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After the cops had arrived at my apartment, Cash and Sage had been put in handcuffs. I hadn’t been, but an officer had pulled me aside to question me. I’d frantically explained to him that Cash and Sage were my friends and that they’d saved me, but it had taken a good half hour and telling my story to three different officers before Cash and Sage had been released from the cuffs. We’d all had to go to the police station and I’d been on my own for a couple of hours while we were individually questioned. I wasn’t proud of it, but I’d started to cry again when Cash had been brought to the room I’d been interviewed in. He’d held me for the longest time, whispering words of praise in my ear and reminding me I was safe and no one would ever hurt me again.
I’d never wanted him to let go.
All the humiliation I’d been feeling about what had happened that night in the motel in Seattle had fallen by the wayside. My fear for Dylan, the memory of Lee groping me, the fear of never again seeing the men I worked with… it had been a brutal wake-up call for me. I’d been so numb for so long after I’d lost my mother that I hadn’t even realized how being on the fringe of Ronan’s group of men had changed me.
Somewhere along the way, I’d stopped being on the fringe and they’d become something more.
They’d become my family.
My days had stopped being about hiding from the world and had become all about helping people like me find justice. I didn’t wield a gun, but I protected people all the same. I made it so maybe there was a girl out there who wouldn’t lose her mother too soon and in the most violent of ways.
Sage helped me to stand and I was immediately enfolded in Ronan’s arms. My eyes watered as he held me tight.
He was the reason I was still here.
After my mother’s death, I’d been driven by the need for revenge and it had nearly cost me my own life.
Something I hadn’t really even cared about.
But Ronan had cared, and when he’d given me the justice for my mother that I hadn’t been able to get on my own, I’d felt a connection with him. It was like he’d become the father I’d never had. And he’d brought with him a slew of big brothers who were always watching out for me.
“Are you okay?” he asked gently.
I shook my head because I really wasn’t. I was usually better at hiding my feelings, but today had been too close of a call. “Did you find Dylan?” I asked. I had no doubt Sage and Cash had already told Ronan about my friend.
“Not yet, sweetheart, but we will. Mav’s hacking his gaming accounts to see what he can find out about him.”
I nodded against Ronan’s chest. I hated that I knew so little about Dylan, but he’d refused to even tell me his last name. Like most gamers, we’d had a strong bond when it came to the online world we escaped into each day, but the real world was very different. Dylan was a lot like I’d been before Ronan had found me.
Withdrawn.
Distant.
Emotionally unavailable.
But online he was very different. We’d chatted endlessly about our avatars and the games we both loved, and he’d come alive. When I’d heard the fear in his voice just a few short days ago, I’d felt that familiar sense of helplessness come over me.
The same helplessness I’d always felt as I’d watched my mother fall into relationships with all the wrong men.
Men who’d used her and thrown her away.
“We have to find him,” I said softly.
“We will, Daisy. I promise,” Ronan murmured against my hair.
I nodded because a promise from Ronan was as unbreakable as the strongest of metals. I just hoped Dylan could hang on long enough that when Ronan did find him, he could come back from whatever Lee had done to him.
Assuming he even survived it.
Ronan released me and I was quickly enfolded in Memphis’s arms. He whispered a lot of the same things to me as Ronan had, then released me. I automatically moved to where Cash and Sage were standing near the bed. Sage’s fingers linked with mine as he urged me to sit on the edge of it. I didn’t like that Cash moved away, but I could tell he was restless. His big arms were crossed over his chest and his expression looked hard and unforgiving.
It was oddly comforting.
Ronan grabbed one of the small chairs near the table and moved it so that he was sitting in front of me. “Tell me everything that happened from the moment you learned Dylan was in trouble.”
