

  In my haze, I stared at the plane. It was huge and beautiful with a giant B on the outside written in some kind of script. White letter, black background. Three women rushed off to wheel me on from the back, which opened with a wheelchair accommodating ramp.

  I was pushed inside. The doctor, a man by the name of Driad, reminded me of the actor who played on that old show Doogie Houser. I couldn’t come up with his name in my IV-drug induced haze. He spoke with a southern accent and fussed over me, telling me he’d be checking on me throughout the trip.

  I closed my eyes. The plane jolted me awake sometime later. I’d always hated turbulence, a fact that drove my parents crazy. They’d explained to me once the way aerodynamics worked and the concept of lift, so therefore I was not to be afraid anymore. It really had to be draining for them to have such a slow daughter. I rolled my eyes.

  The cabin was quiet. I lay in a bed that seemed to have come down from the wall. I had a strap laid over me, carefully not pressing against my mid-section, which made me question exactly how much good it would be in the event of strong turbulence. Another jolt made me wince in theory not pain. I had to get crashing out of my head. It did no good.

  The doctor slept in a stretched out seat nearby. I searched for my guys who I found huddled nearby, also asleep in similar positions.

  “Giovanna.” Bill Banyan, I thought that was his name, caught my attention. He spoke low and my gaze darted to him. He sat nearby, fully awake. The man was always catching me unawares. Didn’t he sleep, ever? “All of them?”

  I rubbed my nose. I seemed to be alternating between very thirsty and thinking the idea of water was the most disgusting thing I’d ever imagined. Was that the medicine? Banyan’s father had asked me something. My parents’ words banged through my head. “I didn’t set out to do this. I didn’t think, gosh let me undertake a relationship with more than one person.”

  “I had this idea on the flight over that you would be one kind of person, but you aren’t. It’s hard to judge from a hospital bed but your hair is three different colors and you’re not wearing any jewelry at all.”

  He and my parents could take judgmental lessons together. “I don’t want his money. I want to pay him back for anything he spends. I just want their company. I want to love them for as long as I can, as best I can, until we can’t anymore.”

  Bill opened and closed his mouth. “I believe you, and I can always tell a liar.” Rising from his seat, he rubbed his eyes. “Don’t break his heart, Giovanna. His mother and I did that enough to last a lifetime. If he’s still capable of this kind of… love… then it’s probably the very last time he can give that a go. Be good to him and if you part, part well.”

  Tears flooded my eyes and this time fell down my face. Not because I was being told what to do by this rather intimidating man, but because he was right. How many times could Banyan be hurt? “I want to take care of his heart.”

  A sound on the other side of the plane caught my attention. It might have been nothing or it might have meant we were about to crash and burn. I gripped the side of my bed.

  “Don’t like flying?” Bill patted my hand.

  “I’m not usually this bad.” I’d flown a lot in my life.

  “Well,” he shrugged, “your defenses are down. You’ve been through an ordeal, and I don’t just mean the emergency surgery. I mean the woman who set fire to things and…”

  “I think she knows what happened, Mr. Banyan.” Maven came by the bed, sitting down in the seat that Banyan’s dad had vacated. “We don’t need to rehash right now, do we?”

  Banyan’s father laughed. “If Maven is telling me to butt out, then it’s my cue to excuse myself to my private room.” He had a private room on this plane? He must have read my mind because he raised three fingers. “That many.”

  Exactly how rich was Banyan? And why did it make me sick to my stomach to try to imagine it? He turned and exited as quietly as he’d approached me. When he was out of earshot, Maven leaned forward. “He’s brutal, but he loves him even if Banyan will never, ever forgive him. He could fly to India on private jets to rescue Banyan’s love every day for the rest of his life and it wouldn’t be enough. Seems like the man is willing to try.”

  Was I? If my parents were willing to really give it a go and not just drag me off to stop me from sending embarrassing emails, was I willing to forgive them?

  I leaned a little to the left. “This sucks.”

  “It does. Of course, I’m getting you back three weeks earlier so there is that.”

  He was so cute. This whole thing had started because of him. “Did you have a good graduation? I mean, I know you guys said it went fine, but that might have been one of those things you say over text because it’s too much to type.”

  He took a deep breath. “You know my mother. It was… yeah, well it was.”

  I’d spent one long lunch with his mother. Maven’s parents were still married, even though his father was incarcerated for doing something with junk bonds. His mother was a district attorney, which made things complicated. But they’d still remained married even though Maven didn’t like his father or visit him. His mother was problematic, too. She seemed determined to have things her way despite others’ wishes. It wouldn’t be too far to say she hadn’t cared for me. She did, however, like Banyan. More than was appropriate.

  “I’m sorry I wasn’t there.”

  He leaned forward to kiss me. I closed my eyes. I couldn’t be smelling great. He didn’t seem to care. Maven kept his kisses light. They were a lovely co
ntrast to the throbbing in my gut. Finally, he pulled back. “I wish you were, too. My library girl. Get some sleep. I’m right here. I’m not going anywhere and this plane is as safe as you could possibly imagine. There is nothing that could come between you and home now.”

  “Home?” I wasn’t sure I had one.

  He rose completely from his seat. Should he have been doing that with the plane shaking like this? Maven held onto the side of my bed. He didn’t look worried. “Home is wherever you are for me. That’s how I feel. When we jumped on this plane and booked it across the world to get to you, that’s all I could think. I had to get home and by that I meant to you.”

  “Oh, Maven. I love you.” And I wished this could be simple, but even though we’d shelved hard stuff until later, I knew it would never be as simple as we wanted it to be.

  “Good. I love you, too.” He ran a finger down my nose. “I hate your parents. I just want you to know that. I hate them like I hate mine.”

  Such a stark contrast to Chance, but then so were certain aspects of their personalities when it came down to it. “Hate is a strong word.”

  “And when appropriate, exactly the right emotion.”

  Maybe he was right, but I was afraid to go there. What did you do when you opened that door? Could you ever close it again or did everything you should hate rush in and never go away? Did it overwhelm everything?

  The plane smoothed out, and with Maven close, I slept the rest of the way. We landed. Took off again. Landed. The doctor gave me medicine, checked my vitals, and then handed me discharge papers as we were deplaning with instructions to come see his colleague in a week—or earlier if things went wrong.

  I’d been in India and then I was in New York City. The whole thing felt like a dream. A foggy, drugged-out dream. Yet, I hoped it was real and didn’t turn out to have all been in my head.