Chapter 23
Arabella stood in the middle of her living room gazing around in dismay.
It seemed like these assholes had been very thorough. Everything had been ransacked and ripped or broken.
What was she going to do?
Her laptop was smashed into pieces which was odd, she’d have thought they would just take it and sell it.
“Jesus,” Jake said, looking around.
Walking over, he stared down at her. “Hey, are you all right? I heard that you had to go to the hospital. I was about to come see you. Do you need someone to stay with you? Might be a good idea if you come and stay with me and Molly.”
“She’ll stay with us,” Kellan said firmly.
“Will she?” Jake murmured. “Is that what you want, Arabella?”
“It is,” Kellan said.
“I need to speak to Arabella alone,” Jake said firmly. “Let’s go outside so you can sit down. Duncan is on his way over to help process the scene.”
Scene?
Like a crime scene?
Well, she guessed it was a crime scene, wasn’t it?
“You don’t need to talk to her alone,” Kellan stated.
“Fucking hell,” Eli stated from the entrance to the living room. “Who the fuck would do this? What did they take?”
“I don’t know. I don’t have much. The most expensive thing I own is my laptop,” she said. “And it’s sitting in pieces.”
“Jesus, baby.” Eli walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her. “This is the last thing you need. All this stress can’t be good for you.”
“We shouldn’t be in here,” Jake said firmly. “Let’s go wait on the front porch for Duncan. I think I heard another car pull up.”
“We know how to treat a crime scene,” Kellan said.
To her surprise he drew her from Eli’s arms and carried her out of the house.
It felt better to get out into the fresh air and away from the house. Even if the evening sun did hurt her eyes. Closing them, she buried her face in Kellan’s chest. She heard a loud noise coming from somewhere but she couldn’t seem to figure out what it was.
“Is the sun hurting her eyes?” Eli asked urgently.
“Yeah,” Kellan replied.
“Being out here is no good, Jake,” Eli said. “The sun is hurting her eyes.”
Good Lord.
She was fine. They didn’t need to fuss so much.
“She should be in bed,” Kellan said.
“Hey, all. Is Arabella okay?”
Who was that? Oh, was it Duncan?
“She’s exhausted, she’s just out of the hospital after nearly dying, and now her place has been trashed and to top it all off, the sun is hurting her eyes,” Eli snapped. “So, no, she’s not all right.”
Poor Eli.
He sounded so stressed.
“Let’s get her to the hotel,” Kellan said.
“I’m all right,” she croaked. “It’s just a bit of sun. I’m fine.”
Kellan leaned into her. “I hate when you say that. Especially when you clearly aren’t. So stop saying it.”
Lord, he was so bossy.
“All right, you guys take her to the hotel,” Jake said. “Duncan and I will process this place and then come to talk to you all soon. That okay, Arabella?”
“Yes, that’s fine. Thanks, Jake.”
He patted her arm gently. “Don’t worry. We’ll find who did this. And we’ll figure out if there’s anything here that survived these assholes.”
She nodded. Right. That actually sounded good.
Without protesting, she let Kellan carry her to the car and set her into the passenger seat.
Then Eli produced a blanket from somewhere and put it over her legs. Even though it was a warm day.
Although she realized suddenly that she was shivering.
Why was that?
Maybe shock.
Eli pulled the seatbelt over her. “Everything will be okay, baby. We’re here to take care of you.”
Arabella nodded. Right at this moment she didn’t have the energy to worry about whether she could trust them. If they’d one day just walk away.
Or how they would react when they learned the full truth about her life.
Because she knew she had to tell them and Jake everything about why she was here.
Since it seemed like Lee had found her. And he wasn’t happy about the way she’d left.
How was she going to protect herself?
And what about Horse?
She gasped. “Horse.” That’s what that noise was!
“He’s all right,” Eli told her. “He’s in my car. I’ll take him with me to the hotel.”
“Go get him,” Kellan said.
“You sure, man? He might shed fur in your car,” Eli pointed out.
“So what?”
She glanced over at Kellan, then around his car which was immaculate.
Kellan stared back at her.
But she honestly didn’t care. If he said it was okay, then she was taking him at his word.
Kellan grunted and nodded with satisfaction as though he’d just won some sort of argument.
Men.
Eli opened the back door and Horse bounded in, dirty paws and all. He stood between the two front seats and licked her face.
“Ew, Horse!” she let out a surprised giggle. “I’m all right. Yes, yes, I love you too. I do. I’m good, boy.”
Kellan listened to her giggles and the tension inside him eased.
He’d been wound so tight since she’d collapsed this morning that he was worried he might snap at any moment.
You are not your father. You don’t have his temper.
Sometimes it felt like he did, though. As though he was riding the edge of a cliff about to plunge into the ocean.
Deep breath in.
And out.
He could be particular about his things, which is why Eli hesitated to put Horse into his car. A therapist would really have a field day with him. But he thought it was due to the chaos of his childhood. He’d seen similar tendencies in some of his brothers.
Not Eli.
He was messy. The only reason his car wasn’t a disaster was because Kellan had been keeping it clean for him.
When Horse jumped in, he’d nearly pulled him off Arabella, concerned it would be too much. But she’d started to laugh and he’d realized the dog was exactly what she needed.
He started the car and headed to the hotel. Who the fuck would do that to Arabella’s place? And why?
Whoever it was, when he found them, they were going to pay.
Parking in front of the hotel, he got out and came around to undo her belt. Eli pulled in next to him and jumped out to grab Horse.
“I don’t have anything,” Arabella said, sounding lost. “I’ll need to get some things. Toothbrush, toothpaste, pajamas, shoes, underwear, all of it.”
“Shh,” Eli said. “We’ll take care of it all. The only thing you need to worry about is feeling better. All right?”
To Kellan’s relief she simply nodded. Finally, she was beginning to see that listening to them was the right thing to do.
Now, if she’d just continue to obey them without question everything would work out just fine.
Kellan reached for her, picking her up in his arms.
“Kellan! You need to stop carrying me everywhere.”
“No.”
“Everything okay?” Heath asked as they walked into the hotel foyer. He was one of the new owners of the hotel.
“Not really,” Eli said. “Arabella and Horse are staying with us here. Arabella’s place was broken into today while she was in the hospital after going into anaphylactic shock.”
“Jesus,” Heath said. “Who the hell would do that? And no one saw anything?”
“No,” Eli replied. “She’s the last house on a quiet street that heads out of town.”
“That’s insane. Jake better find the assholes who did it. I heard about the anaphylactic shock,” Heath said. “Peanuts?”
“Yep,” Kellan said. “So we need all peanuts removed from the kitchen while we’re staying here.”
“You can’t ask him to do that,” she said.
“Why not? It’s dangerous for you,” Kellan said.
“But . . . but . . . other people might want to eat peanuts,” she said. “He can’t remove them all just for me.”
“Of course he can,” Eli said.
“I can,” Heath added. “There’s really only one dish with peanuts anyway and I’ll get the chef to change it.”
“You guys are acting crazy.” She gasped as though suddenly remembering something. “Abe! Oh no! I have to go check on him. What if they broke into his house as well?”
Kellan tightened his hold on her.
“Kellan, let me down.”
“No.”
“Kellan,” she said warningly as she glared up at him. “Let me down right now.”
“No.”
“You are impossible, Kellan Jones! Eli, make him let me down. I have to check on my neighbor.”
Eli moved away with Heath and Kellan spoke quietly to her.
“Stop squirming. I don’t want to drop you.”
“You could put me down!” she told him.
“I could also spank you for putting yourself at risk,” he murmured, surprising himself.
And her, if the way she stiffened was any indication.
He wasn’t normally the person to take the first step in anything. If discipline was needed, he’d always let Eli take care of it.
But he hadn’t really been in a relationship like the one he wanted with her, had he?
And he did want her. He was ready for this next step.
All he wanted was to keep her safe and healthy. And that meant carrying her around. Because he had to have her close, to keep her protected.
“You wouldn’t.”
He just stared down at her with his eyebrows raised.
“You totally would. How does that make sense? You won’t let me walk because you think I’m too weak or ill or something. But you will spank me!”
The words were spoken loudly and the people in the foyer turned to stare at them.
Including Eli and Heath.
“Oh my God!” she cried. “I can’t believe I just said that! And so loudly. This is all your fault.”
Kellan had no idea how she figured that one out.
“I don’t think you’re weak,” he told her. “I think that you nearly died this morning and that it’s going to be a while before I can let you out of my sight. And having you in my arms means that I can keep you close and safe.” He glanced up as Eli approached with Horse.
“What was that about?” Eli asked.
“I don’t know but I think she’s lost the ability to speak.” He nodded at Arabella whose mouth was working but there were no words coming out.
“Don’t worry, it’ll come back,” Eli said. “Let’s go. We’ve got a new, dog-friendly room.”
Eli was worried about how quiet Arabella was.
Well, other than her outburst just before about being spanked. He snorted as Kellan sat her on one of the beds.
The room had a separate bedroom that held two large beds. They’d have to take turns about who slept with her. Or maybe they could push them together to make one extra-large bed.