Page 60 of Throttle Therapy

“Not in a chair.Here.”She patted the bed in front of her.“I want to be able to touch you, even if it’s just your hand.I’m afraid I’m going to dream.Please don’t leave me.”Lacey’s voice had dropped to a whisper with the last sentence.

Joker closed his eyes for a few seconds.When he opened them, he wasn’t looking at Lacey, but at Roadkill.

Jenna turned in time to see him tilt his head in her direction.Looking back to Joker she found him watching her, as if waiting for her permission.Pain in his eyes and his sister’s loss clearly on his mind.

“I won’t touch her, not like that.You have to know that.I just want to make sure she’s okay.”

“You okay with him on one side and me on the other, Lace?”Jenna asked.

Her sister looked from face to face, Jenna, Joker, Roadkill.

“Yeah, that sounds good.”She shifted until she was lying down, curled on her side facing Joker.

“Can I have my hand for just a couple of minutes?”Joker asked.“I just want take off my boots before I lay down.”

Lacey nodded and released his hand.Joker bent to untie his boots and Jenna went to Roadkill.

“Are you okay with this?”she asked, tilting her head back to look up at him.

“Yeah, darlin’.You take care of your sister.I’ll go make sure everything’s in and no one gets back here to any of you.Help her feel safe again.We’ll work on everything else after we’ve all had a little sleep.”He bent down and placed a chaste kiss on the tip of her nose.“I left clothes for you on our bed.Go change before getting in there with her.”He nodded toward the bed.“You’ll both be more comfortable that way.”

Jenna nodded.

“I’ll be right back, Lace.I want to go change clothes.Will you be okay until I get back?”

Lacey didn’t open her eyes as she nodded.

“I’ll be okay as long as Zach stays.”

Jenna looked at Joker.“You’re Zach?”

Joker nodded.“She asked.”

Jenna shrugged.She didn’t care what her sister called him or what he let her call him, as long as he remembered that Lacey was fourteen and that Jenna would eviscerate him if he laid an inappropriate hand on her little sister.

But from the look in his eyes, she didn’t have to worry about that.He was hurting as much as she was, if not more.

“I’ll be right back.”She headed for the door and the bedroom she would be sharing with Roadkill, with the man in question only a few steps behind.

She’d only made it a few steps into the bedroom when his hand on her arm stopped her.Roadkill pulled her into his arms and stood that way for several minutes.

“I’m sorry,” she said against his chest as he held her.

“None of this is your fault, darlin’.None of it.I know you were listening in when she told us what those fucknuts said about if you’d been home.If you’d been home, who knows when we would have figured out what happened.We might not have been able to find you both before it was too late.”His arms tightened around her.“I hate that you both have to go through this, but we’ll get through it.I’ll talk to Bones and see if he can recommend a councilor.She may be fine, but she may need a little help to get through this, and it’s okay if you don’t know everything, you can’t do everything she needs to get her past this.I’ll be here for you both.”

“Thank you.”She relaxed against him, wishing she could stay like this forever.Right here in his arms.But Lacey needed her.

“Go change.I know you need to be in there with her.You need to reassure yourself and her that she’s safe.I’ll go make sure everything else is taken care of and nothing disturbs you.Either of you.”He squeezed her for another moment then eased his hold on her.

Minutes later, Jenna eased herself onto the edge of the bed behind Lacey.She curled around her sister, wrapped an arm tight around her middle and closed her eyes.She expected sleep to elude her, but almost as soon as her head hit the pillow, the world drifted away.

Chapter Thirty-Three

Roadkillstoodoutsidethebedroom door and listened as Jenna got settled into bed with her sister.Once he was sure they were asleep, or at least close, he went into the living room and sat in the recliner that had been there when they arrived.He pulled out his phone and sent several messages, one to Bones asking about therapists, another to Hex verifying the gates would stay closed and access to the compound restricted at least for now.Then he sent a message to his SAA.He let Cyclone know he likely wouldn’t make the Saturday enforcers meeting, unless they delayed it until both girls were awake and moved it here.He wasn’t leaving them and he wouldn’t let the group of rowdy men who didn’t know how to act wake them up.

Setting his phone on his chest for a minute he thought about the messages he’d sent and if there was any one else he needed to reach out to.He didn’t expect answers, at least not right away.The night was damn near over and most of the people he was sending messages to were probably asleep.

Picking up his phone, he opened the group chat with Cyclone as well as the rest of the enforcers and typed up another message.