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“You remember Max, Tailor, Noah, and Alec?” She nodded. “They’re going to be here in the cottage with us for a while, ensuring that everything is okay. Also, my brother, HG.”
“D-do we need all of them?” she asked.
“No, but you have all of us,” smiled Tailor. “Don’t you worry, Londyn. Ain’t nothin’ gonna happen to you while we’re here.”
“What if he hurts you? You have families.” They all gave a little smile and head shake. Londyn wasn’t sure if they were cocky or self-assured.
“He can’t get on the property, Londyn. It’s actually shielded beneath stealth technology. You can only see us if we allow it. Even if he were on the road out there, he’d see the café, the bike shop, the salon, and the dress shop. That’s it. He wouldn’t even see the gates.”
“How?” she asked, confused.
“It is a lot of technology that very few of us understand,” said Noah. “But no one will come onto this property.”
“When you’re feeling better, we’d like to ask you some questions about him,” said Max. “Not now, but when you have more energy.” She nodded.
“Maybe tomorrow? I want to help, but I’m really tired right now.” Wilson nodded at the others.
“Get some sleep, honey. We’ll be in here in a little while to check everything again.” She didn’t even say anything as her eyes closed, and she went back to sleep. Bone closed the door and went into the living room to find Gaspar, Axel, Bull, Hiro, and Mac.
“Have I just joined this fucked-up club,” he frowned.
“Not a club anyone wants to join,” said Axel, “but we’ve all learned a few things along the way. Me, Gaspar, and Bull were sitting right where you are. Hiro and Mac saw the aftermath of what happened to their girls. If you listen, Bone, you’ll learn.” He stared at the men and nodded.
“I’m listening.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
“We were on a mission when I found Cait,” said Axel. “In fact, we were saving Olivia so Titus could marry her. A man walked out of a house with her in his arms and handed her to me. She’d been alone with her attacker for twenty minutes. Twenty fucking minutes, and he fucked her up so bad, no one recognized her.”
Bone covered his mouth, shaking his head.
“It was weeks before she could even talk to me, Bone. Weeks. To find out that she had a kid out there, Corey, was more than I was prepared for. But in the end, what a fucking blessing. I hate that she was beaten. It changed her forever. She doesn’t like me to have both hands on her face. One at a time, so she doesn’t feel she’s being suffocated.
“That woman is my whole world, Bone. The strength and courage she possesses in her little finger is more than I possess in my entire body. I am awed by her every day. Time, Bone. It takes time to get there.”
“He’s right,” said Gaspar. “We found Alexandra in the clubhouse on one of the islands. Or, I should say, Tony found her. God, that kid was fucked up after seeing her.”
“No, I wasn’t,” said the ghostly image of Tony. “I was angry that a man could touch a woman that way. I was angry that I wasn’t strong enough, big enough to kill him like you all would do. I felt helpless, but I wasn’t fucked up. My death, although you saw it as tragic, made me feel more a part of the team.”
“Tony, brother, you were always part of this team,” said Gaspar. He nodded and blended back into the background of the room.
“I spent days up at the hospital watching over this tiny little bird in the middle of the bed. She was so fucking strong, Bone.” He wiped his eyes, shaking his head as the other men watched. “She was worried about me and about my family, not about herself. When I brought her here, I knew I was falling in love with her. We didn’t know if she could ever be intimate, ever allow a man to touch her. But I was willing to wait a million years for the chance.”
“Same,” said Bull. “Finding Lily in that container cracked my heart a million ways to Sunday, but it also helped me to find my heart. Having her in my cottage, damn, brother, that was control. Here she was, healing from a beating most men wouldn’t have survived, and all she wanted was for me to hold her, kiss her, love her. Me. Fucking William ‘Bull’ Stone with the square face and cracking old body.”
“Rachelle was attacked years before I met her,” said Mac, “but the effects were still there. She hadn’t dated, hadn’t allowed a man to touch her at all. Yet, she chose me, Bone. She fucking chose me. I’ve never been a lucky man until that very moment. She allowed me to have her body of her own free will. She trusted me to not break her into a million pieces, and I trusted her to do the same with me.
“See, Bone, I don’t know if you knew this, but I was raped as well.” Bone jerked his head up, staring at Mac. He shook his head, biting his lower lip to prevent himself from crying. “Don’t cry for me, brother. Miller fucking took care of them and rescued me. It was all a set-up that we handled in the end, but we were more alike than she thought. Because she was kind, gentle, and loving, we healed together.”
“You already know about Winter, Bone,” said Hiro. “To have to endure that kind of treatment, beatings, rapes, repeatedly by someone that should have been trusted, I can’t fathom it. But she survived. She survived and allowed me to be a part of her life, share her life. I thank God every day that he brought her to us. Every fucking day.”
“I-I knew some of it. I vividly remember Frank finding Lane,” sniffed Bone. “I mean, I was a kid for some of it, but I remember some of the stories. It’s why we do this job. It’s why we fight this kind of evil. I love her. I know I do. When I think about letting her go when she’s healed, my gut bleeds. I can feel it.
“I know that we’ll get Perez and his men, but I need Londyn to know that I love her. None of what happened matters to me. How could I possibly blame her for what a psycho did to her? It doesn’t matter.”
“It damn well should,” said Gaspar. Bone frowned at him. “It matters, Bone. It matters because it changes how you approach her. It changes how you see sex from now on. It’s no longer fuck ‘em and leave ‘em. You want intimacy, lovemaking with that woman. Not sex. You have to balance concern with pity. You need to see the signs of her withdrawing into herself. All of it matters, Bone. All of it.”
“You’re right,” he nodded. “You’re absolutely right. I know it will take time, but I just want to keep her safe and let her know that I’m here for the long haul.”
