10. Mina
Chapter ten
A s soon as the doctor leaves my room, two police officers enter, one of them being the nice woman who questioned me about the incident with Brad. That feels like such a long time ago now.
“Hello, Mina. I would say it’s nice to see you again, but it isn’t really under these circumstances.” I give her a tight-lipped smile to be polite.
“I’m glad to see you’re finally awake. We’re going to need to take your statement about what happened now.”
She pulls out a pad of paper and hands it to me, as I reply, “okay.”
She looks at me in surprise. “You can speak now?”
“She seems to have broken through that barrier since waking up,” Ben tells her, holding my hand. “But she can only speak one or two words at a time, and shouldn’t overdo it.”
“Well, that’s good news, at least. Are you ready to tell me what happened?” I nod at her, wanting to get this over with.
“Shall we clear the room out so you can talk to me in private?” she asks quietly, sitting in a chair beside me. But I shake my head, I don’t want them going anywhere, and I want them to hear the story too, I’d rather not repeat it.
Using Ben’s phone to type my message and have it read aloud, I tell them all exactly what happened. From the moment I stepped into the basement and she called me a whore, to her stabbing the knife in my shoulder and telling me if I survived the night, there would be a first aid kit waiting for me upstairs. I don’t leave out any details, and even though I have tears rolling down my cheeks as I type, it feels good to finally tell someone. Not only that, but they look angry on my behalf.
When I finally finish, I realize mine aren’t the only wet eyes in the room. Nobody says anything as each of them takes turns giving me a hug.
“Thank you for giving us all that detail. We were already looking for her, but with this information, we will get a warrant out for her arrest immediately.”
She turns to leave, but Jasper stops her. “Wait! What about—” His eyes dart to me for a moment and he licks his lips nervously before looking back at her. “What will happen to Jeff?”
“We will be releasing him right away, as, based on the statement we both just heard, he had no part in this.”
“He might not have helped, but he was still in the house while it happened, knowing what was going on. Besides, he’s helped hurt Mina other times,” Jasper says, almost begging for them to arrest Jeff, too.
“Is that true, Mina?” I swallow nervously, afraid of where this was heading, and nod my head quickly. She steps back up to the side of bed and pulls her notebook back out as her partner opens his phone up, likely to record the conversation again. “Do you want to tell me what happened? Maybe start with the date, even approximate?”
I use Ben’s phone to type my message and read it aloud. “You guys don’t have to stay for this.” I instantly see the frowns on their faces and feel guilty.
“Do you want us to leave? Because we will if that’s what you want,” Tucker asks gently.
But I shake my head. “You might not want to hear it, but you can stay, if you want to.” I can’t decide if I want them to stay or not. This is a part of me that I didn’t plan on sharing with anyone, but if the police have to know, I want the guys to know, too. The more they understand about me and don’t leave, the more I think I could truly trust them.
“I’d like to stay,” Ben says quietly. The others quickly agree, so I take a deep breath and recite what I can remember.
“It’s happened several times. Sometimes he surprised me when I came out of the bathroom. A couple times he came to me in the middle of the night.” I hit speak so I can see how the guys react to it. I can see their faces pulled tight with a mixture of worry, fear, and frustration.
“He liked to touch me, in places he shouldn’t.”
Speaking out loud, I start to ask, “how much detail…” I trail off, hoping she understands my question.
“That is fine for now. That’s enough to charge him with the sexual assault. Did he hurt you physically as well?”
I type my response. “Yes, he helped my mother do this.” I point to my arm. “He’s pushed me a few times and hit me twice.”
There’s relief in not having to actually say the words out loud, but hearing them spoken by the robotic voice on Ben’s phone still causes tears to form in my eyes.
“Is that enough? Can you charge him with physical assault, too?” Gideon asks, clenching his jaw.
“Yes, that’s more than enough to charge him and keep him in custody until a trial can be held,” the officer tells us, and I sigh in relief at knowing that at least one of my abusers was off the street.
She leaves and each of my guys silently comes over and hugs me, kissing the top of my head with pained looks on their faces.
When they finally finish hugging me, Dom is the first to break the silence. “Alright, Kitten, why don’t we get you dressed so we can get out of here?”
“Do you look at me differently now?” I whisper as I look up at him. He immediately drops to the bed beside me, grabbing my hands.
“What? No! Of course not, that thought shouldn’t even cross your mind. No matter what you've been through, it won’t change the way we look at you.”
“But you all look so… upset.”
“Of course we’re upset!” Gideon says loudly, making me flinch. “Knowing you’ve been through all of that, and that you’ve been dealing with it on your own all this time… I… I need some air,” he says, not making eye contact with me as he storms out the room.
“I’ll go with him,” Jasper says, jogging through the door after him.
“Kitten?” I look back at Dom and realize I’m gripping his forearms tightly. I loosen my grip as he speaks. “You know he’s not upset at you, right? He’s upset about what happened to you.” I nod. I think I understand that, but seeing him so angry is upsetting.
A nurse comes in and detaches me from all the machines and gives Ben some paperwork to sign for my release.
“Alright, now let’s get you changed so we can finally take you home,” Dom says, helping me sit up and swing my legs over the side of the bed as Tucker brings a bag over to us. I watch as he pulls out a pair of dark green fleece sweatpants, a matching hoodie, a pair of pink fuzzy socks and the prettiest pair of pink underwear I’ve ever seen .
Dom takes the socks and kneels in front of me, taking great care with my feet as he puts them on. I can’t help but smile as I watch this gorgeous man, on his knees before me, being so gentle with me. He sees me smiling at him and winks at me, making me blush. He chuckles as he reaches for my hips and helps me to stand.
He doesn’t say anything as he reaches for the underwear and helps me step into them. Slowly, he starts to slide them up my legs and as I reach to take over, to pull them the rest of the way up, he looks at me sharply, then raises an eyebrow at me, like he’s daring me to take them from him.
I’m not sure if he wants me to or not, but I pull my hands away and swallow the lump that has suddenly appeared in my throat. He doesn’t break eye contact with me as he pulls them the rest of the way up, sliding his hands under my hospital gown.
He takes his time, running his fingers around the waist band, making sure they’re sitting smoothly. Unable to keep staring into his serious pale blue eyes, I glance around the room at the others. They all quickly avert their eyes, looking at the wall, ceiling or floor, anywhere but at me, like they don’t want me to know that they were watching me. But something about them watching him do that to me sends a shiver down my spine.
“Step in,” Dom says, making my head turn back to him. He’s holding the sweatpants on the floor, so I place my right hand on his shoulder for balance as I slowly step into the pants, one foot at a time. He pulls them up, a bit faster this time.
He stands up and Tucker gently pushes him aside as he pulls the sweatshirt down over my head in one smooth motion. I start to push my arms through the sleeves, but he stops me. “No, Sugar, pull your arms out the hospital gown first, so we can take that off you.”
I try to do as he asks, but the gown isn’t giving me enough space to do it. “Too tight,” I rasp. Dom turns me around and lifts up the back of the sweatshirt. The gown loosens, and Dom’s hands slide over my shoulder blade and up to my shoulder as he helps me pull my arm out. He repeats the motion on the other side, then reaches around my stomach to grab the hospital gown. He pulls the sweatshirt back down as I push my arms through the sleeves.
Dom readjusts my clothes from behind me while Tucker does the same from my front. I lick my lips nervously, wondering why I’m breathing so heavily right now. Something about them taking care of me is making me feel ridiculously emotional.
“I think she’s good, guys,” Ben says with amusement. It works to break the trance the three of us are in as they both step back from me.
Atlas wastes no time stepping in and gently scooping me up into his arms.
“Shouldn’t she leave in a wheelchair?” Ben asks him.
“Why? I can carry her, and she’s safer with me.” I watch Ben roll his eyes at Atlas. When he sees me watching him, he gives me a wink. As we head to the exit, Jasper and Gideon join us silently.
Atlas carries me to the SUV where I’m placed in the middle row, between him and Jasper. They constantly ask if I’m okay and fuss over me the whole way home, and I can’t say I hate it.
Home. I sigh. Is it true? Can I call their home mine? I hope so. And for the first time in years, I don’t cringe at the thought of hope. Maybe I need hope after all. Maybe it’s what has kept me sane all these years.
When we pull up to the house, Tucker jumps out of the passenger seat and as soon as Jasper gets out, he snatches me up before anyone else can, causing Atlas to swear. I giggle at them all wanting to help me. It’s such a stark difference from my life before.
When we get inside, I look around. Everything looks just as I remember it. I’m not sure why I thought it’d look any different.
“Tuck, let me have her now,” Max whines as they all follow us.
“Uh-uh. You snooze, you lose, brother!” Tuck laughs.
“I’ll do your chores for a week,” he begs as we follow Jasper upstairs. I’ve never been up here before.
“Nope.”
“Two weeks!”
“Not gonna happen!”
“You’re no fun!” Max whines.
“Oh, I’m plenty of fun, right, Sugar?”
I smile up at Tucker, touching his cheek with my right hand, and he leans into it.
“Here we go!” Jasper says, and I look up as we enter a room on the second floor. My eyes widen in shock.
The room is huge. It has two large windows that look out to the backyard and the forest beyond. One has a desk under it with a computer, notebooks, and a bunch of other stuff on it. The other window has a nook for sitting, covered in pillows in different shades of green. One side of the room is basically its own sitting area with several comfortable-looking chairs. One wall has a fireplace with a rug in front of it and an inviting pile of pillows and blankets. There are two doors, and Tucker walks toward them.
Inside one is a huge bathroom with a glass shower and a separate tub big enough for three. There are gold fixtures and white marble tiles everywhere. It’s gorgeous . He takes me to the other door, which leads to a large closet.
It has a lot of clothes in it, and when I start to notice pinks and purples on some of them, I reach out to take a look. These are definitely girls’ clothes. I gasp and let go.
“Tucker?” I whisper to him.
“Yeah, Sug’?”
“Whose room is this?” I keep my voice low so the others won’t hear.
He laughs and walks us out of the closet and back to the main part of the bedroom. That’s when I take a good look at the bed. It’s huge, probably like two kings pushed together. It has a canopy draped over it from the ceiling and is covered in green pillows and blankets.
“She wants to know whose room this is,” Tucker announces.
“Tucker!” I hiss at him in embarrassment.
He laughs and I notice all the guys are in here now, some standing, some sitting on the edge of the bed, but they’re all watching me.
Dom decides to answer my question. “It’s yours. We wanted you to have your own space, somewhere you could feel comfortable and safe. Somewhere you could kick us out of if you need alone time.”
“Or invite us in to when you don’t,” Max adds, flopping backward on the bed with his arms wide.
“That’s… big,” I whisper to Tucker, but the others hear me too and smile, which makes me blush for some reason.
“Yes, and you’re going to lie in it and recover,” Tucker says as he carries me over.
Max crawls up and pulls the covers down for me to be placed into, then recovers me when I’m lying down. He lies on his side with his face propped up in his hand .
“Sweetheart, have you ever… cuddled before?”
“Max! No!” Gideon says, pointing his finger at him.
I laugh thinking Gideon sounds like he’s reprimanding a dog.
“Max, you know the rules. No touching until her wounds are healed, and there’s no risk of reopening any of them.”
What does that mean? Will there be cuddling after I’m fully healed? I can’t help but suddenly hope I’m a fast healer.
“Get some sleep, Princess, text us if you need anything,” Ben tells me as he places my phone on my nightstand. They each take a turn saying goodnight, but nobody touches me, which surprises me.
Dom exits last, and when he switches off the main light, a small light starts glowing by the bathroom door. It’s some kind of nightlight in the shape of a moon that reflects stars on the wall around it. I wonder if one of them picked that out for me or if they already had it here.
That makes me look around the room, my room, again and question where everything came from. I hope this wasn’t one of their rooms and they’re giving it up for me. But it didn’t seem to match any of their personalities. No… the person it best fit was… me.
It seems even the nicest room in the world isn’t enough to get me to sleep soundly. I find myself tossing and turning all night, aggravating my injuries. I’m uncomfortable and restless and can’t seem to shut off my mind. How long could I really stay here for? What was I going to do? Do I have to go back to high school? Do I even want to? What if my mom finds me here? What if Simon does?
The sound of my door creaking open has me sitting up with a gasp as I clutch the blanket to my chest .
“Mina, are you alright?” The sound of Dom’s voice has me deflating, the fear creeping out of me as I drop my hands to my lap and breathe heavily.
He steps inside and closes the door behind him before coming to sit on the edge of the bed, placing his hand on top of mine. He’s wearing a pair of blue plaid pajama pants and a tight black tank top that shows off the skin on his shoulders and arms.
“Are you okay? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
“I can’t sleep.”
“I thought I heard you moving around in here, that’s why I came to check on you. Is there anything I can do to help you sleep? A warm glass of milk or I could put more lights on, if that will help?” he asks gently. I don’t think any of those things will help. The worry and fear set in as soon as they left me alone.
“Could you—” I look up at him nervously, afraid of his response.
“Ask me anything, Kitten.”
“Stay with me?”
His eyes soften as he strokes my cheek. “Of course, lay down.” He stands up as I lay back down and he pulls the blanket back before climbing in beside me, pulling the cover up to cover us both.
I lay on my back nervously and am beyond happy when he takes control of the situation. “Turn to face the other way, good girl,” he says when I obey him. He moves himself up against my back and wraps his arm around my waist so I can’t tell where he ends and I begin.
He gently rests his palm against the bandage on my lower stomach, and my breath hitches. “Kitten, do you want to talk about it?”
I lick my dry lips and with a shaky breath I ask, “about what? ”
“The doctor said you might not be able to have children. You haven’t said anything, and I wanted to know how you were feeling about it.”
I take a moment to consider how I feel. Mostly, I’ve been trying not to think about it. “I-I’m angry she did that to me,” I whisper, deciding to be honest. He kisses my shoulder and it gives me the strength to keep talking. “I’m mad I might not be able to make the decision to become a parent.” He kisses me again. “I’ve never considered having children before, and I’m not sure I’d want them. But I hate that the decision has been taken from me.”
“I’m sorry she may have taken that choice from you, baby,” Dom says before placing another kiss on my shoulder.
“D—do you want children?” I ask nervously.
“Like you, I’ve never thought much about them. I think I’d be okay with them, if it’s something the person I’m with wants, but I’m also okay without them.”
He moves his hand higher, over my ribs and presses his nose into my neck. His warm breath skates over my skin, sending tingles everywhere.
“Dom?”
“Yes, Kitten?
“Is this cuddling?” I ask curiously.
He smiles against me as he answers, “yes, do you like it?”
“Uh huh,” I mumble, unable to say anything else right now. My mind races with a million questions, completely different from the one’s keeping me from sleeping only minutes earlier.
Is cuddling something all friends do? Why does it feel so intimate? Could I do this with all the guys? Could I do it with more than one at once ?
“I can practically hear you thinking. Do you want to ask me something, Mina?”
“Is this… something friends do?”
“Sometimes,” he answers slowly. “But you know you’re not just a friend to us, right?”
“I’m not?” I ask in confusion.
“No.”
“Then what am I?”
“You’re our everything,” he says before placing a kiss on the back of my neck. That, combined with his words, sends a bolt of desire through me making me squeeze my legs together. Even though his words are vague and confusing, I can’t help but feel the sexual undertone to them.
“I don’t understand,” I whisper.
“You will. But right now, it’s time for sleep.”