When Eli mentioned following them, it made sense. I hated that he had Harper with him, but we’d have a piece of the puzzle. The house was in a rundown neighborhood on the edge of town. Not a great area, but not a risky one.
They should have never gotten out of the car. Am I glad we have information? Yes. Was it worth the risk? Hell, no.
The door to the basement opens. I glance up and Eli carries Harper down the stairs. She rolls her eyes when they get to the bottom of the stairs.
“Now can you put me down? I’ll wash them in the bathroom.” Harper’s eyes widen when they meet mine. Eli lowers her legs and she stands on her own.
I take her in, starting at her head all the way down to the blood dripping down her legs. Before I can get to her, Cadenswoops in and lifts her, taking her into the bathroom, but leaving the door open.
“For fuck’s sake, it’s only a couple of scratches. I can take care of it myself.” Her tone is exasperated.
Water runs. And I can’t make out what Caden says. The anger that’s been swelling inside bursts free.
“What were you thinking?” I shove Eli back against the wall. “Why did you let her out of the car?”
“Do you think I had a choice?” His eyes narrow as he grabs my hands, but I don’t release his shirt.
“She shouldn’t have been there at all.” I push him against the wall again.
“Fuck you. We’re all fucking working too hard. Jack looks like he’s applying to be an extra onThe Walking Dead.” Eli shoves me, but I don’t release him. “We all want to get to the bottom of this. We all want to protect her. You’re not the only one who has feelings for her.”
“They would have hurt her.” It rips out of my insides. “And we couldn’t have done anything.”
“You can’t wrap me in bubble wrap and keep me in a box.” Harper’s words are soft and she presses her small hand against my back. “I’m not going to sit idly by and watch you guys run yourselves ragged.”
My hands soften at her touch and some of the fight leaves me. I release Eli and turn to pull her into my arms. She wraps her arms around my waist and squeezes me tight.
“I’m here. I’m fine. The thorns of that bush got me, but nothing else did.” Her voice is muffled in my chest.
I’m probably suffocating her, but I can’t seem to loosen my hold.
“You guys can’t just go after each other like that,” she says.
She pinches my side and I give a little jerk, but it doesn’t really hurt. I inhale her soft vanilla scent.
“They want to hurt you.” I release my breath, but not her. “I can’t let that happen.”
She lifts her head and looks up at me with those stubborn brown eyes. “We’re not going to let that happen. We’re all in this together. That’s why I went out there tonight. We need that intel. We can’t just sit back and wait for them to strike again.”
Caden steps up and wraps his hand around her upper arm. “Come on, little nympho. We need to bandage you up still.”
Caden meets my eyes and I reluctantly let her go. Her palm touches my heart before she turns to follow him.
“We were never exposed.” Eli brushes past me and sinks onto the couch, running his hand through his hair. “Tanner paid Zach to try to rape her.”
I wince. My gaze falls on her and Caden as she sits on the counter, while he carefully cleans and bandages her legs. It could have been so much worse. I wouldn’t know how to get her back after going through something like that.
“We need a plan for next week.” Nico pushes his laptop away. He gestures to it. “This is important, but we need to be at the top of our game if they’re coming at us all at once.”
Jack scrubs a hand down his face. “Half this shit is encrypted. The other half is above my paygrade. We need more help. We’re going to have to trust someone.”
I walk over to Eli and sit next to him, putting my hand on his knee. He lifts his gaze to mine and nods. I don’t need to tell him I’m sorry because I’m not, but I also understand he was just as stressed as I was. Probably more so.
“I don’t think I would have been able to hold back from attacking them.” My words are soft so Harper doesn’t hear.
“Fuck.” Eli drops his head in his hands. “I wanted to tear them apart, all of them.”
We have to see them tomorrow at school and act like we don’t know anything. It’s been bad enough bottling up Zach comingafter our girl the first time, but knowing he’s been messing with her since the beginning makes me want to burn his world to the ground.
