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Theyallhave some kind of feelings for me.
This is real for all four of us now.
It’s a lot to process, and I’m not in the headspace to really do that… but I also know none of them expect me to. Not right now. Right now, we all need the same thing, and it’s as simple as this moment.
They’re my home.
And I want to stay.
I stop trying to hold any part of myself back and cling to Maddoc, giving in to how badly I need to touch him. He wasn’t the only one terrified that he’d lose someone who mattered today.
We stay like that, all of us, for I don’t know how long. But then the sound of light, rapid footsteps racing toward us causes Maddoc to finally loosen his hold on me, and I’m already half turning to face the door when my sister bursts through it.
“Riley.”
She throws herself into my arms, and just like that, my heart is complete again.
9
RILEY
Maddoc releases me,shoving his dark hair out of his face as I hug Chloe tight, murmuring low words of comfort to her. All three of the guys step back to give us a moment together, but the sense of being surrounded and protected by them doesn’t change.
“Oh god,” Chloe says, her arms still locked around me. “I was so scared for you.”
She starts to tremble, and I hush her, running my hand over her hair just like when she was little. “I’m back now. It’s fine. We’re okay. It’s okay, Chloe.”
“Dante, Logan,” I hear Maddoc say quietly before issuing instructions to his brothers that I suspect they don’t need. Something about clearing the weapons out of the vehicles, post-mission coordination, and clean up. He’s not just coordinating shit with his seconds though. He’s also giving Chloe and me some space, and it hits me in a rush that I didn’t worry about her while I was kept prisoner.
The whole time Austin had me locked in that fucking room, for the first time since our Mom died when Chloe was small, I didn’t worry about her once.
I knew these men would take care of her.
I knew she wasn’t alone.
She finally loosens her grip on me, stepping away with a sheepish smile. “Sorry—”
“No,” I cut her off. “Never.”
She bites her lip, then blurts, “I’m just so glad you’re back.”
“I know the feeling,” I say, arching an eyebrow as she wipes the moisture from her cheeks.
The dark humor makes us both giggle a little, a sound of pure relief, and after Dante passes through on his way from the garage to somewhere deeper in the house and grins at us, Chloe tugs me close again.
“They were totally wrecked, you know,” she whispers. “They’re all really into you. Like,really.”
“It goes both ways.”
She snickers. “You mean… all four ways?”
“Yeah, that.” I shove her shoulder playfully, things almost feeling normal for a second as she razzes me about a guy—guys—just like she’s done dozens of times before.
Except… these guys are different.
“I really care about them, Chloe.”
She nods, a serious expression on her face. “Good. You wouldn’t believe how hard they worked to find you. And once that asshole offered up the exchange—”
