CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

TAMARA

"Come on little bee, we need you to snap out of it," a familiar voice said to me as I gradually regained consciousness. My gaze scanned the unfamiliar room, which contained an unpacked cardboard box resting on the side of the wall and a few mismatched pieces of furniture, weren't we just at the wedding reception just a few minutes ago, so what were we doing here? Shane, Joe, and Huston were all sitting on the chair in front of me, and Alex was kneeling in front of me. They all appeared concerned.
"What happened, Alex?" I asked, looking around for answers, but from the looks on their faces, I really don't want to know.
"You don't remember anything?" Alex asked, avoiding my gaze, unable to look me in the eyes.
"Tell me, Alex, how bad could it be?" I asked, fiddling with the ring on my finger as I waited for his explanation.
"Little Bee, we had to bring you here because you had a panic attack and were unconscious for a while. Damien's father was acting up because he was drunk, and when Damien provoked him, he threw the glass of wine he was holding at him. Damien was able to avoid it, but the glass hit you and broke. Alex tightened his grip on my palm and continued, "I believe the sound of the glass breaking was what set off your panic attack.
"Oh-" I sighed as the memories came flooding back to me; I must have looked pathetic. Damien is probably furious with me, he wasn't going to allow me to live this down.
"How are you feeling?" Shane questioned, his worried gaze fixed on mine.
"I just have a little headache but other than that, I'm fine," I said, reassuring them, "I'm sorry I made you guys worry."
"We were happy to repay the favor, but one thing that irritated me though was that asshole who just stood there and did nothing; I really wanted to punch him in the face when he tried to stop Alex from getting you out of there," Joe said, his fist clenched by his side, his rage visible on his face.
"Do you mean Damien, and what did he do?" I was perplexed as to why Joe was acting this way; he was the group's clown, so Damien must have done something terrible to make him react this way.
"When we were trying to get you out of there, he got in our way by asking stupid questions, as though he couldn't see you were uncomfortable being in that room," Huston said, an angry expression crossing his face; they were all angry at Damien's reaction to my panic attack, why did that make me happy?.
But what did I expect from Mr Kingston, he wasn't the type of man to sweep me off my feet and protect me from harm? He was and always will be an asshole. "I really appreciate you guys getting me out of there,"
"You don't have to say thank you, Tamara; as Joe previously stated, we were simply returning the favor. We had no hesitation in coming to your aid because you are important to us because you are Alex's sister. But what we've recently discovered, confirms our suspicion that Damien Kingston does not deserve you." Shane said, clutching his fist at his side, as they all looked at me with sadness in their eyes, Alex must have told them about the contract. My eyes quickly shifted to Alex as he looked up at me guilty.
"I'm sorry I had to tell them, because they were wondering why he didn't care you were having a panic attack," Alex said, his face expressing his anxiousness. But he didn't need to be concerned or anxious; they had the right to know. But wait how did Alex know I was having a panic attack? I'd never had one in front of him before, so I decided to ask him.
"But Alex, how did you know I was suffering a panic attack?"
He avoids my look while running his hands through his hair, and I soon regretted asking him because I could tell Alex was struggling to answer me, "I used to have them a lot back when we were still living with my real father,"
"Oh Alex," I sighed, placing my hand on his cheek, stroking softly, "I'm sorry you had to go through that."
"It's okay, I've gotten over it, I now have people to support me," he replied. Alex said, his gaze moving from his friends to me. "And now that you have us, you can always call and we will come running to help you, no matter where you are or what the problem is." Alex added with a large grin on his face and I didn't even know when I started crying.
"What's wrong, Tamara? Are you okay?" Alex asked as everyone rushed to my side to see if I was okay.
"I'm fine guys, I'm just happy," I said, my teary gaze moving over all of them, my new strange family.
"What now, we can't keep hiding in here, someone will surely find us and start questioning us," Joe said, his gaze shifting to Alex, who appeared to be lost in thought.
"I don't know where we could go so that my family wouldn't be able to find us." Alex responded.
"I might have an idea, but I have to ask, how are you guys with kids?" I asked as they all stared at me, their confused expressions made me giggle. "Nevermind, let's just get out of this hotel first, without getting caught," I suggested as we discussed how to leave this room and go to Alex's car without getting caught by Mr Kingston or his men. Fortunately for us, when we peeked outside, a group of elderly women were walking by the room we were hiding out in, so we took this opportunity to blend in with them until we were out of the hotel.
As soon as we were outside the hotel, I blew a kiss to the security guard at the door and climbed into Alex's car. He appeared perplexed at first, but then a wave of recognition washed over him, but we had already driven away, heading for the foundation.
"Come on, you guys will love it," I said as I led them into the foundation, and the kids surrounded me, saying, "Miss Tamara, Miss Tamara, we missed you, where have you been?" They all questioned me in unison.
"Tamara, where is this?" Alex questioned, and I turned to face him with a wide smile.
"It's a foundation my mother owned before she died, I inherited it, we help take care of children of single parents until they get off work," I explained before introducing the kids to the guys.
"Guys, these are my lovely princesses and princes, Shane, Tyler, Emma, Robert, and Emily, children, this is my brother Alex and his friends Shane, Joe, and Huston," I said as I watched Shane jnr step forward, his gaze was drawn to Shane snr, who was looking down at the little guy with a smile on his face.
"He has the same name as me" Shane jnr said staring up at Shane snr like he was the most important person in the world
"Yes, bud, I do, Shane is a very cool name, which makes us cool as well," Shane snr replied, smiling down at the boy.
"They're so fucking cute," Joe exclaimed, realizing his error and staring at me in shock.
"You said a bad word, and now you owe everyone ice cream," Emily said, making me laugh aloud.
"It's the rule, Joe, now pay up," I said, grinning from ear to ear as he took out a $1,000 bill and handed it to me.
"I'm sorry, Tamara," Joe apologizes, his gaze downcast.
"Don't be sad," Tyler said as he hugged Joe's leg. It took everything I had not to cry at the beautiful way the boys were interacting with the kids.
"I want a hug too," Huston said, and Emma obliged. Huston then picked her up and threw her in the air making the little girl squeal in delight.
"Who wants to see a magic trick?" Shane asked, and the little one sat on the ground in front of him as he took out a deck of cards from his hands.
"Shane, I'm going to need you to pick a card," Shane snr asked, and Shane junior obliged, pulling out an ace of spades, "keep that card in your pocket and I'm going to make it double," Shane added, and laughter filled the room.
"Now check your card," Shane said as he did something with his hands and put the deck of card back in his pocket.
When Shane Jr. took out the card, it had doubled, causing the kids to laugh, "That was cool Shane," the children chorused, causing the older boy to blush.
"The kids are quite armored with your friends," I said, moving my gaze to Alex, who had a wide smile on his face, "What".
"You look really happy, I have never seen you this happy Tamara, I'm glad you have these kids and this place, you deserve to be loved," Alex said his soft gaze was focused on the kids and his friends.
"Thank you very much, Alex."
"Does Thomas know about this place?" Alex inquired,
"No, he doesn't."
"Okay then, your secret is safe with me Little bee," Alex replied, placing a quick kiss on my cheek. As I watched the guys with kids, an idea struck me, so I gathered everyone around and told them about it.
"Would you be willing to help out here so the kids have more people to play with?" I asked, hoping for a positive response.
"I have nothing better to do, so I accept." Shane answered, receiving a high five from his namesake.
"I'm up for it, being an only child is boring, so I accept," Huston answered, and Tyler wrapped his little hands around his leg giving him a hug
"Fuck yes, I get to play with these little cuties," Joe cursed for the second time today, "I know, I know, sorry Tamara,i might go broke but they're worth it" he said as he handed me another $1,000 bill.
"Potty mouth" Shane snickered receiving a glare from Joe
"Shut it, Shane, or you'll get punched in the face," Joe threatened, sticking out his tongue at Shane.
"You already know my answer," Alex said as he picked up little Emily in his arms; he looked good with her, and he would make a good father.
"Tamara, what are you doing here?" I turned around to see my best friend staring back at me, his eyes wide with confusion.
"Hello Tommy," I said, unsure what to say or do.