17. 17
17
M alice led her up the steps and into the house for dinner. He didn’t know why he was so nervous about this, but his stomach churned. He hadn’t planned on being this invested in her either. Then again, he hadn’t planned this afternoon. Not that he could regret it.
He liked to think he’d had his share of sex in his life, maybe not as much as he could have but enough. But he hadn’t planned on Bonnie. Not the way she made him feel or the way she reacted to him. Once things had gotten that far and she’d told him she sometimes had a hard time climaxing, he’d known his will to walk away on his own was gone. If she had said not or stop, he would have found a way but now, he was so happy that she said yes and asked for more.
Inside, he led her to the kitchen where people were already assembling for dinner.
“Hi, everyone,” he said, drawing everyone’s attention. “This is Bonnie. Her ex is being difficult so she’s staying at my cabin for a few days. Bonnie, this is London, Kerry, and Robyn.” He motioned to each of the women as he named them. “That’s Ghost and you’ve already met Lurch. Tuck is around somewhere, and I’ll introduce you to the rest of the guys as they arrive.”
“Nice to meet you all and thanks so much for giving me somewhere to go where I wouldn’t have to worry about Phillip finding me and trying to abduct me again.”
From the way the women’s eyes widened, it looked like they hadn’t been told that part of Bonnie’s story. Malice looked at Lurch, one brow lifted in question.
“I didn’t think it was my story to tell.” He shrugged then went back to setting the table.
Malice looked at Bonnie to see how she was handling it. She seemed unphased as she looked around a moment then to London. “What can I do to help?”
“Nothing. We’ve got it all handled tonight. Have a seat, the rest of the guys will be in soon, then you’ll be hard pressed to shove your way in amongst them.” London tilted the top of her head toward the table.
Malice looked at the long table with only two chairs, one on each end, then benches along each side. He remembered the first time he’d seen it. The first meal he’d had here, it hadn’t been that long ago. He was used to group meals from his time with the military, but now he tried to see it from her perspective. How must it look. How intimidating might it be?
“Should I sit anywhere in particular?”
“Tuck sits there, with London beside him,” he motioned to one end of the table, “and Lurch there with Kerry beside him. Everywhere else is first come, first serve.”
“Where do you sit?”
“Depends on when I get here. If I get to choose like today, I usually sit about there.” He pointed toward the far end of the table. “But if I’m late, I always get stuck in the middle.”
She looked back and forth from him to the table for a few seconds, then went to the end where she would be sitting across from London. “How’s this?”
“I’m good with it if you’re good.” He watched while she took a seat, then stepped over the bench and sat beside her.
Around them, Lurch, Ghost and the women spoke to let each other know when one was behind another with something hot or asked about some last-minute thing as they moved around and got dinner on the table.
“Ghost, call everyone to dinner please,” Robyn said as she set the last large bowl on the table. She stepped over the bench and sat, smiling across the laden table at Bonnie. “How are you doing with the change? Has Malice shown you around the ranch yet?”
The dinner bell rang outside, letting him know the guys would be here before too much longer.
“I’ve seen a little bit, but not much. Not yet.”
“I’ve been giving her some time to settle in. It’s been a lot recently and I didn’t want to overwhelm her,” Malice spoke up.
“Yet you brought her to dinner with the whole crowd. Brave of you,” Kerry put in.
“I don’t have any food at the cabin yet, I didn’t have much choice.” He shrugged.
“Plus, Lurch told him to bring me.” Her voice was small beside him. Malice wondered if she was already overwhelmed. He covered her hand with one of his, letting her know she wasn’t alone and reminding her that if it got to be too much, they could leave. Though he wasn’t sure what kind of excuse he would make when they hadn’t even started eating yet. But if she needed to go, he’d think of something.
“I just thought it would be the easiest way for you to meet everyone. It didn’t occur to me that we could be a little much en mass,” Lurch spoke up.
“I don’t really mind,” Bonnie said with a shrug. “I come from a big family, I’m kind of used to chaos at mealtimes, though it’s been a while since we’ve all gotten together.”
“Oh?” London came to the table and sat across from them. “How big?”
“I’m one of six. And there was almost never just the family around. Someone always had a friend, if not more. It wasn’t uncommon to have twelve or thirteen people at dinner most nights. Though who the extras were varied depending on what was going on, who had some project due and who they were working on it with.”
“Wow. Five siblings. I don’t envy your mother there. Though with this crowd I sometimes feel like I’ve got that many, at least,” Kerry said.
Tuck stepped into the room from somewhere deeper in the house. His gaze scanned the room, taking in who was there and who wasn’t yet. Then he pulled out the chair at the end of the table and sat.
“This is Tuck,” Malice said to Bonnie. “He owns the place and is married to London.” He nodded to the woman across the table.
“Nice to meet you, sir,” Bonnie said.
“Nice to meet you too, but the name’s Tuck, not sir. I heard what’s going on. Are you okay?”
“I’m good, thank you. Corey has been great. I never expected a stranger to step in, but I can’t help but be glad he did.” She rubbed her thumb over his fingertips where his hand was still wrapped around hers. “I don’t want to go into all the details, this isn’t the time or place. But he’s done everything I think he can to make sure I’m safe and I know it.”
“That’s good.”
Malice felt the weight of everyone’s gaze on him. He was glad the whole crew wasn’t there yet. The last thing he wanted was all of them staring at him.
The back door opened, Jake, Watt, and the two new guys Talon and Steele came in. They were laughing and chatting amongst themselves as they made their way to the table and sat. Malice leaned close to Bonnie and gave her each of their names, pointing each out as he did.
“Talon? Is that a nick name like your Malice or what?”
“No, ma’am. Talon’s really my name,” the man in question answered.
Bonnie’s eyes went wide. “Sorry, I didn’t think I was being loud, and I didn’t mean to be rude.”
“It’s nothing I haven’t been asked at least a hundred times before. I’m not sure what Ma was thinking, but I’m stuck with it, and I’m used to it by now.”
He gave her a crooked grin that made Malice want to knock a couple teeth in, but when Steele started talking to him, he turned and seemingly forgot the woman he’d been flirting with just moments before.
The newcomers joined them at the table. As the last one, Steele, was seating himself, the back door opened again, admitting one more man.
“Sorry I’m late. I was working on something and barely registered the dinner bell.” He bypassed the empty seat and came to stand behind Malice. Before Malice had a chance to twist around and see what he was up to, a phone appeared in front of Bonnie. “I think this is yours?”
“Yes, thank you. Were you the one making sure I can’t be tracked out here?” She took the device and slid it into her jeans pocket without turning it on or checking anything on it.
“I am. And you weren’t wrong to be suspicious. I found some tracking software, not just tracking your location but everything you did on your phone. Every call, text, photo, and website you visited was being reported to whoever was on the other end of it.” Jake made his way to the empty spot at the table and sat.
Malice looked at Bonnie and found she’d gone pale. Now wasn’t the time to question her about it, instead he did what he could to comfort her. He covered her hand again and squeezed, letting her know he was there for her. She gave him a wan smile, leaned forward so she could look at Jake.
“Thank you for looking at it for me. You did remove the programs, right?”
“Of course. I couldn’t keep him from knowing they’ve been removed though, so you’ll need to keep an eye out for him for a while.”
“We’re all going to keep an eye out for him for a while,” Lurch spoke up, looking around the table at each of the men. “I don’t have a photo of him yet and there’s always a chance he could send someone out to do his dirty work, so let’s all keep an eye out for anyone who shouldn’t be here.” He met each gaze again, then continued. “You see someone, you run them off and let me know immediately, do you understand?”
A chorus of yes and yes, sirs, echoed from around the table.
“Okay. Now that that’s settled, let’s eat.”