Chapter 2 Chloe
TWO
CHLOE
I ran my fingers along the charm on my necklace as I sat in the hot bath I had drawn for myself. I leaned back, settling my head against a pillow that Lexi had demanded Frost obtain for me. I smiled softly as my fingers lazily traced the engraved outline of a lily on the charm of my necklace.
“It’s gonna be okay,” I whispered to myself.
I tried to process as much as I could, but the truth of the matter was that I had been cooped up with this crew for three days and I already wanted to kill all of them.
Lexi and Frost incessantly checked on me.
Notch and Ruby filled in the gaps, wanting to check on my health.
West brought me food just about every hour on the hour, as if I were four hundred fucking pounds and looking to gain more weight.
And while I enjoyed their kindness, I wasn’t used to so many people in my personal space.
Jesus, that shin bruise is rough.
Every time I wanted to look in the mirror, I stopped myself.
It was one of the reasons why I had filled the tub with so many damn bubbles.
I didn’t even want the water acting as a mirror to show me how bad the bruises on my face had gotten.
Every time Nattybug looked at me, she recoiled for a split second before coming to give me a hug.
Every time Frost laid eyes on me, pity flooded his face.
Every time West looked in my general direction, he looked like he simultaneously wanted to whisk me away while also murdering the asshats who had done all of this to me.
I sank deeper into the tub until my chin touched the tops of the bubbles.
“It’s going to be all right,” I whispered.
The more I thought about the position I was in, the more I played with the charm.
Well, it wasn’t really a charm, but it looked like a charm to everyone else.
Really, it was a thumb drive. A small USB drive concealed to look like a delicate charm that housed all of the information I had on my real family.
My birth family. The ones who had given me up.
It was the only thing I had to connect me to them, and I never took it off. Not even to shower.
Hence why the damned thing was waterproofed.
Every time I moved, the pain in my rib left me breathless.
Every time I shifted, the aching of my bones settled deeper into my marrow.
I hated being around this many men at once.
I hated the heavy footfalls at all hours of the night.
The booming voices up and down the hallway as they shouted at one another as if they didn’t know how to simply walk up to someone and be a normal fucking human being when having a conversation.
And every time I walked into the living room to find a handful of them relaxing on the couches and the chairs, my mind ripped me back to that moment.
That fateful moment my senior year of high school that changed everything about the way I lived my life.
“Come on, just one more drink,” Brad coaxed.
He tilted my glass up to my lips and I opened my throat to chug.
“Chug! Chug! Chug! Chug! Yeah, Chlo! Chuggy Chlo! Chuggy Chlo! Chuggy Chlo!”
I tipped the entire glass back before slamming it onto the table.
The guys cheered and whooped with their fists in the air as I wiped at the dribbles of beer flowing down my chin.
Never in a million years did I think I’d ever find a group of friends as reliable and as wonderful as them.
They didn’t judge me for being abandoned by my family.
They didn’t judge me for my hand-me-down clothes.
They didn’t tease me for wearing the same outfit twice in a row because my foster mother got drunk and forgot to do the laundry… again.
At least, until my legs started feeling funny.
“Brad, what was in that—that drink?” I asked.
I stumbled and he caught me before Reva lifted me up by my arm. “Let’s get her upstairs. I think she’s had too much to drink.”
I heard Brad’s voice, but it sounded far away. “My bed is bigger. She’ll have more room there.”
I shook my head softly. “My—oom.”
“What did she say?” DeShawn asked.
And the next thing I knew, someone slid my fucking pants off.
“No, stop it,” I hissed.
I ripped myself away from the memory and found myself shivering in the hot tub.
Even as steam wafted through the crowds of bubbles, that chill rushed through my bones.
Every time I walked by a group of men that stared me down, I wondered when it would happen again.
I wondered if they’d pounce and pump me full of drug-laced beer before tossing me onto one of their beds.
I blinked back tears as I bit through the pain and forced myself out of the bath.
“Time to get dried off,” I grunted.
I kept reminding myself that I wasn’t in high school any longer.
That I wasn’t in that situation. That these men weren’t here to harm me, but to help me.
To take me in and keep me safe while they sorted out whatever the fuck was going on.
If anything, they offered me protection, not drugging me up and attempting to take something that wasn’t theirs.
Thank fuck for Veronica that night.
Because without her help fighting off those so-called “friends” of mine, I would’ve been a fucking goner.
I steadied myself on my soaking wet feet and I reached for the towel hanging on a hook on the wall.
“Knock, knock.”
West’s voice filtered through the bathroom door, and I hurt myself trying to cover up as quickly as I could. I winced and hissed with pain, which caused him to jiggle the doorknob.
“Would you cut it out? I’m fine,” I said flatly.
“I heard you hiss. Are you sure you're okay?” he asked.
I rolled my eyes. “I hiss all the time. Yes, I’m fine. What do you want?”
He paused, and it made me feel bad. He had been so kind to me ever since we had arrived at this place.
He kept a watchful eye over me and seemed to never be more than a few steps away in case I needed something.
Sure, Lexi and Frost checked on me all the time.
But so did he, even though he didn’t know me.
I appreciated it.
Just…not when he tried to come into my personal space without permission.
“So, uh, how are you doing?” West asked.
I held the towel tightly around my sore body. “I’m fine.”
He snickered. “You’re really not.”
“What do you mean, I’m not?”
“I can hear it in your voice. It’s clouded, like you’re about to cry.”
I rolled my eyes. “I’m a bit claustrophobic being cooped up in this place all the damned time. Living with several men. Washing the same sets of clothes over and over again because they never quite feel clean.”
“You know we have a washer and dryer, right?”
“You know I’m short and can’t get shit out of the dryer with a fractured rib, right?”
“I mean, I’ve offered to help, but you won’t take it. I’m not going to force my actions onto you.”
His words actually brought me comfort. “And I thank you for that. I just…”
I walked over to the door and leaned my shoulder against it.
“I’m just used to living on my own and having my own space. I don’t have that here. I don’t really have time to retreat because I’ve got many people checking up on me for very valid reasons. I just feel…”
“Overwhelmed?”
I sighed, leaning my head against the door. “Yeah, that’s one way to put it.”
He chuckled. “I’ll admit, it’s very cramped here, especially with everyone’s families cooped up here as well. But we’re just trying to make sure we can keep everyone safe. That whatever targets the cartel might home in on, we’ve got watchful eyes over them so they can’t take anyone out.”
I nodded softly. “When do you think I’ll be able to head back home?”
It took him a while to respond. “I’m honestly not sure.”
I swallowed the knot working its way up my throat. “You think someone from the cartel would really come after me? Again?”
“Well, according to Diego, the cartel is ruthless. Anyone that is associated with who they consider their enemy is also their enemy. We just don’t want to take the chance that something could happen after we save you. Especially now that they know you are close with Lexi and Frost.”
I snickered. “So weird hearing him called that.”
He chuckled, and the sound relaxed me. “It’s a nickname he earned, and for good reason.”
“So, does that mean ‘West’ is a nickname for you as well?”
When he didn’t answer my question, I took the hint.
“Is there anything I can get for you?” he asked.
I closed my eyes. “A hefty dose of courage so I’m not so damn scared all the time.”
“Why do I get the impression that you’ve dealt with scary people before?”
I shrugged. “I mean, yeah, sure. But I usually have one—or a dozen—firewalls in between me and them. They don’t typically figure out who the hell I am.”
“Sounds like you have talent.”
My voice grew curt. “I have tactics to survive. There’s a difference.”
West drew in a deep breath. “Well, if you trust me, I think I know something that’ll help how upset you sound.”
I pressed my back to the door. “I’m not upset.”
“Says the woman who doesn’t know whether to cry or scream.”
I chewed on the inside of my cheek. “What’s the thing that you think will help?”
“It’s a surprise.”
“I don’t do surprises from men I don’t trust.”
He drummed his fingers against the door. “I planned on busting us out of here for a little bit to get some fresh air. That is, if you think you can stand to be on the back of a bike.”
I couldn't get that bathroom door open quickly enough. “Give me fifteen minutes to get into some clothes and I’ll meet you out front. Deal?”
As his eyes slithered down my body, a flush radiated down my spine.
“Deal,” he said.
Before quickly turning on the balls of his feet and striding for my bedroom door.