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It took less than ten minutes for me to access the text messages between Apple and Deacon. Surprisingly, there weren’t many. Two or three exchanges each day. Always one in the morning when she got up and one in the evening before she went to bed. No funny business at all. She’d called him a couple of times, but the calls were less than five minutes. The last text had been thanking him for sending help.
Deacon: I’ll always come for you, Apple. You’re still in trouble though.
Apple: I’m so sorry. I didn’t get YOU in trouble, did I?
Deacon: Don’t worry about me, honey. I’ve not done anything I’m ashamed to own up to.
Apple: Are you not going to talk to me anymore now?
Deacon: I can’t promise I can. But I’ll always be here for you. If you need me for any reason, you call or text. I’ll have to talk to my president about this. Let him know what happened.
Apple: I’m sorry.
Deacon: Don’t be, little one. Just promise to always tell me the whole truth from now on. Can you do that?
Apple: Yes. Just please don’t go away.
Deacon: I’ll always be around, honey. We’ll work things out.
OK, it didn’t look like I was going to have to kill Deacon. At least, not right now. While I was at it, I checked Apple’s messages. Which led me to Lemon’s messages. With a frown, I skimmed over them. It looked like Lemon had purposefully pushed Apple and Deacon together because Apple was being bullied at school. That was something I’d have to look into.
Using a program I’d written, I hacked into both girls’ phones and planted a bit of code to give me access to the phone’s GPS, and made a clone of their devices. I could always track their movements as well as monitor any calls or text. And their browsing history. And to see if they were beating my level in Dice Dreams. If I felt bad about invading their privacy, I just reminded myself they were sixteen and already had eyes on the men in my club. This was as much to protect the Iron Tzars as it was to protect the girls.
Then I did the same to Danica’s phone. That was for my own peace of mind, and I would not apologize for it. Better to ask forgiveness than permission in most cases. Besides, I was only going to use my powers for good.
By the time I’d finished, I saw Clutch pull up in the Explorer he’d taken to pick up Raven and Danica. The girls flew toward Danica as she climbed out of the front seat. She wrapped her arms around both of them. Time to get all three settled, because there was no way they were going back to Danica’s house until I knew this bullshit with Jordan was finished. Which, by the way, I still had to dig into. There was lots of work for me to do tonight. Starting with that bitch Jordan.
I made my way to the parking lot and leaned against the Explorer. Raven was talking quietly with Danica, and she nodded several times before letting go of the girls and giving the large man a tight hug.
Yeah. Not happening.
“All right there, Romeo.” I grabbed Raven’s shoulder and pulled him away to wrap my arm around Danica’s shoulder. Surprisingly, she melted into me. So, I tugged her closer. Then, to my alarm, she buried her face and bunched her fist in my shirt and sobbed.
I glanced up, my gaze finding Lemon’s unerringly. She gave me a look that said I’d better not fuck this up or she’d carve out my liver. I gave her a slow nod and hugged Danica closer, kissing the top of her head.
“You’re OK, pretty girl. Everything’s OK.”
“I d-don’t know wh-what would have h-happened if you and Mr. Raven hadn’t come to h-help us.” Her slight body shook with her crying. I wanted to scoop her up and take her inside. To my room. To my bed. But that wasn’t an option.
“Nothing happened because I will always be there for you. Me and my brothers.” I let her cling for a while. Not because I needed her to, though. She needed to feel safe and to thank me and I was good with it.
“Thank you so much!” She finally pulled her face out of my shirt and looked over at Raven. “Thank you, Mr. Raven.”
Raven nodded at her. Then that dickhead Deacon stepped onto the porch and leaned against a post. He was a distance away, but he’d come out to see the group.
“Deacon alerted us,” Raven said. I wanted to punch him. Deacon didn’t need to take any credit for this.
“Deacon’s in enough trouble, Raven,” I growled.
Raven shrugged. “Can’t very well take him to task when he saved your girl there.”
“She’s not my girl,” I said, even as I wrapped her tighter against me to prevent her from moving. “And Apple had his number because he was trying to date her! She’s sixteen, for Christ’s sake!”
Raven’s gaze snapped to Deacon’s. The big man didn’t move or even flinch where he stood. Surprisingly, it was Apple who spoke up.
“He didn’t know I was sixteen.” She moved around Lemon who’d been shielding her from everyone. “He found out today when Dani told him. I’d texted him when we went to the hobby store, wanting to see him.” She shifted her gaze to Deacon. “I’m really sorry. I just wanted to --”
“Hush, Apple.” Lemon gripped her sister and yanked her back. I almost winced at the pressure she put on the other girl’s arm. There would likely be bruises.
