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“Mr. Ledger, can you please go check on Mr. Ashford and see if he is getting food and clothes for Wren. I’m sure she would like to clean up a bit soon.” I smile gratefully toward Doc's voice as I try to sit still for him. Jax’s footsteps can be heard leading away from me and I relax a tiny bit more.
“Wren, I’ll be back in a few minutes. I think we all need to talk.” My mind screams at me to leave, that this “talk” is probably not a good one but I already know my ankle is messed up. I couldn’t even stand on it.
“Doc?”
“Yeah, dear.” He hums under his breath as his fingers move around my head and toward the side of my face that is throbbing.
“Is my ankle broken? I couldn’t put pressure on it earlier. That’s why I fell.” It can’t be broken. I need to be able to leave. To walk and run if I really had to.
“Let me take a look in a second, dear. Lean forward for me so I can check to make sure you didn’t injure your back.” I do as he says, leaning forward as he lifts my shirt. He gets it up to my shoulders when I want to palm myself in the face. I blame the pain in the rest of my body for forgetting this. “Wren.” A tear slides down my cheek before I’m engulfed in a tight embrace. “It’s going to be okay. Let it out.” And I do for the first time in years I let it all out.
Chapter twenty-one
Xander
“Xander, do you mind stepping out while I check Wren over?” Doc says but my eyes are locked on the trembling girl in front of me.
I look up at the man hovering just on the other side of the bed. “I am not leaving her alone with you. I am not leaving period, so do what you need to do and don’t fuck it up.” I see Wren jump at the sound of my voice making my eyes snap back to her. The machine next to her starts to beep erratically and I know deep down it’s because of me. She’s scared.
“Mr. Ashford, you are scaring the young lady. If you want me to do my job, you will step out of the room and allow me to calm her down and make sure I didn’t miss anything last night. I am sure she is in lots of pain and you are preventing me from easing it.” Doc says in a sterner voice making me lift a brow at his sudden bravery to speak back to me. I know the man is afraid of me and what I could do to him but he holds his head high and back straight. Wren lets out a small groan of pain as she shifts positions, and I growl out at the fact Doc would rather go head to head with me and not fix my little bird. “Maybe you could get her some clean clothes or something to eat? The pain medication I will be giving her will upset her stomach if she doesn’t eat.” He adds in a more calming voice and just knowing I can help her makes me fold.
Plus, it will give me time to go talk to Mav and Jax about the plan moving forward. The way she woke up has me leaving this room with more questions about my little bird’s past. “I will be back in fifteen minutes.” I sit still as I head for the door. Every fiber in my body screams at me to stay with her, to protect her but I also need to talk to my brother, so with one last look at Wren I head to the kitchen.
Once there, I notice Jax was already at the stove to cook some food. Mav is at the breakfast nook on his laptop typing away. I head to the cabinet and grab a glass and a bottle of Jameson. I pour myself three fingers because fuck it. I down the entire glass and embrace the burn as it flows down the back of my throat. “How is she, X?” Jax asks as I set the glass down and pour myself another. I down that one as well before I answer him.
“Something happened to her.” I hear the pan hit the stove as Jax drops what he was cooking and turns to head to her room. “Wait.” I call out before he can get too far. “Before us.” From the corner of my eye, I see Maverick stop what he is doing and look up from his screen. “Something happened before she came into our lives. I don’t know what but she is afraid of whatever it is.”
“What do you mean?” Jax growls out. He might be the most protective of Wren but nowhere near as obsessed as me. I pour a third glass of whiskey but Maverick snatches the glass out of my hand before I can down it again. He throws it back himself before barking out, “Explain.”
I take a deep breath trying to smooth out the raging emotions warring inside of me. “Remember when we tied her down to make sure she wouldn’t roll off the bed.” I ask knowing they are both aware of what we all argued about earlier. “When she woke up she started to try and sit up but realized she couldn’t move. I was about to speak to her and explain things when she started screaming. I thought maybe she was sleeping and having a nightmare about what happened last night but I ‘m starting to think it was about that. We’ve all seen her have nightmares but this was different. I grabbed her shoulders to try and wake her but she started freaking out more saying not again. It was like she was trapped in her mind, maybe a memory. Nothing I did was snapping her out of it. Honestly, it was scary.” I explain and it’s silent until I hear a popping noise.
Jax curses under his breath and rushes to the stove. He left whatever he was cooking on the burner and it smelled like it was now burnt. Shame. I head to the fridge and start rummaging through to find Wren some actual food. I don’t find much but then again I don’t cook in the house, that’s why I hire people to do it but I sent everyone home for a few days while we figure out the plan for Little bird.
Jax must realize what I’m doing because he shoves me out of the way and starts pulling out supplies to cook again. “I’ll make her something.” He mumbles and takes his arm full of food over to the counter to whip her up some edible food.
I look around the room and start to realize this is not a place that’s safe for a woman like Wren. I pull out my phone and start to make some notes to send to Marie, our housekeeper. The edges on the counters and breakfast nook are sharp, too sharp for the clumsy blind woman who will be living here for the foreseeable future. My mind wanders to the rest of the house.
We have two sets of stairs leading to the second floor’s east and west wing. She could easily miss a step and tumble down. The hallways around the house also have tables or oddly placed furniture that my bitch of an ex insisted we all have. It made the place look sophisticated; she had said but I personally think it’s distasteful. All this stuff would just be an obstacle for Wren. Another way for her to hurt herself. After I’ve made some notes about things that need to be changed around this place including gating the pool area. I make another list of Wren’s favorite foods that we need to get stocked in here.
Fifteen minutes later and Jax is plating scrambled eggs, French toast, and fresh sliced fruit all neatly on a tray with a caramel latte topped with whip cream and a small glass of orange juice. Jax has a sly smile on his face like he will be getting bonus points for making her this but I have a feeling Wren won’t be too happy with us when I tell her how this whole situation will go.
Mav clears his throat in an overly dramatic way and I look over at him. The look of annoyance plasters his face but I also see regret. I almost feel bad for the guy, knowing that he is fighting his attraction for the woman a few rooms away but then he opens his big mouth. “Look I know you guys want wren to stay here but she can’t.” Jax and I both open our mouths, no doubt ready to tell him to shut his mouth in one way or another but he holds up his hands in defense and continues on.
“Calm down. I’m saying it’s not safe for her to be around us. Wren is not built for our kind of life. What happens when someone wants a grab for power and thinks going after Wren is how they will get it.” His question is valid but no one is dumb enough to challenge us for power. We rule this city. We are the kings. But he also has a point. I glare at him knowing we would never want Wren to be put in harm's way.
“All I’m saying is she couldn’t handle what being our woman would mean. For one she is at a disadvantage with no eyesight. We can’t protect her every second of the day and someone will come after her. Think about it.” He pauses, allowing us to get more annoyed at the fact that he is right and building the image in our minds of how she could be harmed because of us. “Men will try to get to her to get to us. Women would be worse.”
I snort at that. “How would women be worse than the men?” I ask because yeah women are vindictive but to go after a woman of ours.
Mav barks out a laugh. “Are you serious?” I look over to Jax who is now wearing a frown and looking as confused as me. “Wow. Women are the worst. Women would constantly be throwing themselves at us. Worse than they already do. Women want what they can’t have. They will think Wren isn’t good enough for us.” I scoff at that idea. Wren is too good for us. “See men may take things by force but women play mind games. Even if we somehow got Wren to fall for us, which I doubt would happen. They would spread rumors and with Wren’s lack of sight how is she supposed to tell what is true or not? We could be fucking saints and one person telling her we sin; she would believe it. Women can smell insecurities from a mile away and that woman in the other room is full of them.”
“Then we show her we are good guys.” Jax defends but I see the worry. The man might be a giant killer but he turns into a damn puppy dog whenever Wren’s name is mentioned.
“She already knows we killed a man. I’m sure she thinks we‘ve done it more than that one night.” Mav unhelpfully adds. “All I’m saying is she shouldn’t be here or around us.”
“Jax, go and check on Doc and Wren.” He nods and heads out of the kitchen carrying the tray of food he made.
Once Jax leaves the room I step closer to Mav. “Look Mav, I know you are fighting your attracti-“
