CHAPTER 13
EVIE
I was still somewhat away up in the clouds as I got dressed. Aleks had gone to his room to do the same, after several more long, languid kisses that had only had me fired up for round two, but Aleks had reminded me that Nick was making us breakfast, and we needed to make an appearance. So I’d pulled on clean underwear, jeans and a cute, baby pink sweater Harris had insisted I have at the store. I didn’t bother to dry my hair or apply makeup, knowing the guys didn’t care about that stuff, especially when we were all consigned to the house.
It was kind of odd to feel so happy, but how could I not after what had happened that morning, and with the memories of my time in bed with Kailan playing in my mind too? Yes, there was a lot going on that should have me curled up in a ball, rocking in the corner with fear, and without the guys, maybe I would be. Maybe I’d be stuck in that shitty apartment, alone, and afraid. Maybe by now I’d have snapped and lost it. But the point was, I wasn’t stuck there alone. I was in a safe home, surrounded by men who made me feel protected and who helped me to find some balance between the trauma I was trying to deal with, and the happiness they could make me feel.
With them I felt a little like I knew who I was again, for the first time in so long. Kailan had been right – the person I was now wasn’t the person I had been. She was a mix of the old me, and of the new me who had been created by everything I had been through and the things I’d done to survive. She was a little broken and definitely scarred, but she was also stronger and far less na?ve. I had been forced to grow up so much, no longer sheltered by the family who had protected me from the real world for so long. I’d been forced to learn, fight, and survive alone. All of that defined this new version of me just as much as the scars, nightmares, and flashbacks did.
“You ready, honey?” I turned and found Aleks stood in the doorway of my room, now dressed in jeans and a black hooded sweater. His hair had been tamed and styled neatly into place and I could smell his cologne from across the room. He was so handsome and he smelled amazing. I couldn’t stop myself from running to him and wrapping my arms around his waist in a huge hug.
“What’s this for?” he asked as he held me too.
“I’m just so glad and grateful that I’m here with you…with all of you,” I admitted.
“We’re all glad and grateful for that too,” he told me as he placed a kiss on top of my head. “Come on. You need to eat.”
He wrapped his arm around my shoulders and led me downstairs. When we walked into the kitchen Nick was still making pancakes and adding them to a huge plateful beside him. Harris was setting the table and Kailan had a hold of Zack in front of the patio doors. It had snowed a little the night before and Zack seemed fascinated to see everything covered in white.
I couldn’t deny how good Kailan looked, dressed in low slung jeans and a clinging white tee, Zack in his arms and that sexy smile on his face as he chatted away to the little guy. The thought of what an amazing dad he would be flitted through my mind and I had to reprimand myself to push it back again. It was way too soon for those thoughts.
“You ready to eat, baby? Harris made your coffee already,” Nick said as he nodded towards a steaming mug, which sat on the counter.
“Thank you,” I told Harris as I stopped him walking past me with a grab of his arm. I reached up on my tiptoes and kissed the underside of his jaw, which was as far as I could reach without him bending down for me.
“I’ll do it more often if it gets me kisses,” he teased as he bent down and chastely kissed my lips. He was dressed in black cargo pants and a black t-shirt. His tattoos were on show and he smelled deliciously of something citrusy.
“You can have kisses whenever you want,” I told him shyly.
“Gonna hold you to that, Ev,” he laughed.
I grabbed my coffee to busy my hands and looked around the kitchen again. Kailan hadn’t moved, but Aleks was behind his laptop already, just as I suspected. He was obsessed with checking the security system for hacks. Thankfully there had been nothing so far.
“What about my kisses?” Nick asked, and when I turned to him he had the most adorable pout on his face. “I don’t get kisses for making pancakes?”
“Of course you do,” I assured him as I put my cup down and hurried around the counter to him. “You get kisses when you want too.” I reached up to kiss wherever I could reach, then squealed in surprise when he whisked me up into his arms bridal style. I grabbed his shoulders and hung on as he leaned in to kiss me, and this was no peck. His tongue demanded entrance and I was powerless to deny him. All I could do was hang on and enjoy the ferocious kiss we shared.
By the time he put me back on my feet I was a little dizzy, but there was a huge, happy smile on my face.
“Okay, enough Romeo,” Harris laughed. “Let’s eat before your kid turns feral.”
I squeezed past Nick to get to my coffee, not missing the gentle brush of his hand against my ass as I did so, but when I turned to him with a smirk he was concentrating on the food like he hadn’t done anything. I laughed, amazed to see this new, playful side of him that was beginning to come out. I loved it. Who was I kidding? I loved everything that every one of them did. I was a goner for these amazing warriors and I knew it.
We all ate breakfast together, mainly laughing at Zack’s antics as he grabbed food and shoved it into his mouth as fast as he could, over and over again. By the time he was finished he was a sticky mess of pancakes syrup and fresh fruit, but he had the biggest smile on his podgy little face. The whole thing had been so normal, all of us laughing and having fun, the guys fighting over the last of the pancakes. There had been no talk of any of the horror surrounding me or even of my brothers. It had just been a wonderfully domestic morning that made me crave so many more just like it.
“Who’s dealing with he syrup monster?” Kailan asked as he looked to Zack like he definitely did not want to be the person.
“I’ve got him,” I volunteered, then I looked to Nick, feeling unsure of myself. “…if it’s okay with you, I mean?”
“Of course it’s okay with me, babe. He loves you,” Nick assured me as he got to his feet and came over to place a kiss on my cheek. “Be warned though, he loves to splash if you put him in the bath.”
“I don’t think I have a choice,” I laughed. “I’m pretty sure he has syrup in his ears.” I looked to Zack who just grinned and bounced up and down excitedly in his high chair.
“He has clothes in the dresser in his room, though I’m gonna need to get more now he’s here permanently,” Nick added.
“I can help with that too. We could order some online,” I suggested.
“That’s a good idea,” Harris agreed. “I’ll start a list of everything he needs and we can get it all at once.”
“Sounds like a plan,” I agreed. “Right, come on then little syrup monster.” I grabbed Zack under his arms and lifted him up, keeping him at arm’s length as I headed upstairs and straight into the big bathroom.
“Ev! Nick and I are gonna check the perimeter, Kailan’s in the gym, and Aleks is down in the office if you need anything,” Harris called up to me.
Aleks usually just worked in the kitchen, but he had a more secure computer set up in the office apparently, and he had been using it more and more since Soloman got into my brothers security. I wasn’t sure what he was doing, but I found it was best to wait until he came to you.
“We’re all good,” I assured Harris loudly as I set the huge tub filling up with just warm water. I filled it about a quarter full, then checked the temperature again, confident about doing such things after having so many nieces and nephews.
Undressing Zack from the food covered onesie was a little tougher, and I ended up with his sticky hands finding their way onto my cheeks as I did it, but we both just laughed and got there in the end. Then he was sat in the tub, happily kicking and splashing me, then laughing with delight at my reactions.
I managed to get him washed with the duck shaped sponge and his organic soap, then we played for a while, Zack loving to fill the set of cups he had, then pour the water from up high back into the tub.
He was such a happy little soul, happy to play with pretty much anything you gave him. He barely ever cried unless something was wrong, like his diaper was filled and he slept like a dream through the nights. I hated to think about the things his own mom had said about him. How could she be so cruel about her own flesh and blood?
He just smiled and opened his arms to me when I grabbed a towel to get him back out again. I wrapped him up and cuddled him close, smiling when he just lay his head on my shoulder and cuddled against me too.
Once I got him to his room I made short work of drying him off, applying baby lotion, getting his diaper on, and dressing him in the most adorable set of animal covered trousers and sweater. I added socks, grabbed his blue bunny, which he instantly grabbed from me, then gathered him back into my arms. Bathing him had been somewhat therapeutic and I felt relaxed and settled. I could get used to this kind of life, I thought to myself.
Then, as we got halfway down the stairs, like a reminder from the gods that I was a complete idiot to relax, a huge boom came from outside, so loud it shook the entire house.
Unsteadily I fell back and sat on the step behind me, not wanting to fall with Zack in my arms. The sense returned to me, as did the panic. Nick and Harris were out there! Was that a damned bomb?
“GUYS!” I screamed as I stood and ran down the last of the stairs. I headed right for the front door, needing to know Harris and Nick were okay, but a hand stopped me just as I started to pull open the door. I turned, panicked and realized it was Kailan.
“Let me go!” I wailed. “H-Harris and Nick!”
“No. You’re not going out there,” he said firmly. Go upstairs, into Harris’s room and lock yourself in his bathroom. The locks are reinforced, as is the door. No one can get in there,” he told me quickly.
“Catch!” Aleks said as he came running towards us in a black bullet proof vest. He had a gun in his hand too, and he looked so unlike the Aleks I knew. He tossed a second bullet proof vest at Kailan, who caught it and started pulling it on over the sweaty tank he must have worn to workout. Aleks handed him a gun too, and I stood, open mouthed as he pulled out the cartridge to check it was loaded, then flicked off the safety.
“W-what’s happening?” I whimpered as I clutched Zack even tighter.
“We don’t know, darlin’, but we have to get out there to the guys. Can you do what I asked? Harris’s bathroom? We’ll come for you as soon as we can,” Kailan said way too calmly.
“I…I…is th-this him?” I stuttered as I tried to make myself think straight.
“Evie! We don’t have time, maleńka,” Aleks told me firmly and when I looked up he had his hand on my shoulder. “We have to go, okay? Can you do as Kailan said and keep Zack safe?”
I looked down to the tiny boy in my arms and saw the beginings of tears in his eyes. He was scared. I was scaring him.
“Y-yes. I can d-do that,” I nodded, my voice shaking badly.
“Good girl. Go now. Don’t open the door unless it’s one of us, okay?”
“O-kay,” I agreed with a nod. I wanted to beg them to be safe. I wanted to make them promise they would all come back to me, but I knew there was no time. Instead I turned and ran for the stairs, doing as Kailan had instructed and locking myself inside of Harris’s en-suite bathroom. I had never been in there before, so I had never noticed the slight electric sound when I shut and locked that door. It was cold to the touch and I guessed it was a solid steel door. There were no windows in there, so I put on the lights and huddled on the floor with Zack in my lap.
I tried to keep it together for his benefit, but tears were constantly running down my cheeks and my hands shook so hard I could barely grab a towel for Zack to sit on, on the cold tile floor. I was glad when I got him to sit between my legs, not trusting myself to hold him when I was shaking so hard.
As he happily played with the second towel I had handed him, putting it over his head and laughing each time he pulled it back off, I tried hard not to let my mind focus on the ‘what-if’s’ running through it, but it proved impossible.
I was terrified the guys would be hurt. This had to be Soloman, right? What if he got past them and into the house? Would he get into this room, to me and worse, to Zack? I looked all around me for a weapon. There was no way in hell I was allowing that monster to get his hands on Zack. I ripped open a drawer on the vanity and reached above me to feel around in it. My hand landed on a pair of scissors and I knew I could make them work if I needed to. Please don’t make me need to, I begged over and over in my head. If Soloman got into the house, it would mean the guys were at least hurt, maybe even worse. That was a fear I wasn’t willing to even comprehend.
“They’ll be okay,” I whispered to myself. “They’re trained for this. They’re coming back.”
But so much time seemed to pass, and no one came to tell me everything was okay. I didn’t have my cell phone so I had no way to know how long it had been. I started to worry what I’d do if they didn’t come back? Could I get to my ce,l to call my brothers and back to the safety of that room? What if Soloman was waiting out there for me?
More than anything I wanted to run right outside and check on the guys. What if they were hurt? What if they were bleeding out and I just sat here and let it happen? Sobs continued to slip from me as I lost my mind with worry, but I pushed them back, not wanting to scare Zack.
Eventually the little guy got bored and fell back against me, falling asleep minutes later. I was so grateful for that as I allowed my sobs of terror for my guys to come out quietly. I gave myself a few minutes to cry, then I pulled myself together, knowing I had to be prepared for the worst. If my guys were hurt and Soloman got past them, he would find a way through this door to me.
I picked Zack up and cradled him in one arm as I laid as many towels as I could in Harr’s tub, then I laid him on top of all of them, and covered him with another to keep him warm, hoping he’d be comfortable enough there to stay asleep for a while.
When I was sure he was settled I got to my feet, but my legs were shaking so hard, adrenaline pumping through me, and I could barely stay upright. I grabbed the wall and made my way over to the closet in the corner, praying Harris kept some kind of weapon in there that would be more effective than the scissors I was clutching.
But before I could even open it to look, I heard beeping coming from outside the door. I was out of time. I gripped the scissors as tightly as I could in my hand and hid at the side of the door, ready to attack hard and fast if Soloman stepped through. I would not let him get his hands on Zack.
KAILAN
Aleks and I could only watch Evie set off up the stairs with Zack in her arms. Both of us wanted to know that she was safely behind that panic room door in Harris’s bathroom – a feature we had installed just in case, when we built the place. Now we were so fucking grateful for Harris’s paranoia, but we didn’t have time to make sure she was safe. We both knew that sound before – an explosion. A really fucking sizeable one, and we had to get to our brothers.
“We see that asshole; we take him out. No warnings,” I growled as I looked to Aleks.
“Agreed,” Aleks nodded, then we were on the front step surveying the damage and looking for the Boss and Nick. The explosion had obviously been focused on the entrance gates, since they were hanging off awkwardly and the ground around them was messed up. The debris from the explosion led from the gates, all the way to the front steps of the house, but there was no sign of anyone near the gates or trying to get on the property. The explosion would have disarmed the security system, I guessed, so checking it seemed a waste of time.
“There!” Aleks yelled, then he was running. I took off after him and saw Nick laid out on his back on the lawn, a good distance from the gates.
“Nick!” Aleks yelled as he dropped to his knees on the ground. I stood over them, keeping my head on a swivel and my finger on the trigger. Where’s the boss?
Nick was bleeding from the back of his head and he had some small cuts from the debris, but he was breathing, his chest moving up and down.
“Stay with him,” I told Aleks. “I need to find Harris.” I looked all around us, then headed in the opposite direction, hoping like hell the Boss had been out of the blast range when that thing went off.
Then I saw him, on the opposite side of the entrance, closer to the house.
“Boss!” I yelled as I ran towards him. He looked unconscious and he was bleeding from his forehead, likely from the blast smashing him against the house. “Boss? Wake up!” I told him as I dropped to my knees and looked him over.
In an instant he was awake and had taken me down to my back, his hand around my throat. Who could blame him? The last time he woke from an explosion he’d been shackled in that Hell.
“Boss, j-just me,” I gasped as I placed a calm hand over his. He looked all around him, then down to me, confusion on his face.
“Rush?” Finally he released me and I sat up spluttering. “What the fuck?”
“Some one blew the gates,” I told him as I grabbed my gun again and stumbled to my feet. The fucker had way too hard a grip. “Are you good?”
“Evie? Fuck! Where is she?” he panicked as he shot to his feet, then wobbled a little. I quickly put my arm around him to steady him.
“In the panic room with Zack. Nick got hit by the impact too. We need to get out of here,” I explained. “Soloman has access to the house now. It’s not safe.”
“Fuck! We have to get to Evie,” he gasped.
“We will, but we need a plan. We can’t just drive around. We need a safe place to go,” I pointed out. “You and Nick need medical attention too.”
“Lyle,” Harris said as he touched his forehead then winced in pain. “I planned to call him to get Evie home anyway. He lives in New York. He’ll help us.”
“Asher Lyle? Have you even spoken to him since we got out?” I asked, surprised. Asher had gone through training with us when we enlisted and we’d worked several missions with his SEAL team when we were overseas. He was a good friend once upon a time, but after all we went through, we hadn’t spoken with anyone from the military since.
“I saw him at that business strategy conference I went to last year. We caught up and he told me if we ever needed anything, all we had to do was call. His number’s in my cell. His family have a private jet. They can get us out of here fast.”
“Call him. I’ll check on Nick and get to Evie,” I said.
“Soloman? Any sign of the sonofabitch?”
“No, but he could be fucking anywhere on the property right now. You armed?” I asked, and Harris pulled his gun from the small of his back. We had all been armed when we checked the perimeter, just in case. We had all decided, not long after Evie told us everything, that if we got eyes on that bastard, we’d end him.
“Go to Evie and stay with her in the panic room. I’ll check on Nick and get the car ready to go. We leave as soon as we know Nick’s good.”
I nodded my agreement and bolted for the house, desperate to get to Evie and see for myself she was safe.
I walked into Harris’s room, keeping a constant watch on my surroundings, but there was no sign anyone had been in the house. When I got to the bathroom I opened the small panel in the wall, revealing a hidden keypad. I typed in the code and the door slowly released. I opened it, desperate to get eyes on her, and walked in without announcing myself. I realized my mistake as a tiny blonde missile launched herself at me and moved to stab me with something I just saw the glint of as I grabbed her wrist and turned her, pressing her back to my front and wrapping my free arm around her to subdue her without hurting her.
She was shaking like a pneumatic drill and she fought like hell to get out of my grip, using every self defense move she had, I guessed. The problem was, I was so much bigger than her, and she was shaking so damned hard, I was pretty sure she’d collapse if I let her go.
“Evie!” I tried again. I’d already tried to get through to her several times, but she was terrified. I lowered my face to her ear and placed a gentle kiss behind it, before whispering, instead of shouting. “Easy darlin’. It’s me. It’s Kailan,” I told her, and finally she stopped fighting and turned her head until she could see me enough to calm down.
“Kailan,” she blurted, along with a deep, anguished sob. I turned her in my arms and held her tightly.
“I’m here, darlin’. You’re okay,” I told her as I remembered to pull the security door closed behind me, finally. Harris would kick my ass if he knew how long I had risked it being open, but subduing and comforting Evie had seemed like the priority.
“The others?” she asked as she looked up at me. Her eyes were red and swollen from tears and her face was ghostly white. She’d been so scared and I hated myself for leaving her.
“They’re okay. Harris and Nick were taken out by the impact, but they’re both okay now,” I explained.
“Im-impact? It w-was a bomb?” she asked shakily.
“It dosn’t matter now. We’ll keep you safe, I promise, but we have to leave. It’s not safe here any more,” I explained.
“So it was Soloman?”
“We don’t know, but we think so. As soon as Nick is patched up, we’re all getting in the car and getting out of here. Where’s Zack?” I asked as I looked around.
“Asleep. I put him in the tub. I…I was so sc-scared Soloman would get to him,” she squeaked through her tight throat.
“You did so good, Evie, but we’re here now. We won’t let him hurt either of you,” I promised her. She nodded and sank exhaustedly against me as she held up a bloody hand, I remembered she had tried to stab me with something, and when I opened her fingers gently, I found a small pair of scissors, which she’d been gripping so hard they’d cut into her hand deeply, hence the blood.
“Fuck!” I hissed. “What did you do, crazy girl?” I took the scissors from her, dropping them into the sink then wrapped a small, clean hand towel around her rapidly bleeding hand.
“They were all I could find,” she told me as she just clung to me.
“You’re bleeding a lot. This hand might need stitches,” I explained.
“It’s fine. I w-want to see the others.”
Before I could even start searching for a first aid kit, the beeping of the door started again, then Aleks was stepping in, followed by a slightly concussed looking Nick. He was holding a kitchen towel to the back of his head and there were several cuts on his face too.
“What happened?” They both asked with perfect synchronicity as they saw the, already blood stained, towel around Evie’s hand.
“Are you guys okay?” Evie cried at the same time. She reached for them, and Aleks pulled her into his arms, but looked to me.
“She was ready to defend herself with some scissors and held them way too tightly. I need to take a closer look. There’s a lot of blood,” I explained as I opened the cupboard under the vanity and puled out a first aid kit.
“Zack?” Nick asked.
“He’s okay. He’s fast asleep.” I nodded to the bath and Nick stepped forwards to check on his boy.
“Bring the kit with you. Harris has the car ready. He wants us to go right now. He says we have a safe place to head,” Aleks explained.
“Pick Evie up. She’s really shaky. I’ll grab the little guy. Nick. Take this,” I tossed him the first aid kit and he caught it, tucking it under his arm. Then he led the way out. Evie was silent as Aleks scooped her up and held her. She seemed to be in shock and slightly out of it. I was worried about her, and Nick and Harris too if I were honest, but Harris was right, getting out of there was priority. I scooped a soundly sleeping Zack up and followed them all out of the bathroom and down stairs.
I couldn’t help but look around me as we headed for the car. Our haven, that we all planned so diligently and loved so much had been breached, and yet we didn’t care anywhere near as much as I thought we would. That was because we had Evie. She was safe. Zack was safe too. Now, that was all that mattered to any of us. This house? It was our home, but in the end it was just bricks. We could live anywhere as long as we had the people we loved around us, and that meant Evie, Zack and each other. That was all we truly needed.