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“Some of us don’t have a clue,” I blurted. “What are you talking about?”
“Rico has had one of his brother’s following me around since the break-in at the store last week,” she offered. “They haven’t been very subtle about it. I know for a fact if they didn’t want me to see them, I never would. Luc is the one on duty today.”
River grew up in a sort of cult in which her bastard of a father was the leader. She escaped when she was eighteen, with the help of her mother, and after a few years, ended up opening a tea shop in Mountain Grove. Recently, it was discovered that her father’s group had taken up human trafficking and when he ended up selling Sophia to the highest bidder, Rico and his brothers stepped in and rescued her.
Last week though, River and Quin were assaulted in her store by one of her father’s top men. The man, Thomas, had been promised River as one of his wives many years ago, and he was now evidently trying to collect on that debt or scare the hell out of her.
“And thank God for small favors,” Quin inserted.
“Hold up.” River raised her hand and narrowed her eyes on our friend. “I’ve been meaning to ask you. Did something happen between you and Alec when he took you to the hospital?”
“By something, do you mean was he a dick? Why yes he was,” Quin deflected.
“I’ll let you get away with that for now, but we will be revisiting this conversation.”
Quin stuck her tongue out at River, causing all of us to burst into a fit of giggles just as the waiter arrived to take our order. We spent the time laughing and chatting about absolutely nothing, yet it was the best day I could remember having in a very long time. These girls meant the world to me and even though we hadn’t been in each other’s lives for long, it felt like I’d known them forever.
After the bill was paid, we headed down the sidewalk toward the small parking lot next to the gym where we’d all parked. I should’ve been paying better attention to my surroundings, considering Kolton had just taught us how important it was, but when I looked up and saw him, I froze.
“Why am I having to traipse all over God’s creation to track your fat ass down?” he yelled in my face.
My body locked up and every bit of color drained from my face.
“M-Mr. P-Peterson,” I stuttered. “This isn’t the time or the place to discuss––”
“Shut your goddamn mouth and listen to me,” he thundered. “Your father has requested your presence at his rally. I’d suggest you lose a few pounds before then or the cameras will add on another twenty. Don’t embarrass him, or I’ll make sure you regret it.”
He followed up his threat with a brutal shove. I lost my balance, falling backward with nothing to break my fall except my left hand and my ass. White-hot pain raced up my arm, which I cradled against my chest as the girls stepped in front of me. My ears began to ring as I fought to remain conscious. Joel Peterson was a son of a bitch, but he’d never laid hands on me in front of an audience before.
Fast, heavy footsteps pounded against the concrete as I heard Luc’s deep voice thunder.
“What the fuck is going on?”
Chapter 4
Luciano
IWAS STILL reeling from the meeting we’d had earlier in the week with Duncan Palmer. He was an FBI agent who’d contacted Quattro, hoping we’d assist the feds in gathering information on a senator they suspected of selling classified information. The senator in question was Emory’s father, Anthony Daubson.
We’d already known from Rico’s ridiculous background check that she wasn’t close with her parents, but to hear her father was a possible traitor to the country my brothers and I had fought so hard to protect…well, let’s just say we were floored. Palmer would have to wait for our answer though, because it wasn’t a decision we would make without giving it some serious thought.
Meanwhile, Rico was moving his shit in with River and since my brothers volunteered to help him move, I was assigned bodyguard duty for the day. Which brought me to my current predicament. For the second time in as many minutes, I’d had to recite football stats to keep my cock from going full-mast. Watching my beauty kick ass while rockin’ a pair of tight yoga pants and a T-shirt was a helluva lot better time than lifting boxes, however, every time she bent over, I couldn’t help imagining her bent over my couch. I’d also rather be scoping out her curves from inside the building instead of skulking around outside like a fucking creeper. But since my baby brother was a chickenshit, who hadn’t told River he’d put her under constant surveillance, I was given strict orders to stay out of sight.
My phone dinged from the cup holder in my car where I sat across the street. Picking it up, I rolled my eyes when I saw it was Rico checking in. I texted back, deciding to fuck with him for pissing me off with his bullshit. He knew damn well I’d protect them with my life.
Me: I’m selling tickets when she finds out you’ve had us watching them.
Me: Maybe you should be at this self-defense class.
Rico: Text me when they’re on their way home.
Me: Whatever.
I looked up from my phone just in time to watch Fia nail Kolton in the balls with her knee. My body recoiled, feeling his pain, then I burst out laughing. That kid was the shit. She’d been through absolute hell in her short life, more than most adults, yet she’d come out on the other side mostly unscathed. I was in awe of her strength…no, actually I was jealous.
My time in the military wasn’t sunshine and roses. I’d seen depravity and death. I’d killed in the name of national security. The decisions I made or hadn’t made on the battlefield…those are the ghosts which continued to haunt me day and night. I craved the peace I saw in Fia’s eyes; I was almost desperate for it. Until recently, I had no idea if I’d ever find it. Then a five-foot-nine beauty with soulful brown eyes stepped into my path and I knew. She was the calm to my chaos.
Of course, she had no idea because not only was I a dumbass without a clue, there was more than just my feelings to consider before I took the leap. She and River were extremely close, so if things didn’t work out between us, there would be many awkward moments in our future. Then there was the potential investigation of her father looming in the air. These were all excuses––damn good excuses––but excuses nonetheless. The real issue was fear. Emory Daubson scared the ever-loving shit outta me for no other reason than I could see a future with her. And right now, I didn’t know what to do with that knowledge.
