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“What h-happened?”

“We don’t need to discuss that now,” Dad dismissed. I looked up to him and raised my eyebrows, showing I wasn’t letting it go.

“Tell me,” I whispered when he looked unsure.

“Someone locked those doors from outside, then set the fire at the door to your room. Police think the accelerant was spread both inside and outside the door to make sure there was no way to get you out from either side,” Trent explained.

I closed my eyes as I took in what Trent had said. There was no mistaking the motive behind those moves.

“T-to kill me?” I asked as I opened my eyes and looked to Trent.

“We think so.” Trent nodded.

“We aren’t taking any more risks, sweetheart. Luca has brought in two more guys so we have round the clock protection on you and the house. Forest, his partner, is at our place now analysing all of the surveillance footage. We’re going to find out who did this,” Dad assured me.

“Abby,” I rasped as I remembered her being at the house yesterday. “Sh-she was there.”

“The police have her in custody and are questioning her,” Trent said, and when I looked to him he wasn’t meeting my eyes. I reached for his hand where it clutched the rail along the side of the bed. As soon as my hand touched he looked to me. “I’m so sorry, Blake. This is all on me. I should have listened when everyone told me to stay away from her.”

“No,” I growled, ignoring the pain that caused to my raw throat. I coughed a little, my throat clearly not happy with me.

“Easy sweetheart,” Dad soothed as he helped me to sit up, adjusting the pillows behind me. The coughing went on for a while and by the time it ceased my eyes were pouring with tears, my throat agony.

“No more talking, tiny. You need to rest. Luca is outside the door, so you’re safe. We’ll be here too, Dad and I, or the guys,” Trent soothed.

“The house?” I asked, hoping desperately that it still stood. Despite what had happened, I had so many good memories of the last few months in that house. It was the only place I had ever considered home. I couldn’t lose it.

“Your room and the hallway got the worst of it. It’ll need some work, but it’s still standing. We’ll stay with the twins until it’s habitable again. That okay with you?” Dad asked, and I nodded. The twin’s house was the only other place I was comfortable in, and I’d be okay staying there for a while. I could handle staying anywhere as long as I had my dad, brother, and my guys with me.

Once again I had been given a startling reminder of how easy it was to be erased from the earth completely, and yet there I sat, once again saved from the grip of death. I had no idea why I was continually saved from what seemed pretty inevitable, but that day, for the second time in my life, I was actually grateful to still be breathing. I had something I never even dreamed possible – people I was determined to live for. More than that, I had a determination to keep breathing and fighting for my own sake. I wanted to live – to see where life was going to take me in the future, and that was new. Very new and a little terrifying.

***

At some point I must have drifted off to sleep, because when I awoke next Dad and Trent were gone, and instead the bed was surrounded by the guys. Grey was sat in a chair to my right, and the twins were in chairs on my left. Declan was stood at the foot of the bed staring at me with a glare that would surely terrify anyone who didn’t know him, but I knew the glare, and it wasn’t angry. It was fear. I had scared him again.

“Hi,” I greeted as my eyes locked with Dec’s and I forced a smile I hoped would reassure him.

“You gotta stop this shit, Tiger,” he told me, his voice tight and croaky. “I can’t keep thinking we’ve lost you. You’re killing me.”

“I th-think you might have to take that up w-with whoever is out to bump me off,” I told him.

“Well, I hope you like silver foxes, jellybean, because you being here is gonna make us all turn grey,” Liam laughed half-heartedly.

“I think y-you’d all look pretty sexy with some grey,” I told them as I looked around, so grateful and relieved to have them there with me.

“How are you feeling?” Grey asked as he got to his feet and leant over the bed a little to look at me more closely.

“Better. My throat just hurts a little and I h-have a headache, but not a bad one,” I answered honestly.

“That’s to be expected. Your oxygen levels are back to where they need to be. The doctor said you should be good to be discharged later today,” Grey explained, and I was happy to hear that.

“Abby? Do w-we know if it was her?” I asked. My voice still had a rasp to it, but it sounded better than it did before and the words weren’t as painful to get out.

“She’s still with the police so they haven’t ruled her out yet. Forest, Luca’s partner, is looking over the security footage right now, so hopefully he can find some proof,” Liam explained.

“Luca and his team are on it, babe, as are the police. You don’t need to worry. Just concentrate on feeling better and let them do their jobs,” Tom told me.

“I…I thought I w-was a goner,” I admitted as tears filled my eyes. “There w-was no way out and the window…it wouldn’t bloody break.”

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