AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Another six hit hard and fast, and a moment later I’m bundled up in Everett’s arms and he’s wrapping a soft blanket around my shivering body. I’m not particularly cold, but the endorphins are firing almost to the point of dizziness, and my body is reacting to the overwhelming feeling of being whole.
My mind drifts to a place that feels both familiar and foreign, a place I haven’t been in such a long time it feels like a lifetime. Everett whispers quiet praises, his face buried in my neck as he brings me down slowly and carefully from a high I forgot was so addictive.
The warmth of Everett’s embrace serves as the perfect blissful state I’ve craved for so long despite myself. After Craig hurt me, I didn’t think I’d ever be able to find myself in this place again, but of course it’s Everett who brings me home.
We sit for long minutes, Everett holding me with such tender care it only makes the tears falling against my cheeks come faster, my ass throbbing from the brutal spanking he gave me, but the way he has me positioned has all weight off the burning flesh.
I move my head until I’m looking up at him, finally able to think through the clouds in my head.
Everett smiles down at me, his thumb brushing the tears from my cheeks. “There’s my girl,” he says quietly. “How are doing, dove?”
“Good,” I whisper.
“You did so good, Wynter. I’m very proud of you for facing your fears.” His eyes are full of pride and something I shouldn’t allow myself to hope for.
Love.
24
Everett
Once I’ve settled Wynter into her bed and made sure she’s asleep, there’s something I need to take care of. I barely managed to keep my anger under wraps in front of her, but I don’t give a shit how much she begged him not to tell me. Storm should have told me she was hurt.
I’m still trying to wrap my head around how it could even happen, but it must have been in the months I couldn’t get into the dorm rooms to put cameras and trackers on everything, and she didn’t take a lot of the things I planted bugs on before she left.
Vaguely I recall a couple of weeks a few months into college that she didn’t leave her room at all, but I assumed she had the flu and no one ever thought to correct me. I didn’t even think much of Craig’s disappearance. Security isn’t always long term because they’re normally running from their own lives, and at some point they want to go back.
I burst into Storm’s office without knocking and startle both him and Rayne who are huddled around a laptop on the desk. “Why the fuck didn’t you tell me what happened to Wynter when she started college?” I growl, all the tenderness I showed her just a few minutes ago is long gone and nothing but anger remains for the men sitting before me.
“What happened to Wynter when she started college?” Rayne asks, his eyes turning to his brother and a look of confusing falling across his features.
Storm sighs and closes the laptop. “I had hoped it would take you longer to find the evidence,” he admits.
“What evidence? Can someone tell me what the fuck is going on and what happened to my baby sister? Who the fuck do I need to kill?”
“No one, I took care of it,” Storm tells him.
“Took care of what?” Rayne snaps.
“I had a right to know. We had a deal.” I slam my fist into the door, the wood shaking violently from the force.
“Had a right to know what? I swear to God one of you motherfuckers better tell me what the fuck is going on before I lose it.” Rayne’s own anger is palpable. I assumed they both knew, that Rayne would have been the one to handle it, but clearly I was wrong. That should give me reason to pause, that if Storm hadn’t told their brother what happened, maybe it was reasonable to not have told me, but I’m way past rational right now. Rational went out the window the moment the door of Wynter’s room clicked shut behind me.
I stare at Storm for long moments, my head tilted as I wait for him to tell his brother all about what he hid from us. He sighs and leans back in his chair. “When Wynter was in college, someone…hurt her.” He chooses his words carefully, but if he thinks he’s getting away with being vague, he has another thing coming.
“Violated her,” I correct and Rayne’s head whips around so quick I swear I hear his neck crack from the pressure.
“What the fuck is he talking about?” Rayne snaps at his brother.
“This isn’t exactly something we want to know about as her brothers,” Storm says, his eyes locked on mine.
“Yeah well, if you’d called me like you should have, I would have taken care of it. I would have taken care of her,” I reply, my arms crossed over my chest.
“You’d just left her!” Storm roars, slamming both hands down on the desk in front of him. “We all agreed it was what was best, but you don’t know how broken she was without you, Everett. You don’t have a fucking clue. I couldn’t risk calling you just so you could leave again. She wouldn’t have survived, especially after what Craig did.”
“Craig, as in her security? And what do you mean, violated her?” Rayne growls. He’s nearing the edge of his tether and if Storm doesn’t start giving us answers soon, he’s probably going to tear this office apart. The violent streak in him has calmed since Emerson walked into his life, but that doesn’t mean the thought of his family hurt won’t set him off like fireworks on the Fourth of July.
Storm sighs. “Yes. Wynter’s security when she first moved to Boston hurt her. He…” He sucks in an unsteady breath as he prepares himself for the words to leave his mouth. “He tied her down and hit her with his belt repeatedly.”
