CHAPTER 19
HARRIS
“All good, brother?” Aleks asked as I walked into the apartment. I had a quick look around and saw exactly what I expected, a luxurious bachelor pad. Asher had told me he and Eli had set the place up so they had somewhere to crash when they were in Chicago. At least there was plenty of room for us all and I was pretty sure Evie would have all she needed to be comfortable, which was the main thing. She had been through so much and now her fucking brother had just made it all so much more painful for her.
“Yeah. The security seems tight. I think we should be good here for a few days at least,” I replied as I walked over to where Aleks had set his laptop up at the island in the large kitchen.
“Then what?” Nick asked. He was in the kitchen too, looking through the refrigerator, which looked fully stocked.
“I don’t know, man,” I sighed as I dropped tiredly into the seat beside Aleks. “I guess we see what Evie wants to do, but I still think the safest thing, and best for Evie’s mental state of mind right now, would be to get out of the states for a while.”
I knew Evie was strong. She always had been, even when I knew her years before, but she had been through hell recently and it just wasn’t stopping. Soloman was stalking her and it seemed he was never going to give up. Our attempts to find and catch, or end him, were proving useless and I was just terrified if Evie had to go through much more she really was going to break. We couldn’t allow that to happen.
“I still can’t believe Kyle watched the fucking disc. How could he? Not only has he broken any trust Evie had in him, but he’s subjected her to the damned footage. It’s the last thing she needed. She already has to relive it every night in her nightmares,” Aleks said, and I could hear the rage in his words. He was pissed. We all were. Even if I kind of understand Kyle’s need to know what Evie had been through, I couldn’t get why he went about it as he had. To watch footage of his own sister being tortured! It turned my stomach and I hated to think about how betrayed Evie had to feel.
“I should have kicked his ass,” I growled. I had been so damned close, but I stopped myself because I knew it would only add to Evie’s upset and I would never do that to her.
“We all should have,” Nick agreed.
“Where is she anyway? Is she okay?” I asked.
“She wanted to take a shower. Kailan found her a bathroom to use. He’s just trying to find her some clothes in the bags,” Aleks explained.
“We need to keep her close. I’m worried about her right now. I think she’s close to breaking point,” I admitted. I had been worried ever since the explosion at our place, and things hadn’t gotten any easier for her since then.
“I agree,” Nick said. “I think maybe it would be a good idea for us all to just take some time here, while we’re safe, and give her some time to regroup. She needs sleep and food, and some time to just breathe without the threat of that fucker or the pressure of her family.”
“Yeah. That sounds good to me. I could do with some fucking time to regroup too,” I sighed. I was so damned sick of the woman I loved being in danger. I was so terrified we were going to lose her all of the time and it was exhausting. I just needed this to be over as much as Evie did – we all did. We needed her to be safe. “I’ll talk to Evie. Hopefully she’ll go for that idea too.”
“I don’t think she has much choice. She’s running on fumes right now. She can’t keep going for much longer,” Nick pointed out and I knew he was right.
“I’ll go and check on her. You making food?” I looked to Nick as I got to my feet.
“Yeah. I’ll make some pancakes. They’re her favorite and Zack will devour them too.”
“Is there anything that kid won’t devour?” I laughed.
“If there is, I haven’t found it yet.”
As I left the kitchen and headed down the long hallway, which was presumably filled with bedrooms, Kailan came out of one with a pile of clothes in his arms.
“Hey boss,” he greeted. “We all secure?”
“Yeah, I think so. I don’t think that fucker will risk trying to get past all the security personnel in the building,” I told him with confidence.
“Thank fuck for Asher and his money.”
“Yeah. We seriously owe him after this,” I agreed. “Is Ev still in the shower?”
“Yeah. I was just bringing her some clothes. There are a ton of bedrooms down there. We can have one each if we want,” he explained as he waved down the hall behind him.
“I have a feeling Evie won’t be sleeping unless we’re all close.”
“I’m good with that. I hate having her out of my sight right now,” Kailan said, and I completely agreed. It was why I had gone looking for her. I needed eyes on her, so I knew for sure she was okay.
“Let’s check on her,” I suggested and Kailan led the way to the bathroom he had left her in. We could hear the shower was still running as we got close, so Kailan knocked and called for her.
“Maybe she can’t hear me over the water,” he shrugged when there was no reply.
“Ev?” I knocked louder this time, but still no reply came and I instantly panicked.
“Harris,” Kailan warned, but I already had the bathroom door open just a crack. I knew it was creepy, but I had check she was alright. Something inside was screaming at me that she wasn’t – that she needed us.
I peered in, then instantly threw the door open when I saw her. She was on the ground under the shower, all of her clothes still on. As I ran towards her I feared she had slipped and banged her head.
“Evie?” I yelled, and Kailan was right behind me.
“What happened? Has she fallen?” Kailan asked.
“I don’t know. Shut off the water!” I ordered as I dropped to my knees before her. I wanted to scoop her up, but I knew I shouldn’t if she had fallen. I leaned as far forward as I could to see her eyes, and that was when I realized she was crying, deep mournful sobs that broke my damned heart.
“Ev? Talk to me, sweetheart. I’m right here,” I said more softly as I took her shaking hand in mine. She didn’t respond. She didn’t even look at me. She just lay there, her eyes clamped shut as she cried her heart out, her whole body shaking so hard it scared me. “She’s not responding. What do we do?” I asked as I looked up to Kailan. He was toeing off his boots when I looked to him, then, wordlessly he climbed into the shower stall and sat on the ground behind her.
“She’s okay,” he told me as he scooped her up and settled her in his lap. She was limp in his arms, like she wasn’t even conscious, but Kailan managed to get her so her back was leant against his front, and he was holding her tight. “She’s going to be just fine. We’re going to talk to her and stay with her until she’s ready to come back to us, okay?” he told me calmly.
“Okay,” I agreed as I got to my feet and kicked off my sneakers. I stepped into the shower too and sank to the floor beside Kailan, my back leant against the wet wall. Kailan started to talk to her as I took her trembling hands into mine, but I couldn’t stop thinking the same thing over and over in my panic – we were too fucking late. She already reached breaking point and we had allowed it to happen.
EVIE
I was lost in the darkness, consumed by my nightmares, only this time I wasn’t even asleep and they were haunting me. I could see myself on that table again, hear my screams as Soloman tortured me and yelled at me to give him the words he wanted. I could feel the pain of every touch of that knife, could smell the mold of the room, mixed with the iron scent of my own blood. I was right back there and I couldn’t find my way back out, no matter how hard I tried.
But then I felt arms banding around me. I felt heat surrounding me and heard the softly spoken words of someone talking to me and the flashback started to drift away. Soloman disappeared and the pain eased off. Heat returned to my trembling form and I started to become of aware of the real world, my past horrors finally relinquishing their grip on me.
“…you hear me, darlin’? You take as long as you need, but you come back to me when you’re ready, okay? I’m right here, Harris too. We’ve got you. You’re safe, pretty girl, and so very loved.” Kailan’s voice got clearer. I could feel strong, slightly rough hands holding my own, a thumb tapping on the back of my hand over and over. Harris.
I allowed the feeling of safety to fill me, because I was safe. If Kailan and Harris had me, I knew I was safe. I moved my hand where it was wrapped inside of Harris’s as the numb feeling receded and an awareness of my body returned to me.
“Ev? Can you hear me, sweetheart?” Harris asked softly. I opened my eyes and looked to where I knew he was beside me. My head was pounding and I was freezing cold, but I could feel Kailan holding me in his arms. “Hey, there you are.” Harris smiled, but it didn’t hide the worry all over his face.
“You back with us, darlin’?” Kailan asked.
“I…I think so,” I uttered, my throat rough once again from crying. “Did I freak out?” I remembered Kailan leaving me in the bathroom, but the rest was fuzzy. My clothes were soaked through and I knew there had to be a reason the guys had felt the need to climb into the shower with me, fully clothed and looking completely spooked by whatever I had done.
“We lost you for a little while,” Harris answered. “But that’s okay because you came back to us.” He lifted one of my trembling hands to his lips and kissed my knuckles.
“I’m sorry,” I told them. “I just…it was too much.”
“We know, Evie. You have nothing to be sorry for, beautiful. We get that you have way too much on your plate right now,” Kailan said. “But you can talk to us. You don’t have to shut us out when things build up too much. We love you. We want to be here when you need us.”
“He’s right, Ev. It kills us to find you like this, all alone. We want to be here to hold you and make you feel safe when everything gets to be too much,” Harris agreed.
“I’m just so sick of being like this. I never used to cry before…not really and now it feels like I never stop. I’m j-just so tired,” I told them honestly.
“Give yourself a break, Evie. You’re dealing with PTSD, and rightly so after everything you went through, plus, on top of that you have this psycho stalking you and trying to terrorize you. Anyone would be struggling in your position. I think you’re handling it all pretty fucking amazingly actually,” Kailan told me.
“I just…I need it all to end. I really d-don’t know how much longer I can stand it all.”
“We know sweetheart, and we’re working on that. For now we’re safe in this amazing apartment. There are security on this floor and throughout the building. That motherfucker can’t get near you here, so how about we just take some time out to regroup a little, huh? We’re all tired and we all need a break. This is the perfect opportunity for that,” Harris suggested.
“My brothers aren’t going to leave us alone. They’ll want to know where I am,” I sighed.
“You just let us deal with your brothers. I don’t want you to worry about any of that, okay? Their issues are their own to deal with, not yours,” Harris told me firmly.
“Let’s get out of here and get you dry. You’re starting to tremble,” Kailan added, and I nodded. I was freezing and the both of them were pretty soaked through too.
I still felt a little out of it as the guys got me to my feet and helped me from the bathroom to a large bedroom next door. I was just exhausted, in all possible ways, and in desperate need of sleep.
Thankfully Kailan and Harris seemed to realize that, because once we were all dried off and changed into fresh clothes, they tucked me into the middle of the huge, sumptuous bed, then both laid down either side of me.
“Close your eyes and try to sleep, Ev. You’re exhausted sweetheart,” Harris told me gently as he turned on his side. Kailan did the same and draped his arm across my waist.
“You’re safe here. We all are, and we’re not gonna leave you alone. We’ll stay right here with you,” he added.
“I love you both so much,” I whispered as I looked between them. “I don’t know what I’d have done without you all.”
“And you’ll never need to know, because we’re not going anywhere, darlin’,” Kailan promised.
“Sleep now, Ev. Everything will seem that much better when you wake up.”
I turned onto my side and lay my head on Harris’s chest, wrapping my arm around his waist. Just as I hoped he would, Kailan shuffled up to me and curled himself around my back, wrapping his arm around me and making me feel so safe sandwiched between the both of them.
Just minutes later, with a hand clutching onto each of them to keep them close, I started to drift off, my head so much quieter now that I knew Harris and Kailan had me.
***
It was noon when I woke up, the guys still laid either side of me, just as they had promised they would be. I slept pretty soundly, which was surprising. I’d needed those few hours of sleep though. It was why I had broken down so epically. I had been completely wrung out, both physically and emotionally.
I was feeling much more level headed as we all got up and freshened up. My life was still in chaos, but I was clinging to what Harris and Kailan had told me – we were safe in that place at that time. It was the most I could ask for with everything that was going on around me.
“Hey,” Aleks greeted as I walked into the kitchen. He was sitting at the counter working away on his laptop as always, but he quickly got to his feet and came to me, engulfing me in his arms and holding me just the way I needed him to. “How are you feeling? Did you sleep?” he asked as he pulled back just enough to study my face.
“Less crazy now that I’ve had some sleep,” I told him dryly.
“Nick went to put Zack down for a nap. Can I make you something to eat? You must be hungry,” he offered.
“A little, I guess. Coffee would be good, if you don’t mind?”
“Sit down, maleńka, and I’ll see what I can do,” he told me as he led me to one of the stools at the island and helped me up into it.
“Did you find anything?” I asked as I nodded to his laptop. “About who exactly left that disc?”
“Not really. They were caught on surveillance cameras, but they had a balaclava on. Bypassed all of the security though. He definitely knows what he’s doing,” Aleks replied.
“Can I watch it?”
“If you want to, but you really can’t see much. He walks in when the office is quiet, dumps the disc, then leaves. No one even saw him.” Aleks handed me a steaming cup of coffee along with some sugar and milk. “Sorry, they don’t have your fancy creamer,” he told me.
“Thanks. This is good,” I assured him as I started spooning heaps of sugar into it.
“Please tell me you’re cooking, bro. I’m starving,” Kailan announced loudly as he and Harris walked in, freshly changed into jeans and T-shirts. They still looked as tired as I felt, and I knew Harris had been right about us all being worn out. It had been a chaotic few days.
“I’m not cooking, but I can make sandwiches,” Aleks offered and the guys eagerly agreed.
Things were quiet as we all sat and watched Aleks work. I gulped down my coffee, in desperate need of the caffeine, then stood to pour more from the pot, handing Harris and Kailan a cup each too. We were all a little zombie like, just going through the motions of the day as our minds wandered over the events of the last couple of days and what the hell came next.
Aleks was just handing out the subs as Nick came in with the monitor screen on his phone. He placed it down on the counter so we’d hear if Zack needed us, then he came right to me and wrapped his arms around me from behind.
“I was worried about you,” he whispered as he leaned in and kissed behind my ear so softly. “Are you alright?”
“Better,” I assured him. “I just needed to sleep. How’s Zack? This must be a lot for him too?”
“He’s fine. You know what he’s like – easily bribed with snacks,” he laughed. “Asher and Eli arranged for someone to pick up everything we could possibly need for Zack when we were on the way here. He has a travel cot, highchair, diapers and everything you could think of in that room down the hall. There’s even a crate filled with brand new toys.”
“They’re good guys. We’ll have to find a proper way to thank them when all of this is over,” I suggested. I was so grateful to those two virtual strangers. They had saved us more than once and they barely even took a thank you in return. They were good men.
“We will, baby,” Nick agreed. “You going to eat that?” he asked as he nodded to my untouched sandwich.
“I’m just not really hungry,” I sighed.
“Just try a little darlin’, for us, if nothing else. We’re worried about you,” Kailan requested and I nodded in agreement. I hated how much worry I saw in all of their faces for me. I had done that to them and it had to stop. I needed to find a way to get myself together.
“So what’s the plan for today?” I asked, desperate to change the subject. “Are we still going to just hang out here?”
“You guys can. I need to go back to your mom and dad’s place. I want to check for bugs and mics. I can’t shake the feeling that Soloman was listening to that conversation about your nightmares yesterday morning,” Aleks explained.
“Just call Kade. Can’t he check for that stuff?” I asked.
“He could, but if there is something there, I want to get my hands on it. There’s a chance I could follow the signal right back to Soloman,” he explained.
“Then we’re all going,” I decided instantly.
“Ev..”
“No Harris. There’s no way I’m letting Aleks walk in there alone with Kyle behaving the way he is. I want to be there, and I need all of you with me,” I told them flatly.
“I’ll be fine, Evie,” Aleks sighed, but I just shook my head.
“No. We’re going and that’s final. I want to be there if you get a lead on Soloman anyway. If this is going to end, I want to be there to see it for myself,” I told them. They looked reluctant to agree, but finally Harris gave in.
“Fine. I’ll let the security know to have the car ready, but we’re not going anywhere unless you eat more. You’re way too pale,” Harris said, looking right at me.
“Fine!” I agreed as I picked up half of the sandwich and took a huge bite like a sulky six year old. Harris just smirked as he grabbed his own food and headed for the door of the apartment, I guessed to speak with security.
I wasn’t keen to go back to my mom and dad’s and face Kyle again, but there was no way in hell I was sending one of the men I loved in alone to deal with the mess I’d left behind.