Chapter Three
Willow woke to hushed voices.
For several seconds, she didn’t move. She kept her eyes closed and listened, trying to make sense of the low conversation happening nearby. Her head felt heavy, her mouth was dry, and her entire body seemed to be weighed down by an exhaustion that went all the way to her bones.
A sudden wave of fear hit, and her heart started racing. The last time she’d woken up in a strange place, confused and unsure of how she’d gotten there, Chen had been responsible.
Oh God. Had he somehow found me and brought me back?
The thought sent pure terror ripping through her, and Willow’s eyes flew open as she shot upright, the sudden movement making the room tilt violently around her.
Her gaze darted wildly from one side of the unfamiliar room to the other, searching for him, searching for a door, anything she could use to protect herself. She had to get out now.
She spotted the IV line taped to the back of her hand and ripped it free without thinking, barely registering the sharp sting or the small bead of blood that immediately welled beneath her skin. None of that mattered. She had to get out before Chen realized she was awake.
A hand touched her arm, and Willow recoiled so hard she nearly fell off the other side of the bed.
“Whoa! Willow, easy there.” The voice was soft and familiar.
She was breathing hard as she jerked her head toward the voice, her entire body still wound tight and ready to fight.
And then she saw Riley standing beside the bed, her familiar face cutting through the panic like a lifeline.
“Riley…”
“Yeah, it’s me. Just look at me, okay?” Riley kept her voice soft. “You’re safe. Nobody here is going to hurt you. Take a few deep breaths.”
Willow kept her eyes on Riley and tried to do what Riley said. It took a few seconds, but eventually her heart stopped trying to pound its way out of her chest, and her breathing settled.
Riley was here. She was safe.
As the panic began to loosen its grip, Willow’s gaze shifted to the person standing beside Riley. For a second, Willow honestly thought her mind was playing tricks on her, because there was no way Mia was standing a few feet away, staring back at her with tears filling her eyes.
“Mia?” Her name came out barely louder than a whisper.
Mia gave a shaky little smile as a tear slipped down her cheek.
It had been three years since she had seen her friend—three years of wondering if she was okay.
Mia moved first, stepping closer to the bed and carefully leaning down to wrap her arms around Willow.
Willow didn’t even think as she hugged her back.
“Oh my God,” Mia whispered, holding her a little tighter. “I can’t believe that you’re really here.”
Something about the way she said it had Willow closing her eyes.
“I thought you were gone,” Mia said, her voice cracking. “I didn’t want to believe it. I kept telling everyone they were wrong, but after so long…” She drew in a shaky breath.
Willow swallowed around the lump in her throat. There was so much she wanted to say. So much she wanted to ask. But right then, she just held on to her friend for another second.
Then something else popped into Willow’s head. Lily.
She pulled away from Mia so quickly it startled them both.
“Oh, my God. Lily.” Her gaze flew to Riley. “Where’s Lily?”
Before Riley could answer, the door opened.
Willow’s head snapped toward it, and every bit of calm she had managed to find disappeared when a huge man walked into the room, followed by two more men who were just as big.
Her body reacted before her brain could catch up, and she instinctively shifted away from them, her hand gripping the edge of the blanket.
Then she saw what the first man was carrying. Well, not what, but who—Lily.
Her little girl, who was skittish around men, was tucked comfortably against the stranger’s chest with her stuffed elephant clutched under one arm. And she wasn’t scared. She wasn’t crying. She was actually laughing.
Willow stared, almost unable to process what she was witnessing.
Then Lily reached into what looked like a container of French fries, pulled one out, and held it up to the man’s mouth.
He leaned down and took a bite.
Was her daughter seriously feeding this enormous stranger a French fry?
“She’s fine,” Riley said softly beside her.
The man carrying Lily caught her gaze for just a moment before he lowered his head and whispered something in Lily’s ear.
Lily’s head snapped around.
“Momma!” Lily squealed and started squirming so much that the man barely caught the container of fries before they fell to the floor.
“Hang on, Peanut,” he said as he carried Lily over to the bed.
“Easy with Mommy," he told Lily softly. “Remember what we talked about.”
Lily nodded as though the two of them had apparently established rules while Willow had been unconscious.
“Gentle.”
“That’s my girl,” he said as he gently set Lily down next to Willow.
Something strange fluttered through Willow’s chest at the words, a brief, unsettling warmth she didn’t want to examine too closely, so she pushed it away almost immediately, refusing to let herself linger on it.
Willow held out her arms, and a second later Lily was in them.
Lily practically melted against her, and Willow wrapped both arms around her daughter, burying her face in her hair.
“Momma,” Lily mumbled against her neck.
“I’m right here, Lily bug.”
Tears burned Willow’s eyes as she kissed the side of Lily’s head, then her forehead, and then her cheek because apparently one kiss wasn’t enough. She pulled back just far enough to look her over, checking for anything that shouldn’t be there.
Apparently satisfied that her momma wasn’t going anywhere, Lily settled against her for another few seconds before lifting her head. Her eyes immediately went to the huge man still standing near the door.
Her whole face lit up. “Jay fry,” she said with a giggle, pointing at him.
The man smirked and lifted the container in his hand. “I was wondering how long it would take you to remember these.”
Lily immediately started squirming in Willow’s lap, reaching toward him. “Fry!”
The man took a step forward but stopped almost immediately. His eyes shifted to Willow, and something in his expression changed. Like he’d noticed the way she’d tensed without her even realizing she had.
“Is it okay if I come over?”
The fact that he asked caught her off guard. He could have just walked over. Instead, he stood there waiting, giving her the choice. Willow appreciated that more than she could explain.
She gave him a small nod. “It’s okay.”
Only then did he approach the bed and hold the container out to Lily.
“Your fries, peanut.”
Lily giggled and immediately grabbed one. Then, instead of eating it, she held it up toward him.
“Jay bite.”
His smirk turned into a grin. “Oh, so these are my fries now?”
Lily nodded like that was exactly what she meant and pushed the fry closer to his mouth. “Jay bite.”
Apparently realizing he wasn’t going to win this argument, the man leaned down and took a bite from the end of it.
Lily burst into giggles.
He chewed with an overly serious expression before giving her a nod. “Not bad. But I think I need another one to be sure.”
“No.” Lily immediately pulled the container closer.
His eyebrows shot up. “Wow. Okay. So I get one bite, and then you cut me off?”
“Mine.”
A quiet laugh escaped Willow before she could stop it.
The man glanced at her, and for the first time, Willow really looked at him.
He was big. Really big. Broad shoulders, muscular arms, and the kind of presence that normally would have had every instinct inside her screaming to keep her distance. And if she were being completely truthful, part of her still wanted to.
But there was something about the way he was with Lily that didn’t fit with the warning bells in her head.
He hadn’t crowded her, and hadn’t reached for Lily without asking. He had noticed Willow’s hesitation and stopped before she had even said a word.
And Lily clearly adored him.
That might have been the strangest part of all. Her daughter had spent most of her short life being wary of people she didn’t know, especially men. Yet here she was, happily sharing French fries with a man who looked like he could bench-press the hospital bed with both of them still in it.
Willow wasn’t ready to trust him. She wasn’t sure she remembered how to trust anyone anymore.
But watching Lily grin up at him, Willow found herself wanting to know who he was.
Someone behind her coughed to cover a laugh.
Willow glanced up, and that was when she remembered there were two other very large men in the room with them.
Riley seemed to catch the sudden uncertainty on her face. She stepped closer to the first man and slipped her hand into his. “Willow, this is Nails. My fiancé.”
Nails gave her an easy smile. “Nice to meet you.”
“And this is Stitch,” Mia added, moving beside the other man. “My husband.”
“Husband?”
Willow looked at Mia, who smiled and lifted her left hand, wiggling her fingers. Sure enough, there was a wedding ring.
“And the French fry thief,” Riley continued, nodding toward the man who’d carried Lily into the room, “is Jay Bird.”
“Jay,” Lily corrected.
Jay Bird’s mouth twitched.
Apparently, her daughter had already decided they were on a first-name basis.
Riley’s expression softened. “Lily wasn’t too sure about any of us last night. Jay Bird was the only one she really seemed comfortable with and apparently decided she was done accepting applications from anybody else. He stayed here all night so she could stay with you.”
Lily looked toward him. “Jay.”
His expression softened almost imperceptibly. “I’m right here, peanut.”
Willow caught it.
It was only there for a second, but she saw it—the intimidating man looked completely different when he spoke to Lily. There was a softness in his tone.
Willow felt a pang of guilt for causing him to take care of her daughter.