Page 81 of Born to Scar

He nods. “I’ll be there. Ray will be, too. I also have a…friend…” His eyes dart around at the four of us. “I’ll get him down here while this is going on. But I think she needs things as normal as possible.”

“A friend?” Jay questions.

“I should’ve known that wasn’t going to be enough information,” he says, chuckling.

“Not even close,” Jay says flatly, making Bik laugh harder.

“He’s ex-Russian military. Currently, he’s high-profile security.”

“Vlad?” Asher asks, meeting Bik’s gaze. His eyes narrow, but he nods. “You’re friends with Vlad?” Asher asks again with amusement on his face and shakes his head. “Small fucking world,” he huffs before taking a sip of coffee.

The door slides open, and Lainy pops her head out. “Hey guys, breakfast is ready.” She smiles and closes the door before she turns away.

“We’ll make sure she stays safe until this is over,” I say, standing.

Inside, the island is loaded with food.

“Jesus, Indy,” I chuckle, and she shrugs.

“We didn’t have enough of anything, so I cooked everything.” She chuckles. “We need to go to the grocery store now.”

Jared eyes the island, then Indy, frowning. “You said you didn’t need help.”

She smirks and tilts her head. “I didn’t.” She runs her finger down his jaw, and he leans into it. “Help yourselves. Cold drinks are in the fridge, and the new pot of coffee is hot,” she announces, leaving us in the kitchen.

I drop my plate down, following her. The bedroom door is shut, but that’s not unusual. She always shuts the door when she’s in there. I crack it open to see her sitting in the chair in the corner, her knees pulled to her chin, with her head resting on them, her arms covering her head.

Dropping to my knees in front of her, I put my hands on her head at her ears. She looks up with tears in her eyes. “Everything’s going to be okay, Indy,” I promise. She just nods. “What are you thinking?”

“I’m scared.”

My jaw clenches, and my chest tightens, but I gently kiss her forehead. I could kill him myself for making her feel like this. She’s never said those words out loud, but there’s no way she couldn’t be. He’s abused her for so long. Even now, with all the head games. No one would blame her if she spiraled out of control right now. She’s been really good at keeping the mask up, until now.

“Yeah. I know, baby. But everyone here is here to help you feel safe.”

“I know, and I could never repay any of you for this, but he…he’s not a good person, and he’s clever. I know he’s doing something to take someone close away. I know he is. He knows that’s where he’ll hit me the hardest. He did it with Jenny. It’s why I tried so hard not to get close to anyone.”

I hate that she feels forced to push everyone away because of that asshole. He made her terrified to get close to anyone. But she’s probably right about him after what Asher told us earlier. And I’m not going to keep her in the dark about anything I find anymore, not after she slept in Mik’s room that night. I wanted to drag her back where she belonged, but Jay was right. She needed some time.

“He did change his routine this morning. Asher’s team has been following him for…a while. They noted a change in his routine today. They’re looking into it, but for now it’s better if we all stay put.” Her nose scrunches up. “What?”

“We have virtually no food here. That’s a lot of fucking men to feed down there.”

I chuckle. “We can order both food and groceries, not a big deal.”

The doorbell rings from below. Even from up here, I can tell the downstairs gets deathly quiet. Opening the bedroom door, I walk to the top of the stairs to see Jay swinging the front door open.

Felipe walks through, and you can hear the air rush back into the room. “You’re a little late, yeah?” I yell down to him. He promptly gives me the bird and walks off. I snort a laugh and return to Indy. “It’s Felipe.”

She nods. “He texted me this morning. I think Bik or Ray told him.” She sighs. “I’m sorry I’ve put you in this situation. I never expected him to come after me after all these years.” I pull her up and sit in the chair with her in my lap.

“This isn’t your fault. None of this is your fault.”

“All of you are in danger because of me. I would say that is my fault.” The sadness in her voice breaks my heart. She truly believes she is the cause of this.

“Indy, baby, you cannot keep taking the blame for him. He’s making all of these decisions himself. There isn’t a person in this house who thinks you are at fault for any of this.” She shakes her head but doesn’t respond. “Let’s go eat. It’ll be good to be around people who care about you right now, Indy.”

She nods, standing off my lap and heading toward the door before turning to face me. She stands in silence for a moment, biting her bottom lip, spinning one of her rings.