50. Julian
Dimitri had her mostly calm before we got there, but there’s no hiding her split lip, black eye, and the gash on her cheek.
I’m going to kill her.
I share my thought with the rest of them, and I don’t see any hint of disagreement.
I stand close as he cleans her up, unable to make myself move or look away. Nolan, Titus, and even Gavin stand around or have taken a seat in the living room where they can still watch. It’s like we’re all afraid she might poof if we let her out of our sight.
Before tonight, I would have said we were just being paranoid, but she really was missing for a minute there.
“How did you find her?” I ask the second he’s finished, having sent her off to the bathroom to change.
“Felix led me to her.” I raise a brow in question, but he simply shrugs, clearly having no more answers than I do. It doesn’t matter right now, though; all that matters is that she’s here and her cunt of an aunt isn’t.
A few moments later she walks out of the bathroom, and I shelve this conversation for later.
She’s in a large shirt and sweatpants that I assume are Dimitri’s, and I have to remind myself that now isn’t the time to be jealous of whose clothes she’s wearing.
Though I make a note to give her one or two of my shirts to sleep in, she looks adorable like this.
“Wren,” I move slowly so as not to startle her, keeping my voice quiet and holding up my hands in way of surrender.
Her head snaps up at the sound of my voice, and for a moment I see nothing. Her face is blank, eyes far away as if she’s looking through me. Before I can panic, she blinks a few times, and she’s back.
She swallows hard, her lip wobbling as she watches me move toward her, and I do the only thing I can think to do: open my arms for her.
She’s across the room and in my arms the next second, her hushed sobs making my heart squeeze as I hold her as close as I can, breathing her in. It feels like we’ve been apart for years, not hours, and I know, even if the bond hasn’t slipped into place yet, that Wren’s mine.
I can feel it in my bones.
The same way I can feel that she doesn’t belong to only me, but that’s fine. I’m happy to share.
Whatever makes her happy.
I cradle her head as she wraps around me like a spider monkey, offering her coos and gentle words in an attempt to reassure her.
“She’s never going to stop,” she hiccups and heaves, and I know she’s right. We all do.
Unfortunately, the kind of work she’s done on Wren has been a lifetime in the making; she wouldn’t just abandon that.
“We won’t let her touch you ever again,” I tell her, pulling back to look down at her, waiting until she meets my gaze. Her eyes are red and she looks like hell, but fuck if she isn’t still one of the most beautiful people I’ve ever seen.
“I promise I’ll keep you safe.”
“Julian,” Titus says from behind me, his voice low and hard, full of warning that I understand but she won’t.
I meet his gaze across the room as I turn to drop down on the couch with Wren still wrapped around me, and he sighs but nods.
I’m serious, so fucking serious.
The guys all sit at the table, talking quietly but mostly watching, waiting. I hold her, rubbing circles on her back and keeping her close, breathing her in and reminding myself she’s here. I fear I might need this just as much as she does.
Eventually, Wren falls asleep; the day was long and hard on her, not to mention her lack of sleep prior to this.
I’d planned to lay her down when she passed out, but now the thought makes me pause.
“Can you put her into a deep, dreamless sleep?” I ask Dimitri, and he nods before waving his hand without question.
I feel the change in her, the way she becomes dead weight and the soft snores. She could use some real sleep, and we need to be able to talk freely without leaving her alone.
Now I can get up. I wasn’t willing to risk her having a nightmare and waking up alone, even if she was only going to be a few feet away. Still, I linger, unable to actually make myself let her go.
Nolan moves into the living room, dropping into one of the chairs, with Dimitri only a few steps behind him.
Titus moves to stand behind the couch, bracing his hands on the back near my shoulders so that he’s towering over me.
Usually, I’d hate something like this, being surrounded and made to feel small, but I feel safe with Titus and the guys.
We might not always agree, but these are my friends; this is the family we built. These guys have been there for me through everything, and I know that won’t stop now.
Gavin is the last one to join us, and given his slow movements and downcast eyes, he knows he’s in trouble.
“It wasn’t me. I swear I would never do that to her, or anyone.” He looks up, meeting my gaze, and I see the truth in his eyes, the desperate need for me to believe him.
Fortunately for him, I do, or I might have already hit him.
“I know.”
“I thought she was interested in me, but I think she was just using me to get information about Wren…” he hangs his head again, and I sigh, feeling some of my annoyance at him melt away, even if I’m not sure he deserves it.
“Yeah, Rose, the bitch who’s been doing nothing but making Wren’s life hell just happened to want to get close to you now, after all the years she ignored you,” Titus says, and I can hear his eyes rolling even if I can’t see him.
“Yeah, I know, it was stupid, but…”
“But the attention felt nice?” I ask because I’m almost sure that’s what it was, and I’m also not sure he’s actually going to finish his thought.
“Yeah,” he mumbles without looking up, clearly embarrassed.
Good.
“Funny, I bet you could get that kind of attention from someone much nicer if only you weren’t such a raging dick to her all the time.”
Gavin’s head snaps up, and he looks at his brother as if he’s just grown a second head. I see the hope flicker in his eyes for a second before he buries it and tsks.
“Yeah, right. Besides, Wren isn’t really my type.”
He’s lying, and I don’t need my built-in senses to know it; I’m sure everyone in the room can tell, himself included.
We spend the next hour going over the story of how Dimitri and Wren met for Gavin, and I even explain how I found out about them through her texts. Yet another reason I’m sure she will catch on once things settle down: Wren’s much smarter than I am after all.
“I wish you had just told me. I mean, I don’t love it, but as long as you're happy.”
Dimitri looks longingly at Wren, who’s still passed out in my arms, and I see the unspoken words.
He was.
Whether he can be again or not is up to him, I fear, because while this was mostly a misunderstanding and miscommunication, what he’s hiding from her now isn’t.
That has the potential to ruin them, and as much as I want her to be mine, I would never trade her happiness for my selfishness.
She has feelings for Dimitri; anyone with eyes can see that, so I hope he gets his head out of his ass before it’s too late.
“What doesn’t make sense is why her aunt has any pull? Why not just stop talking to her and cut all ties? She’s an adult.” Titus says, and as I look around the room, I have a few answers for him.
“It’s not always that easy, though, is it?” I ask him, looking up to find his lips pulled down in a frown above me.
Every one of us is grown,? yet we all have our issues, some more than others.
He looks to the corner of the room where the shadows are heaviest, and I know he’s thinking of Felix, even if he’d never admit it.
Yeah, some of us don’t have a choice, and something tells me that’s what Wren is dealing with; nothing else makes sense.
“We should get some sleep. We have the week off. We should use it to help Wren settle down now that the showcase is over,” Dimitri suggests, standing but makes no move to actually walk away.
“She’s right, though. Her aunt isn’t going to stop. I saw it in her eyes when she watched Wren perform. She hates her. I wouldn’t be surprised if she enjoyed torturing her.”
Just the thought makes my blood boil and my magic fizzle in my veins, begging me to do something about her.
Titus’s hand on my shoulder makes me let out a breath I didn’t realize I was holding, and I loosen my hold on Wren.
“We won’t let her get to Wren again. You promised, and I’ve yet to see you break one.”
I snort a laugh because he knows damn well I couldn’t even if I wanted to, but he’s right. We’ll keep Wren safe, together.