AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Lilith looks at my face, which I can feel reddening, and then at Nolan, Sawyer, and her husband. “Get out,” she states firmly. “It’s just going to be Olivia and I in here for this.”
They all three look like they want to argue until she raises one eyebrow and crosses her arms over her chest. Nolan’s the first to bug out, then Connor, but Sawyer hangs back for a second.
“She’s got a few broken ribs, no contact. No heavy hits.” Then he looks at me. “We’ll be in the kitchen. If anything starts to hurt, holler for us.”
“I’ll be fine.” I watch him leave before turning and giving my full attention to Lilith.
“Good. Just us now. Lake filled me in on some of what’s going on, so I figure I’ll show you a couple maneuvers to escape a hold and the way to easily break someone’s fingers. I won’t put you in any position that might hurt or make you uncomfortable.”
“Sounds good.”
She walks me through breaking fingers first. We start with some small talk as we practice and then move onto bigger conversations. She tells me that they have twin daughters and she’s in her first trimester of her second pregnancy.
“How did you get the broken ribs?” she asks when we take a break.
I pause lifting a water bottle to my lips.
She must sense my distress because she immediately holds her hand up and shakes her head. “You don’t have to answer that, I’m sorry.”
“No, it’s okay.” I take a drink to wet my suddenly dry throat. “My soon to be ex-husband. That’s why I’m here, the guys want to keep me hidden away and protected.”
Her eyes narrow and she nods. “Well, this is definitely one of the safest places you could be. We’ll get you to the point of being fully able to defend yourself.” She pushes off the wall. “Let’s do a few more ways to break a hold.”
We work for another hour. She looks like a glowing goddess and barely has a light sheen of sweat. I, on the other hand, am winded and a sweaty mess. My hair is sticking to my temples and the back of my neck, even though it’s pulled back into a ponytail. We chat about how I met the guys and joked about overprotective men.
When we walk into the living room where they guys are all sitting, I notice lines of tension on everyone’s face. The air is heavy as the three men all share a loaded glance. I look over at Lilith and can tell she notices, too.
“Listen.” She reaches into her bag and pulls out a business card and pen. “I’m putting my personal cell number on the back of this. If you ever want to get together when you’re back in the city or continue learning some self-defense, hit me up. I know what it feels like to be surrounded by men who think they should be the ones making decisions about your well-being.”
Her husband scoffs at that. Nolan walks them out to their waiting helicopter.
“You look tired.” Sawyer’s eyes look me up and down appraisingly. “Did you overdo it?”
“No, we didn’t do anything excessively strenuous. Everything makes me tired right now.”
It surprises me at how easily I can step into his arms. When he holds me against him, his hands moving in long, gentle strokes up my spine I feel so safe and comforted. It’s like this with all of them, even with Grant when he makes a rare move to touch me.
I notice tension in his muscles that usually isn’t there when I run my hands from his waist up to his shoulders. I pull back and look up at his face. His eyes are downturned, and there are lines of stress in between his brows. Nolan walks into the living room with a similar expression.
“What’s going on?” I step out of Sawyer’s embrace and look back and forth between the two men.
“Grant and Lake are on their way here, and then we’ll talk,” Nolan answers.
“About what?” I cross my arms over my chest and stare at him through narrowed eyes.
“It can wait.” He rubs the back of his neck like he used to when he was avoiding hard topics. “Go ahead and take a shower or a bath and relax before they get here.”
I try to hold eye contact with him, but after a minute, he turns and walks into the kitchen. I look to Sawyer for answers, but he just shakes his head and shrugs. It’s clear that they aren’t saying anything until everyone is here.
Anger and bitterness rise within me. It is beyond obvious that it has something to do with me. I’m a vortex of emotions the entire time I clean up. Anxiety and anger war with each other, setting me on edge and driving all sorts of thoughts through my mind.
13
NOLAN
WatchingLivvy walk down the hall while disappointment radiates off her is one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do. It’s about to get a lot fucking worse though. The news I have been sitting on for the past few days as I awaited confirmation is heavy.
Part of me wants to pretend it isn’t verified by completely trustworthy sources and pretend I never looked into it. She didn’t ask for me to do this after all. But like the fucking idiot I am, I peeked inside Pandora’s box, and now we’re all fucked.
