Page 8 of Deliverance

At his words, it was like I could feel every speck of dust and dirt on me. My skin crawled, and I needed to get clean, to wash the day off and start fresh tomorrow. Well, later today.

“Yes, please.” I took his offered hand.

He led me into Alexander’s room. The lamps on the bedside tables provided a soft, warm glow to the room. The bathroom door was open, and steam billowed out of it. Alexander appearedin the doorframe, wearing just his boxers. My steps stuttered as I took in his bare, golden skin.

“No funny business tonight.” Sebastian smirked at me.

I rolled my eyes but didn’t protest. They helped me undress, their movements methodical but intimate, fingertips grazing my skin. Alexander stepped into the shower with me, still in his boxers. He worked shampoo into my hair, rinsing it with care. He soaped my body, running a washcloth over my skin and wiping away the dirt and grime. I closed my eyes, allowing myself to soak it all in. I was falling in love with these men. The way they cared for me, the way they helped me shoulder my burdens without feeling like they were taking over my life. I would do anything to make sure we all made it out of this, even if I had to deal with the Kingfisher myself.

The shower ended too soon, even as exhaustion tugged at my eyelids. Sebastian held out a large towel for me, warmed in their fancy towel warmer. He dried me off softly, wrapped my hair in a microfiber towel, then tugged one of his shirts over my head. Alexander dried off and dressed. He unwrapped the towel from my hair. We brushed our teeth side by side; the sheer domesticity of it all settled me in ways I didn’t know how to express.

Sebastian exited a step ahead of us and pulled back the sheets so I could slide into the middle of the bed. I collapsed face first onto the soft mattress.

“Can’t move,” I mumbled into the mattress.

Sebastian chuckled softly while Alexander turned off the lamps and slid in next to me. They maneuvered me until I was between them, half resting on Alexander’s chest, Sebastian’s arm around my waist. I wanted to savor the feeling, but in the next breath, I was asleep.

CHAPTER 4

SEBASTIAN

“Which one of you shut off my alarm?” My darling’s grumpy voice broke the silence of the living room.

I looked up from my laptop, and Alexander straightened from where he was leaning against the kitchen counter. He slipped his phone into his back pocket and opened the fridge. I chuckled to myself as he got out the bacon and hash browns first. We were all learning that food was the way to our girl’s heart.

“Good morning, darling.” I smiled widely at her.

She looked adorable in my black T-shirt and grey PJ shorts. Seeing her in my clothes filled me with the possessive desire to throw her over my shoulder and carry her back to the bedroom.

“Good afternoon is more like it,” she grumbled, rubbing her eyes.

“You needed the sleep,” Alexander said simply, setting a cup of coffee on the counter next to me.

“I need to handle things,” she shot back with all the force of a grumpy kitten as she smothered a yawn.

Alexander wisely chose not to say anything and instead started cooking the bacon in the skillet.

Evelyn settled next to me, and I tugged her stool closer. She grumbled but snatched up the coffee mug like it was gold. I guess for her it was.

I waited until she had taken a few sips before I filled her in on what had happened while she was asleep.

“Liam is at SDS. He confirmed they didn’t access anything, and Maya successfully wiped the local drives. He couldn’t track who sent Dominic the threat as it was a burner phone, so Dominic is going to stay with us for the time being.”

“Well, we have a strong idea who sent it,” Evelyn said.

“We do,” I agreed. “We’ll look into the burner, but if it wasn’t a local purchase, it’ll be harder to track. Maya is fine and is being babied at home by both their dad and Liam. Grace woke up for a bit again this morning but wasn’t very coherent. Danny says he’ll call when she wakes up more fully, but he doesn’t want to see you at the hospital till tomorrow.”

“He’s getting awfully bossy,” Evelyn grumbled, but her eyes were warm.

I would hazard a guess that Danny had always been this bossy about her safety, but since she hadn’t finished her first cup of coffee yet, I wasn’t going to point that out.

“Adrian, Marcus, and Dominic are at the office. They’re helping Liam review some traffic footage. Dominic is following up with the SID. The official report won’t be available for a couple more days, but Dominic’s going to see what Agent Mercer is willing to share.”

“Likely not much, since Dominic defied orders,” Alexander said as he slid a plate of bacon over to us. “But he’s going to ask anyway.”

I nodded. “Adrian and Marcus are also handling some SDS operations.”

“We’ll likely need to go into the office tomorrow and sort some stuff out, but we can talk more once they get home,”Alexander said. “I’m going to delegate as much as we can to our VPs while we’re dealing with this.”