Chapter 3
Angie couldn’t believe it.
She finally had her own place. She didn’t think she’d ever get the chance to live on her own again.
She’d thought that she would always have to have someone watching over her.
But after the wedding, Keira had gone into bat for her. And now look . . . she had her own small house in a good neighborhood.
Sure, Zander and Keira had helped her get this house. But she would pay them back one day.
For the moment, she was just happy to have some freedom.
“Right, all of the cameras are in,” Miles said, coming out of the house. “You have state-of-the-art security now.”
“Which wasn’t necessary,” she said. “But thanks, Miles. I really appreciate it.”
“You’re welcome,” he replied, looking slightly surprised. “You don’t have to thank me.”
“Oh, right, because you’re doing your job? You should still get thanked though, right?” she asked.
“No, not because of that. Because we’re family.”
Angie blinked at him rapidly. “We are?” She’d lived in the compound for two years now, so she felt like she knew Miles well.
However, she didn’t realize that he considered himself family.
“Thanks, Miles,” she said again. “I . . . I will miss you guys.”
It was a huge admission from someone who found it hard to talk about her feelings. To admit to caring about someone.
Angie knew it was her upbringing. She found it difficult to attach herself to people in case they let her down or hurt her.
But Miles had never done that. All he’d ever been was sweet and nice.
Should she hug him?
She wasn’t a hugger. Physical touch was difficult for her. However, this was Miles.
“I feel like we should hug. Should we?” she asked awkwardly.
He gave her a sweet smile and pushed his glasses up on his nose. “I think we can just say we did and that’s good. I’m not always good at physical touch either.”
“Why not?” she asked fiercely. “Did someone hurt you?”
Who was she going to kill? Because she might be hopeless at defending herself, but she would go into battle for anyone she cared about.
And despite her best efforts to keep a distance from these guys, she did care about him. About all of them, she guessed.
Keira had found herself quite the family and Angie was almost . . . jealous.
She was included, of course. They all made certain of that. But it had never truly felt like her home. In fact, sometimes it had felt like another sort of cage.
Well, she should be used to those by now. Seems she was always in a cage of one sort of another.
At least no one hurt her in this one.
She just had a hard time letting anyone care for her.
“I don’t like this,” Zander said loudly as he stepped out of the house and glanced around.
It was at the edge of a residential area.
He’d chosen a house with high fences. One that could be easily secured, and they could visit without too much notice.
She couldn’t even see her neighbors when she was on her property.
Which also felt a bit cage-like. But she hadn’t wanted to protest too much.
There was even an electric gate. She didn’t see how she could be any more secure.
She and Miles shared a look at Zander’s words.
This was something that had taken him months to come to terms with. And then once he’d agreed, he’d spent a long time finding the perfect house for her.
Honestly, she hadn’t thought it would ever come about. But, finally, six months after the wedding, here she was.
As long as he didn’t change his mind.
With Zander, you never knew. He was so paranoid that he saw issues everywhere, he trusted no one except the people in his team and Keira.
But Angie knew that he also had a big heart.
“I love it,” Keira said as she walked onto the small porch.
She had a porch! She could almost jump in glee. Too bad no one would see it if she wanted to decorate for Halloween and Christmas.
“Don’t get any ideas,” Zander told her. “You’re not moving.”
“Of course not.” Keira walked up and wrapped her arm around his, leaning into him.
Her slightly rounded belly pressed against his side and Angie felt another stab of something.
Jealousy?
She hated being jealous of her sister. It was wrong. She should be happy for Keira. It wasn’t like her life had been easy.
And she was . . . it was just sometimes she longed to have what Keira had.
But she knew she never would. There was no way she could trust a man to look after her. She couldn’t ever imagine letting a man touch her, let alone have sex with him.
A shudder ran through her and she glanced away.
“Right, I’ve got your personal security bag set up,” Honey said as she stepped out of the house, carrying a large bag which she set down on the porch.
Ammo followed her, eyeing the bag. “What the hell is in that?”
“Stuff to keep Angie safe while she’s out in the wild, dangerous world.”
“Wild?” Keira asked. “Dangerous?” She glanced at Zander then over at Angie.
Uh-oh. If anyone could put the brakes on her moving, it was her sister. Zander would do anything to keep her happy. Especially at the moment, while she was carrying his baby.
Angie was going to be an auntie.
Dear Lord.
What did she know about babies? Absolutely nothing.
Just breathe.
It’s not like you are in charge of keeping the baby alive.
Nope. That was all on Zander.
“There’s no danger, right?” Keira asked, looking like she was growing increasingly alarmed. “You said that no one had been searching for Angie, right?”
Miles shook his head. “I’ve been monitoring the situation ever since Angie came to live with us. There’s never been a hint of anyone trying to find her. I think Jared Bartolli put a stop to that.”
Jared.
It had been a long time since she’d seen him.
But not so long that she could forget how sexy he was.
Commanding and cold at times.
Also gorgeous. And kind of caring.
Or at least he had been caring the first time she’d met him. Something had changed the next time.
Maybe because you pushed him away.
To help him. To keep him safe.
But he didn’t know that. All he knew was that she’d told him that she . . . that she wanted to be with Fergus.
Even the thought made her stomach roll. And then the next time she’d seen him, he’d been cold and terrifying.
And you let him kiss you. What is wrong with you?
Too much for her therapist to fix that was all.
Would Jared protect her? Or had he forgotten that she even existed?
“Is anyone going to listen to me?” Zander said, crossing his arms over his chest and giving them all a grumpy look. “I don’t like this.”
“You don’t like change,” Webb said to him as he walked out with Eli.
“We’ve done a perimeter check. There’s no way anyone is getting over these walls without it setting off one of Miles’ alarms. Sure, they could take her out with a sniper rifle from a tall height.
But that would take some effort. Harder to do if she stays inside. ”
Angie just gaped at him. Was he crazy? He was going to upset Zander even more. She crossed her arms over her chest and tapped her foot.
“Are you on my side or what?” she asked.
“Nope,” Webb told her.
“We don’t want you to move in here,” Ammo added with a frown.
“Well, you guys don’t get to vote,” she said.
“Ahh, were you not there when we voted?” Honey asked. “Oh wait, you weren’t. You were resting with a bad period.”
Angie turned her glare on Honey. The woman was an oversharer. These guys liked to share everything with each other. But not everyone needed to know her business. They especially didn’t need to know about her periods!
There was a girl code.
But no one even flinched. Meaning they’d already known or hearing about her period didn’t worry them.
Likely both with this lot.
“Vote?” she asked quietly.
“Don’t be mad,” Keira said. “You know it’s the way they do things.”
“It is? I thought everyone just did what Zander told them to,” she said.
Zander sighed sadly. “It would be so much easier if they did. If everyone in the world just did as I told them to, I’m sure they’d all be better off. Imagine if I was the ruler of the world?”
“All hail, the supreme dictator, Zander,” Honey said, raising her arms up and down and bending at the waist. “Or is that supreme dickhead?”
Angie had to hold in a giggle at Honey’s teasing.
“Hey, it’s probably both,” Zander admitted.
“You really voted on whether I should go or stay?” Angie said to Keira.
She wasn’t sure why, but she felt kind of hurt.
If she was here then they must have voted in favor of her leaving, which meant they didn’t want her at the compound.
“It wasn’t like that,” Keira said hastily. “No one wants you to leave, Angie.”
Shit. Obviously her hurt was showing.
“Nope, we all voted that you needed to stay except for Miles, Keira, and Honey,” Eli told her.
“And that’s only because the two of us know how much you want to have some space for yourself,” Keira told her.
Was there a hint of hurt in her voice?
“It’s nothing against you guys,” she said.
“I know. So even though I want you to stay with us, I voted that you should be able to leave. Not that you had to leave. That wasn’t the vote.” Keira gave her an earnest look and the knot in her stomach unraveled.
“It was whether we thought it was safe enough for you to go,” Miles said, pushing at his glasses.
“Basically, we voted on whether we thought it was safe and viable for you to be able to leave and live out in the big wide world,” Honey said. “And, as usual, only Keira, Miles, and I are the sane ones.”
Umm, Honey calling herself sane was kind of crazy. She likened herself to Harley Quinn.
Frankly, sometimes she seemed more unhinged than Harley Quinn.
“But if only three of you voted that way . . . how come I’m here?” she asked.
“Because the rest of them were just being overprotective idiots,” Miles said. “And Honey and I changed Eli’s mind on his vote.”
Hmm. Did they?
Wasn’t that interesting?
“And I got two votes,” Keira added, patting her belly.
“I still don’t think that’s a valid vote,” Zander complained. “The baby has to vote the same as you. And I still don’t like this.”