Page 43 of Drive Me Crazy

"Are you alright?" One scoots closer to me. "I can sneak Aunt Blaine over if you need me too."

I pat his hand, forcing a relaxing smile. "As if you've never met my mother. Seriously though, let's wait and see how this goes over the next few days and then you can send for the calvary."

"Sounds like a plan." One returns my smile, it doesn't meet his eyes, mirroring mine in every way.

"I don't want them in harm's way." My chest tightens as the words fall from my lips, my heart breaking for what could happen to my family. What's worse, I've brought it on them.

One wraps me in his arms, filling me with hope and love. "I'll be back but until then, Emerson will give you a list of numbers. Call anytime, day or night."

"I will and thank you again for everything." I release him in time to catch Reese giving Emerson an odd look. "What?"

Reese shakes her head. "I probably shouldn't say anything, but you do realize who did all of this, don't you?"

"No. I assumed One, since we're cousins." My eyes dart around the room, but no one meets them except for Reese. "Looks like you drew the short straw."

"Ridge," she pauses. "he made all the calls, got the entire house ready, and hired the extra security detail."

"When he himself isn't the one outside standing guard." Emerson blushes.

My head bounces from person to person. "Hang on a second..." I spin around, glaring at Aksel. "you!"

"I didn't do nothin' but what I was told to do. Dad, Em, someone explain this to her." Aksel exclaims.

The room spins on its own this time, I'm seriously losing it. "Dad? Who are you calling Dad?"

"Me," One puts his arm around my shoulder. "this is my oldest son, Lea had three when we married. She was a young mother, and I'm thrilled to call them mine."

I elbow him. "I bet you were! This is all you've ever wanted, a big family."

"I'm excited for you to meet Lea, she's amazing." One practically preens.

"I've missed so much." My chest aches. "I hate that I did."

Aksel chuckles. "I think we should wait to tell her about the three little ones."

"Who has three little ones?" My eyes widen.

"Again, we have a lot to talk about." One kisses my temple before turning to the door. "I'll call you as soon as we know something more. Try to get some rest."

Reese stops with a proffered hand. "It was good to meet you, I'm here for anything."

"You too and thank you." I take her hand. "We need to have a girls day; I'd love to know how Walker and Riley are doing."

"Ava keeps Riley in line, and we have twins, enough said." She giggles when I stand with my mouth wide open. I close long enough to declare shock.

"Riley and Ava finally got together? Wow. I'm so out of the loop."

Emerson snakes her arm around my waist. "I told you, a girl's night would fix this quickly."

"That's a date, I'll rally the troops." Reese leans in, hugging me. "We're stronger, together."

By the time everyone leaves, I'm more than tired. I also need some time to let everything sink in; Weston has caused more problems than I ever could've imagined. I walk into the master bedroom and straight into the closet.

One thing I learned while with Weston was to compartmentalize everything. There's a time and place for every single thing in life and I'm good at putting it away.

In the back corner, I find peace and solace. I've hidden away like this for years, staying far away from Weston and his flying fists. Here, in the deepest part and the darkest recesses, I can go and lose myself.