Chapter 35
Josephine
A strange calm has settled over me. I’m barely shaking as Kendrick helps me off the boat.
The ground is soggy beneath my feet, making it hard to get traction. Eventually, we find more solid ground, though we have to dodge sharp rocks and stay mindful of the uneven earth.
Finally, we reach the more familiar pebbled beach.
Decker closes the distance. In a heartbeat, he’s in front of me.
I’m silent as I collapse into his arms.
With one hand at the back of my head and the other at my waist, he maneuvers me this way and that. First to look me over, then to hold me tight against his chest.
Like he never wants to let me go.
His heart hammers against his ribcage, his breathing erratic. I smooth my fingertips over his pec.
“Decker, I—”
“One minute, Josephine. Give me one fucking minute. Let me hold you and try to convince myself you’re safe.”
I nod and swallow past the lump in my throat.
Resting my cheek against his shirt, I open my eyes. When I do, all I see is the mangled boat.
We were on that. We were chased. We almost—
“The fuck, Cap? At least get her inside. What is fucking wrong with you?”
Nicky’s words are frantic, shouted from twenty feet away, but a direct shot at Decker that I feel into the depth of my soul.
Kylian and Kendrick give him a wide berth, the three of them standing on the soggy earth still.
“How many times are we going to go through this? Hold her through the panic? Panic we caused.”
Nicky’s hands are in his hair, tugging on the ends.
Decker grunts like he’s been physically hit.
“This life… this so-called family… it’s not fair to her. It’s never fucking fair.”
My heart aches at the pain so blatant in his every move and every word. I yearn to get closer, to comfort my spiraling, broken boy.
I pull away from Decker, desperate to get to him. To assure him I’m okay.
Instead of releasing me, Decker tightens his grip and tucks me under his arm.
“He’s in shock,” he growls under his breath. He surveys me, looking down his nose in the way he does. His onyx eyes are darker than normal, if that’s possible. So dark they match the cloud-covered sky. “So are you.”
His words don’t register. I can’t focus on anything but Nicky. He’s unraveling. He needs me to hold him up.
I want to go to him, but…
I don’t want to leave Decker’s side, either.
A shiver racks through my body.
Then it doesn’t give up.
“Siren.”
Again, I hear him, but I don’t know what he needs or what he wants me to do.
“She’s shaking. Let’s get inside. Then we can regroup.”
My shoes and socks are soaked. The cold registers, and like a shock of electricity, it travels through me, up my legs, then down my arms, inspiring goose bumps all over my body.
Decker leads the charge over the uneven terrain toward the house, keeping me locked to his side. At the bottom stairs, we stop and wait for the other guys. Once we’re gathered, we move as a unit.
“Motherfuckers,” Kendrick mutters behind me.
I lift my head on the next step.
On the deck above us, waiting, watching, leaning against the railing like this is their home, not ours, are three crew members with two cameras pointed at us.
“Block her,” Decker barks out.
Sticking close, we increase our pace.
“Switch with him,” Decker orders.
Who he’s speaking to and why are lost on me.
But then the boys move with military precision, and Kendrick replaces Nicky on my right, putting himself between the cameras and me while also ensuring Nicky is as far away from the prying lens as possible.
The crew says nothing as we pass, and I don’t bother trying to meet their gaze.
Our directive is clear.
Get inside.
Get to Decker’s room.
Get away from them and this day and all the shit that’s weighing on us now as a seemingly new threat has emerged.
As we file into the living room, the toe of my soggy sneaker catches on the threshold of the sliding glass door.
With a humph I stumble, then startle when several sets of hands reach out to steady me.
“I’m fine.” I right myself as a fresh shot of adrenaline sends my heart rate skyrocketing. “I’m fine,” I repeat, though heat licks through my body, lighting my nerves on fire, even as I shiver from the cold.
“I’m—I’m—”
I crumple.
The wet heels of my shoes soak through my pants as they connect with the backs of my thighs, and then I’m on my knees, limp and shaking, struggling to keep myself from tipping to one side.