Page 42 of Lost in the Light

“I won’t,” I whispered through my tight throat. “I love you both too.”

“Good. Now that’s out of the way, how about we order in some breakfast?” Asher suggested.

“I can make something,” I offered.

“We need groceries. The refrigerator’s empty. Adam said he’d go to the store later, but until then, we all need to eat.”

“Order pancakes. They’re Addy’s favorite,” Eli chuckled as he looked to me with a smile.

“Pancake’s it is.” Asher set to work ordering food via his cell phone and I stood to get more coffee. I didn’t even really like coffee, but I needed the caffeine. I’d had quite a lot of sleep for me the night before, but I still felt exhausted.

“Can I see what you’re drawing?” I asked Eli as I sat back down at his side and nursed the warm mug between my chilled hands.

“Sure.” Eli moved the pad towards me, but before I saw it, there was a loud knock at the door.

“Stay there. I’ll get it,” Asher ordered as he got to his feet and crossed the space to the front door, still dressed in the sweats and t-shirt he’d slept in.

“Boss, the cops are downstairs. They want to take you and Eli in for questioning,” A deep voice spoke and I instantly jumped to my feet and hurried over to the door.

“Local police or the FBI?” Asher asked, seeming way too calm.

“NYPD. Leo and Pierce managed to keep them in the lobby for now, but they said they have grounds to arrest you both if you don’t agree to go with them.”

“Arrest you for what?” I cried. Eli was behind me, and he wrapped me in his arms and pulled me against him.

“We knew this could happen, Addy. A woman died in our family home. They were bound to want to question us,” he told me.

“Asher!” I panicked as he closed the apartment door and looked to me.

“Its all going to be fine, sweetheart. I already have lawyers on retainer who will meet us at the police station,” Asher tried to soothe me.

“What if they arrest you?” Just the thought of having them both torn away from me was terrifying enough, but the idea of them being treated as I was by the cops had my anxiety rising, especially Eli.

“They won’t. We haven’t done anything wrong,” Asher promised as he ran his hand down my arm reassuringly. “Eli and I need to get dressed. Can you wake Adam for me and tell him what’s going on?”

“Yes,” I agreed. “Just…can I have a hug first though?”

Asher smiled as he came over to Eli and I and wrapped his huge arms around the both of us.

“Promise me you won’t let this upset you, Addy. I’ll fix everything. We’ll be home before the end of the day, okay?”

“You better be,” I told them with a snort, trying to lighten the mood a little.

“We will,” Eli promised this time.

As soon as Asher and Eli stepped into their rooms to change, I ran to the end of the hall where I knew Adam was sleeping.

“Adam!” I cried as I burst in and jumped onto the bed to wake him.

“Addy?” He sat up in a hurry and looked at me sleepily. As the comforter pooled around his waist I got my first look at his barechest. Even in my panic I had to take a moment to appreciate just how amazing his whole upper body looked without a shirt. There was so much muscle, just everywhere and his beautiful dark skin was the perfect complement to them. “Baby? What is it? What’s wrong?” Adam grabbed my face between his hands as he spoke, pulling me from my stunned silence.

“The police…they’re taking Ash and Eli. Ash sent me to get you,” I stuttered as I forced myself to get a grip. “They said they could arrest them if they don’t agree to go in.”

“Okay. We knew this could happen. It’s going to be okay,” he said calmly, then he was out of bed and pulling on a t-shirt with the sweats he already had on.

“Why do you all keep saying that? I didn’t know it could happen! Why did no one tell me?” I demanded.

“We didn’t want to worry you.”

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