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I’m not sure how long I’m outside before I hear the sound of tires crunching down the long driveway. I turn my head slowly, my body preparing to run. I envision Douglas coming down the drive, ready to take me or maybe just kill me where I stand, but that’s not who it is.
My entire body relaxes, and then all my muscles tighten again.
The girls.
It’s all of them together, rolling down the drive in an SUV. I can’t even focus on the car because they are all I see. Kiplyn’s gaze connects to mine, and guilt consumes me instantly. I walked away when she needed me. At the end of her pregnancy, I just abandoned my best friend.
I don’t move. I’m not able to, even if I want to. Instinctually, my brain is telling my body to run. I know it would be wrong. But confrontation is not something I enjoy. Even though I’m a bit mouthy, I don’t like it.
And Kiplyn has every right in the world to confront me. To be angry with me. As I have a piss-poor excuse as to why I never told her anything about my life, about Douglas.
I stand frozen, unmoving, and slack-jawed as all the women open the car doors, move around a bit, then make their way toward me, babies in arms. My eyes well with tears instantly at the sight of Kiplyn’s new little bundle.
They stop a few feet away from me, three sets of eyes focused on just me. I feel a million times smaller than I am as I stare back at them. Kiplyn clears her throat, obviously the leader in this situation.
“Can we go inside and talk?” she asks.
She sounds hesitant as if she’s afraid to ask me anything. She shouldn’t be. She has every right in the world to ask all the uncomfortable questions and yell at me at the same time. Nodding once, I turn and make my way toward the door, tugging it open, then stepping aside, holding it for them and their babies.
Wordlessly, everyone walks past me and into the clubhouse. I follow behind them, then stop when the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. Turning my head slowly, I look over my shoulder, but there isn’t anything there I can see.
He’s out there, though. I can feel it. My stomach clenches at the thought. He’s doing this to stress me out. He’s doing this to play games. I need to tell Lance he’s there… somewhere. I know he’ll believe me, though I don’t know how much good it will do if I can’t even see him.
I continue to follow the girls as they make their way to the only four-person table in the bar. They all take a seat, and I sink down in the only available chair, feeling like an absolute asshole.
“We are so happy you’re home,” Henli says.
Lifting my eyes from my lap, I find hers. “You are?”
She looks at me with a puzzled expression on her face, then she clears her throat. “Of course we are,” she says, her voice soft and sweet. “We were all really worried about you. I wasn’t supposed to tell Kiplyn that you were back yet. The guys had some theory that it would all be too upsetting, but I couldn’t keep you two apart.” She’s rambling, but it’s cute and hilarious all at the same time.
“You just took off,” Kiplyn whispers. “Vanished.”
“I had a reason,” I murmur.
“Of course you did,” Piper says. “We know you wouldn’t leave without a reason.”
“But you won’t talk to us,” Kiplyn snaps. “You don’t talk to me. I’ve given you space. I’ve waited. I’ve watched you with Agony. I know there is something there, so I’ve been waiting. But then you vanished. And we didn’t know why. You wouldn’t let anyone help you, not even Agony, so I’m sorry, but it’s time you talk, and not just some bullshit dancing over what has been going on. I want to hear it all.”
Kiplyn has never demanded anything from me until this moment. She’s just as upset as Henli said she would be, just as the men said she would be. Her words come rushing out, and I know she’s emotionally exploding. She has every right to be angry, to be upset, and to be hurt.
It’s in this moment that I decide to trust these women. So, instead of dancing around the truth as I usually do or cracking jokes, I suck in a deep breath and tell them the truth… all of it.
AGONY
Leaving that warehouse and those women locked in cages, I ride straight for my own shop. I don’t know what the fuck I’m going to do, but if this exchange doesn’t yield some assholes being taken in and every single one of these women released and freed, I am going to murder some assholes, and I won’t give a shit who is around to witness it.
Roadkill is working on a car when I walk into the building. I don’t even notice the make or model. I’m so fucking pissed off as I slam my ass down into a chair and let out a heavy sigh of frustration.
“You want to talk about it?” he asks without even looking back at me.
I do.
But I don’t.
“Logan has women locked up in cages. They look like goddamn dog kennels, and there are a lot of them. Only some are filled. He’s waiting for more, but this whole thing makes me feel fucking uneasy. I am afraid it’ll be another drop-off where we send these women to their worst nightmares, and nothing happens.”
“You think he’s fucking with us? Maybe he’s not really trying to bring anyone down.”
